Jameel Barkat
Senior M&A Advisor - Aerospace/Defense Expert

Jameel heads up Woodbridge's North Carolina office. Prior to joining Woodbridge, Jameel worked for Curtiss-Wright Controls, where he completed numerous acquisitions and led the company’s M&A and strategic development programs. Earlier in his career, Jameel served as Senior Project/Design Engineer for a private manufacturer of mechanical components for the aerospace, defense and industrial markets and worked as a Design Engineer for McDonnell Aircraft (now Boeing). Jameel holds an MBA from Duke University, an MS in Mechanical Engineering from Washington University, and a BA in Mathematics from Drew University.

Ernest Z. Bower
Senior M&A Advisor – Southeast

Prior to his affiliation with the Woodbridge, Ernest was the founder and a principal of The Bower Group, a business consulting and M&A firm. He has provided long- term planning and business development services to a range of public and private companies in diverse industries. Ernest has broad experience in both domestic and international deal making, advising clients on both buy-side and sell-side transactions. During his 10 years in Europe, he acquired expertise in managing complex due diligence activities in multinational transactions. Ernest also served as director of planning and development at Akzo Nobel Salt’s U.S. division. He holds a BA from Colgate University and completed coursework in strategic planning and mergers and acquisitions at the Harvard School of Business. Ernie has expertise in the chemical, specialty food and publishing industries.

Brace Carpenter
Senior M&A Advisor – New England

Brace been active in the middle market M&A industry for over 20 years and, along with Tom Hawke, heads up Woodbridge's Boston office. Brace has completed over 300 M&A transactions and performed more than 200 business valuations. Before joining Woodbridge, he founded a Boston-based lower middle-market investment banking firm, and, earlier in his career, was affiliated with Christie Group, a leading M&A firm in the UK and Europe. Brace has industry expertise in manufacturing, distribution and service companies.

Keith Dee
Senior M&A Advisor – Northeast

Keith specializes in advising companies on mergers, acquisition, and divestitures, corporate finance, strategic and business advisory services. He brings over 25 years of experience as an entrepreneur and executive to Woodbridge. Keith’s unique combination of financial and operating experience enables him to understand and meet the financing needs of middle-market clients. Keith began his career as a CPA before founding his own accounting firm. Later, he served as president of Earmark, Inc., a New England-based manufacturing company and chief financial officer of The Great American Backrub Company, a public specialty retailer and wellness company based in New York. Keith holds a BS in accounting from Bryant University. Keith has expertise in the wellness industry, as well as in engineered products.

Kirk Fichtner
Senior M&A Advisor – Southwest

Mr. Fichtner has 15 years of experience in capital structuring, strategic planning, budgeting, forecasting, management and operations for both publicly traded and middle market private companies. Kirk began his financial career on Wall Street with Dillon, Read and Co. where he was involved in the underwriting of over 80 initial public offerings. He then worked with NationsBank and DuPont, and later for 1st Global Inc., where he grew assets under management from $225 million to over $1 billion. Mr. Fichtner holds a BA in Business Administration from Texas Tech University and an MBA from George Washington University.

Ney Grant
Senior M&A Advisor – West Coast

Ney has been involved in buying and selling companies for 20 years. He bought his first company in 1987 and founded a technology company in 1989, which he grew to $4 million in sales before selling it in 1997. Ney then served as founder and vice president of acquisitions for a startup that raised $20 million in venture capital to fund a series of company acquisitions. He then ran his own consulting company that provided M&A services. In addition to serving as Senior M&A Advisor to clients, Ney oversees Woodbridge's growth on the West Coast. Ney holds an engineering degree from UC Santa Barbara and an MBA from UC Davis. Read Ney's blog on selling your business here. Ney has industry expertise in Internet and software companies.

Tom Hawke
Senior M&A Advisor – New England

Tom brings over 20 years of M&A experience to Woodbridge's Boston office. He has acted as an advisor to sellers and completed over 200 successful transactions in the United States and United Kingdom. Tom previously operated his own group of companies in the hospitality, retail and manufacturing industries and entered the M&A world with Christie Group. A U.K. native, Tom now resides in the Boston area and assists middle market business owners with mergers, acquisitions, divestitures and business valuations. Tom has industry expertise in the manufacturing, distribution and service industries and broad experience in the hospitality industry.

Tom Kastner
Regional Director, Midwest

A seasoned investment banker, Tom Kastner has completed numerous transactions in the technology sector. Companies Tom has worked with were involved in semiconductors, semi-conductor equipment, wireless, electronic and optical components, IT consulting, software and distribution. He served as president of Hakuto America, a division of Hakuto Co., Ltd (a Japanese technology-oriented trading company) and later joined OEM Capital, a technology-focused investment banking firm. In addition, Tom co-founded an Illinois-based distributor of electronic components.Tom holds an MBA from Yale University and a BA from the University of California at Berkeley.

Michael C. Muzzy
Senior M&A Advisor – Northeast

Michael C. Muzzy specializes in providing strategic business planning services. Prior to co-founding his consulting firm Equity Transfers in 1996, Mike was chief financial officer and a board member of Bennett X-Ray Technologies. Previously, he served as a manager of accounting and auditing at Laventhol & Horwath, where he developed multi-disciplined experience with middle market companies in numerous industries. Mike is a founding member of the Long Island Angel Network, Inc. and is a Certified Public Accountant and Licensed Real Estate Broker in the State of New York. He holds a BA in Business Administration from Adelphi University.

Graeme Plant
Senior M&A Advisor – West Coast

In addition to assisting business owners in the sale of their business, Graeme is the managing director of the El Dorado Hills Technology Incubator and is an active "angel" investor in northern California growth companies. Graeme is on the board of several young growth companies. Graeme started his career in with Sprint and Hewlett Packard before joining startups ShareWave and Little Mountain Group. Graeme led the acquisition efforts to sell Little Mountain Group, which was eventually sold to QLogic in 2001 for just under $30 million. Graeme has an engineering degree from UC Davis and an MBA from UC Berkeley. Graeme has industry expertise in technology.

Tex Sekhon
Senior M&A Advisor – Southwest

Mr. Sekhon has direct investment and M&A experience in numerous transactions representing over $500 million in market value. His industry experience includes enterprise software, manufacturing, business services, medical devices, wireless communications, RF integrated circuits, semiconductors, environmental remediation and commercial real estate. Since 1995, Mr. Sekhon has served as a director or observer on the Board of Directors of twelve portfolio companies and one Small Business Investment Company (SBIC). Tex has been instrumental in the structuring and funding of numerous entrepreneurial endeavors. Mr. Sekhon has led several equity investments in various retail, office, multifamily, industrial, and land acquisitions and developments representing over $100 million in total project value. Tex holds a BA in Business Administration from the University of North Texas. Tex has industry expertise in aviation and technology.

John Sipala
Senior M&A Advisor – Northeast

Prior to joining Woodbridge in 2007, Mr. Sipala served as Managing Director of Elite Investment Group, an investment banking firm focused on the middle market that he co-founded in 1996.  Earlier, as Managing Partner of Saddle River Capital, a private investment firm, he was responsible for all aspects of the investments and acquisitions of middle-market companies. Mr. Sipala holds an MBA in Finance from Fairleigh Dickinson University and is Chairman of the Board of Directors of MSRC Co., a leading mass storage solutions business. He is also a strategic advisor to Traffic Control Systems, a perimeter detection and security company. John has industry expertise in machining and retail.

David Walsh
Senior M&A Advisor - Waste Industry Expert

David has been involved in acquisition, integration and divestiture from an operating perspective for 25 years. He focuses on the waste, industrial and environmental sectors for Woodbridge. His previous work spanned technology, software, business as well as environmental services.  Prior to serving Woodbridge clients, he was VP of Sales at United Site Services the largest portable sanitation provider in the U.S. David has held a variety of senior management roles at Thermo Electron, Emerson Electric, GE, and Iron Mountain. David has a BS in Accounting from Bentley College.

Richard Clepper
Senior M&A Advisor – Transportation and Logistics

Dick has over 35 years of experience in the operating performance of companies in the motor carrier and logistics segments of the North American transportation industry. In 2007 Dick established a management consulting practice providing solutions for logistics and transportation companies, including merger and acquisition advice.  He has held a number of senior management positions in both sales and operations through his career, principally at Yellow Transportation.  He is a graduate of the University of Maryland with a BS in Transportation.

Barry J. Beauban
Senior M&A Advisor - Midwest

Barry has over 27 years of Transportation experience, 14 of them operating his own International Freight Forwarder which he founded in 1993. The company targeted freight moving between the Far East and North America and in 2001 acquired a trucking operation. He has also advised transportation and supply chain companies on M&A and other strategic and operational matters. Prior to starting his own business, Barry worked as an International Sales Rep for a leading freight forwarder specializing in Far East traffic.

Doreen Morgan
Senior M&A Advisor/Franchising

Doreen has over 10 years experience in the Franchise industry and is one of only 75 people in the country that holds a Merger and Acquisition Master Intermediary (M&AMI) designation. She worked the corporate sell-side for an internationally recognized franchise organization and specializes in Seller representation, corporate divestitures and Franchisor/Franchisee Exit Planning. She is proactive in transaction management and has a solid track record in successful exit strategy and negotiation. Prior to joining Woodbridge, Doreen worked for a boutique middle market brokerage firm in Atlanta.

Alice Heimbeck
Senior M&A Advisor

Alice represents Woodbridge in Seattle, WA. Prior to joining Woodbridge Alice founded two companies and successfully exited in 1989 and 2007. Her first company was an international trade business and the second company was a global logistics software company that is considered a leader in the international transportation industry. Recently, Alice has focused on advising business owners in positioning their businesses for optimal exits. She holds a BA in International Studies from the University of Washington and is actively involved in Keiretsu Forum, an international angel investment group.