Two New Partners Join Riverside Micro-Cap Team
Operating Partners Bring Depth of Experience to Riverside Companies
May 25, 2006 | New York; Cleveland; Dallas; San Francisco; Atlanta;
Chicago; Budapest, Hungary; Munich, Germany; Prague, Czech Republic;
Warsaw, Poland - Building a championship team takes patience and fortitude.
After an extensive search, The Riverside Company, the largest private equity
firm investing in premier companies at the smaller end of the middle market,
today announced the hiring of Jeff Tobin and Matt Schafer as Operating
Partners. These newest members of Riverside's Micro-Cap strategy team
will work directly for Ron Sansom, Senior Operating Partner and closely
with Loren Schlachet, the fund's transacting partner. In their new roles,
Jeff and Matt will guide Micro-Cap companies during Riverside's period of o
wnership by providing strategic and hands-on operational support. This
unique team approach is a hallmark of Riverside's commitment to the Micro-Cap
strategy, focused on companies with $0 to $3 million or more of EBITDA
(earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization) and over
$5 million of revenue.
Matt Schafer's 20 plus years of experience in guiding companies to
success translate well to his role as Operating Partner. Prior to joining
Riverside, he served as President and Chief Operating Officer of Coachmen
Industries, Inc., a consolidated $800 million manufacturer of Recreational
Vehicles, Modular Housing and Building Systems. As President, Matt drove
programs to grow top-line revenue, restructure operations for cost savings
and sell underperforming affiliate companies. Prior to Coachmen, Matt
spent 20 years with General Electric, beginning his career in that company's
technical training program and progressing through management and leadership
roles, including Chief Operating Officer, GE Capital TIP & Modular Space.
Matt holds a BS, Mechanical Engineering from Union College in Schenectady,
NY.
Jeff Tobin deepens the Riverside talent pool, bringing a range of
leadership experiences across several industries. Jeff joins Riverside
from Global Travel, International where he was Chief Operating Officer
and Member of the Board of Advisors. Under his leadership, Global Travel
repositioned the company's core product by moving from a single product
offering to a multiple product offering, developing a marketing toolkit,
customizing web utility, upgrading the travel booking engine, and adding
a suite of sales and marketing packages resulting in increased market
share and profitability. Prior to that role, Jeff worked as a Business
Consultant for a wide range of software and internet services businesses,
including Chief Operating Officer and Member of the Board of Directors
for Jtech Communications. Jeff earned a BS, Economics and Business and
an MBA, Finance and Accounting from Vanderbilt University.
"Consistent with our original plan when we conceived the Micro-Cap
strategy, Operating Partners allow us to become much more 'hands on'
with our portfolio companies as we help them face challenges and grow
significantly," commented Stewart A. Kohl, Riverside's Co-Chief Executive
Officer. "The addition of proven operators and business leaders like
Matt and Jeff are the first of what will be a growing cadre of RMCF
Operating Partners that will make this vision a reality."
Ron Sansom, Riverside's Senior Operating Partner adds, "I am
thrilled to have both Matt and Jeff join our growing RMCF Operating
Team. They bring complementary skills to our group, broaden our
operations knowledge and improve our experience base. Matt and
Jeff are proven operations executives with backgrounds in both
large and small company environments. They have grown businesses,
restructured poorly performing divisions, divested non-strategic
segments and acquired/integrated new growth legs. We are fortunate
to have attracted such highly talented individuals."
The
Riverside Company
The Riverside Company is the largest private equity firm focused on
the smaller end of the middle market and is one of the industry's most
experienced leveraged buyout investors. Riverside specializes in premier
companies with enterprise values of less than $100 million, and partners
with strong management teams to build companies through acquisitions and
value-added growth. Since 1988, the firm has invested in 129 transactions
with a total value of $2.1 billion, sales of $2.4 billion, EBITDA of $263
million and more than 11,000 employees. Its current portfolio in the U.S.
and Europe numbers 45. Riverside offers SureCloseŽ (the highest certainty
that a transaction will close) and the resources to complete acquisitions
smoothly and in as little as 30 days - thanks to its sizeable pool of
capital under management ($1.4 billion in six funds and growing), large
staff in 10 offices (New York, Cleveland, Dallas, San Francisco, Atlanta,
Chicago, Budapest, Munich, Prague, and Warsaw), and long-standing relationships
with partner lenders. The firm has produced top quartile returns for its
investors, which are among the world's leading pension funds, endowments,
funds-of-funds, insurance companies and banks.
For more information, contact:
Christine Croissant
The Riverside Company
216-344-1180
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