Mr. Lacovara has served on Kohlberg Capital's Board since December 2006 and is also the Chairman of
the Board, the Chairman of the Valuation Committee of the Board, a Vice President of the Company and a
member of the Management Committee of Katonah Debt Advisors. Mr. Lacovara is a Partner of Kohlberg &
Co., a leading middle market private equity firm, which he joined in 1988. Kohlberg & Co. has invested
approximately $2.5 billion of equity capital in over 100 middle market platform and add-on acquisitions with
a combined transaction value of over $7 billion. From 1987 to 1988, he was an Associate in the Mergers and
Acquisitions Department at Lazard Freres & Company. Prior to that he was a Financial Analyst in the Corporate Finance Department of Goldman, Sachs & Co. Mr. Lacovara received a A.B. in History from Harvard College, a B.E. in Engineering Sciences from Hofstra University and a Master of Science in Civil Engineering from Columbia University. Mr. Lacovara serves on the boards of directors of a number of private companies as well as on the boards of directors of AGY Holding Corp. and Katy Industries, Inc. As a result of these and other professional experiences, Mr. Lacovara possesses particular knowledge and experience in corporate finance, corporate governance, strategic planning, business evaluation and oversight and financial
analysis that strengthen the Board's collective qualifications, skills and experience.
Samuel P. Frieder Director and Vice President
Mr. Frieder is the Managing Partner of Kohlberg. He joined the Firm in 1989, was made a Partner in 1995 and named Managing Partner in 2006. Prior to joining Kohlberg, Mr. Frieder was a senior associate in the capital funding group at Security Pacific Business Credit and a senior real estate analyst at Manufacturers Hanover Trust Company. He is a member of the board of directors of AGY Holdings Corporation, Bauer Hockey, Bioscrip, Inc., Centerplate, Inc., Central Parking Corporation, Chronos Life Group, Concrete Technologies Worldwide, Hoffmaster Group Inc., Katy Industries, Inc., Kellermeyer Building Services L.L.C., Kohlberg Capital Corporation, Niagara Corporation, Nielsen & Bainbridge, Inc., Packaging Dynamics Corporation, Phillips Plastics Corporation, Pittsburgh Glass Works L.L.C., Stanadyne Corporation, SVP Holdings, Ltd., Thomas Nelson, Inc., and Trico Products, Inc. Mr. Frieder received an A.B. from Harvard College.
Dayl W. Pearson Director, President and CEO
Mr. Pearson has served as Kohlberg Capital's President and Chief Executive Officer since December 2006 and has served on Kohlberg Capital's Board since June 2008. Mr. Pearson has more than 33 years of banking and finance experience and has focused primarily on middle market credit intensive transactions, completing over $5 billion of financings over the past 15 years. From 1997 to 2006, he was a Managing Director at CIBC in the Leveraged Finance and Sponsor Coverage Group specializing in middle market debt transactions. Mr. Pearson was responsible for originating and executing more than $3 billion of transactions including senior loans, high-yield securities, mezzanine investments and equity co-investments. Prior to joining CIBC, Mr. Pearson was instrumental in developing the middle market leveraged finance business of IBJ Schroder from 1992 through 1997. In 1995, he became responsible for the entire $500 million leveraged finance portfolio and was involved in approving all new senior and mezzanine commitments. Previously, he was a senior lending officer in First Fidelity Bank's middle market lending group primarily focused on restructurings, and prior to that Mr. Pearson invested in distressed securities. Mr. Pearson began his career at Chase Manhattan Bank after receiving a B.A. from Claremont Men's College and an M.B.A. from the University of Chicago. As a result of these and other professional experiences, Mr. Pearson possesses particular knowledge and experience in corporate finance, leverage finance, corporate credit and portfolio management that strengthen the Board's collective qualifications, skills and experience.
Michael I. Wirth Chief Financial Officer, Secretary and Treasurer
Mr. Wirth joined Kohlberg Capital in 2006 and has over 28 years of experience in the financial services
sector and has managed over $2 billion in real estate debt and equity securities and advised or structured over $15 billion in structured real estate debt. Prior to joining the Company, from 2003 to 2006, Mr. Wirth was a co-founder, CFO and Executive Vice President of New York Mortgage Trust, a mortgage REIT that completed
its initial public offering in 2004. Mr. Wirth served from 2002 to 2003 as CFO of Newcastle Investment
Corp., a mortgage REIT. Mr. Wirth also served as a Senior Vice President of Fortress Investment Group, the
external advisor of Newcastle, from 2002 to 2003. From 2000 to 2002, Mr. Wirth served as the Senior Vice
President and CFO of Charter Municipal Mortgage Acceptance Company (now known as Centerline Holding
Company), a multi-family residential finance company, American Mortgage Acceptance Company, a mortgage
REIT, and Aegis Realty Inc., a retail property REIT. Mr. Wirth also served as a Senior Vice President of
Related Capital Company, which externally managed each of the foregoing companies from 2000 to 2002.
From 1997 to 2000, Mr. Wirth served as a Vice President at CGA Investment Management, a monoline
insurer of structured debt and an investor in real estate and asset-backed securities. From 1983 to 1997,
Mr. Wirth was a senior manager with Deloitte & Touche LLP and specialized in transaction, valuation and
consulting services to the real estate and financial services industries. Mr. Wirth currently serves on the board of directors and is chairman of the Audit Committee of Quontic Bank and serves on the board of directors for the Young Survival Coalition, a not-for-profit group dedicated to address the critical issues related to breast cancer. Mr. Wirth received a B.B.A. from Georgia State University and is a member of the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants.
R. Jon Corless Chief Investment Officer
Mr. Corless joined Kohlberg Capital and Katonah Debt Advisors, Kohlberg Capital's wholly-owned portfolio company, in 2006 as part of their middle market team. Mr. Corless has over 30 years of experience in high-yield and leveraged credits. Prior to joining the Company, Mr. Corless was a Credit Risk Manager for
Trimaran Debt Advisors, a CLO manager. Prior to joining Trimaran Debt Advisors, Mr. Corless spent 15 years
as a Senior Credit Risk Manager for CIBC with risk management responsibility for media and
telecommunications, high-yield, middle market, and mezzanine loan portfolios. Before joining CIBC,
Mr. Corless worked at Bank of America NA in Corporate Finance and at Bankers Trust Company. Mr. Corless
received a B.A. from Wesleyan University.
E. A. Kratzman, III Vice President, President of Katonah Debt Advisors
Mr. Kratzman has primary responsibility for the overall management and direction of the business activities of Katonah Debt Advisors, Kohlberg Capital's wholly-owned portfolio company, since May 2005, and also serves as a Vice President of Kohlberg Capital. Mr. Kratzman oversees portfolio management, trading, structuring, analytics and operations at Katonah Debt Advisors and serves as chairman of the Company's Investment Committee. Mr. Kratzman has over 30 years of leveraged finance experience. Mr. Kratzman has previously been at Rabobank International in New York where he was the Head of CLO Management. Prior to that he was employed at First Union's Institutional Debt Management Group ("IDM"), where he was Head of Portfolio Management and one of three co-founders. Prior to IDM, Mr. Kratzman was with Société Générale, New York and, prior to that, he was Co-Head of the Asset Recovery Group at Deutsche Bank North America in New York. From 1985 to 1996, Mr. Kratzman was employed by Westpac Banking Corporation. From 1993 to 1996, Mr. Kratzman was Senior Vice President and Chief Credit Officer for the Americas Division. He holds a B.A. from Hobart College and an M.B.A. in finance from Rutgers University, and is a graduate of the Executive Management Program at J.L. Kellogg Graduate School of
Management.
Daniel P. Gilligan Chief Compliance Officer, Vice President; Director of Portfolio Administration of Katonah Debt Advisors
Mr. Gilligan is the Director of Portfolio Administration for Katonah Debt Advisors and Kohlberg Capital Corporation. While at Katonah Capital, Mr. Gilligan was in charge of daily portfolio administration of its six CLOs. In addition, he was directly responsible for the wind down and sale of the respective six vehicles. Prior to joining Katonah Capital in 2004, Mr. Gilligan was a Relationship Officer in the Corporate Trust department for U.S. Bank (formerly Sate Street Corporate Trust Services). Prior to joining Sate Street in 1999, Mr. Gilligan was a Director of Management Services for Sodexho USA. Mr. Gilligan holds a B.A. from Fairfield University.
William Gassman Managing Director
Mr. Gassman joined Kohlberg Capital Corporation in May 2011 to focus on originating and executing direct middle market investments. Previously, he was with Falcon Investment Advisors LLC, a middle market focused mezzanine fund where he executed private investments in lower middle market companies across various industries. Prior to joining Falcon, Mr. Gassman was a Director in the Leveraged Finance and Sponsor Coverage Group at CIBC where he was responsible for executing middle market leverage loan and high yield debt transactions. Early in his career, Mr. Gassman was employed as a naval architect at Overseas Shipholding Group, Inc. designing merchant vessels for their international fleet. Mr. Gassman graduated from the Webb Institute of Naval Architecture with a B.S. in marine engineering, and later earned a S.M. from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology as well as an M.B.A. from Columbia Business School.
