Mr. Lacovara joined Kohlberg & Co. in 1988 and was named Principal in 1995 and co-managing partner in 2006. During his tenure at Kohlberg & Co., Mr. Lacovara has been responsible for investing more than $500 million in more than 25 leveraged buyouts and add-on acquisitions. 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 B.A. in History from Harvard College, a Bachelor of Engineering & Science from Hofstra University and a Master of Science, Civil Engineering from Columbia University. Mr. Lacovara serves on the board of directors of a number of private companies as well as the Management Committee of Katonah Debt Advisors. Mr. Lacovara also serves on the board of directors of Katy Industries, Inc., Schawk, Inc. and Stanadyne Corp.
Samuel P. Frieder Director and Vice President
Mr. Frieder joined Kohlberg & Co. in 1989 and became a Principal in 1995 and co-managing partner in 2006. From 1988 to 1989 he was a senior associate in the Capital Funding Group at Security Pacific Business Credit. Prior to that, he was a senior real estate analyst at Manufacturers Hanover Trust Company. Mr. Frieder received an A.B. from Harvard College. Mr. Frieder serves on the board of directors of a number of private companies as well as on the Management Committee of Katonah Debt Advisors. Mr. Frieder also serves on the board of directors of Katy Industries, Inc. and Stanadyne Corp.
Dayl W. Pearson Chief Executive Officer
Mr. Pearson has more than 25 years of banking experience and has focused primarily on middle market credit intensive transactions, completing over $7 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.
Michael I. Wirth Chief Financial Officer, Chief Compliance Officer and Executive Vice President
Mr. Wirth joined Kohlberg Capital, LLC in November 2006 as Chief Financial Officer, Chief Compliance Officer and Executive Vice President. Mr. Wirth has over 23 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 $4.4 billion in structured real estate debt. Prior to joining the Company, from 2003 to 2006, Mr. Wirth was a co-founder, Chief Financial Officer 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 Chief Financial Officer 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 Chief Financial Officer of Charter Municipal Mortgage Acceptance Company (now known as CharterMac), a 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. 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 Katonah Debt Advisors in 2006 as part of its middle market team. Mr. Corless has over 30 years of experience in high-yield and leveraged credits. Prior to joining Katonah Debt Advisors, Mr. Corless was a Credit Risk Manager for Trimaran Debt Advisors, a CDO 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 Banc of America Securities LLC 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 since May 2005. Mr. Kratzman oversees portfolio management, trading, structuring, analytics and operations at Katonah Debt Advisors and serves as chairman of the Investment Committee. 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 as Head of Portfolio Management and one of three co-founders, he was responsible for the development and execution of portfolio investment strategies as well as the management of portfolio management personnel. Mr. Kratzman has over nine years of experience in CDOs/CLOs across 17 funds totaling in excess of $5 billion. Prior to IDM, Mr. Kratzman was with Societe Generale, New York where he had, among other responsibilities, the senior credit signature for all real estate and leveraged finance transactions. Prior to joining Societe Generale in 1997, Mr. Kratzman was co-Head of the Asset Recovery Group at Deutsche Morgan Grenfell in New York. From 1985 to 1996, Mr. Kratzman was employed by Westpac Banking Corporation, both in New York and London, where he held numerous positions, including founding and managing its Southeast Corporate Banking Group and Real Estate Finance Group, and managing the Workout Division of Westpac Banking Corporation. From 1993 to 1997, Mr. Kratzman was Senior Vice President and Chief Credit Officer for the Americas Division. Mr. Kratzman has over 30 years of leveraged finance experience, including extensive workoutexperience and has successfully completed the Citibank Credit Training Program. 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.
John M. Stack Vice President, Managing Director of Katonah Debt Advisors
Mr. Stack has over 30 years of banking experience focusing on credit and is responsible for the oversight of the investment analysts and processes of Katonah Debt Advisors, Kohlberg Capital's wholly-owned portfolio company, and also serves as a Vice President of Kohlberg Capital. Prior to joining Katonah Debt Advisors in 2005, Mr. Stack was a Managing Director at Societe Generale where he headed the U.S. Leverage Finance Group. This Group provided senior, mezzanine and high-yield financing for leverage buyouts across a broad spectrum of industries. Previously, Mr. Stack had been with the New York office of The First National Bank of Chicago, where at various times he headed the Media Team, the Leverage Finance Team, the regional credit analysis group, and a corporate banking team. Mr. Stack began his banking career with Citibank where he completed credit analysis, corporate banking, secured lending and distressed loan management assignments in New York and Puerto Rico. Mr. Stack is a graduate of Fordham College and did post-graduate business studies at New York University.
