Team
Matt Estep – Managing Partner
Matt Estep is the Managing Partner and founder of Bosworth Capital Partners. Matt will be responsible for identifying and sourcing target companies, conducting due diligence, deal structuring, negotiating, financing and ultimately managing the acquired company.
Prior to attending Harvard Business School, Matt worked at Peoples Energy in Chicago, Illinois. During his time at Peoples, Matt rapidly ascended through the organization and worked in numerous capacities including design, project management and finally in operations management. Matt’s final role at Peoples involved the management of a utility maintenance facility with 250 union employees where he was responsible for the allocation of resources and the jobs that go along with this including: hiring, training, disciplining, budgeting, and staffing. Prior to Peoples, Matt spent time pursuing a career as a professional race car driver and as a result of his interest in motorsports and fabrication he co-founded of a go-kart manufacturing company.
Matt holds a Master in Business Administration degree from Harvard Business School and also graduated from Purdue University with a Bachelor of Science degree in Mechanical Engineering.
Selected Limited Partners
Edward Benford
Ed is the founder of Benford Capital Partners, LLC, a Chicago-based private equity firm focused on the lower middle market. Since inception in 2004, Benford Capital Partners has acquired six portfolio companies: Space Electronics, Badger Land Car Wash Equipment, U.S. Underwater Services, Ray Allen Manufacturing, K&H Manufacturing and Imperial Laundry Systems. Prior to forming Benford Capital Partners, Ed was a Principal at Prospect Partners, LLC, a lower middle market private equity firm with $270 million under management. Ed joined Prospect Partners at its inception in 1998 and played key roles in the sourcing, closing and monitoring of over 16 investments and served on the Board of Directors of seven portfolio companies. Prior to joining Prospect Partners, Ed worked at Lazard Frères & Co., Morgan Stanley & Co. and the Northern Trust Company. Ed earned a BA from Vanderbilt University and an MBA from the University of Chicago.
The Cambria Group
The Cambria Group is a private investment company which acquires and invests in small and mid-sized businesses – generally, quality businesses with established operating histories, and typically with revenues of under $50 million. Cambria has completed over 25 investments since its founding in 1996, investing across a wide range of industries, including the low-tech manufacturing, distribution and service sectors. The firm differentiates itself in two ways – first, in that each of the firm’s three principals has both operating and financial experience, and, second, in that principals provide the majority of the equity for each transaction personally. These distinctions allow the firm to add value both in the acquisition effort and in building value in the companies in which it invests; to make decisions quickly and without uncertainty as to its source of capital; and to accommodate a long-term perspective with respect to building shareholder value and seeking liquidity.
Thomas Cassutt
Mr. Cassutt is Managing Partner of TD Investment Company, which has made investments in more than 50 private companies, and is CFO of American Security Products, a leading manufacturer of high-security safes. From 1984 to 2011, Mr. Cassutt was Co-President of Nelson Nameplate Company, a rapid prototyping and engineering support company based in Los Angeles, California. Prior to joining Nelson, Mr. Cassutt was the Controller of Bristol Corporation, the parent company of 10 manufacturing companies, from 1978 to 1984. He currently sits on the board of American Security Products, Columbia Sanitary Products and Yates & Associates Insurance Services, Inc. Mr. Cassutt received his Bachelor’s degree in Physics from the University of California, Irvine, and his MBA from Stanford University’s Graduate School of Business.
W. Robert Dahl
Bob Dahl ran the global healthcare investment activities of the Carlyle group for over seven years. Carlyle is a leading private equity firm with over $75 billion of equity under management. He served on the investment committee of Carlyle’s US buyout funds, including $7.9 billion CPIV and $3.9 billion CPIII. He also served on the investment committee of the $430 million Carlyle Mezzanine Partners. Prior to Carlyle, Bob was at Credit Suisse First Boston, where he was co-head of healthcare investment banking in North America. Bob is a graduate of the Harvard Business School, where he was a Baker Scholar and a Loeb Rhodes fellow, and Middlebury College.
Dan Drexler
Dan currently works as an investment analyst for the Crown Family of Chicago. Dan is responsible for analyzing public investments and shares responsibility for overseeing an internal Fund of Funds for the Crown family. Dan is a graduate of the University of Wisconsin with a BA in Accounting.
William F. Duhamel
Bill Duhamel is a managing member of Farallon Capital Management, a registered investment company that manages equity capital for college endowments, foundations and high net worth individuals. Before joining Farallon, Mr. Duhamel worked as the executive director of Telecab, the third largest Mexican cable television company. Prior to his tenure at Telecab, Mr. Duhamel owned and operated his own cable television company in the U.S. Previously, he worked at Bain & Company. Mr. Duhamel graduated with honors and distinction and Phi Beta Kappa with his BA in economics and operations research from Stanford University, and received an MBA from Stanford’s Graduate School of Business where he was an Arjay Miller Scholar.
John Fitzgerald
John Fitzgerald is co-founder of Argo Management Partners, a private equity partnership with a focus on lower middle-market transactions. John is Chairman and interim CFO of Hunter MFG and serves on the board of directors of Oak Patch Gifts. Prior to Argo Management Partners, John was managing director of Adirondack Capital, LLC, a financial futures and derivatives trading firm. John is an MBA graduate of the Kellogg School of Management, Northwestern University. He also holds a BS, finance, from DePaul University.
Glenn Healey
Glenn Healey has managed nine different companies over the last 22 years ranging in size from $2 million to $90 million in revenue. He completed 45 transactions at those companies, including acquisition, financing and divestiture transactions. Mr. Healey is a Certified Public Accountant and a graduate of the University of Missouri and the Harvard Business School. He is a Director of Continental Fire & Safety Services, LLC and Wind River Environmental, LLC.
David Lazier
Mr. Lazier is Managing Partner of TD Investment Company. TD makes private equity investments, primarily in search funds. Mr. Lazier also serves as President of American Security Products, a leading manufacturer of high-security safes. He has served as Controller, Vice President of Sales and Co-President of Nelson Nameplate Company, a manufacturer of durable graphics and membrane switches based in Los Angeles, California. Prior to joining Nelson, Mr. Lazier worked as an engineer with IBM Corporation from 1982 to 1984. He is currently on the board of Nelson Nameplate Company, American Security Products, Columbia Sanitary Products and St. Mark’s Episcopal Church. He has also served on the board of Glendale Memorial Hospital Foundation and the San Gabriel Valley Habitat for Humanity. Mr. Lazier received his Bachelor’s Degree in Industrial Engineering from Northwestern University.
Rafael Somoza
Mr. Somoza most recently was the Co-Founder and CEO of VIU Media, Puerto Rico’s largest locally-owned outdoor advertising company, which was sold to Lamar Advertising. Prior to becoming CEO of VIU Media, he was the Co-Founder and CEO of Quest Management Corporation, a private equity group formed to identify, acquire, and operate a company in Puerto Rico. Previously, Mr. Somoza worked at CS First Boston, where he was involved in structuring over $1.2 billion in financings. He received the 2004 Entrepreneur of the Year Award in the Media Category for Puerto Rico, and currently sits on the board of the Puerto Rico Convention Bureau. Mr. Somoza graduated Magna cum laude, with a BA in Economics and Political Science, from Yale University and holds an MBA from Stanford’s Graduate School of Business.
Jim Southern
Mr. Southern manages a portfolio of private equity investments in small to medium sized companies. His portfolio includes 45 search funds. Search fund investing consists of providing search and acquisition capital to promising entrepreneurs whose intent is to acquire a small, established company with revenues of $10 million to $30 million.
Previously, Mr. Southern was himself a beneficiary of search fund investors early in his career. His first search resulted in the acquisition of Uniform Printing, a $43 million printer of specialty insurance documents, where he served as its CEO and chairman for 10 years. Investor returns from distributions and exit exceeded 30x the acquisition capital.
Mr. Southern holds an MBA from Harvard Business School and resides in Wolfeboro, NH and Boston, MA.
Jose Stella
Mr. Stella most recently was the Co-Founder and President of VIU Media, Puerto Rico’s largest locally-owned outdoor advertising company, which was sold to Lamar Advertising. Prior to becoming President of VIU Media, he was the Co-Founder and President of Quest Management Corporation, a private equity group formed to identify, acquire, and operate a company in Puerto Rico. Previously, Mr. Stella worked at KPMG Peat Marwick in the middle-market Mergers & Acquisitions Advisory Group. He also worked for UBS and Chase Manhattan Bank. He received the 2004 Entrepreneur of the Year Award in the Media Category for Puerto Rico. Mr. Stella graduated with high honors, with a BA in Economics, Finance and Investments, from Babson College and graduated cum laude with an MBA from The University of Michigan.
Will Thorndike
Mr. Thorndike founded Housatonic Partners in 1994. Prior to that, Mr. Thorndike worked with the Walker Publishing Company and T. Rowe Price Associates.
Mr. Thorndike is a graduate of Harvard College and the Stanford Graduate School of Business. He is a Director of Access Information Management; Alta Colleges; Continental Fire & Safety Services, LLC; Carillon Assisted Living, LLC; Rapid Communications, LLC; White Flower Farm, Inc. and a Trustee of the Groton School, the Boston Athenaeum, and the College of the Atlantic.
Scott Ullem
Scott Ullem was co-Head of Diversified Industries in Bank of America’s Global Corporate & Investment Banking Division before he retired from investment banking in April 2008.
Scott joined Bank of America Securities in 2005 as a Managing Director, Head of Midwest Industrials and Head of Global Automotive. Prior to Bank of America, Scott spent 14 years at Goldman Sachs in New York and Chicago, where he was a Managing Director in Goldman's Investment Banking Division. Scott’s primary investment banking focus was on corporate finance, strategy and mergers and acquisitions for industrial, consumer and healthcare companies. Scott graduated from Harvard Business School in 1994. He earned a B.A. in Political Science at DePauw University, Phi Beta Kappa, in 1989.
Scott is a Crown Fellow at the Aspen Institute. He taught as an Adjunct Professor of Finance at Northwestern’s Kellogg School of Management (2000-2004). He has been involved in a number of civic and philanthropic organizations, including: the Minnesota Orchestra Board of Directors; the Florentine Opera Board of Directors; The Art Institute of Chicago Auxiliary Board; DePauw University Board of Visitors. He is a member of the Economic Club of Chicago and the Executives’ Club of Chicago.
A. J. Wasserstein
A. J. Wasserstein was the founder and CEO of ArchivesOne, the third largest records management company in the United States. He successfully built ArchivesOne into a super-regional, full-service records management company before selling to Iron Mountain (NYSE: IRM) in May of 2007 after 16 years of operation. At ArchivesOne, 35 acquisitions were successfully completed to supplement growth. ArchivesOne employed 400 Team Members and had approximately 10,000 customers with total revenues of $50 million.
Mr. Wasserstein graduated from Colgate University and received his MBA from New York University. He completed the Owner/President/Manager Executive Education Program at Harvard Business School in 2002. The Hartford County Business Journal and New Haven Business Times have both selected Mr. Wasserstein as an award winner in their respective "Forty Under 40" programs. The U. S. Small Business Administration named him the "2000 Small Business Person of the Year in Connecticut". He is also a trustee at the Connecticut Community Foundation and at Waterbury Hospital. A. J. is a board member at IPT, a Hartford based facility outsource service provider as well as a board participant at Ivize, a market-leading provider of e-Discovery and legal document services.
Kent Weaver
Kent Weaver is currently CEO of Progressive Home Care. Previously, Mr. Weaver held executive positions in marketing and product management for KnowledgeLINK, a venture-backed technology services company that enables channel marketing process management. Prior to this, Mr. Weaver served as a regional CFO and business analyst in Pepsico's Pizza Hut Division. Mr. Weaver began his career with Ernst & Young, where he led engagement teams in the areas of strategic formation, valuation, restructuring, and corporate finance. Mr. Weaver received his MBA from the University of California, Los Angeles with an emphasis in marketing and entrepreneurial management and a BS in finance from the University of Southern California.