Jan 7, 2020 publication description | Business Wire
Kreshmore Group (KG), a private restructuring and strategic mergers & acquisitions advisory company, announced today that it has successfully completed critical corporate restructuring and M&A intermediary services for a Chicagoland IT firm.
Managing Partner
Real Estate Capital Markets & Real Estate Asset Management
Joseph is the managing partner and founding member of Chicago based consulting and advisory firm Kreshmore Group. Joseph is primarily tasked with the oversight of the existing restructure and M&A platform, implementation of strategic initiatives, project management, and key client relationship management. Joseph steers Kreshmore’s overall vision with the help of a highly experienced consulting staff.
Joseph’s background is a mix of restructure/corporate renewal as well as capital markets transactional advisory. In the restructure realm, Joseph specializes in liquidity management, crisis management, balance sheet restructure, and organizational change. In this capacity, Joseph has served as both an interim and fractional CFO. Through Kreshmore Group, Joseph has served in these roles for private equity sponsored companies and other privately held middle-market companies. Over the course of his career Joseph has closed a multitude of transactions in virtually every industry with a special emphasis on transportation, multi-unit retail chains, clinical medicine, and distribution / wholesale. Joseph has been successful in pushing the fold of capital stack creativity by leveraging equity, complex subordinated structures, traditional financial offerings, and municipal incentives.
Joseph currently sits on the board of C Fit Corporation (Charter Fitness), Forest City Diagnostic Imaging LLC, and Indiana Regional Imaging Center in addition to serving as an advisor to a plethora of others. He holds an undergraduate degree from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign where he was both a James Scholar and proud recipient of the Bronze Tablet award. Professionally, Joseph holds a Series 65 license. Away from the office he enjoys spending time with his family, golfing, fishing, and traveling. Joseph prides himself on his personal relations with clients and business associates which has become deeply engrained in the Kreshmore culture and is identified as one of the biggest strategic advantages of the firm.
Partner
Sports Consulting
DJ Wabick is a former United State Specialty Sports Association (USSSA) Senior Vice President with a very diverse sports background. Originally drafted out of high school by the Chicago White Sox (2002), DJ continued onto college where he would become a Division I Baseball All-American at the College of Charleston (2005). That same year DJ was drafted once again, but this time by the New York Mets organization where he would go onto play for parts of six professional seasons.
Following his playing career, DJ started working with the USSSA where he would work his way up from a local director (2010 – 2012), to a State Director (2013-2016), to a USSSA Senior Vice President (2016 – 2020) with duties that included the oversight of the USSSA National Baseball Program and International Programs.
Though DJ has been involved in numerous aspects of sport, his passion lies particularly within the development and growth of sport at the amateur levels. DJ’s passion for development has allowed and afforded him with the opportunity to travel extensively on an international level where he has helped oversee and run numerous events in Italy, Germany, Spain, Belgium, Bulgaria, Poland, Romania, Mongolia, Tanzania, Nigeria, Ghana, and Uganda while working in other capacities in Asia and Mexico. DJ’s international relationships and work has afforded him the opportunity to be on the World Baseball and Softball Confederations (WBSC) Coach Commission which helps to administer and facilitate coach development programs across the 211 National Federations and Associate Members of the WBSC, was the leading voice on behalf of USSSA in becoming an Associate Member of the WBSC, and helped USSSA in acquiring the hosting rights for the 2018 WBSC Women’s Baseball World Cup. In addition to the work that DJ has done on behalf of USSSA within the international landscape, DJ has worked on various other projects for the WBSC direct.
DJ has also worked in many capacities on events throughout the United States and has worked intimately in different aspects of programming held at facilities such as ESPN’s Wide World of Sports, Big League Dreams facilities, and numerous complexes out of the Midwest including the Louisville Slugger Sports Complex in Peoria, IL. Due in large part to his background, in 2017 DJ helped USSSA broker a deal with the Major League Baseball Players Association (MLBPA) to help run a large National Development program, the Select 30. Following the completion of the Select 30, DJ helped in orchestrating a partnership between the MLBPA and USSSA called Players Way which is geared towards the true development of an athlete. DJ is a current Board Member of Players Way.
DJ has also consulted at different levels of projects as they relate to the development of multisport facilities. DJ helped with pre-construction, construction, post construction, and program implementation at the Woodside Sports Complex located in Mauston, WI including a full economic feasibility study, strategic partnerships, operations, and staffing, . DJ oversaw the development of a Feasibility Analysis and Summary Business Plan for the Village of Orland Park’s current athletic facilities and future development, a Housing Summary and Economic Impact Report for Brevard County on behalf of USSSA, and various other economic and feasibility studies for different municipalities and privately owned athletic facilities.
Beyond our own expertise and involvement, Kreshmore Group brings a menu of outside experts that share our philosophy for building strong, lean, and flexible organizations. They are on-call for specific tactical guidance or as outsourced execution resources on special projects.
Managing Director
Real Estate Capital Markets
Greg has spent the last 30+ years on almost every side of the table regarding operating businesses and real estate. With 15 years of banking experience and 16 years of company start up, rapid growth, operations, restructuring, real estate development, construction, investment and management experience, Greg has been a lender, borrower, investor, business founder, CEO, COO, CFO, developer, workout consultant, receiver and distressed borrower over the course of his career. After winding down from leading a series of teams working on the resolution, under a loss share agreement, of over 3,000 notes acquired from the FDIC when ShoreBank failed in 2010, Greg started targeting businesses for restructuring and growth opportunities as a hands on advisor and/or interim CFO/COO workout and investment through direct investment and the purchase of their debt. He has also worked with startups, guiding them from concept through fundings.
Greg’s recent experience has focused on crisis management, operational and financial restructuring, out-of-court restructurings and workouts, and bankruptcy consulting services to lower middle market distressed companies, specializing in corporate turnarounds. Greg can serve as Chief Restructuring Officer (CRO), and/or Independent Director, developing and implementing business transformation strategies and financial/operational improvements, re-capitalizations or strategic asset or company sales.
Greg graduated Summa cum Laude from Emory University with a BA in Economics and from Kellogg Graduate School of Management with an MBA in Finance and Accounting.
Managing Director
M&A Intermediary, Business & C-Suite Advisory
Thomas is a versatile and proven executive bringing over 25 years of experience in organizational leadership, strategic business development, consultative sales, integrated B2B marketing/public relations and general management. Tom is a motivated, creative, business plan-focused professional who gains top performance by building complementary, goal-oriented teams. Tom has excellent business development skills allied with practical applications of success-oriented strategies, planning & delivery.
Tom has led complex business plan strategies for lower-middle/mid-market private companies and for global 500 corporations, covering multiple business sectors, segments & geographies. He has full P&L experience of up to $20mil in sales, has managed 70+ employees and has a consistent commitment to shareholder return on investment and ongoing business successes.
Since 2002 Tom has led strategic lower-middle/mid-market M&A transactions as intermediary, as equity player and as independent sponsor. Industries include Manufacturing, Information Technology, Sports Training, Value-Added Warehousing & Distribution (VAWD), Supply Chain (SC) and Transportation & Logistics (T&L).
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Thomas is a graduate from the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign and is a Lambda Chi Alpha Alumnus. He is conversational in Hungarian and is experienced in multi-cultural environments. Away from the office Tom enjoys spending time with his family, golfing and traveling.
Managing Director
Real Estate Capital Markets
Michael’s entrepreneurial spirit and business acumen have enabled him to put his mark on Chicago’s real estate capital markets industry with significant transactions and material contributions to the firms for which he has worked and started. Michael’s expertise in real estate and corporate finance, enables him to structure creative solutions so that his clients can make decisions that enhance their fiscal position. He has experience in a broad base of real estate disciplines including financing, development, brokerage, asset repositioning, and investment banking.
Most recently Michael was CEO of Lift Capital, a Chicago real estate development platform. Previously, Michael was the founding partner of Patriot Capital Advisors, a boutique real estate capital markets/investment bank headquartered in Chicago. He has also worked for Credit Suisse First Boston Realty Corp and Donaldson, Lufkin, Jenrette (DLJ) where he was in the Investment Banking Division, Savills Studley, a London based global real estate services firm, and The John Buck Company, where he was the leasing agent for the Sears (now Willis) Tower. In his 30-year career Michael has closed transactions valued in excess of $5 billion in markets across North America.
Michael earned a Bachelor of Arts in economics from the University of Pennsylvania, where he lettered in football for two years.
Board Advisor
Michael is an experienced venture capital and private equity investor with a successful track record of originating, structuring and exiting private investments in early stage, growth stage & distressed companies. As managing partner for his private equity firm and family investment group, he is responsible for sourcing new deals, capital formation, negotiating and closing transactions, and developing business strategy.
Michael began his investment career in 1989 with Goldman Sachs and has been a member of both the Chicago Board of Trade and Chicago Mercantile Exchange. Michael left trading in 2005 to focus on managing the holdings of his family’s investment group. In 2015 Michael and his partner founded the Chicago based private equity firm South Branch Capital Partners which currently hold investment and board positions in insurance, health care, technology, transportation, investment banking & fitness.
Mike earned a Bachelor of Arts in finance from Loras College, Dubuque IA.
Managing Director
Real Estate Capital Markets
Geoff is a 30+ year commercial real estate veteran in asset management, property management and leasing, tenant representation and development, who recently utilized his business experience and extensive business network to start and run a small, Chicago-based private equity firm specializing in both real estate and small to mid-sized company investments.
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Director
Finance, Business & C-Suite Advisory
Michael is an experienced accountant and fractional CFO with a successful track record in early stage, growth stage & distressed companies. As director Mike is a versatile, results-oriented accounting professional with extensive background in all aspects of general and cost accounting. Strong ERP software and financial reporting software capabilities coupled with the ability to work well with all levels of an organization. Able to prioritize in order to meet rapidly changing deadlines while working within a team environment.
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Associate
Jacob is an associate with Kreshmore Group, reporting directly to managing directors in the Capital Markets and Restructure groups. His primary tasks involve project management, lender solicitation, and financial modeling. Jacob’s education is from the Kelley School of Business at Indiana University and holds Bachelor of Science degrees in Finance and Business Analytics. He is a CFA Level 2 candidate.
Jacob’s professional experience is rooted in capital markets transactions, and of recent, an increasing emphasis on restructure focusing on liquidity management and balance sheet restructuring. Jacob has worked on many transactions and projects in many industries including transportation, construction, recycling and waste disposal, and commercial real estate. He has formed very close relationships with his clients and has worked on dozens of transactions for repeat clients over the course of his two-and-a-half years with Kreshmore Group. Over the last 18 months, Jacob has begun to build the foundation of project management services for client’s construction endeavors and will begin formal project management education in 2020.
Outside of his professional career, Jacob is an avid college basketball, professional football, and professional baseball enthusiast. He spends his free time with his family, fishing, exploring classical music, and playing videogames.
Associate
Ian Cumberland has been an Analyst at Kreshmore Group for over two years. His primary role is assisting management with the creation of financial models, analysis of client information, and the gathering and dissemination of information. He is client facing and directly interacts on behalf of clients and lenders.
Ian has been involved in a diverse mix of deals ranging including conventional financing, workouts, M&A Transactions, and feasibility studies. Currently, most of his time is dedicated to Kreshmore’s real estate financing and workout/restructuring lines of business. Ian has had the opportunity to work with clients from a wide variety of industries including logistics, consumer goods, sports and entertainment, manufacturing, and food services. Through these interactions he has acquired a diverse knowledgebase across a wide set of industries.
Ian graduated Bentley University in Waltham Massachusetts with a Bachelor of Science in Finance with a minor in history in May of 2017. He enjoys reading non-fiction and sci-fi, watching documentaries, and playing boardgames.
Analyst
Jack is a first-year analyst with Kreshmore Group. Jack currently works on the field exam team where he works with lenders in assessing potential or existing clients borrowing capacity and financial performance. Previous to his current role Jack interned at KPMG in their audit division. In addition to KPMG, Jack spent two summer with Kreshmore, primarily working in the restructuring and M&A divisions where he helped complete financial modeling tasks as well as various financial memorandums.
Jack received his Bachelor of Accountancy from the University of Mississippi with a minor in Finance. He also holds Master of Science in Accountancy from the University of Notre Dame – Mendoza College of Business. Jack is currently sitting for a CPA. In his free time, he enjoys spending time with friends, golfing, reading, and exercising.
Managing Director
Restructure, Turnarounds, M&A
Anthony Lazzara is a Managing Director at Kreshmore Group, where he is responsible for origination, corporate restructure, M&A transactions, and direct investments. He has extensive experience supporting management and leadership teams.
Anthony is a seasoned veteran in the financial world both from the investing and operating sides. He has experience building and growing lucrative business enterprises, turning around underperforming entities, and providing strategic direction and management to business owners, boards, and executive committees. He is currently an acting board member and advisor to various companies.
Anthony received his BA in finance from Loras College.
Managing Director
Sports Consulting
Emily is an accomplished sports executive that carries over fifteen years of leadership in the industry. She has proven skills in managing a diverse portfolio of high-profile clients and events with a large participant base that generate significant revenue. She has demonstrated the ability to enhance existing events and facilities by incorporating new concepts that drive both a superior guest experience and increased profitability through strong partnering internally and externally. She manages with enthusiasm, positivity, and a focus on delivering results that exceed the guest and client expectations.
Most recently, Emily held the role of General Manager, USSSA Space Coast Complex. In this role she oversaw the management of travel operations, box office, event management, facility maintenance, guest services, sales and budget / capital planning. At this venue she was responsible for the execution of over 45 annual events with a unique participation in excess of 34,000 and overall attendance in excess of 260,000. Emily found innovative ways to meet budget goals, cultivated positive relationships with local officials and global industry partners, and developed operational processes for efficiency. Emily was appointed as a member of USSSA’s Executive Leadership Team, allowing her to engage in dynamic discussions to drive positive change within the organization.
The foundation for Emily’s career was set at the Walt Disney World Resort. She began within the resorts division but quickly transitioned to ESPN Wide World of Sports to pursue her passion. Throughout her twelve-year tenure she was promoted through several leadership roles to include Event Management, Sales / Partnerships, and Event Development / Programming. She worked with various organizations to include AAU, Baseball Canada, Diamond 9, MLB, MSBL, PGA, Tampa Bay Rays, Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Triple Crown, Under Armour, and USSSA. She was a top performer during her time at Disney for which she received the ‘Platinum Sales Award’ over multiple years, and she earned a spot in the ‘100 Percent Club’ in 2014, an award earned for reaching the highest level of sales.
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Emily grew up in Michigan, and upon her graduation from Central Michigan University she moved to Orlando, Florida where she currently resides. When Emily and her family are not travelling to experience new cultures, they enjoy spending time outdoors soaking up all that the Sunshine State has to offer. She is currently serving the Women in Sports and Events (WISE) Greater Orlando as Chair of the Sponsorship Committee.
