India Brook Partners: About Us

JEFFREY F. TARPLIN, CEO and Managing Director. Jeff founded India Brook in 2003. He has represented leading institutional investors, middle market companies and Fortune 1000 companies in connection with mergers and acquisitions and financing transactions in a broad range of product segments in the food and beverage industry.Since 2003 he has specialized in originating strategic food industry acquisition transactions through an extensive network of relationships with management teams and leading institutional investors specializing in the industry. He provides strategic and financial advice to build value for growing companies in the food industry.Previously he was a principal of Quadrant Management (New York, NY), an investment fund affiliated with Richemont - the Swiss based financial holding company that controls luxury brands such as Cartier, Mont Blanc, Dunhill and Piaget. At Quadrant, Jeff managed investments and acquisitions in wholesale distribution, food, business services, oil and gas, and manufacturing companies, and arranged debt and equity financing for portfolio companies. Earlier in his career, Jeff practiced corporate finance and mergers and acquisitions law on Wall Street and with major law firms in New York and Washington, D.C., including Carter, Ledyard & Milburn, Brobeck Hale and Dorr International and Baker & Hostetler. During this period he handled several hundred transactions, advising LBO and private equity funds, investment banks, commercial banks and corporate clients in connection with mergers and acquisitions, public offerings, venture capital and commercial financing transactions. Jeff received a JD from The National Law Center at George Washington University and a B.A., with honors, from Haverford College.

EVAN WECHSLER, Senior Vice President. Evan joined India Brook in 2010 and is a member of India Brook’s investment banking team. He has substantial experience in all phases of middle market M&A transactions. Most recently, Evan was a Vice President at Quantum Equity Partners, LLC, a middle market private equity firm based in Bethesda, MD. At Quantum he was responsible for origination and management of new investments as well as raising equity capital from financial partners. He also was active in limited partner investor relations; senior and mezzanine debt placement and transaction diligence and served as a director of several of the firm’s portfolio companies. Previously, he was a Research Analyst in the Equity Research division of Morgan Stanley & Co. Incorporated. Evan received a Bachelor of Business Administration degree from the University of Michigan Business School and a Master of Business Administration from Georgetown University with Honors.

KATHY HANULA, Vice President. Kathy has been a financial advisor to lower middle market companies and their owners for almost 20 years in the areas of financial analysis, business valuation and mergers and acquisitions. For the past several years she has been active in the valuation and sale of privately owned companies. Prior to that, she was a financial operations principal in the securities industry focusing on compliance and reporting for privately held broker dealers. Kathy began her career as a financial analyst in the government systems division of IBM. She has an MBA in Finance from the University of Pittsburgh, a BS in Finance and a BS in French from the Pennsylvania State University.

EXECUTIVE PARTNERS
JIM GREEN, Executive Partner-Food Industry. Jim is a successful food industry executive with broad experience in procurement, manufacturing, order management and distribution, sales and marketing, finance, strategic planning, and mergers and acquisitions. With over twenty years of industry experience, Jim has particular expertise in baking products and ingredients. Jim's industry experience in baking spans the full range of segments from seeds and growers, through milling and processing, to distribution, customers and consumers. From a channel perspective he has led efforts in foodservice, in-store bakery/deli, frozen retail and the commercial aisle. For the last several years Jim has been the CEO of Jim Green & Associates, a management consulting firm providing strategic counsel to major domestic and international food companies in connection with business development, sales, operations and acquisitions. His previous experience includes 5 years with Awrey Bakeries (Director of Marketing) and 14 years with Rich Products (Vice President - Bakery). Educated at Michigan State University, Jim continues to provide strategic counsel to leading food companies in addition to his activities with our firm.

RICHARD DANKO, Executive Partner-Food Industry. Richard provides specialized advisory services to clients in the food industry. He has a wide range of skills and experience in finance, operations and business development in the baking industry and other food industry segments. In addition to his position with India Brook, Richard is also President of Summit Industries International, L.L.C., a food industry consulting firm located in Sedona, Arizona. Summit represents clients including bakeries, food manufacturing, and food equipment firms located throughout Europe and Asia Consulting engagements with these firms included: marketing strategies, sales management, market studies, as well as joint venture, mergers and acquisitions advisory services. From 1975 to 1995, Richard was Eastern Regional Manager of the Red Star Yeast & Products Division of Universal Foods Corporation (now Sensient Technologies, Milwaukee, WI). He also served as Vice President of Sales and Marketing where he managed an organization with annual sales of over $150 million. Richard was educated at the University of Pittsburgh and Syracuse University and is a member of the American Society of Baking and the Institute of Food Technologists, and is a Certified Master Baker. He has also authored several published articles on the baking and food related industries.

ADVISORY BOARD

Matt Turnbull is an executive and private investor in small to mid-cap companies in the consumer, retail and manufacturing sectors. Previously he served as CEO of Jacques Gourmet which operates a premium bakery/café restaurant chain and manufactures and markets consumer baked goods, including the Miss Meringue^TM product line. Matt has been a consultant to private equity investors and has specialized in turnarounds and rapid growth companies. He has also served as interim president during company transitions. Turnbull has extensive operating experience as a manager and principal. In 1998 he and his partner purchased and operated Lubricating Specialties Company, a $100 million specialty chemicals manufacturer. He has also served as: Executive VP of The Custom Shop, Director of Strategic Planning at Circle K and in store operations and management for Saks Fifth Avenue and Carter Hawley Hale. Turnbull received his MBA from Harvard University and his Bachelor of Arts degree in economics from UCLA.

Anna Gannon is President and CEO of Taormina Sales Company, a leading importer and distributor of specialty food products from Italy, Spain, the Mediterranean and South America, founded in 1982. She led a management team that acquired and recapitalized the Company in 2006 acquired the Company in 2006. From 1988 to 1998, she was a partner in AMR Shipping, Ltd. an international shipping company based in Italy and the USA. She managed financial and strategic planning for the business, growing revenues through transition to new global markets. She later served as Managing Partner of ARG Capital Group, where she provided finance, business planning, marketing and investment consulting services to start-up and growth companies. She holds an M.B.A. from Columbia Business School and a B.A. from Smith College.

Robert P. Wessely is a Senior Partner in the New York office of Withers Worldwide, an international law firm with offices in London, New York, Geneva, Milan and Hong Kong. Rob specializes in mergers and acquisitions and private equity transactions, both domestically and especially across borders. He has experience representing a broad range of domestic and international corporations and financial institutions in public and private financings, mergers and acquisitions and other strategic transactions. He has recently led transactions in industries as diverse as media, steel, aviation, financial institutions and foods. Rob speaks fluent German. He was educated at the University of Illinois, the University of Vienna and the University of Michigan Law School. He is a member of the American Bar Association, the Association of the Bar of the City of New York and the American Society of International Law.