MCLEAN - Key Persons
Job Titles:
- Certified Public Accountant
- Managing Director
- Adjunct Professor With George Mason University 's MBA Program
- Co - Head of the Defense, Government
Andy Smith is co-head of the Defense, Government and Intelligence (DGI) practice. Mr. Smith has been recognized as a Super CPA by the Virginia Society of CPAs and Virginia Business and as one of Washington, DC's Top 50 CPAs by SmartCEO magazine.
Mr. Smith launched his career at KPMG where he was a corporate finance and audit manager and worked in Washington, DC; Moscow, Russia, and Almaty, Kazakhstan. He later joined Washington Equity Partners as an associate director, supporting various international wireless telecommunications transactions. He also worked with a strategic advisory group to Lucent Technologies and was the Director of Finance of a wireless telecom services company.
Mr. Smith has been an Adjunct Professor with George Mason University's MBA Program and is also a frequent speaker and author on business valuation topics. He has been a national instructor with National Association of Certified Valuation Analysts and a guest lecturer at Catholic University, University of Maryland, Georgetown University Law School, and Johns Hopkins University's MBA program. In addition, he has been a designated expert witness in numerous court cases.
Mr. Smith is a Certified Public Accountant and is Accredited in Business Valuation with the American Institute of Public Accountants. Mr. Smith is a graduate of the University of Richmond's E. Claiborne School of Business.
Job Titles:
- Vice President of Operations
Eric Gins, The McLean Group's Vice President of Operations, has more than 15 years' experience in advertising, strategic planning and market positioning, technology integration and graphic and web design with a focus on corporate positioning. Before joining The McLean Group, Mr. Gins was project director for The CAMMAY Group, a Washington, DC-based marketing, advertising and public relations firm. There, he managed media and public relations campaigns for the Maryland State Lottery, Washington Gas, Prince Georges County Health Department, Carrollton Enterprises and The Cordish Company, conducting interviews, drafting articles and press releases, and managing each account's overall workflow. A graduate of Mary Washington College, Mr. Gins holds masters certifications in multi-media design.
Harry Ward has more than 20 years of senior executive and M&A advisory experience in a number of industrial and technology sectors. He has both buy side and sell side advisory experience including the sale of 3 Phoenix to Ultra Electronics and the divestiture of GlobalTrak to Orbcomm. Buy side clients have included NASA and defense contractors, as well as aviation, SATCOM and maritime technology companies. He has in-depth experience with the creation of ESOPs, including the sale of Linxx Global Solutions to a private equity-funded leveraged ESOP in 2015, and currently directs The McLean Group's sponsor coverage program. Mr. Ward also has a strong background in the management and growth of small- to mid-sized companies and a strong technical background in semiconductors and automation technology. Over a three year period, he led a West Coast distribution company through the development and execution of a growth plan in preparation for successful sale to a strategic buyer. Mr. Ward is based in the Hampton Roads, Virginia area and travels frequently on the East Coast, Gulf of Mexico region, Southern California and the space and missile haven of Huntsville, Alabama. He regularly publishes industry M&A reports and serves as a guest speaker and panelist for numerous business and civic organizations. A US Naval Academy graduate, Mr. Ward served during multiple deployments from both US coasts as a Navy helicopter pilot and survival instructor (SERE School). He earned an MBA in finance from San Diego State University.
Job Titles:
- Managing Director
- Senior Managing Director
Marc Gruzenski, a Senior Managing Director at The McLean Group, has nearly 25 years in the cyber security, physical security and security risk management sectors. Mr. Gruzenski leads the firm's Security M&A Practice.
Mr. Gruzenski joins the firm after serving as Director of Global Security Technology and Director of Information Protection at The Walt Disney Company, where he led global teams in protecting people and intellectual property for the most iconic brands in America to include Twenty-First Century Fox, ABC, ESPN and many others. Prior to that Mr. Gruzenski was Chief-Intelligence and Analysis, Global Asset Protection for the world's largest consulting firm, Accenture, where he led threat intelligence and response operations for 285,000 employees working in 120 countries. He started his professional career serving his country as an officer in the U.S. Army and as a case officer in the Central Intelligence Agency.
Mr. Gruzenski has also remained very active in industry associations, including the Overseas Advisory Council, Defense Security Advisory Council, Security Industry Association, and the Global Security Exchange. He also helped build cross-industry collaboration organizations focused on insider threat and separately on security technology.
Mr. Gruzenski hails from Annapolis, MD and graduated from Hood College in Frederick, MD. When not working, Marc focuses on his most important job as husband to his wife Nairi, and father to Aniela (19), Tomas (17), Soren (8) and Lilyana (3).
Job Titles:
- Managing Director
- Managing Director of the McLean Group 's Water, Wastewater & Environmental Practice Group
Mark Bertler, Managing Director of The McLean Group's Water, Wastewater & Environmental Practice Group, has represented numerous public and private firms in both advisory and principal roles on such issues as strategic management, corporate growth, financing, restructuring, and overall capitalization in the water and wastewater segment. For more than 25 years, he has held senior corporate executive positions with a number of Fortune 500 water and wastewater manufacturing and service companies with extensive experience in M&A, joint ventures, partnerships, and other strategic initiatives both domestic and global. During his career, Mr. Bertler has served in the capacity of senior executive, investment banker and advisor on more than 20 successful sell and buy side M&A and capital engagements. Mr. Bertler holds a BS in Chemical Engineering from the University of Wisconsin - Madison and a MBA from University of Wisconsin - Milwaukee.
Job Titles:
- Vice President
- Member of the CFA Institute
Mr. Loftus is a Vice President in the firm's business valuation practice and is responsible for the completion of valuations for public and private companies for transaction, financial reporting, tax, and other purposes.
Mr. Loftus has completed hundreds of valuation engagements, which include business valuations, intangible asset valuations, fairness opinions, purchase price allocations, goodwill impairment tests, long-lived intangible asset impairment tests, and complex security valuations.
Mr. Loftus is a member of the CFA Institute and has earned the right to use the Chartered Financial Analyst designation. He is also a Certified Valuation Analyst. Mr. Loftus holds a BS in Finance and a minor in Accounting from Old Dominion University.
Job Titles:
- Co - Head
- Managing Director
Mitchell Martin is co-head of the firm's Defense, Government & Intelligence (DGI) practice. Selected recent transactions include the sale of ARRAY Information Technology to CGI, the sale of an undisclosed Intelligence Community Company to Veritas Capital, the sale of Protas to Criterion Systems, the sale of FireTeam to AE Industrial Partners, the sale of Cerilian to KACE and many others. Mr. Martin has led or co-led over 70 M&A transactions in the DGI sector.
Mr. Martin is regularly quoted as an industry expert in the Washington Post, Washington Business Journal, Defense News, Washington Technology and other industry publications.
Prior to joining The McLean Group, Mr. Martin held financial advisory positions with leading investment banks focused on M&A for defense and government service companies. Previously, he was an Army Captain and commanded an Infantry Company in the Middle East. Mr. Martin is Airborne and Ranger qualified, and currently holds a Top Secret Security Clearance.
Mr. Martin is an Honors Graduate of the United States Military Academy at West Point. He received his M.B.A. from the Sloan School of Management at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and his M.P.A. from the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University.
When not working, Mitch enjoys spending time with his wife Tiffany and twin nine-year-old boys, Carter and Wes.
Mr. Dufour has more than 40 years of asset valuation and marine transportation experience. He joined Stickney Marine Surveying, Inc. in 1977, and was promoted to Vice-President of Operations in 1978. In 1988, he assumed the duties of President.
Mr. Dufour has surveyed all types of commercial marine vessels, including ships, tugs, towboats, crewboats, supply vessels, barges, derricks, dredges, and lift vessels, including their machinery. He is qualified in various State and Federal Courts in marine surveying, safety, engineering, and appraisal.
Education:
United States Coast Guard Academy Graduate
Naval Damage Control School
USCG Merchant Marine Safety School
EMD Engine School
Paul Klick, a Managing Director at The McLean Group, has nearly 25 years of investment banking experience and has completed over 80 sell- and buy-side M&A, capital formation and advisory assignments. Mr. Klick joined The McLean Group in 2018 to help lead the firm's efforts serving clients in the technology, media and telecom (TMT) sectors.
Prior to joining The McLean Group, Mr. Klick was a Managing Director at Evergreen Advisors Capital and Outcome Capital, both middle market investment banks providing merger & acquisition advisory services for companies within the TMT sectors. Mr. Klick started his career at Friedman Billings Ramsey where he spent nearly fifteen years working on mergers & acquisitions and equity and debt offerings for financial services, real estate, technology and communication companies.
Mr. Klick received a Bachelor of Business Administration degree with a concentration in Finance from the Cox School of Business at Southern Methodist University.
Ryan Berry is a Managing Director at The McLean Group and heads up the firm's Valuation Advisory practice. Ryan has over 20 years of financial and accounting experience and has performed and overseen thousands of valuation engagements. During the course of his career, he has advised clients on valuations leading up to their IPO, provided fairness and solvency opinions for M&A transactions and recapitalizations, and worked with clients and their auditors on valuations for financial reporting purposes such as purchase price allocations, impairment testing, and complex security valuations. Ryan has also written and contributed to numerous articles on valuation topics and spoken at various conferences and webinars.
Ryan started his career as a financial analyst at Booz Allen Hamilton. While at Booz, Ryan maintained a TS/SCI clearance and worked in both the DoD and Intelligence Agency divisions where he provided financial and operational support to program managers overseeing several mission critical contracts.
Ryan earned a BA in Economics with a minor in Technology, Management, and Policy from the University of Virginia. He also received an MBA from Johns Hopkins University's Carey School of Business. He's a CPA accredited in business valuation and a certified valuation analyst through NACVA.
Job Titles:
- Managing Director
- Managing Director With the McLean Group 's Valuation Services Group
Mr. Sievers is a Managing Director with The McLean Group's Valuation Services Group. As a Managing Director within the firm's business valuation practice, he ensures the completion of business valuations for public and private companies for transaction, financial reporting, equity incentive plan, tax, and other purposes.
Since joining the firm, Mr. Sievers has completed over 1000 valuation engagements, which include business valuations, fairness opinions, solvency opinions, portfolio valuations, purchase price allocations, goodwill impairment tests, long-lived intangible asset tests, and equity incentive plan analyses.
Mr. Sievers is one of the leaders of the firm's ESOP Practice. In addition to attending several ESOP training seminars and conferences, he has completed the full spectrum of ESOP-related valuation engagements ranging from transaction advisory, fairness opinions, feasibility analyses, annual valuations, and solvency opinions. Moreover, Mr. Sievers has the relevant experience dealing with complex ESOP-specific topics, such as transaction structuring, Fair Market Value of debt, repurchase obligations, follow-on transactions, and minority interest discounts.
He is also one of the leaders of the firm's valuation analytics team, which specializes in valuing complex derivatives typically through applying option-pricing models, binomial lattice models, or Monte Carlo simulations to comply with IRC 409A, ASC 718, ASC 805, and ASC 815 reporting purposes.
Job Titles:
- Managing Director
- Principal
Ms. Overstreet has 30 years of financial, accounting, business valuation and mergers and acquisitions experience. She holds a CPA and FINRA investment banking licenses, as well as a variety of business valuation, and merger and acquisitions-related designations. During her career, Ms. Overstreet worked for a large national accounting firm as an auditor and tax professional. She also was a Controller, Director of Finance, and Chief Financial Officer for privately-held and publicly-traded companies ranging from small start-ups to companies with annual revenues of $1 billion.
Ms. Overstreet is a principal in and lead's the firm's Austin, Texas business valuation practice. She also serves as an investment banker, focused on the healthcare and technology sectors. In this capacity, she works with a vast array of clients and business owners on complex transactions.
Ms. Overstreet is an author and speaker on various mergers and acquisitions, capital formation and business valuation topics. She was a 2010 nominee for the Profiles in Power & Women of Influence of Central Texas Award. She holds a BBA with a finance concentration from the University of Texas at Austin. She currently serves on the Advisory Board for the Center for Global Business at McCombs School of Business at the University of Texas at Austin.
Job Titles:
- Vice President
- Vice President in
Mr. Halstead is a Vice President in The McLean Group's business valuation practice and is responsible for the oversight and completion of valuations for public and private companies for transaction, equity incentive, financial reporting, estate planning, tax, and other purposes.
In his time with the firm, Mr. Halstead has completed hundreds of valuation engagements, which include business valuations, intangible asset valuations, fairness opinions, purchase price allocations, goodwill impairment tests, long-lived intangible asset impairment tests, and complex security valuations involving the use of option-pricing models and Monte Carlo simulations.
Mr. Halstead is a Certified Valuation Analyst and holds a BS in Applied Economic Management with a concentration in Financial Planning from Virginia Tech.