BANYAN ACQUISITION CORPORATION - Key Persons
Job Titles:
- Chief Financial Officer
- Head
- Special Advisor
Brett Biggs is the Chief Financial Officer of Walmart and Head of Walmart Enterprise Solutions. As CFO at Walmart since 2016, Brett is responsible for finance functions including strategy, merchandising, logistics, financial services, real estate, operations, and financial planning & analysis. Prior to his current role, Brett served as CFO for other Walmart divisions, including Walmart International, Walmart U.S., and Sam's Club. He also served as Senior Vice President of Operations for Sam's Club, Senior Vice President of Capital Markets, and Senior Vice President International Strategy/M&A. Prior to joining Walmart in 2000, Brett worked in M&A at L&P, where he supported the Storage Products and Store Fixture Groups, which were run by Keith Jaffee. Brett brings significant experience and expertise in a number of areas, including multi-billion-dollar M&A, public company governance, shareholder value creation, capital markets, public company strategy, international operations, and strategy. Alongside the Walmart Executive Team, Brett has helped to create nearly $200 billion in market value for shareholders since assuming the role of CFO. Our special advisor will assist our management team with sourcing and evaluating business opportunities and devising plans and strategies to optimize any business that we acquire following the consummation of this offering. However, unlike our management team, our special advisor will not be responsible for managing our day-to-day affairs and will have no authority to engage in substantive discussions with business combination targets on our behalf.
Job Titles:
- Chairman
- Director
- Member of the Audit Committee
- Member of the Compensation Committee
- Member of the Nominating and Corporate Governance Committee
Bruce Lubin served as the Vice Chairman of CIBC USA which has over $40 billion in assets. Over his 37-year career in commercial banking, he played an integral part of both the growth and M&A strategy of several banks leading several multi-billion dollar transactions. His career began at Exchange National Bank from 1981 to 1989, leading to the ultimate sale to LaSalle National Bank. He then went on to a leadership role at LaSalle, serving as Executive Vice President. Bruce helped to grow LaSalle's assets significantly from 1989 to 2007. In 2007, Bruce was part of the team that executed a sale to Bank of America for $21 billion. At that time, he left to join publicly-listed Private Bank. As President of Commercial Banking at Private Bank, he and the team grew assets to many billions of dollars as of 2017, leading to an ultimate sale to CIBC in 2017 for $5 billion. In addition to his current role as Vice Chairman, Bruce serves as the Chairman for the Chicagoland Chamber of Commerce, Board Member of the Governing Committee of AJC, and Board Member of the Civic Consulting Alliance.
Our Chief Financial Officer, George Courtot, comes to us with 23 years of experience in the foodservice industry. In 1996, George joined the business that became TriMark USA as Chief Financial Officer. He partnered with Jerry Hyman to complete 14 acquisitions and assist in growing the business to $2.1 billion in revenue. Prior to joining TriMark USA, George worked for 16 years at V.P. Winter Distributing Company (Winter), a wholesale distributor in the millwork distribution industry, privately held and later a subsidiary of a publicly traded United Kingdom company. During his tenure at Winter, George held the positions of Chief Financial Officer and Division President.
Our Chairman, Jerry Hyman, is a foodservice industry veteran who spent 17 year as CEO of TriMark USA, from 2003 to 2020, leading it to become the largest foodservice dealer in the United States. Jerry joined the business that became TriMark USA in 1981. During his time as CEO, annual revenue increased from approximately $50 million to $2.1 billion. Under Jerry's leadership, TriMark USA successfully executed an industry roll-up strategy with four successive private equity sponsors. During his tenures with each private equity sponsor, including Bradford Equities, Audax Group, Warburg Pincus, and a joint venture of Blackstone and Centerbridge, Jerry transformed the businesses, through both acquisition-driven and organic growth. Notably, during his tenure as CEO, many of the acquisitions TriMark USA completed were sourced on a proprietary basis, demonstrating his repeated ability to achieve compelling acquisition multiples. Beyond acquisitions and growth strategies, Jerry undertook a number of initiatives as CEO, including e-commerce, private label product development, and employee development. By 2019, the business had grown to encompass 3,100 employees, over 60 locations, and approximately 3.1 million square feet of warehouse and office space. During the 2008 financial crisis to 2021, Jerry founded NexGen Procurement Corp., a unique industry buying group, whose members consisted of TriMark USA and several of the other largest, competing distributors in the foodservice equipment space, which was created to focus the supply chain of the industry's largest manufacturers and dealers to maximize profitability through increased volume. From NexGen's establishment through January 2020, Jerry has served as its President and was also a member of its board until he stepped down from his role as TriMark CEO. Under his leadership, NexGen grew to over $4 billion in purchasing volume and changed the dynamics in the industry.
The career of our CEO, Keith Jaffee, has spanned four decades with a focus on buying and building companies in the commercial foodservice equipment and consumer products sectors. He is a career operator focused on manufacturing and distribution process improvement, business simplification/consolidation, industry relationships, and opportunistic acquisitions that offer value creation through synergy. Keith began his career at AMCO Corporation in 1982, a Chicago-based manufacturer in the foodservice equipment and supply industry, with a primary focus on commercial storage products. Keith served as President and CEO of AMCO from 1986 through 1997. As CEO, Keith oversaw its acquisition by Leggett & Platt ("L&P"), a publicly traded diversified manufacturer. Following the transaction, at L&P Keith served as the President of the Storage Products Group and eventually the Store Fixtures Group. While overseeing these divisions, Keith's focus was on the acquisition and consolidation of 15 separate businesses in the categories, amounting for hundreds of millions of dollars in completed acquisitions. At L&P in 2000, the combined 25 operating businesses under his management produced significant revenues, primarily from the foodservice and big-box retail channels. In 2001, an investment group led by Keith purchased select businesses of the Storage Products Group division from L&P to form Focus Products Group, where he was the Chairman and CEO from 2001 through 2009. Focus Products Group went on to become a collection of brands and businesses in the housewares, foodservice, and hospitality industry. Through both organic growth and 16 accretive acquisitions, Focus Products Group grew to a business hundreds of millions of dollars in annual revenue in 2006. Keith sold Focus Products Group in 2006 to a Chicago-based private equity group, Sterling Partners, realizing a significant return on invested capital. Since then, Keith has remained active in the industry, most recently serving on the Board of Directors at Edward Don, as Strategic Advisor at Adams Burch, and as financial sponsor of both Snapdrape Brands and FoodServiceExchange. Additionally, from 1998 to 1999 Keith served as the first 2-year President of NAFEM (North American Food Equipment Manufacturers). In 2015, NAFEM honored Keith with its Lifetime Achievement Award.
Job Titles:
- Director
- Member of the Audit Committee
- Member of the Compensation Committee
- Member of the Nominating and Corporate Governance Committee
- General Counsel of CMS / Nextech
Otis Carter has served as General Counsel of CMS/Nextech, a portfolio company of Audax Group, since January 2021, where he is responsible for all legal, governance and compliance matters, as well as executing strategic M&A activities. Prior to CMS/Nextech, he served as General Counsel and Corporate Secretary for TriMark USA from 2014 to 2021, partnering with Mr. Hyman to lead the negotiation and execution of strategic partnerships and M&A transactions that led to TriMark USA becoming the country's largest commercial foodservice equipment and supplies dealer. Before TriMark USA, Mr. Carter was a private equity attorney with Kirkland & Ellis LLP and Ropes & Gray LLP, representing private equity sponsors, alternative asset managers and their portfolio companies on M&A and financing transactions as large as $7 billion. Mr. Carter earned his J.D. from Washington University in St. Louis, and his M.B.A. from The Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania.
Job Titles:
- CEO
- Chairman
- Co - Owner
- Director
- Member of the Audit Committee
Peter Cameron is the Co-Owner of Farberware Licensing and Chairman and CEO of Acuity Management Inc. Acuity is an investment management company that owns and operates several commercial real estate and manufacturing enterprises. From 2009 to 2016, Mr. Cameron served as the CEO and later as the Co-Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Lenox Corporation, a manufacturer of tableware, giftware and collectible products. From 2005 to 2008, Mr. Cameron served as CEO of Waterford Wedgwood plc, a manufacturer of fine china and crystal products, and from 1997 to 2003 Mr. Cameron was the CEO and president of All Clad Holdings, a manufacturer of cookware products that was acquired by Waterford in 2004. From 1988 to 1995, Mr. Cameron served in various senior level management capacities within Hanson plc, including as chairman of U.S. Industries Housewares Group, and president and CEO of Farberware, Inc. Prior to that, Cameron was CEO and president of Revereware, a leading manufacturer of branded cookware sold to department store and mass merchant channels. Cameron has also held senior management positions at Polaroid Corp., Bowmar Instrumental Corporation, and Starcraft. Mr. Cameron also serves on the boards of Northeastern University, Chapel Hill, The International Housewares Charity Foundation, Acuity Management, Farberware Licensing Co., Hartmann and Lenox Corporation.