Berlin Haugen, CM&AA, CM&AP - Founder & CEO 

Berlin is a buyside mergers and acquisitions expert in providing outside corporate development support services to private equity groups, with a focus on proprietary deal flow origination. Berlin has led over one hundred buyside acquisition search engagements to source, originate, and acquire new platform and add-on acquisitions for private equity groups, family offices, billionaires, and Fortune 500 CEO’s. Berlin has 15 years of experience as an M&A intermediary and has completed over 200 transactions with an aggregate enterprise value of over $2 Billion located across 39 states and 5 countries. Berlin has completed transactions in the manufacturing, distribution, business services, healthcare services, residential services, consumer services, consumer products, chemicals, financial services, food, lumber, pharmaceuticals, automotive, construction, technology, medical device, staffing, laboratory, electronics, and digital marketing industries.  

Prior to launching BowPoint a decade ago in 2013, Berlin was a Managing Director at Pritchard Osborne Equity Ventures, a regional investment banking firm and division of the public accounting firm Pritchard Osborne, which was acquired in 2013. Berlin led the firms buyside M&A advisory and private equity services practice and achieved several key milestones, including the firm’s largest transaction by deal size, and the firm’s first cross-border transaction. Berlin began his career in finance at one of the largest financial advisory and investment banking firms in the world, Raymond James & Associates (NYSE: RJF), and prior to this was a small business owner of a consumer products distribution company.

Berlin is a Certified Merger & Acquisition Advisor having earned the CM&AA credential from the Alliance of Merger & Acquisition Advisors, he is a Certified Merger & Acquisition Professional having earned the CM&AP credential from the M&A Source at Kennesaw State University, and additionally holds a Certificate in Exit Planning from the Exit Planning Institute and his Bachelor of Science in Economics and Finance from Murray State University.

AWARDS:

#570 on the Inc. 5000 - National award recognizing the 5000 fastest-growing private companies in America, where BowPoint achieved 1,112% 3-year revenue growth. — Inc. Magazine

#692 on the Inc. 5000 - National award recognizing the 5000 fastest-growing private companies in America, where BowPoint achieved 678% 3-year revenue growth. — Inc. Magazine

NACVA 40 Under 40 - National award recognizing the Top 40 emerging leaders under 40 in the field of dealmaking and valuation. — National Association of Certified Valuators and Analysts (NACVA)

40 Under 40 Emerging Dealmaker - National award recognizing the Top 40 emerging M&A Dealmakers under 40 across the country in the M&A advisory profession. — The M&A Advisor

Best M&A Provider (6 Time Winner) - Award recognizing the best M&A professionals. — Small Business Monthly 

Top 100 People To Know to Succeed In Business -  Award recognizing the Top 100 most influential business advisors serving small businesses. — Small Business Monthly

Steve Thiele - Managing Director | Deal Origination

Steve has 11 years of buyside M&A deal origination industry experience and has sourced and completed over $700 Million in proprietary lower middle market platform and add-on acquisitions nationwide for private equity groups across dozens of industry verticals.  

Prior to joining BowPoint, Steve worked at a boutique investment banking firm that provided buy-side and sell-side mergers and acquisitions services to business owners and private equity groups. Prior to entering the investment banking industry, Steve was an entrepreneur who founded, grew, and sold his own regional route-based services company to a strategic buyer. Additionally, Steve served as a business and marketing strategy consultant to the Missouri Small Business & Technology Development Center and as an analyst with the Center for Social Science and Public Policy Research. 

Steve earned his Bachelor of Science in Finance and minor in Entrepreneurship, with honors, from Missouri State University and was the Founder of the Investment Banking Society and the President of The Entrepreneurship & Innovation Association.

Alex Oberg-Wood - Director of Research

Alex has 7 years of buyside M&A industry research experience focused exclusively on supporting private equity deal origination and has been involved in the identification, qualification, and completion of dozens proprietary lower middle market platform and add-on acquisitions originated for private equity groups and has worked across dozens of industries to research, identify, and select high fit acquisition targets.  

Prior to joining BowPoint, Alex worked as an M&A Research Analyst at Bainbridge Capital where he was responsible for industry and market research and for identifying, screening and selecting high fit new platform and add-on acquisition opportunities fitting his private equity clients transaction criteria. Prior to entering the M&A industry, Alex served as the President of Alco Truck Supply.

Alex earned his Bachelor of Science in Finance from San Diego State University and graduated Magna Cum Laude, and additionally served as the President of SDSU’s Finance & Investment Society and was the Chair of SDSU’s Endowment Undergraduate Equity Fund where he managed an investment portfolio for the university.

Max Leible - Vice President | Deal Origination

Max is an experienced mergers & acquisitions professional having spent over 6 years in investment banking, due diligence transaction advisory, and management consulting. Max has worked on over ~250+ transactions across dozens of industries and has extensive experience providing strategic guidance to private equity groups and their portfolio companies, leading due diligence, post-close synergy integration work, and executing buy side and sell side M&A transactions that drive value throughout the deal life cycle.

Prior to joining BowPoint, Max was a Director of Investment Banking at R.L. Hulett & Company where he provided M&A advisory services on both the buy-side and sell-side, he was an Associate at the middle market investment banking firm Douglas Group where he focused on mergers and acquisitions advisory, and Max served as a management consultant at Aon, plc (NYSE: AON) within the M&A and Transaction Solutions practice providing due diligence services for private equity groups and their platform companies, and he has been involved in many buy-and-build strategies.

Max holds a Bachelor of Science in Accounting & Finance from the University of Missouri-St. Louis, and is earning his Masters of Business Administration (MBA) at Washington University in St. Louis.

Josh Baran - Vice President of Research

Josh has 5 years of specialized buyside M&A industry research experience focused exclusively on supporting private equity groups and has been involved in the identification, qualification, and completion of many proprietary lower middle market acquisitions across dozens of industries.  

Prior to joining BowPoint, Josh was the Director of Research at another investment banking firm that provided both buy-side and sell-side M&A advisory services where Josh led the M&A research team and executed buyside deal origination assignments for the firm’s private equity clients seeking add-on acquisitions.

Josh holds a Bachelor’s of Arts in Organizational Communication from the University of Colorado in Colorado Springs.

Chris Lawrence, MBA, JD - Vice President of Research

Chris has 5 years of research experience and works on BowPoint’s research team to provide market, industry, and business intelligence, identify and qualify acquisition targets, and produce proprietary acquisition intelligence reports for BowPoint’s private equity clients.

Prior to joining BowPoint, Chris was a Market Research Associate at Orchid Black, a management consulting firm where he was involved in working with growing companies. After law school, Chris started his career at the largest law firm in the world, Baker McKenzie.

Chris holds a Bachelor’s of Business Administration and Master of Business Administration (MBA) from Louisiana State University, and received his Doctor of Law / Juris Doctorate from Louisiana State University.

Max Ilendo, CPA - Senior Associate | Deal Origination

Max is a member of the M&A deal origination team and is responsible for direct outreach to business owners on behalf of BowPoint’s private equity clients who are executing buy-and-build acquisition strategies. Max specializes in sourcing both add-on and platform acquisitions.

Prior to joining BowPoint, Max worked as a Certified Public Accountant at Ernst & Young (EY) in their Chicago, IL office.

Max holds a Bachelor’s degree from the University of Missouri in Accounting, and a Master’s of Accountancy from the University of Missouri, and is a Certified Public Accountant.

Zach Stegenga - Senior Associate | Deal Origination

Zach is a member of the M&A deal origination team and is responsible for direct outreach to business owners on behalf of BowPoint’s private equity clients who are executing buy-and-build acquisition strategies. Zach specializes in sourcing both add-on and platform acquisitions.

Prior to joining BowPoint, Zach worked at the private equity group Software Growth Partners where he was a Senior Associate responsible for direct proprietary deal origination, and prior to this worked at the private equity group Five Elms Capital as a Business Development Analyst responsible for direct prospecting to originate proprietary deals. Zach additionally worked at investment banking firm Leonis Partners in New York City in a business development capacity to initiate relationships with business owners exploring the sale of their companies. Zach additionally worked at a buyside M&A deal origination firm where he led acquisition searches for private equity clients nationwide.

Zach holds a Bachelor’s of Science degree in Marketing from the University of Kansas, where he was a student ambassador and sat on the Student Alumni Leadership Board.

Eric Kibbey - Associate | Deal Origination

Eric is a member of the M&A deal origination team and is responsible for direct outreach to business owners on behalf of BowPoint’s private equity clients who are executing buy-and-build acquisition strategies. Eric focuses on sourcing both add-on and platform acquisitions.

Prior to joining BowPoint, Eric Kibbey was a special forces trained Airborne Army Ranger with Top Secret clearance, and later served as an officer in the Stryker Infantry Battalion where he led a team of 40 men capable of deploying to combat operations anywhere in the world.

Eric holds a Bachelor’s degree from Washington University in St. Louis where he was an NCAA football player, and holds his Master’s of Business Administration (MBA) in Finance from the University of Florida’s college of business.

Patrick Betley - Associate | Deal Origination

Patrick works on the M&A deal origination team and is responsible for direct outreach to business owners on behalf of BowPoint’s private equity clients who are executing buy-and-build acquisition strategies. Patrick specializes in sourcing both add-on and platform acquisitions across dozens of fragmented industries.

Prior to joining BowPoint, Patrick was a manufacturers representative selling lighting and other building products to contractors, and sold exclusive luxury ski vacations for Vail Resorts in Colorado. Additionally, Patrick previously held leadership positions in the fitness industry for Club Fitness, Golds Gym and 24 Hour Fitness.

Patrick holds a Bachelor of Science degree from the University of Missouri and was a competitive student athlete playing as a point guard on the basketball team at Fontbonne University.

Anthony DeMott - Associate | Deal Origination

Anthony is a member of the M&A deal origination team and is responsible for direct outreach to business owners on behalf of BowPoint’s private equity clients who are executing buy-and-build acquisition strategies. Anthony specializes in sourcing both add-on and platform acquisitions.

Prior to joining BowPoint, Anthony worked as a full-time Deal Originator on the M&A team at an investment banking firm where he was responsible for cold calling business owners, generating interest in selling their companies, and collecting financial statements, and other business information. Anthony additionally worked as a sales executive in the staffing industry, business developer in the healthcare industry, and was a door-to-door canvasing sales manager within the home services industry.

Anthony holds a Bachelor’s degree from the Alfred College of Business in Marketing from Alfred University in New York.

Will Carver - Senior Analyst | Deal Origination

Will is a member of the M&A deal origination team and is responsible for direct outreach to business owners on behalf of BowPoint’s private equity clients who are executing buy-and-build acquisition strategies. Will specializes in sourcing both add-on and platform acquisitions.

Prior to joining BowPoint, Will worked as a full-time Deal Originator on the M&A team at an investment banking firm where he was responsible for cold calling business owners, generating interest in selling their companies, and collecting financial statements, and other business information. Prior to getting into the M&A business, Will worked at State Farm where he was a licensed insurance professional responsible for generating new business.

Will is earning his Bachelor of Science degree from Georgia Southern University, and attended the University of Mississippi.

Jordan Kessler - Senior Analyst | M&A Research

Jordan is a research analyst at BowPoint that specializes in conducting deep-dive industry research and building market landscapes as well as conducting business-specific intelligence gathering and competition matrix analysis as part of BowPoint’s efforts to identify, profile, and qualify high fit acquisition targets fitting our private equity clients investment criteria.

Prior to joining BowPoint, Jordan worked as a researcher at Johns Hopkins University where she collected and analyzed open-source information and produced reports on her analytical findings and previously was a staff writer for the Merciad newspaper.

Jordan holds her Bachelor’s degree in Intelligence Studies from Mercyhurst University.

David Watrous - Analyst | M&A Research

David is a research analyst at BowPoint responsible for market and industry research and business-specific intelligence gathering to identity and profile acquisition targets fitting BowPoint’s private equity client’s acquisition criteria.

Prior to joining BowPoint, David worked as a Business Analyst conducting open-source intelligence for entrepreneurs and small businesses to provide market and competitor analysis. Additionally, David worked at The Balduzzi Group which is a leading political consulting firm where he conducted research on candidates running for political office.

David holds a Bachelors of Arts degree in Political Science & Legal Studies from St. John Fisher University where he graduated Cum Laude and a Master of Science degree in Applied Intelligence from Mercyhurst University.

Kyle Archer - Analyst | M&A Research

Kyle is a research analyst at BowPoint responsible for market and industry research and business-specific intelligence gathering to identify and profile acquisition targets fitting BowPoint’s private equity client’s acquisition criteria.

Prior to joining BowPoint, Kyle gained investment banking experience at J.P. Morgan where he gained M&A research skills by doing market research and identifying acquisition targets, he completed an investment banking program with Bank of America and Citi where he evaluated companies and delivered data driven recommendations by profiling and summarizing company financial performance and operations. Prior to this Kyle worked at a law firm where he focused on providing legal research, reviewed and analyzed documents, and supported the firm’s estate planning practice.

Kyle is earning his Bachelor’s in Science in Finance with a minor in Entrepreneurship from the University of Tampa’s Sykes College of Business and was a pre-law student at Rowan University.

Sai Veeravalli - Analyst | M&A Research

Sai is a research analyst at BowPoint responsible for market and industry research and business-specific intelligence gathering to identify and profile acquisition targets fitting BowPoint’s private equity client’s acquisition criteria.

Prior to joining BowPoint, Sai worked in private equity at Marine Capital Partners where he was responsible for conducting industry research to identify potential acquisition targets fitting specific industry and financial criteria, and additionally worked at Micher Capital and was the Co-Founder of Elpida Med, a manufacturer of medical supplies.

Sai is earning his Bachelor’s in Science in Finance from the Business School at the University of Central Florida.

Catherine Bitzer - Director of Administration & Marketing

Catherine serves as the Director of Administration where she is responsible for all aspects of bookkeeping, accounts receivable, accounts payable, insurance, banking, and accounting coordination. Additionally Catherine serves as the Director of Marketing where she is responsible for various aspects of content and graphics creation, copywriting, social media account management, conference marketing, print marketing, and email marketing.

Prior to BowPoint, Catherine worked in the hospitality industry and was a small business owner of an event planning company that specialized in decorating for and orchestrating events for brides and soon to be mothers.

Catherine pursued her Bachelor’s Degree at Southern Illinois University.

Tom Phelps - Managing Director | Corporate Development

Tom is a veteran M&A intermediary with decades of deal experience who has been involved in over 200 M&A transactions during his career as an M&A advisor at three different investment banking firms. Prior to becoming an investment banker, Tom served as the Vice President of Corporate Development for a publicly traded multinational industrials company with $2.5 Billion in annual revenue and was responsible for all its merger, acquisition, and divestiture activities prior to its acquisition by the largest private equity firm in the world, The Carlyle Group. Tom has vast direct operating experience having served as the President, COO, CFO, or turnaround manager of several middle market companies that were public company subsidiaries or private equity portfolio companies in a diverse range of industries headquartered in the United States, Mexico, and Egypt.

Tom earned his Bachelor of Science in Business Administration from the University of Missouri and his MBA in Finance from Southern Illinois University.

David Pritchard, CPA, CM&AA - Senior M&A Advisor

David is a veteran M&A transaction intermediary with decades of experience and has been involved in hundreds of millions of dollars of M&A transactions over his career. In addition to his experience as a CPA having founded, led, and merged his own regional public accounting firm he has also been the founding shareholder of a boutique investment banking firm as well as an investor, Director, and/or President of several companies which he helped to grow and sell. David is a highly active angel investor and sits on the investment committee of the Missouri Founders Technology Fund and is a mentor at Cultivation Capital, a venture capital firm. 

David earned his Bachelor of Science in Accounting from Eastern Illinois University, he is a certified public accountant (CPA) and member of the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants (AICPA), he is a Certified Merger and Acquisition Advisor (CM&AA) and a member of the Alliance of Merger & Acquisition Advisors.