Erik Scott Joins Palladium as Vice President

Palladium welcomes Erik Scott who has joined as vice president. Previously, he was a principal at FdG Associates where he focused on business services and other investment opportunities. Before joining FdG, Mr. Scott was a principal at Parthenon Capital where he was involved in investments in the business and healthcare services, manufacturing and distribution industries. He began his career at Bowles Hollowell Conner & Co. and also worked at Allied Capital making mezzanine investments. Mr. Scott earned a B.A. in Economics with a concentration in Spanish from Vanderbilt University, and an M.B.A. from the Darden Graduate School of Business Administration at the University of Virginia.

Marcos A.
Rodriguez

Mr. Rodriguez founded Palladium Equity Partners in 1997 and serves as managing partner. Prior to forming Palladium, Mr. Rodriguez was a partner of Joseph Littlejohn & Levy (JLL), a prominent buyout firm which he joined in 1989. Before launching his private equity career, he worked in operations for General Electric Company in the U.S., Mexico and France and graduated from GE’s Manufacturing Management Program. Mr. Rodriguez serves as Chairman of the Board of The Robert Toigo Foundation, board member of the New America Alliance, and member of the Board of Trustees of NewYork-Presbyterian, the University Hospital of Columbia and Cornell. He earned a B.S. in Mechanical Engineering from Columbia University, an M.B.A. from the Wharton School and an M.A. in International Studies from the Lauder Institute of the University of Pennsylvania.

Peter A.
Joseph

Mr. Joseph joined Palladium in 1998 and serves as managing director. He serves on the Board of Directors of Palladium portfolio companies Wise Foods, Prince Minerals, Taco Bueno Restaurants and Starfire Systems. Prior to joining Palladium, he was a founding general partner of Joseph Littlejohn & Levy (JLL). Since 1986, Mr. Joseph has directed investments in industries ranging from automotive components and specialty chemicals to healthcare and media. Prior to founding JLL, he was an investment banker at Quadrex Securities Group and an attorney specializing in corporate and securities law at Fried, Frank, Harris, Shriver & Jacobson. Mr. Joseph earned an A.B. from Cornell University in European History and his J.D. from the Columbia University School of Law.

David
Perez

Mr. Perez joined Palladium in 2003 and serves as a Managing Director. Previously, he held senior private equity positions at General Atlantic Partners, Atlas Venture and Chase Capital Partners. Mr. Perez started his career as an investment banker with James D. Wolfensohn, Inc., where he specialized in providing mergers and acquisitions advice to a select group of multinational corporations. Mr. Perez serves on the Board of Directors of Palladium portfolio companies Aconcagua Holdings, American Gilsonite, Prince Minerals, Regional Management, Remesas Quisqueyana and Herald National Bank.

Mr. Perez serves as the Chair of the Board of the National Association of Investment Companies (NAIC), and is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations, a member of the Board of Trustees of the Pan American Health and Education Foundation (PAHEF) as well as a member of the Board of Directors of Ballet Hispánico.

Mr. Perez earned a B.S./M.S. degree from the Dresden University of Technology, a Master’s of Engineering from Cornell University and a Master’s of Business Administration from the Harvard Business School.

Alex
Ventosa

Mr. Ventosa joined Palladium in 2004 and serves as managing director. He serves on the Board of Directors of Palladium portfolio companies Taco Bueno Restaurants and Castro Cheese. Previously, he was a managing director and member of the board of BBVA Securities in New York. Mr. Ventosa was responsible for the equity units in New York and London, LatAm research, and for the local brokerage houses in Latin America - Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Mexico, Peru and Venezuela - owned by parent company BBVA. Prior to BBVA Securities, Mr. Ventosa was the International Department director of BBV Interactivos, the largest brokerage house in Spain. He currently serves on the Board of Directors of the Spain-U.S. Chamber of Commerce. Mr. Ventosa earned a B.A. in Business Administration from Richmond College in London.

Luis
Zaldivar

Mr. Zaldivar joined Palladium in 2004 as vice president, and now serves as principal. He previously worked with Palladium on a consulting basis sourcing and evaluating U.S. Hispanic food and media deals. Mr. Zaldivar is a former vice president of corporate development and strategic investments at Univision. Prior to Univision, he worked for Lehman Brothers as an associate in the mergers and acquisitions group and for Accenture’s strategic services consulting practice as a senior consultant. Mr. Zaldivar earned a B.S. in Finance from New York University’s Stern School of Business and an M.B.A. from Harvard Business School.

Maria del
Pilar Avila

Ms. Avila joined Palladium in 2005 as vice president of marketing. Previously, she was executive director of New America Alliance (NAA). She was instrumental in establishing the NAA’s national market position among national and regional networks including entrepreneurial and non-profit circles, federal and state government, public pension fund system, and corporate America. Prior, she was vice president of marketing and events at the United States Hispanic Chamber of Commerce. Ms. Avila serves on the Board of Directors of The Marathon Club and is a member of the New America Alliance and the National Association of Securities Professionals. She earned a B.S. in Business Administration and Hospitality from the University of Central Florida.

Daniel
Ilundain

Mr. Ilundain joined Palladium in 2005 as a vice president. Prior to Palladium, he was an investment manager in BBVA Proyectos Empresariales, the private equity division of BBVA. Previously, he was an associate in the corporate finance and business development areas in the venture capital division of BBVA. Mr. Ilundain is a CFA and earned a B.S. in Industrial and Mechanical Engineering from Universidad Pública de Navarra (Spain), a B.S in Engineering from Staffordshire University (UK) and a Master in Finance from HTI Business School (Spain).

Erik A.
Scott

Mr. Scott joined Palladium in 2005 as vice president, and now serves as principal. Previously, he was a principal at FdG Associates where he focused on business services and other investment opportunities. Before joining FdG, Mr. Scott was a principal at Parthenon Capital where he was involved in investments in the business and healthcare services, manufacturing and distribution industries. He began his career at Bowles Hollowell Conner & Co. and also worked at Allied Capital making mezzanine investments. Mr. Scott earned a B.A. in Economics with a concentration in Spanish from Vanderbilt University, and an M.B.A. from the Darden Graduate School of Business Administration at the University of Virginia.

Kevin L.
Reymond

Mr. Reymond joined Palladium in 2000 as chief financial officer. Previously, he was the CEO of Hibernia Communications, LLC, a Palladium portfolio company in the AM radio industry. He is a former senior vice president and chief financial officer of Viacom Broadcast Group and Viacom Interactive Media. Prior to Viacom, Mr. Reymond worked for two years at Group W as the vice president of acquisitions analysis. Mr. Reymond began his career at Price Waterhouse where he specialized in mergers and acquisitions and clients in the media and entertainment industry. Mr. Reymond earned a B.S. in Accounting from Villanova and is a C.P.A.

Susan S.
Lyons

Ms. Lyons joined Palladium at its inception in 1997 as controller and now serves as director. Since 1989, she has worked in the private equity industry in accounting, business management and controllership roles. From 1994 to 1997, she was with J.H. Whitney & Co. in their New York and Stamford, Connecticut offices where she held the position of controller since 1995. Ms. Lyons earned a B.S. in Business Administration from Sacred Heart University.

Justin R.
Green

Mr. Green joined Palladium in 2004 as analyst, and now serves as vice president. Before joining Palladium, he worked as an analyst in the investment banking division of Citigroup’s Global Corporate and Investment Bank (formerly Salomon Smith Barney). Mr. Green earned a B.S. in Economics magna cum laude and an M.B.A. with honors from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania.

Yue
Guan

Ms. Guan joined Palladium in 2006 as analyst, and now serves as vice president. Previously, she worked as financial analyst in the financial institutions group of Morgan Stanley and the global securities services group of Goldman, Sachs & Co. Ms. Guan earned a B.S. in Business Administration with a minor in East Asian Studies from the University of California, Marshall School of Business.

Luis Francisco
Lora

Mr. Lora joined Palladium in 2006, and serves as vice president. He brings over 10 years of investment advisory and operating experience to the team. He was most recently a Director at UBS Investment Bank, covering clients in the Media and Communications sector. Before that, he spent four years at Bertelsmann, the global media and entertainment Company, where he had business development and strategic responsibilities across the company’s music, publishing, direct marketing and television divisions. He began his career at James D. Wolfensohn Incorporated, an investment banking and advisory firm servicing global clients across a broad range of industries. Mr. Lora earned his AB from Harvard University and has an MBA from the MIT Sloan School of Management.

Gary D.
Nusbaum

Mr. Nusbaum joined Palladium in 2006 and serves as managing director. He has more than 15 years of experience in private equity and asset management. From 1989-2002, Mr. Nusbaum was at the Private Equity firm Warburg Pincus, where he was a managing director. At Warburg Pincus, Mr. Nusbaum had responsibility for more than 20 investments including companies in the media, telecommunications, retail, healthcare, environmental, and logistics sectors. He worked in the firm’s New York and Hong Kong offices, and opened and ran its São Paulo office. From 2003-2005, Mr. Nusbaum served as a managing director of Aetos Capital, an asset management firm. At Aetos, he served as chief financial officer, headed its private equity business, and was a member of the investment committee for the firm’s Japan-focused real estate fund, Aetos Capital Asia. Mr. Nusbaum is a graduate of the University of Pennsylvania from which he earned a Bachelor of Science in Economics in 1988 and a Masters in Business Administration from the Wharton School of Business in 1989. He has served as a board member for several public and private companies.

Adam
Shebitz

Mr. Shebitz joined Palladium in 2006 as analyst and now serves as associate. Previously, he worked as an analyst for the mergers & acquisitions group at Banc of America Securities where he advised on a variety of consumer and retail transactions. Mr. Shebitz earned a Masters of Science focused on transitional economies at the London School of Economics and Political Science and graduated cum laude from Union College where he received a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science.

Rafael
Ortiz

Mr. Ortiz joined Palladium in 2006 as associate and now serves as vice president. Before joining Palladium he was an associate with Advent Morro Equity Partners where he invested in opportunities in healthcare services, business services and manufacturing. He began his career at Banco Popular de Puerto Rico where he was part of an internal M&A group executing principal investments and acquisitions of financial services companies in the U.S. and Latin America. Mr. Ortiz earned a BS from the Georgia Institute of Technology and an MBA from Stanford’s Graduate School of Business.

Thomas A. Mastrobuoni

Mr. Mastrobuoni joined Palladium in 2007 as controller. Previously, he was a fund controller at ING Investment Management, a private equity firm with $4 billion under management in fund of funds, secondary and co-investment funds. Before that, he was a senior accountant at Yohalem Gillman & Company, LLP. Mr. Mastrobuoni earned a B.S. in Accountancy at Villanova University and is a CPA.

Ivelisse Rodriguez Simon

Mrs. Rodriguez Simon joined Palladium in 2007 as vice president. Previously, she was a vice president at Reliant Equity Investors where she was involved in deal generation, investment structuring, portfolio management, and investor relations. Before joining Reliant, Mrs. Rodriguez Simon was vice president at Equest Partners involved in early stage investments and interim portfolio executive management. She began her career in mergers & acquisitions at Salomon Brothers and at Banc of America Securities in mergers & acquisitions and merchant banking. Mrs. Rodriguez Simon earned a B.S. in Finance and Accounting from the University of Illinois and an M.B.A. from Harvard Business School.

Leon Brujis

Mr. Brujis joined Palladium in 2007 as analyst. Previously, he worked as an analyst for the mergers and acquisitions group at Lehman Brothers. Mr. Brujis earned a Masters of Science in Finance, Economics & Cost Engineering and a Bachelor of Science in Operations Research (Magna Cum Laude) at The George Washington University.

Aldo Alvarez

Mr. Alvarez joined Palladium in 2007 as analyst. Previously, he worked as investment banking analyst in the Financial Sponsor Group at Banc of America Securities. He also spent time as a summer analyst in the Financial Sponsor Group at UBS. Mr. Alvarez holds a B.B.A. degree in Finance with a minor in Accounting, from the University of Texas at Austin, McCombs School of Business.

Tatiana Barbato

Ms. Barbato joined Palladium in 2007 as analyst. Previously, she worked as an investment banking analyst in the mergers and acquisitions group of Wachovia Securities. Ms. Barbato earned a B.B.A. degree in Finance and Accounting from the Goizueta Business School of Emory University.