The Bravaldo Capital Advisors Team is a senior deal team with extensive knowledge and insight into the full life cycle of M&A efforts. This depth of skill and expertise across industries, when combined with the client-focused approach, offers our clients unparalleled service during the engagement.
Don founded Bravaldo Capital Advisors in 2006 to provide full-service investment banking to middle market clients, a segment underserved by larger advisory firms. As managing partner, Don has led BCA through successful transactions across a wide variety of industries.
Prior to founding Bravaldo Capital Advisors, Don led the middle market group at a Southeastern M&A advisory firm and oversaw all North American mergers and acquisition activity for Hanger Orthopedic Group, Inc., a large, publicly traded, consolidator of orthopedic and prosthetic service businesses. In these roles, Don administered all phases of the mergers and acquisition process, including identifying potential sell side opportunities, packaging businesses for sale, performing business valuations, extending and negotiating offers, conducting due diligence investigations, and managing the formal closing process.
Earlier in his career as an auditor with Bennett Thrasher & Co., P.C. and Arthur Andersen LLP, Don coordinated financial reporting engagements and provided business consulting services to clients throughout the Southeast in industries including construction, service, manufacturing, and healthcare.
Don is a member of the Georgia Society of Certified Public Accountants and the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants. He graduated cum laude with a BS in Accounting from Auburn University. Don is active in his church and enjoys golf, fishing and the outdoors.
For a list of Don’s recent speaking engagements, click here.
Mark Heyman is a seasoned corporate finance professional with over 20 years of experience in investment banking, corporate restructuring, and as a chief financial officer. During his career, Mark has provided merger and acquisition, refinancing/recapitalization, business valuation, and other strategic financial advisory services to middle market companies across a broad range of industries.
Prior to joining BCA, Mark was the CFO for a pre-commercial biotech company, where he made recommendations to the senior management team on acquisitions, capital raises, corporate restructurings, and business valuations. Previously, Mark worked as a corporate finance consultant for a global business advisory firm and as a vice president for a boutique middle market investment banking firm. Early in his career, Mark worked in the audit practice of Pricewaterhouse Coopers, LLP, where he provided attest services for both SEC and non-public clients.
Mark obtained his MBA in Finance and Marketing from the Weatherhead School of Management at Case Western Reserve University, and his BA in Political Science from the University of Michigan. Mark is a CPA (inactive) and is a member of the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants. In his free time, Mark can usually be found at a playground or swimming pool, with his wife and two young sons.
In his current role, Eric facilitates both buy and sell side mergers and acquisitions as well as corporate finance advisory engagements.
Eric has 8 years of corporate finance and M&A advisory experience. Prior to joining BCA, he worked with The Coca-Cola Company on the 21stCentury Beverage Partnership Team, where he managed the execution process for the divesture and refranchising of their bottling and distribution assets. Previously, he was a Principal at a lower-middle market consulting firm and an Associate at a boutique middle market investment bank. Early in his career, Eric worked in banking and wealth management at Morgan Stanley.
Eric earned his MBA and MS Finance with a corporate finance concentration from Georgia State University and received his BBA in Finance from the University of Georgia. He is also a member of the Turnaround Management Association. Eric enjoys spending his free time with his family, playing golf and ALTA tennis.
In his current role, Brady leads and facilitates all phases of both buy and sell side mergers and acquisitions as well as corporate finance advisory.
Prior to joining BCA, Brady was a Junior Analyst at Iron Capital Advisors, an Atlanta headquartered fee-only independent Investment Advisory firm, conducting company valuations and assisting in active management of their $4B portfolio.
Brady began his business career in corporate banking with iBERIABANK, formerly known as Georgia Commerce Bank, where he performed financial analyses and provided strategic capital structure recommendations to private lower middle-market businesses in the industrial, technology, general business service, and healthcare industries.
Brady graduated from Auburn University, earning an International Business degree with concentration in Finance. He earned an MBA from Panthéon-Sorbonne University and Georgia State University. Brady is also proficient in Spanish. He enjoys spending his free time with family and friends, playing various sports, hunting & saltwater fishing, as well as volunteering for Habitat for Humanity.
Janine is responsible for the managerial, operational, and administrative functions of the firm.
Janine has over twenty years’ experience in providing administrative, financial analysis and project management services. She has worked in various industries including hospitality software, financial electronic commerce, real estate, and sales & marketing services.
Janine graduated with a B.B.A from Syracuse University. She is a mother of three children – two college students and one high school student. Janine enjoys spending her free time with friends and family and volunteering in her community.
JP Jobin, Business Development Associate
In his current role, JP leads the firm’s efforts in outside sales and buy-side acquisition engagements. He also supports BCA in its general business development efforts. JP brings over 40 years of experience as a senior executive and business owner with leading information technology and human resources consulting firms in the United States and Canada. His career focus has been on building successful solutions for his clients.
JP has an extensive background in mergers and acquisitions, having participated on executive M&A teams responsible for hundreds of millions of dollars of transaction value at PGA Group, Venturi, and Quantum Informatoin Resources. JP also has experience opening new markets for global organizations. JP has introduced and implemented Project Management Offices (PMOs), Virtual Memory Systems solutions (VMS), Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) practices, offshoring/onshoring practices, help desk management, and guaranteed services to support high tech enterprises in the United States and Canada.
JP’s second passion is cooking. He is the Founder and Chairman of Les Marmitons, an international cooking club and is also a Board Member of Angel House, a non-profit organization providing youth shelters for young women. JP can be reached at jjobin@bc-advisors.com
A recognized leader known for strategic vision and business problem solving, George MacConnell brings 45+ years of operational and executive P & L experience across multiple industry segments to any assignment. His career includes generating positive results with large cap public companies, venture backed start-ups and middle market firms.
During 1999 George began assisting early stage companies with unique technologies and novel business models. He was a Director and Executive VP of Business Development for Fibermarket.com, an electronic market for recycled fiber. In 2000 George joined USBuild as CEO. USBuild was a supply chain/turn key solutions provider for large production homebuilders. In both start up companies he led the fundraising, developed and implemented go to market plans as well as general business development. From 2003-2007 George served as President & CEO of Masisa USA, a wholly owned subsidiary of Masisa S.A., a Chilean forest products company.
George is currently a partner with Management Services & Associates. MSA, an advisory firm launched in 2001, focuses on assisting mid market companies. He also serves as an Industry Affiliate with American Infrastructure MLP Fund.
George was educated at Northeastern University, where he majored in Business and Economics. He is a member of the University’s Corporation. He received advanced business training at The University of Michigan in finance, strategy development and implementation. He served on the BOD of John Wieland Homes & Neighborhoods for 17 years and also served as a Director at Fibermarket.com, USBuild.com.
As a member of BCA’s advisory board George assists BCA in direct business development efforts with lower middle market companies and closely held family run businesses as well as spearheads readiness evaluations and advisory engagements. George’s deep expertise in distribution, building products and service businesses adds invaluable operational perspective to client engagements.
Bret Sperling founded Sperling Advisors, LLC in 2019 to provide middle market companies financial leadership with an emphasis on navigating the challenges of mergers and acquisitions and capital raises.
Prior to founding Sperling Advisory, Bret spent 13 years with Windham Brannon, a regional Accounting and Consulting firm based in Atlanta, Georgia. During his time at Windham Brannon, he served as a principal in the Strategic Growth Advisory where he helped his clients navigate complex transactions, declining business situations, rapid growth situations, pre-deal preparation and planning and post-deal integration. Bret also lead well over 100 audits during his time in the assurance practice. Throughout his time at Windham Brannon he spear-headed the transaction services practice completing over 100 quality of earnings reports / consulting projects.
Early in his career, Bret spent four years at PriceWaterhouseCoopers (“PwC”), both in the tax practice and assurance practice. His time at PwC shaped his interest in mergers and acquisitions.
Bret is a member of the Georgia Society of Certified Public Accountants, the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants, as well as the Alliance of Mergers and Acquisition Advisors. He graduated from the University of Kentucky with a BS in Accounting. When not working he enjoys coaching his son’s sports teams, traveling and playing various sports.
Paul Carmody has over 20 years of experience as a senior executive in healthcare IT/services, Software-as-a-Service, internet infrastructure, and supply chain/manufacturing industries. He has served as a key executive in five successful exits and one IPO. He is currently COO of Nicus Software. He previously served as Senior Vice President and General Manager at E2open, a provider of cloud-based, on-demand software for supply chains. Before that Paul was GM of Strategic Businesses at Change Healthcare, a $1.2 billion company backed by Blackrock that merged with McKesson Technology Solutions.
Prior to that experience, Paul was CEO of AchieveIt, a SaaS business that provided a results management and strategic planning software platform to hundreds of businesses across the globe. He has held senior executive roles at Internap, Cbeyond, Rackspace, and Broadlane. He began his career as a consultant at McKinsey & Company.
Paul has a BA from Princeton University and an MBA from Stanford University.
Oliver was a Senior Associate at BCA before taking a position at Home Depot’s corporate headquarters in Strategic Business Development and later being promoted to a Finance Manager.
Before his time with BCA, Oliver worked with an Atlanta based investment bank, managing all phases of the mergers and acquisitions process as well as on the fund management side. Oliver has extensive expertise in mergers and acquisitions having started his investment banking career as a Corporate Finance Executive at a mid-market investment bank in London, UK. While in London, his expertise centered on mid-market sale mandates, primarily in the Business Services and Industrial sectors.
Prior to his investment banking experience, Oliver worked for a listed organization in London in a business analysis position gaining a good understanding of industry specific issues including customer churn, geographical concentration, competitor analysis and product performances utilizing a number of technical and benchmarking tools.
Oliver obtained his Masters in International Business with Languages from Heriot Watt University, Edinburgh, Scotland. While at university, Oliver participated in an exchange program at the ICN Business School in Nancy, France, attaining a Diploma in International Management. He also completed his Corporate Finance Diploma at the Institute of Chartered Accountants of England and Wales (ICAEW). Oliver speaks Italian, French and Spanish.
Oliver is passionate about a variety of sports and keen on international travel. He is an avid reader of the financial press and enjoys a range of music.
Bob Thomas retired in 2017 as Chief Executive Officer of EIS, Inc., a subsidiary of Genuine Parts Company (GPC NYSE). Bob joined EIS in 1999 and prior to that was President of the Specialty Chemicals and Products Division – Europe, Middle East and Africa, for Morgan Crucible Plc., a publicly traded British company headquartered in the United Kingdom. Prior to Morgan Crucible, Bob was with Scott Paper Company and Kimberly Clark Corporation for 23 years in various Senior Executive Leadership positions, including Vice President of the Asia Pacific Business, based in Hong Kong and Vice President of the North American Business, based in Philadelphia.
Bob has forty-four years of experience in business-to-business sales, marketing and executive leadership. He has a record of achievement in business leadership and creating outstanding and sustainable results in public company business units. Bob has extensive experience in M&A and business integration and has been very successful in leading highly effective executive teams. He was recognized over the years for various business excellence awards including being named as the Genuine Parts Company Manager of the Year in 2007.
Bob is a graduate of Western Carolina University and now serves on the school’s Foundation Board as Chair of the Advancement Committee and formerly as First Vice Chair of the Foundation. In 2014, he was selected as the recipient of the Western Carolina University “Professional Achievement” award for that year. He graduated from the Defense Language Institute in Washington, D.C. in 1972 and served in U.S. Army Military Intelligence from 1970-1973. Bob also studied international marketing at Stanford University in 1987. Bob and his wife Pam live in Johns Creek, Georgia and have three children as well as three grandchildren
Eric is currently the Director of Finance for Graphic Packaging International. He has over 15 years of financial advisory and public accounting experience with prestigious firms such as PriceWaterhouseCoopers, KPMG, and The North Highland Company. He has analyzed and sourced multi-million dollar investments in small, public and private companies for Roswell Capital Partners, a $100 million debt fund. In this role, he managed due diligence from deal origination through funding, including evaluating business models, industries, and revenue forecasts, performing financial and valuation analyses, interviewing customers, and presenting deal recommendations to the senior partners. He also screened investment opportunities and structured deal terms.
Previously, Eric worked in middle market investment banking where he was involved in M&A, private capital raises, business valuations, and other strategic financial advisory assignments for companies across a range of industries including healthcare, business services, software, defense, and manufacturing. Prior to entering the financial services industry, Eric performed audit and tax work for middle market firms in the Midwest and provided performance improvement consulting services to Fortune 500 companies.
Eric holds a BA in Accounting from Indiana University and a MBA in Finance and Strategy from Georgetown University. Eric enjoys running and traveling as well as studying foreign languages.
Jeff Cohen is a highly successful executive with 30+ years as a CEO, senior executive and advisor, in both growth and turnaround environments. His diverse background spans business services, consumer services, financial services, marketing services, and specialty and multi-channel retail. Following a corporate career including Home Depot and GE Capital, Jeff served as a CEO, operating advisor and investor in numerous privately held service businesses over the last 10 years. He currently serves as President of Larson-Juhl, a Berkshire-Hathaway company that has been a premier designer, manufacturer, and distributor of fine custom frames for over a century. Larson-Juhl has 24 facilities in the U.S. and operates in 17 countries.
Jeff has been CEO for companies including National Product Services, 3 Day Blinds and Mobile Media Enterprises, providing effective leadership during challenging market environments. Before taking on his roles as CEO he spent a number of years as a general manager, operator and marketer at world-class companies including GE, American Express and Home Depot.
At Home Depot, Jeff was President of the $3B At-Home Services Division, growing the installation service business 35%/year during his tenure. Previously as Group President, Direct Marketing Businesses, he successfully led two direct supply companies, the proprietary credit business, and the start up of homedepot.com. At GE Capital, he ran Macy’s Credit Services, a $1.2B outsourced credit business with 900 customer service associates. At American Express, Jeff rose through positions of increasing responsibility in the Consumer Card and Merchandising Divisions.
Jeff holds a BS-Commerce from Washington & Lee University, and an MBA from the Marshall School at the University of Southern California. He and his wife Diane have two children, Sara (20) and Joshua (16).
Rick Higdon has spent the past 35 years working in various finance, sales, and executive management roles in the technology industry. He has deep experience in international business development and has worked with companies in the energy, mining, and transportation industries. Rick started his career in audit and is a Certified Public Accountant (inactive).
After early roles in internal audit and corporate accounting, Rick went to work for an ERP software firm where he managed global budgeting and planning while living in Australia and then moved to South America where he took on a business development role. He later worked as CFO of a mobile computing firm and led the sale of the company to private equity firm GFI Energy Ventures. He then worked for GFI as president of an operating unit and supported the roll-up of four technology firms that were later sold to Oracle. After leaving GFI he founded the systems integration firm Turnpoint Solutions, and after seven years of growth, Rick sold the company to Five Point partners who were later acquired by EY. Rick worked at EY as an Executive Director before retiring in 2016.
In addition to serving as a Senior Board Advisor with BCA, Rick is currently serving as a board advisor for two technology companies and is serving as president for one of those companies. He also serves as Chair of the Board of Trustees for Brescia University and is a board member of the Lingap Center Children’s Foundation.
Barath Rao joins BCA’s team as an Analyst. He will be assisting BCA deal teams with various projects and current clients. Barath graduated from McGill University in Statistics and Computer Science. Barath can be reached at brao@bc-advisors.com
Bob Laws is a principal of Six Continent Ventures, Inc. (6CV), a financial consulting company. The company has private investments in real estate, retail, distribution and several technology companies. Bob is generally responsible for vetting all investments, aggregating funds and managing the relationships. Besides investment management, Bob spends most of his time as a fractional controller/CFO for entrepreneurial companies. During his CFO career, he has managed the accounting, HR and financing of several high growth companies with revenues in excess of $50 million. Besides fast growing and profitable companies, he has advised on several turnaround situations in addition to providing assistance with forensic accounting. He is on the advisory board for several private companies as well as a proposed charter school in Dekalb County, GA.
Mr. Laws has an undergraduate degree from Emory University (Atlanta, GA) as well as an MBA degree from Vanderbilt University (Nashville, TN). He has been associated with the Commercial Finance Association, Institute of Management Accountants and numerous entrepreneurial groups during his career. His out of office activities include running marathons in all 50 states and 6 continents. He has attained college level comprehension in Spanish and Italian. He is also a licensed NCAA soccer official.