Sixth AnnualBeecken Petty O’Keefe & Company Private Equity ConferenceScaling New Heights
February 16, 2007Chicago Cultural Center
The University of Chicago Graduate School of Business
Agenda
Time Event Location*
8:00–8:45 a.m. Registration and networking breakfast G.A.R. Rotunda
9:00–9:10 a.m. Welcome and introductions G.A.R. Hall
Ken O’Keefe, Partner,
Beecken, Petty, O’Keefe & Company
9:10–10:10 a.m. Morning Keynote Speaker G.A.R. Hall
Andrew Studdert, Chairman, President,
and CEO, NES Rental Holdings, Inc.
10:15 – 11:25 a.m. Panel: Making Control Investments G.A.R. Hall
in Distressed Situations
11:30 a.m.–12:50 p.m. Lunch Preston
Bradley Hall
11:40 a.m.–12:45 p.m. Luncheon Keynote Speaker Preston
Howard Marks, Chairman Bradley Hall
Oaktree Capital Management
1:00–2:10 p.m. Panel: Differentiation Tactics G.A.R. Hall
in the LBO Business
2:20–3:30 p.m. Panel: Challenges Caused by G.A.R. Hall
Untested Capital Structures and
Non-Traditional Lenders
3:30–3:45 p.m. Break G.A.R. Rotunda
3:45–4:55 p.m. Panel: International Investing: G.A.R. Hall
Current Strategies, Trends, and Outlook
5:00–6:00 p.m. Cocktails and networking reception G.A.R. Rotunda
*The Grand Army of the Republic (G.A.R.) Hall and Rotunda
are located on the second floor.
Sixth Annual Beecken Petty O’Keefe & Company Private Equity ConferenceScaling New Heights
February 16, 2007Chicago Cultural Center
Polsky Center for Entrepreneurship
Steven N. KaplanFaculty Director Neubauer Family Professor of Entrepreneurship & Finance
Ellen A. Rudnick, ’73Executive DirectorClinical Professor of Entrepreneurship
Linda DarraghDirector of Entrepreneurship ProgramsAdjunct Associate Professor of Entrepreneurship
Starr MarcelloAssociate Director of Entrepreneurship Programs
Stephanie MarcucciAssociate Director of Marketing and Communications
Anna BishopProgram Manager
Robyn SearlesOffice Manager
Michael P. Polsky Center for EntrepreneurshipThe University of Chicago Graduate School of Business5807 S. Woodlawn Ave.Chicago, IL 60637773.834.4525Fax 773.834.4046ChicagoGSB.edu/entrepreneurship
© 2007 The University of Chicago Graduate
School of Business. All rights reserved.
Printed by AlphaGraphics, Prudential Plaza.
2 | Private Equity Conference
Welcome from the Conference Hosts
Dear Conference Attendees,
The Entrepreneurship, Venture Capital, & Private Equity Group (EVP) and
the Polsky Center for Entrepreneurship would like to thank you for joining
us at the sixth annual Beecken Petty O’Keefe & Company Private Equity
Conference.
Today’s event is designed to give students and friends of Chicago GSB an
opportunity to hear from successful professionals and alumni in the private
equity industry. The panel participants and sponsors all have been recruited
by students. The issues discussed today reflect the interests of the many
Chicago GSB students who are passionate about private equity. The presence
of our guests speaks volumes about their esteem for Chicago GSB and our
students’ dedication to creating a great conference.
The Beecken Petty O’Keefe & Company Private Equity Conference, along
with the Entrepreneurship and Venture Capital Conference and the Edward
L. Kaplan New Venture Challenge, complements the innovative courses,
research, and guidance expertly provided by exceptional Chicago GSB faculty
in entrepreneurship and finance. We would like to thank all of our sponsors,
panelists, moderators, and volunteers who have made this conference
possible. We also are grateful for the support provided by Chicago GSB
professor Scott Meadow, who recruited our morning keynote speaker.
We hope you enjoy the conference and find the discussion enlightening,
entertaining, and, above all, informative.
Sincerely,
Steven N. Kaplan Ellen A. Rudnick, ’73
Faculty Director of the Polsky Center Executive Director of the Polsky Center
for Entrepreneurship for Entrepreneurship
Neubauer Family Professor of Clinical Professor of Entrepreneurship
Entrepreneurship & Finance
Andrew Boswell, ’07 Eric Madry, ’07
EVP Group Co-Chair EVP Group Co-Chair
Ellen A. Rudnick, ’73and Steven N. Kaplan
Andrew Boswell and Eric Madry
Morning Keynote
Andrew StuddertChairman, President, and CEO
NES Rentals
Andrew Studdert joined NES
Rentals as president and
CEO in June 2004 and was
appointed chairman of the
board of directors in August
2005. Since emerging from
bankruptcy in early 2004, the company has completed a
significant restructuring and turnaround while moving
from a decentralized group of acquired businesses to a
centralized, integrated company able to effectively lever-
age its capabilities and resources. NES completed its turn-
around with a sale to Diamond Castle Holdings for $850
million in July 2006.
Prior to joining NES, Studdert served as chief operating
officer of UAL Corporation/United Airlines from 1999–
2002. He also held the posts of senior vice president, Fleet
Operations from 1997–99, and chief information officer from
1995–97. As CIO, he led the airline during the September
11 crisis and testified before the full 9/11 Commission.
Before joining United Airlines, Studdert served as
executive vice president at First Interstate Bancorp, then
the seventh largest American bank holding corporation
and operating in 14 western states. He held executive
positions in retail and mortgage banking, alternative
delivery systems, and technology.
Studdert serves on the Board of Regents of Loras
College in Dubuque, Iowa, and on the Board of Directors
of the Big Shoulders Fund in Chicago. He is a past chair-
man of the Nevada Redevelopment Corporation that
focused on innovative solutions to affordable housing.
Studdert earned a BA from San Francisco State
University.
Lunch Keynote
Howard S. Marks, ’69Chairman
Oaktree Capital Management
Howard S. Marks is a pioneer
in the management of high-
yield bonds and convertible
securities. In the more than
35 years since his entry into
the investment manage-
ment industry in 1969, he has developed the fundamen-
tal investment philosophy that governs all of Oaktree’s
activities and assembled one of the largest pools of
institutional assets under management in these fields. In
cofounding Oaktree in 1995, Marks realized his desire to
build a firm which operates according to his investment
philosophy, beliefs, and standards. His responsibilities
consist of providing leadership to Oaktree’s people,
managing the firm, and communicating with its clients.
Previously, Marks headed a department at The TCW
Group, Inc., which managed investments in high-yield
bonds, convertible securities, and distressed debt. He
also was chief investment officer for Domestic Fixed
Income of Trust Company of the West and president of
TCW Asset Management Company.
Before joining TCW, Marks was with Citicorp
Investment Management for 16 years where, from
1978–85, he served as vice president and manager of the
convertible and high-yield bond portfolios. Earlier, he
was an equity analyst and the bank’s director of invest-
ment research.
Marks holds a BS cum laude from the Wharton School
at the University of Pennsylvania where he majored in
Finance. He also earned an MBA in Accounting and
Marketing from Chicago GSB, where he received the
George Hay Brown Prize. He is a Chartered Financial
Analyst and Chartered Investment Counselor.
Chicago GSB | 3
Keynote Speakers
4 | Private Equity Conference
Panel: Making Control Investments in Distressed Situations sponsored by DLA Piper
Panelists
Stephen PresserPartner
Monomoy Capital Partners
Stephen Presser
is a partner at
Monomoy, the
chairman of the
board of direc-
tors of Barjan,
LLC, and a
member of the
board of directors of Awrey Bakeries,
Inc., Hess Industries, Inc., and
Casting Technology Company. Prior
to founding Monomoy, Presser was
a principal at KPS Special Situations
Fund from 1998–2005 and served as
chairman or member of the board of
directors of several KPS companies.
At KPS, Presser also was the senior
operating professional of an affiliated
financial advisory firm that repre-
sented creditors in the restructuring
of several North American aero-
space and steel companies including
LTV Steel, Bethlehem Steel, United
Airlines, American Airlines, Air
Canada, US Airways, and America
West Airlines.
Prior to joining KPS, Presser was
a partner in the New York law firm of
Cohen, Weiss and Simon, where he
specialized in representing unions
in complex business reorganizations,
and negotiated labor agreements in
business restructurings.
Presser holds an AB from Brown
University and a JD from the Harvard
Law School.
Kevin Prokop, ’95Director
Questor Management Company
Kevin Prokop
has been an
investment
professional
at Questor
since 1998.
Previously, he
was an associate
and engagement manager at McKinsey
& Company. Prior to that, Prokop was
an associate at Kleinwort Benson,
Ltd. and First Chicago-NBD Capital
Markets, where he worked on buy-
outs and middle-market mergers and
acquisitions.
Prokop received his undergraduate
degree with honors from Georgetown
University and his MBA with highest
honors from Chicago GSB.
David RosenManaging Director
Equity Group Investments LLC
David Rosen
is a manag-
ing director at
Equity Group
Investments
LLC, the hold-
ing company for
the interests of
Sam Zell, and is responsible for EGI’s
distressed investments.
Prior to EGI, Rosen headed the
distressed M&A group in the Chicago
office of Houlihan Lokey Howard &
Zukin. Rosen is a cofounder of Dakota
Capital Partners and a general partner
of the Zell/Chilmark Fund.
Rosen holds a BA in Economics
from Northwestern University.
Chicago GSB | 5
Myung YiManaging Director
American Capital Strategies
Myung Yi is
managing direc-
tor in the Special
Situations Group
at American
Capital Strate-
gies. After join-
ing the firm in
February 2000 as an associate in the
Bethesda, MD office, Yi was promoted
to vice president in July 2001 and
became a principal in the operations
team in 2004. Yi serves on the follow-
ing boards of American Capital port-
folio companies: The Algoma Group,
Evans Analytical Group, The New Piper
Aircraft, Pan Am International Flight
Academy, and Warner Power.
Yi began his career at Price Water-
house as an audit associate focusing
on financial institutions. Yi also
practiced tax law at the firm of Caplin
& Drysdale, and he later joined the
Boston Consulting Group as a con-
sultant focusing on corporate devel-
opment, valuation, and strategic
planning.
Yi received his BS in Economics,
magna cum laude, from the Wharton
School at the University of Pennsyl-
vania and his JD, cum laude, from the
Georgetown University Law Center.
Notes
6 | Private Equity Conference
Chicago GSB | 7
8 | Private Equity Conference
Panel: Differentiation Tactics in the LBO Business
sponsored by Mayer, Brown, Rowe, & Maw, LLP
Moderator
James LidburyPartner
Mayer, Brown, Rowe & Maw, LLP
James Lidbury
is a mergers &
acquisitions
partner based in
Mayer Brown’s
Chicago office.
He is coauthor
of How to Buy
a US Business: A Guide to Negotiated
and Hostile Acquisitions. He has been
recognized by Chambers USA and
by Global Counsel 3000 as one of
the leading M&A lawyers in Chicago
and was named as an “Illinois Super
Lawyer” by Chicago magazine. At the
time of this writing, Lidbury is rep-
resenting a private equity consortium
consisting of Starwood Capital Group,
Walton Street Partners, and Vornado
Realty Trust that has just made a com-
peting bid to acquire Equity Office
Properties for nearly $40 billion,
making it the largest private equity
transaction in U.S. history.
Before joining Mayer Brown in
1994, Lidbury was an attorney with the
Securities and Exchange Commission
in Washington, DC.
Lidbury graduated from North-
western University Law School in 1990.
Panelists
Nicholas Alexos, ’88Managing Director
Madison Dearborn Partners
Nick Alexos is a
managing direc-
tor at Madison
Dearborn
Partners and
works on trans-
actions across
all of the firm’s
industry sectors. Prior to cofound-
ing MDP, Alexos was with First
Chicago Venture Capital for four years.
Previously, he was with The First
National Bank of Chicago.
Alexos currently serves on the
boards of directors of Pierre Holding
Corp., Boys and Girls Clubs of
Chicago, and Children’s Inner City
Educational Fund and on the advi-
sory board of Sirona Dental Systems
GmbH.
Alexos holds a BBA from Loyola
University and earned an MBA from
Chicago GSB. He is a Certified Public
Accountant.
Nathan Brown, ’02Managing Director
Wind Point Partners
Nathan Brown
joined Wind
Point in 1997
and was pro-
moted to man-
aging director
in 2004. He
currently is a
director of America’s PowerSports,
Marshfield DoorSystems, and United
Subcontractors.
Prior to joining Wind Point, Brown
was an analyst with the Corporate
Finance and Mergers & Acquisitions
departments of ScotiaMcLeod (now
Scotia Capital Markets), a leading
Canadian investment bank.
Brown holds a BA in Philosophy
from Queen’s University and an MBA
from Chicago GSB.
Chicago GSB | 9
Philip A. Canfield, ’96Principal
GTCR Golder Rauner, LLC
Philip Canfield
joined GTCR
in 1992 and
became a prin-
cipal in 1997.
Canfield previ-
ously worked
in the corpo-
rate finance department of Kidder,
Peabody, and Co.
Canfield is a director of vari-
ous companies including CellNet,
netASPx, Solera, Sorenson
Communications, SystemsNet, Triad
Financial, and Transaction Network
Services. In addition, Canfield was
a director and played a key role in
GTCR’s highly successful past invest-
ments in AppNet and DigitalNet.
Canfield holds a degree in Finance
with high honors from the Honors
Business Program at the University of
Texas and an MBA from Chicago GSB.
Eric C. Larson, ’87Managing Partner
Linden LLC
Prior to found-
ing Linden
in 2002, Eric
Larson was
executive vice
president and
managing
general part-
ner of First Chicago Equity Capital
(FCEC). He was a founding partner of
FCEC in 1991 and its senior invest-
ment professional and strategist.
He was previously a partner at First
Chicago Venture Capital, now Madison
Dearborn Partners.
Larson has been a board mem-
ber of more than a dozen public and
private companies, including several
roles as non-executive chairman and
committee chairs. He is a member of
various scientific-related commit-
tees at Harvard University, the Illinois
Biotechnology Industry Organization,
and the Illinois Nature Conservancy.
Larson has an undergraduate
degree in Biology from Harvard
University and an MBA from
Chicago GSB.
Troy NoardManaging Director
Frontenac Company
Troy Noard
is a manag-
ing director
with Frontenac
Company, a
Chicago-based
private equity
fund. Noard
specializes in business services and
marketing services investments. Prior
to joining Frontenac, Noard worked at
Goldman, Sachs & Co.
Noard currently serves on the
board of directors of DVC Worldwide,
Nth Degree, The National System,
Inc, TrialGraphix, and Encore Legal
Solutions. He lives in Chicago with his
wife and two children.
Noard graduated from DePauw
University with highest honors and
received an MBA from the Stanford
University Graduate School of
Business.
10 | Private Equity Conference
Panel: Challenges Caused by Untested Capital Structures and Non-Traditional Lenders sponsored by Jenner & Block
Moderator
Catherine L. Steege Partner
Jenner & Block
Catherine L.
Steege is a part-
ner in Jenner &
Block’s Chicago
office and is a
member of the
Bankruptcy,
Workout, and
Corporate Reorganization Practice.
She was lead counsel to Arlington
Hospitality in their Chapter 11 fil-
ing and assisted with the sale of its
assets to Sunburst Hotel Holdings,
Inc. and SJB Equities, Inc. She rep-
resents the Section 1114 Committee
of Retirees of Northwest Airlines and
represented the Section 1114 Salaried
and Management Retiree Committee
of United Airlines in those respective
bankruptcies. Steege handled complex
litigation arising out of bankruptcy
cases, including that of National Steel
Corp. and Consolidated Industries
Corp., and has represented unsecured
creditors committees, bondholders,
and creditors on committees.
Steege earned her BS in Journalism
from Northwestern University’s
Medill School of Journalism and
graduated first in her class from the
DePaul University College of Law,
where she was managing lead articles
editor of the DePaul Law Review.
Panelists
Joshua DavisDirector
Laminar Direct Capital
Joshua Davis
is a director
with Laminar
Direct Capital,
a member of
the D.E. Shaw
Group. Prior to
joining LDC,
Davis was a managing director at
Milestone Merchant Partners—a
Washington D.C.-based boutique
merchant bank, and vice president at
Duke Capital Partners—a merchant
banking subsidiary of Duke Energy
focused on mezzanine, equity, and
senior debt financing in the energy
industry. Davis’s past experience also
includes Arthur Andersen, where he
was a director in Arthur Andersen’s
Global Corporate Finance practice
responsible for the Mid-Atlantic
region, and manager in the Corporate
Restructuring Practice where across a
broad range of industries he advised
clients in financial distress includ-
ing debt restructuring, exchange and
conversion, as well as all phases of the
bankruptcy process.
Davis received his BBA in Finance
and Accounting from Texas A&M
University.
Renee RempeSenior Vice President
GE Antares Capital
Renee Rempe
is a senior vice
president for
GE Antares
Capital, focus-
ing on troubled
account man-
agement.
Rempe has 18 years of commercial
lending experience directing complex
bank group transactions in various
portfolio, origination, and underwrit-
ing positions while at GE Antares and
at Heller Financial. Rempe started her
career at KPMG.
Rempe graduated with honors from
Lewis University. She received her
MBA from DePaul University and is a
Certified Public Accountant.
Chicago GSB | 11
NotesLewis Schoenwetter, ’98Managing Director
H.I.G. Capital
Lewis
Schoenwetter
is a manag-
ing director of
H.I.G. Capital.
Schoenwetter
has over ten
years of pri-
vate equity investing experience in a
broad range of industries including
business services, manufacturing,
distribution, telecom, and healthcare.
Schoenwetter has been involved in
all aspects of the investment pro-
cess including sourcing, transaction
structuring, financing, and execution
of post-closing growth strategies.
He currently serves on the board of
numerous H.I.G. Capital portfolio
companies.
Prior to joining H.I.G., Schoenwetter
was a director with Levine Leichtman
Capital Partners. In this role, he was
responsible for investment analysis
and working with the management of
portfolio companies to create value.
Schoenwetter also has worked in the
private equity group at ABN AMRO
and in Banc of America’s leveraged
finance group.
Schoenwetter earned a BS from
Marquette University and an MBA
from Chicago GSB.
Andrew Turnbull Director
Houlihan Lokey Howard & Zukin
Andrew
Turnbull is a
director and
the leader of
the Financial
Restructuring
Group in the
Chicago office
of Houlihan Lokey Howard & Zukin.
Turnbull has 13 years of experience
specializing in assisting companies,
lenders, creditors, and investors in
financially distressed situations. His
experience includes assisting clients
in several industries with acquisi-
tions and divestitures of financially
troubled assets, raising a variety of
forms of financing and negotiations
relating to the restructuring of private
and public securities, both in Chapter
11 and in out-of-court situations.
Prior to joining Houlihan Lokey,
Turnbull was a director of Pricewater-
houseCoopers Corporate Finance LLC
where he led the Chicago restructur-
ing practice. Turnbull is a member
of the American Bankruptcy Institute
and the Turnaround Management
Association and he is licensed through
the NASD as a Registered General
Securities Representative (Series 7 & 63).
Turnbull received a BS in Biology
from the University of Western
Ontario and an MBA with honors
from the Ivey Business School at the
University of Western Ontario.
12 | Private Equity Conference
Chicago GSB | 13
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14 | Private Equity Conference
Panel: International Investing: Current Strategies, Trends, and Outlook
Moderator
Todd Henderson, JD ’98Assistant Professor of Law
The University of Chicago Law School
Todd Henderson
began his career
as clerk to the
Honorable
Dennis Jacobs
of the United
States Court
of Appeals for
the Second Circuit. He then practiced
appellate litigation at Kirkland &
Ellis in Washington, D.C., and was an
Engagement Manager at McKinsey &
Company in Boston, where he special-
ized in counseling telecommunications
and high-tech clients on business and
regulatory strategy. He also worked
extensively with various private equity
and vulture investors in valuations, due
diligence, and strategic counseling.
Henderson’s research interests
include: corporations, securities reg-
ulation, bankruptcy, law and econom-
ics, private equity, and international
regulation of intellectual property.
Henderson received an engineer-
ing degree, cum laude, from Princeton
University in 1993 and graduated
magna cum laude from the University
of Chicago Law School. While at the
Law School, he was elected to the
Order of the Coif, was an editor of the
Law Review and captained the Law
School’s all-University champion
intramural football team.
Panelists
Bryce FortDirector
EMP Africa
Bryce Fort is a
director of EMP
Africa. Prior
to the forma-
tion of EMP
Africa in 2005,
Fort served as
an investment
officer in Africa Fund I after joining
Emerging Markets Partnership in 2002.
Previously, Fort worked for Deutsche
Bank AG’s European Healthcare
Corporate Finance Group which exe-
cuted M&A, equity, and debt financ-
ings for pharmaceutical, biotech, and
medical device companies in Europe.
Fort received a BS in Computer
Engineering with a minor in
Economics from Lehigh University.
Chris FreundFounder
Mekong Capital
Chris Freund
is the founder
and largest
shareholder of
Mekong Capital,
an employee-
owned
investment
management company focusing on
investing in manufacturing, branding,
and distribution companies in Vietnam.
Mekong Capital has played a pioneering
role in introducing best practices to the
Vietnamese business community.
Prior to forming Mekong Capital
in 2001, Freund was a vice president
and portfolio manager with Templeton
Asset Management, Ltd., the emerging
markets arm of the Franklin/Templeton
Group. Freund joined Templeton in
early 1995 and worked first in Ho Chi
Minh City where he was responsible
for screening and analysis of poten-
tial investments and post-investment
monitoring and later in Singapore
where he covered the technology sector
in emerging markets.
Freund also cofounded Management
Consulting Group Ltd., which owns
VietnamWorks.com, Vietnam’s leading
job recruitment web site, and Navigos
Group, the largest executive search
company in Vietnam. Freund is also on
the board of TMA Solutions, Vietnam’s
largest software outsourcing company,
and is a special advisor to the Vietnam
Association of Financial Investors.
Freund holds a bachelors degree
in Psychology, with honors, from the
University of California at Santa Cruz.
Chicago GSB | 15
Gary GarrabrantCEO and Cofounder
Equity International
Gary Garrabrant
is CEO and
cofounder
of Equity
International.
Garrabrant
oversees all of
the company’s
activities and investment portfolio.
He also is executive vice president
of Equity Group Investments, the
privately-held investment company
founded and led by Sam Zell.
Garrabrant has extensive real
estate, investment management,
and banking experience. He led the
acquisition of California Real Estate
Investment Trust and the creation of
Capital Trust where he served as vice
chairman and director. He also was
involved in the consolidation of the
Zell/Merrill Lynch Opportunity Funds
which led to the creation of Equity
Office Properties Trust. Garrabrant
cofounded and led Genesis Realty
Capital Management, a real estate
securities investment management
firm, and was a senior real estate
investment banker from 1981-94.
Garrabrant is vice chairman and
director of Homex and is a director
of NH Hoteles and Gafisa. He also is
a member of the Kellogg Institute for
International Studies Advisory Board
at the University of Notre Dame and
the Real Estate Advisory Board at
Cambridge University.
Garrabrant graduated from the
University of Notre Dame with a BBA in
Finance and completed the Dartmouth
Institute at Dartmouth College.
Jeff KirbyFounder
European Future Group
Jeff Kirby is
the founder
of European
Future Group
and has 22 years
experience in all
facets of the real
estate industry.
He began his career in Canada after
studying real estate law, finance and
valuation, working first in agency and
then development consulting. Kirby
then lived and worked in Berlin for
four years developing major projects
including the GSW headquarters
through construction phases.
Kirby went on to found his own
business in London. His company,
Brownfield Redevelopment, won
awards and international recogni-
tion for its work and was successfully
traded to a public company. Kirby
was involved in real estate projects of
up to £90m in value and consistently
achieved exceptional returns for its
investors.
Kirby then launched European
Future Group and a private equity
fund for the expansion into Eastern
Europe four years ago, taking a major
UK private equity group as a partner.
Steven Xi, ’04 Managing Director
The Hina Group
Steven Xi is a
managing direc-
tor of The Hina
Group and a
member of the
investment
committee of
The Hina Group
Fund (I). Prior to The Hina Group, Xi
founded and served as managing direc-
tor of Harper Capital, an advisory firm
based in Menlo Park, California, and
was cofounder and CEO of ClubCiti
Inc., one of the leading electronic com-
merce trading companies in China.
Xi’s prior experience also includes
more than six years in investment
banking both in New York and Hong
Kong, completing over $5 billion in
M&A transactions and IPOs, as well as
in private equity.
Xi received a BS in Physics from
Jilin University in China and an MA
in Economics from University of
Southern California. He also spent a
year in graduate studies at the Ford
Foundation Economics Training
Center at the Remin University
of China. Xi earned an MBA from
Chicago GSB where he is a member
of the Chicago GSB Global Advisory
Board Asia Cabinet.
Panel continues on page 16.
16 | Private Equity Conference16 | Private Equity Conference
Special Thanks
Professor
Scott F. Meadow
Clinical Professor
of Entrepreneurship
Professor
Steven N. Kaplan
Neubauer Family Professor
of Entrepreneurship and
Finance
Student Volunteers
Class of 2007
Andy Boswell
Eric Madry
Nathan Richey
Jason Starr
Brett Taxin
Class of 2008
Jessica Bliesner
Nate Chiaverini
Jules Dessibourg
Ivan Fan
Rob France
Kelly Fuller
David Goldberg
Edgar Gonzalez
Paul Hamilos
Eric Held
Andrew Hewlett
Yvon Hopps
Vidya Khetawat
Anna Levchuk
Gary Lewis
Jun Lou
Jon Maschmeyer
Seema Panjwani
Chrissie Chen Pariso
Donald Park
Raj Raval
Nathan Richey
Thomas Schumaker
Teppei Tsutsui
Bill Waelke
Ben Yarbrough
Osamu Yamamoto ’93Partner
Unison Capital, Inc.
Osamu Yamamoto
is a partner of
Unison Capital,
Inc., a pioneer
in the Japanese
buyout market.
Unison Capital
has made ten
Japanese buyout investments since
its foundation in 1998, currently
managing Unison Capital II, L.P. with
total commitment of $1.1 billion.
Yamamoto led five of ten Unison’s
investments and currently serves on
the boards of Cosmos Initia, a leading
Japanese residential developer, and
Toshiba Ceramics, a Japanese premier
high-tech materials company.
Yamamoto started his career at The
Sanwa Bank, Ltd. where he worked
primarily in the Derivatives Products
Group. He moved to McKinsey &
Company in 1995 where he served as
associate principal responsible for
providing strategic consulting services
to financial and communication/
media clients until 2001.
Yamamoto holds a BA in Economics
from Keio University, an MBA from
Chicago GSB, and a PhD from Tokyo
Institute of Technology.
Panel: International Investing: Current Strategies, Trends, and Outlook continued
G o l d
S i l v e r
B r o n z e
EVPEVP Group at the Chicago GSB is very active within the
student community and provides career development,
conferences on current topics in the entrepreneurial
and venture capital
industries, industry-
leading speakers,
and resources for members. EVP’s goals are to educate
student members about career paths in entrepreneur-
ship, private equity and venture capital through confer-
ences, guest speakers, recruiting sessions, and real world
experience; promote the Michael P. Polsky Center for
Entrepreneurship at the GSB; and provide networking
opportunities. Visit student.chicagogsb.edu/group/evp/
Michael P. Polsky Center for EntrepreneurshipThe Entrepreneurship Center was organized in 1998
through a grant from the Ewing Marion Kauffman
Foundation and became an endowed center in 2002
through the gener-
ous commitment of
Michael P. Polsky, ’87,
a successful entrepreneur and inspiration to our students
and alumni. The Polsky Center’s mission is to create
entrepreneurial leaders through a broad range of experi-
ences, including classroom learning, experiential learn-
ing, leading-edge research, and community outreach.
Visit ChicagoGSB.edu/entrepreneurship
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