Asset 4-8

Empower your portfolio company with a team of.... Experienced Executive Managers

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At Fairlead Advisors, we understand that navigating periods of growth or significant change can be challenging for companies of all sizes. That's why we offer a comprehensive range of services backed by a team of seasoned and knowledgeable executive managers. Our strategic, managerial, financial, technical, and operational expertise is designed to provide the guidance and support you need to achieve your goals and deliver results.

With decades of experience, we've worked with companies across a range of industries and situations, including fast-growing startups and those experiencing distress. Our hands-on and detailed approach, combined with our commitment to limiting the number of engagements to provide dedicated focus to a small number of key clients, ensures that you receive the personalized attention and tailored solutions you need to succeed.

Whether you need advisory, board representation, or interim-management positions, we have the experience and expertise to fill the gaps and help you attract new investors or monetize your investments.

Fairlead Advisors' Strategic Expertise Propels Energy, Industrial Processing, and Venture-Stage Companies to New Heights

In 2008, Fairlead Advisors recognized that financial investors with portfolio companies were struggling to unlock the full potential of their investments due to various challenges in strategy, finance, and operations. In response, we developed a comprehensive suite of services to address these challenges and provide practical solutions to unlock untapped value. Our team of seasoned executives delivers these services and leverages their expertise in CEO, CFO, and COO roles, providing invaluable guidance and support to companies during transitional periods. Through our services, we help companies attract new investors and monetize their investments, ultimately driving growth and successful transactions.

On behalf of a dozen different investor groups and institutional investors, Fairlead has:

  • Assessed and conducted detailed valuations of 45 companies and target investments;
  • Designed business plans for 21 companies;
  • Provided board representation or interim executive management for 30 companies;
  • Managed the acquisition or divestiture of 17 companies, generating over $1..35B in gross proceeds;
  • Built, upgraded, or overhauled the reporting and financial statement preparation for 21 companies.

At Fairlead Advisors, our steady growth since 2010 has been a testament to our unwavering commitment to delivering exceptional services that meet the diverse and evolving needs of our clients. We take pride in our team of eight outstanding professionals, who bring unparalleled expertise and dedication to every engagement.

Adam Carte, CFA - Partner

Biography
A Partner of Fairlead Advisors, the company he co-founded in 2010, and an Operating Partner to Denham Capital Management, a commodity-focused private equity firm with over $10B AUM, Mr. Carte has led negotiations for acquisitions, mergers, fundraisings, strategic partnerships, and company restructurings for over 20 different companies across a broad range of industries. Adam's consistent track record of exceeding investor expectations in challenging situations creates repeat business and word-of-mouth referrals among his clients.

Adam Carte

CFA, Partner

Renee Sass - Partner

Role and Responsibility
Renee is a partner at Fairlead Advisors. She provides investment and credit analysis, valuations, and financial related services to both companies and investors.

Biography
Renee has strong experience in principal and advisory roles with global energy companies, startups, private equity investors, and government agencies. She has extensive experience working as an investor conducting due diligence, assessing, negotiating, and closing equity and debt transactions, as well as at the operating level where she has led financial planning and capital structure optimization efforts. Sass has held CFO roles in a number of energy and infrastructure companies, ranging from growing start-up companies to mature operating companies, including in turnaround situations.

Renee Sass

Partner

Charles Abbott, P.E. - Partner

Role and Responsibility
Charlie is a founding Partner of Fairlead Advisors. Charlie provides engineering and electric utility industry support and introductions as needed.

Biography
Charlie has extensive experience as an operations executive involving a wide variety of energy infrastructure projects and companies. He has developed and overseen more than ten operations and organizational turnaround plans and has directly implemented operations turnarounds in three companies where the existing management team required augmentation.

Charles Abbott

P.E., Partner

Alex MacDonald - Vice President

Role and Responsibility
Alex will be primarily responsible for the financial forecasting and data analysis, research, and valuation required under the engagement.

Biography
As Vice President of Fairlead Advisors, Mr. MacDonald provides financial analysis, financial modeling, working capital and cash management, and debt compliance for our clients.
Since joining Fairlead Advisors in 2012, Mr. MacDonald has worked with a diverse group of clients in industries including rare earth mining, artificial intelligence, oil field services, and power generation and distribution. In 2020, Mr. MacDonald became the interim Finance Director of Fairlead Advisor’s large oil field services client, with whom he has worked with since 2015. During his tenure with Fairlead Advisors, Mr. MacDonald has provided financial and structuring support for several generation asset M&A projects, including two projects which reached financial close. In 2014, Mr. MacDonald revamped operational and financial metrics for Cadre Proppants, a producer of frac sand to the oil & gas industry, and supported the eventual sale of the company to a large competitor.

Prior to joining Fairlead Advisors, Mr. MacDonald served as the Sr. Financial Analyst at Niotan, Inc., a manufacturer of tantalum powder for capacitors, where he played an instrumental role in the turnaround and eventual sale of the company to its largest customer.

Mr. MacDonald has B.S. in Finance from the University from Santa Clara and an MBA with a concentration in Finance from the University of Nevada, Reno.

Alex MacDonald

Vice President

Jason Salgo - Senior Consultant

Role and Responsibility
As Senior Advisor, Mr. Salgo provides financial planning, valuation, transaction and financing services to our clients. Mr. Salgo is a corporate finance professional with over 20 years of experience working with executive teams and shareholders, and as a business partner to CEOs. He excels at providing executive leadership, managing comprehensive organizational change, implementing strategic priorities, and executing complex transactions.

Biography
He most recently served 7 years as CFO for Veolia North America, a leading environmental services provider (waste, water & energy) with 8,500 employees and $2.4bn turnover in the US and Canada. At Veolia, Jason was a key driver of a fundamental organizational restructuring of management (executive and operations) and support functions, all aimed at improving the commercial approach to market and at driving cost efficiencies. He was a member of the executive team responsible for growing the business and improving the return on capital employed. Ms. Salgo left Veolia following the successful $1.25bn sale of the North American energy activities of the company.
Mr. Salgo has also worked under private equity ownership, part of a management team that led a business turnaround and ultimately a highly successful $800M exit for the sponsor.
Over his career, Mr. Salgo has helped to execute over $8bn of M&A, asset disposal, capital markets and bank financing transactions. He is skilled at finding pathways and solutions to bring transactions to timely close.
Jason is experienced at executing key corporate imperatives, including reorganizations, developing policies and procedures to improve internal controls, overseeing corporate governance and delegations of authority, and rolling out compensation plans that align performance with key priorities.
Jason has an undergraduate degree from Tufts University and a Master’s Degree from the London School of Economics.

Jason Salgo

Senior Consultant

Mary Day - Senior Consultant

Role and Responsibility
Mary will be an integral part of evaluating the books and records and the quality of the accounting processes and procedures for prospective co-investment opportunities. During the optional asset management stage of the engagement, Mary will assist in the design and production of the reporting practice and be available to directly support the portfolio company’s accounting function if necessary.

Biography
A Senior Consultant at Fairlead Advisors with a background as Controller for energy companies and a fund manager, Mary provides complete accounting services and works with clients and their independent auditors to complete financial audits and implement and manage best practices in corporate governance and financial controls.

Mary’s background spans a diverse set of financial disciplines, industries, and companies. She has demonstrated expertise in all areas of accounting, planning, reporting, systems, and treasury operations.

Mary Day

Senior Consultant

Lissen Ney - Consultant

Role and Responsibility
Lissen is a licensed CPA and provides hands-on and accounting advisory services to our clients.

Biography
Lissen has extensive experience providing corporate clients advice and hands-on support for financial and back-office matters. She has deep experience in developing and implementing automation tools and procedures to streamline accounting, financial reporting, payroll and tax filings.

Lissen Ney

Consultant

Kathy Osteraas

Role and Responsibility
Ms. Osteraas provides corporate secretary, corporate governance, project management, and other administrative services for our clients.

Biography
With over 30 years’ experience working as a senior paralegal for C-Suite executives and corporate boards, and overseeing legal entity formation and maintenance activities, Kathy efficiently provides best practices for corporate governance practices and procedures for our clients.
Ms. Osteraas has worked in legal departments for companies across the size and growth continuum, ranging from privately held early-stage independent energy companies to Fortune 500 Companies in the global energy and medical device sectors. Her most recent consulting role was for a multinational medical device company, where she created and maintained a database to manage corporate records and completed annual filings for hundreds of subsidiary companies globally and throughout the United States. Kathy brings attention to detail, organizational skills, and attentiveness to time-sensitive deadlines to every project in which she’s involved.
Ms. Osteraas enjoys helping her clients succeed and being part of ethical, results-driven organizations.

Kathy Osteraas

Consultant

We're expanding our team. Contact us to learn about opportunities at Fairlead Advisors!

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Fairlead Team Members are Prepared

To lead organizations, manage teams, bring functional and industry expertise to the table, make decisions, and act as individual contributors.

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