Terrapin Partners, LLC || Asset Management - Private Equity

People

Nathan Leight, Partner

Mr. Leight is the co-founder and is the Senior Managing Member of Terrapin Partners, LLC and the Chief Investment Officer of Terrapin Asset Management, LLC and TWF Management Company LLC.

From 2007 to 2008, Mr. Leight was Chairman of the Board of Aldabra 2 Acquisition Corp, a blank-check company that raised $414 million of gross proceeds in its June 2007 initial public offering. In February 2008, Aldabra 2 acquired the paper and packaging assets of Boise Cascade, LLC in a transaction valued at more than $1.6 billion, changed its name to Boise Inc., and began trading on the NYSE under the symbols BZ and BZ.WS. Since February 2008, Mr. Leight has served as a director of Boise Inc.

From 2004 to 2006, Mr. Leight was Chairman of the Board of Aldabra Acquisition Corporation, a blank-check company that raised $55.2 million of gross proceeds in its February 2004 initial public offering. In December 2006, Aldabra merged with Great Lakes Dredge & Dock Corporation (NASDAQ:GLDD), the largest provider of dredging services in North America in a transaction valued at more than $400 million. Since December 2006, Mr. Leight has served as a director of Great Lakes.

Mr. Leight has over 20 years of experience in asset management and investment banking. Previously, Mr. Leight was the Chief Investment Officer of Gabriel Capital, LP, a hedge fund with assets in excess of $1 billion, which specialized in bankruptcies, under-valued securities, emerging markets, private equity and merger arbitrage. Prior to Gabriel, Mr. Leight, as a Managing Director, established Dillon, Read & Co. Inc.’s Proprietary Trading department, which specialized in bankruptcy/distressed situations and risk arbitrage. From 1985 through 1991, Mr. Leight was with American Securities/Pine Street Partners, a $60 million hedge fund where, ultimately as a partner, he oversaw the firm's research effort. Mr. Leight started his career as an Associate in the corporate finance department of Oppenheimer & Co.

He is a cum laude graduate of Harvard College. Mr. Leight is married and has four children.

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Jason Weiss, Partner

Mr. Weiss co-founded and is a Managing Member of Terrapin Partners, LLC, Terrapin Asset Management, LLC and TWF Management Company LLC.

From 2007 to 2008, Mr. Weiss was CEO of Aldabra 2 Acquisition Corp, a blank-check company that raised $414 million of gross proceeds in its June 2007 initial public offering. In February 2008, Aldabra 2 acquired the paper and packaging assets of Boise Cascade, LLC in a transaction valued at more than $1.6 billion, changed its name to Boise Inc., and began trading on the NYSE under the symbols BZ and BZ.WS. Since February 2008, Mr. Weiss has served as a director of Boise Inc.

From 2004 to 2006, Mr. Weiss was CEO of Aldabra Acquisition Corporation, a blank-check company that raised $55.2 million of gross proceeds in its February 2004 initial public offering. In December 2006, Aldabra merged with Great Lakes Dredge & Dock Corporation (NASDAQ:GLDD), the largest provider of dredging services in North America in a transaction valued at more than $400 million. Since December 2006, Mr. Weiss has served as a director of Great Lakes.

Previously, Mr. Weiss served as CEO of PaperExchange.com, Inc, COO of e-STEEL, LLC and the Managing Member of American Classic Sanitation, LLC, a temporary site services business focused on the construction and special event industries. Prior to that, Mr. Weiss was the President of Pacific EyeNet, Inc., a physician practice management organization; an associate with EGS Securities Corp., an investment banking and private equity boutique focused on the health care sector; and an associate with Booz Allen & Hamilton, a management consulting firm. He is on the board of directors of Equipois Inc., a Terrapin portfolio company that manufacturers mechanical arms designed to reduce worker injuries.

Mr. Weiss received a JD degree, cum laude, from Harvard Law School, and graduated from the University of Michigan with highest distinction, where he attained an honors economics degree. Mr. Weiss is married and has two children.

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John R. Frawley, Jr, Managing Partner, Terrapin Asset Management, LLC

Mr. Frawley serves as the Managing Partner of Terrapin Asset Management, LLC. Mr. Frawley was a founding Partner and Chairman of Starview Capital Management LLC, an asset management firm that develops, markets, and manages multi-manager investment products. Assets under management exceeded $550 million at the time of his departure.

Prior to Starview’s founding in 2000, Mr. Frawley served as Chairman, Chief Executive Officer and President of Merrill Lynch Investment Partners Inc. (MLIP), a position he first assumed in 1989. MLIP was a fully integrated Registered Investment Advisor that structured and marketed hedge fund of funds and managed futures investments to individual and institutional clients globally. MLIP’s assets under management exceeded $3 billion during that period.

Mr. Frawley originally joined Merrill Lynch in 1966. Prior to managing MLIP, he served in a variety of roles including Director of Institutional Marketing, Director of International Institutional Sales and Co-Chairman of Merrill Lynch Futures. From 1995 to 1998, Mr. Frawley served as Chairman of the Managed Funds Association, a national trade association that represents the managed futures, hedge fund and hedge fund of funds industries. He has also served as a member of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission's Global Markets Advisory Committee.

Mr. Frawley is married and has three children.

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Sanjay Arora, Partner, SPAC Group

Mr. Arora joined Terrapin Partners LLC in 2007. Mr. Arora focuses on Terrapin’s special purpose acquisition corporation activities. Prior to Terrapin Partners, Mr. Arora was a Managing Director at Deutsche Bank AG, where he ran the equity-linked origination team for Asia-Pacific, based out of Hong Kong. Prior to this, Mr. Arora held a variety of positions in leveraged finance, derivatives and equity capital markets at Bankers Trust and Deutsche Bank. During his banking career, Mr. Arora raised over $5 billion of equity and debt for companies in both the US and in Asia.

Mr. Arora received an MBA (Finance) from the University of Chicago and a BSc (Econ) from The London School of Economics.

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Guy Barudin, Partner, SPAC Group

Mr. Barudin joined Terrapin Partners LLC in 2007 to focus on the firm’s special purpose acquisition corporation activities. Mr. Barudin joined Terrapin from Medco Health Solutions, where he held various business development and finance positions and concentrated on healthcare information technology and pharmacy benefit strategy. Prior to Medco, Mr. Barudin was Vice President for Alliances and New Ventures at MasterCard International. Before joining MasterCard, Mr. Barudin held business development and finance positions at several high technology firms. He began his career in corporate finance at Merrill Lynch, PaineWebber and Dillon Read.

Mr. Barudin received a MS from MIT’s Sloan School of Management and a BSE from Princeton University with honors.

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Michael Bondar, Assistant Controller

Mr. Bondar joined Terrapin Partners, LLC in April 2008 from Citi Fixed Income Alternatives (CFIA), where he served as a trade support analyst. During his tenure at CFIA, Mr. Bondar performed oversight on the fund administrator across multiple fixed income hedge funds. In addition, he engaged in risk, investor, and performance reporting. Prior to CFIA, Mr. Bondar served as a Financial Analyst at Lockheed Martin Aeronautics Company, focusing on cost schedule integration on the F-117 fleet.

Mr. Bondar received a BS, magna cum laude, in management with a concentration in finance from Binghamton University.

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Nathalie Cunningham, Partner, Director of Research

Ms. Cunningham works for Terrapin Asset Management, LLC, and has worked for Terrapin and its portfolio companies since 1999. Ms. Cunningham joined Terrapin from VCampus Corporation, an e-learning company for which she served as Vice President of Content. Prior to VCampus, Ms. Cunningham spent seven years working in science and business publishing. She joined VCampus from Harcourt General, where she was an Editor responsible for publishing products in mathematics, physical science and life science markets. Prior to that, Ms. Cunningham was a member of The Thompson Corporation’s marketing team. Ms. Cunningham began her career in biomedical research and development as a Research Associate in Eastman Kodak Company’s Protein Engineering Group.

Ms. Cunningham graduated from McGill University as a Faculty Scholar, and received her MBA with a specialization in Finance and Economics from New York University’s Stern School of Business.

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Jeff Czarniak, Co-Portfolio Manager, The Water Fund, LP

Mr. Czarniak is Co-Portfolio Manager of The Water Fund, LP. Mr. Czarniak has significant experience in private equity due diligence and valuation. Since 1998, he has served in senior operating finance, analyst and technology roles at portfolio companies of Terrapin Partners, LLC, including companies financed by Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers and Goldman Sachs. Prior to Terrapin, Mr. Czarniak served as Manager of Financial Planning & Analysis at Cox Communications, where he was responsible for the financial analysis of potential new lines of business. Mr. Czarniak began his asset management career at Equitable Investment Services, a $7.2 billion fund, where he served as a high-yield analyst focused on the technology, media, metals, and gaming industries.

Mr. Czarniak received an MBA in finance and a BA in economics from the University of Michigan. Mr. Czarniak is married and has one child.

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Judah Drillick, Controller

Mr. Drillick joined Terrapin Asset Management, LLC in November 2007 from McGladrey & Pullen, LLP, where he served as a Supervisor in the financial services group. During his tenure at McGladrey & Pullen, LLP, Mr. Drillick conducted audits of onshore and offshore hedge funds with a variety of investment strategies. In addition, he managed the preparation of investor K-1s and the federal and state tax returns of hedge funds and their management companies. Prior to McGladrey & Pullen, LLP, Mr. Drillick served as Senior Auditor at Deloitte & Touche, LLP, focusing on audits of hedge funds and private equity funds. Mr. Drillick began his career as a Staff Auditor at Loeb & Troper, LLP.

Mr. Drillick received a BS, summa cum laude, in accounting from Touro College and is a Certified Public Accountant. Mr. Drillick is married and has three children.

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Jason Feder, Analyst

Mr. Feder joined Terrapin Partners, LLC in January 2008 from the Himelsein Group of Companies, a closely held investment entity that focuses on property development, venture capital, and the fine jewelry and precious metals industries. Prior to that, Mr. Feder worked at Sabre Value Management, a money management firm focused on small to medium size companies; Edward Jones, where he concentrated on marketing and client relations; and Feder Properties and Feder Realty Co.

Mr. Feder received a B.A. in Cultural Anthropology and Applied Psychology from the University of California, Santa Barbara with High Honors.

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Stuart Gallin, Chief Financial Officer

Mr. Gallin joined Terrapin Asset Management, LLC in January 2007 from Avenue Capital Group, where he served as Vice President of Accounting. During his tenure at Avenue Capital, Mr. Gallin supervised accounting and operations functions for five Asian distressed debt hedge funds and three Asian long-short hedge funds, with combined net assets in excess of $2.3 billion. Prior to Avenue Capital, Mr. Gallin served as Controller for William E. Simon & Sons’ special situations and private equity funds. Prior to that, he was a Senior Auditor in the Financial Services Practice of Ernst & Young, LLP, where he provided audit and advisory services to hedge fund, private equity and institutional clients. Mr. Gallin began his career as Staff Auditor at Anchin, Block & Anchin, LLP.

Mr. Gallin received a BA in accounting from Franklin & Marshall College and is a Certified Public Accountant. He is married.

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Kaelyn Garrity, Investor Relations Associate

Ms. Garrity joined Terrapin Asset Management, LLC in November 2007. Prior to Terrapin, Ms. Garrity was responsible for Investor Relations and Client Services at Cloudview Capital Management LLC.

Ms. Garrity graduated magna cum laude from Wagner College with a BS in Business Administration.

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James J. Kim , Research Analyst

Mr. Kim joined Terrapin Partners, LLC in 2008 from Chardan Capital Markets, LLC where he worked as part of the investment banking team involved in mergers and acquisitions, initial public offerings and SPAC deals in both the US and China. Mr. Kim started his career within Deutsche Bank AG’s Investment Banking – Corporate Finance division.

Mr. Kim graduated with magna cum laude from Rutgers Business School with a BS in Finance and Sociology.

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Catherine McDonald, Administrative Officer

Ms. McDonald has been working for Terrapin Partners, LLC and/or its portfolio companies since 1999, serving such roles as Administrative Officer and Investor Liaison. Ms. McDonald joined Terrapin from The McDonald Agency, a leading producer of annuity products that is affiliated with The Hartford Financial Services Group, Inc. and The North America Life Insurance Company of New York. Prior to that, Ms. McDonald spent seven years at Bentley Capital Management, Inc., an asset management firm focused on alternative investments. For three years of her tenure at Bentley, Ms. McDonald served as the firm’s Chief Administrative Officer and Managing Director, and was responsible for all aspects of investor relations, administration and compliance.

Ms. McDonald graduated with honors from Hofstra University.

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Lyla Oyakawa, Director

Ms. Oyakawa serves as an associate in Terrapin Partners, LLC's private equity group. She has served in various roles for Terrapin Partners LLC, including as President of Eat Great Food, LLC, a Terrapin Partners, LLC portfolio company, and as Vice President of Business Development for Aldabra Acquisition Corporation .

Prior to her work on private equity transactions for Terrapin, Ms. Oyakawa served as the Director of Finance for the Aspen Education Group, a therapeutic K-12 education company, where she oversaw acquisitions and financing activities. Prior to Aspen, she was the Vice President of Operations for NameSafe, Inc., a privacy and security software development firm, where she was responsible for all aspects of operations and strategic planning. She has also served as Assistant Vice President of Paribas, Inc.’s Healthcare Finance Group, where she focused on leveraged, cash flow-based lending to middle-market healthcare companies.

Ms. Oyakawa received her MBA from the Yale School of Management and her BA from Hamilton College.

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Eric Pedersen, Co-Portfolio Manager, The Water Fund, LP

Mr. Pedersen is Co-Portfolio Manager of The Water Fund, LP. Prior to Terrapin, Mr. Pedersen headed the business development group at GE's Water & Process Technologies, a leading global provider of integrated water treatment technologies and services. While at GE, Mr. Pederson directed the acquisition-based growth strategy of GE’s Water business and completed numerous acquisitions and divestitures of water-related businesses. Prior to that, Mr. Pedersen completed a long career as an investment banker, which he began in 1988 at Dillon Read & Co. Inc. While at Dillon Read, he led the mergers & acquisitions practice of the firm’s Forest Products Group. Mr. Pedersen left Dillon Read in 1996 to co-found Pedersen Kammert & Co. LLC, a private investment banking firm that focused on providing mergers & acquisitions and financing services to middle market companies, particularly in the water and environmental services sectors.

Mr. Pedersen received an MBA from The Wharton Graduate School of Business and graduated summa cum laude from Princeton University with a BA degree. He is married and has two children.

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Lauren Platt, Investor Relations Associate

Ms. Platt joined Terrapin Partners, LLC in 2008. Prior to joining Terrapin, Ms. Platt interned as an Analyst in Morgan Stanley’s Private Wealth Division. Previously, Ms. Platt worked in the fashion industry throughout Europe.

Ms. Platt received her BA from Columbia College.

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Robert C. Plotkin, Director of Technology

Mr. Plotkin has worked for Terrapin Partners, LLC and its portfolio companies since 1999 and was Chief Technology Officer of Aldabra Acquisition Corporation from 2005 to 2006. Previously, Mr. Plotkin worked at IBM's T.J. Watson Research Center. During his 10-year tenure at IBM, Mr. Plotkin led teams that developed and supported parallel supercomputers, HDTV studio infrastructure and digital library management systems. Mr. Plotkin also served as an advisor to IBM's Vice President of Research in the creation of IBM's long term corporate video strategy. He received several patents and IBM achievement awards for innovation, and has authored and presented papers on his work around the world. Mr. Plotkin began his career developing medical diagnostic equipment for Bayer Diagnostics.

Mr. Plotkin received his BS degree in electrical engineering from Columbia University and a MS degree in computer science from Polytechnic University. He is married and has two children.

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Darren Rabenou, Managing Director

Mr. Rabenou joined Terrapin Asset Management, LLC in March 2005. He focuses on Investor Relations and Investment Research. Prior to Terrapin, Mr. Rabenou was employed by JP Morgan Fleming Asset Management. He was a senior member of the portfolio management team at JP Morgan, where he helped oversee $4 billion in small cap active and quantitative strategies as well as $1.2 billion in a REIT fund. His teams primarily managed portfolios for corporate and public pension funds, insurance companies, endowments and high-net worth individuals. Prior to JP Morgan, Mr. Rabenou was a senior analyst and portfolio manager for Prudential Investments, where he concentrated on the emerging markets and global small cap stocks. Prior to that, he worked for ING Barings’ institutional equity sales and derivatives division, which had an exclusive focus on the emerging markets (Asia, Latin America and Eastern Europe).

Mr. Rabenou received a BA in political science from the University of Rochester and an MBA in finance from Columbia Business School. He is married and has two children.

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George Ragsdale, Managing Director

Mr. Ragsdale joined Terrapin Asset Management, LLC in 2006 from Kisco Management Corporation, where he served as Investment Research Director. In this capacity, Mr. Ragsdale was responsible for researching investments in hedge funds, long-only funds, private equity and fixed income accounts for the Jerome Kohlberg Family Office (founder of Kohlberg Kravis Roberts) and the Kohlberg Foundation. Prior to Kisco, Mr. Ragsdale worked for Prudential Securities in institutional fixed income sales.

Mr. Ragsdale received a BA in history and an MBA from The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

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Stephen Spence, CFA, CAIA, Director of Quantitative Analysis

Mr. Spence joined Terrapin Asset Management, LLC in 2006. Mr. Spence spent 16 years with Merrill Lynch, where he served as a Director in the Management Science Group. This group supported strategic decision-making in complex business situations through the use of quantitative modeling and analysis.

Mr. Spence is a Chartered Financial Analyst and received an MS in operations research from Case Western Reserve University, an MBA from Rutgers University and a BS in mathematics from Bucknell University.

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Nicole Tennant, Assistant Controller

Ms. Tennant joined Terrapin Partners, LLC in December 2007 from PricewaterhouseCoopers, where she served as a Senior Auditor in the Financial Services Group. During her tenure at PricewaterhouseCoopers, Ms. Tennant conducted audits of hedge funds, fund of funds and private equity funds.

Ms. Tennant received a BS in economics from Syracuse University.

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For more information, please contact us at 212.710.4100 or info@terrapinpartners.com