Bios
Walter Bellingham - Advisory Member
Mr. Bellingham brings over twenty four years experience in; private equity investments, originating, structuring, executing, and managing leveraged finance transactions; including senior & mezzanine debt financing and equity co-investments for middle market private equity sponsors, syndicating $10 million to $150 million senior debt financings for middle market leveraged buyouts, recapitalizations and leveraged ESOPs. In addition, he has managed private equity and real estate portfolios.
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Mr. Bellingham is a founding principal of Shore Points Capital Management, LLC, and a private equity firm focused on making control equity investments in middle market businesses, established by the former members of the Private Capital Group of BNP Paribas.
Mr. Bellingham was responsible for originating, structuring, negotiating, closing and monitoring new and add-on investment opportunities.
Prior to joining Shore Point Capital, Walt was a Vice President at BNP Paribas Private Equity Investment Group in New York. Mr. Bellingham was responsible for all private equity investment activity in North America on behalf of BNP Paribas. The firm focused on middle market private equity investments covering a broad range of industries including; consumer products, manufacturing, distribution, energy services and outsourced business services.
Mr. Bellingham represented BNP Paribas as board member or observer for various investments including North American Energy Partners, Triumph Healthcare, and Propex Holdings. Similar board responsibilities for previously realized investments including Polaris Pool Systems, Stauber Performance Ingredients, Auction Finance Group and Chatham Technologies.
Walt joined Chemical Bank [now Chase Bank] as Vice President in the Structured Finance division in New York. At Chemical he was responsible for originators in sourcing, structuring, negotiating and syndicating $10 million to $150 million senior debt financings for middle market leveraged buyouts, recapitalizations and leveraged ESOPs.
Mr. Bellingham led all stages of the transaction process including; the due diligence process, financial modeling, sensitivity analyses, comparable company valuations, credit presentation, documentation and syndication.
Walt was also a portfolio manager and Vice President at Leonard Stern’s Hartz Mountain Industries, Inc. overseeing real estate investment portfolios for the company.
Mr. Bellingham graduated with a B.S. from Wharton at the University of Pennsylvania and holds an MBA in finance from the Graduate School of Management at Rutgers University. Walt was a Varsity letterman in lacrosse and soccer and a member of the Ivy League champion lacrosse teams.
Christopher Higgins- Strategic Alliance Partner
Mr. Higgins brings over thirty years experience in corporate financing; private equity, buy/sell transactions, originating, structuring, executing, and managing leveraged finance transactions; including senior & mezzanine debt financing , syndicated loans, subordinated debt, and advisory services for middle market companies.
Mr. Higgins was Co-founder and Managing Director of U.S. Capital Partners, an investment bank dedicated to assisting middle market companies; raise capital, provide merger & acquisitions services, and financial consulting. In his capacity as a principal of U.S. Capital Partners over the past 18 years, he has also served as interim CFO for financially distressed companies.
Mr. Higgins career started at Security Pacific National Bank in 1982 and he was Senior Vice President of syndicated loans, subordinated debt, leveraged buyouts, and mezzanine funds.
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Mr. Higgins was involved in the acquisition of Security Pacific Bank by Bank of America in 1992 and left the bank to be a founding partner of U.S. Capital Partners.
Mr. Higgins past clients include: Certified Grocers, Jenny Craig, Freeman Beauty products, Patron Spirits, PETCO, Robeks Juice, Smashbox Cosmetics, 99 Cent stores, Guitar Centers retail, Cherokee apparel, MGM Grand, Saffola Foods and Supercuts retail.
Mr. Higgins graduated with a B.A. in Business Economics from the University of California at Santa Barbara.
Hal Berger
Mr. Berger brings over twenty years experience in: middle market companies, strategic consulting, and international Fortune 500 environments. During his career his clients have included several of the largest U.S. & international publicly traded & privately owned corporations as well as second and third generation family owned businesses.
Mr. Berger’s M&A career started as a result of founding two successful startup ventures that were sold to public companies. (CSG) Creative Solutions Group, Inc. was sold to Avista Corporation and was subsequently sold to Heritage Partners (Fund II) a fund with $1.4 billion in capital under management. GK toys & media, LTD was sold to a public company listed on the Hang Seng Exchange in Hong Kong China in 2002.
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Mr. Berger was a founding partner of Vision Venture Partners a strategic consulting and middle market investment banking group. As a member of the group, Mr. Berger was responsible for due diligence, business plan development, marketing analysis, and financial sourcing for assisting companies in business sales development, capital raising, mergers & acquisitions, and strategic consulting.
Prior to founding Vision Venture Partners, Mr. Berger was Director of Strategic Consulting at Pac Star Partners, a spin-off firm of Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu’s Corporate Finance Group. The firm focused on capital raising ,consulting, mergers & acquisitions, syndicated financing and strategic advisory services.
Early in his career Hal worked in computer remittance processing in the banking industry for; Citibank, and First Interstate Bank [Wells Fargo]. Mr. Berger has consulted to Bloomberg News, Disney, Dogloo PETMATE, KONG Pet Products, Hitachi USA, Fox, Mattel Toys, Pioneer Electronics, Seiko Instruments, Rubbermaid, Microtek computers, Rainbird, Warner Brothers, UPG United Pet Group/Spectrum Brand and Universal Studios.
Mr. Berger graduated with a B.S. in Business from the University of Pennsylvania State, and attended the Harvard Business School- Executive Program.
Hal is an active runner and bicyclist and lives with his family in the Los Angeles area. Hal is the founder and Director of a children’s non profit organization that assists families and children around the world.