The founding partners of Arena Capital Partners have worked together for more than 15 years. They have a proven success record in private equity investments and operating leveraged buyouts during numerous economic cycles and varied market conditions.


 		  
  Gerald S. Armstrong
Managing Director 		   
 
Mr. Armstrong is a co-founder and a Managing Director of the private equity firm Arena Capital Partners, LLC (1997 to present). Prior to co-founding Arena, Mr. Armstrong was a Partner at Stonington Partners, Inc., a private equity partnership formed in mid-1994 out of Merrill Lynch Capital Partners (“MLCP”) where Mr. Armstrong had served as a Managing Director since 1988. Prior to joining MLCP, Mr. Armstrong served as President and Chief Operating Officer of PACE Industries, Inc, a holding company formed at the end of 1983 to effect the purchase, through a $1.7 billion leveraged buyout arranged by KKR with MLCP, of the manufacturing and printing assets from City Investing Company (including Rheem Manufacturing, Co.; World Color Press, Inc.; UARCO, Inc.; and Hayes International, Inc.). After the sale of Rheem Manufacturing and Hayes International, Mr. Armstrong assumed the position of President and Chief Executive Officer of Printing Finance Company, a new holding company formed to hold World Color Press and UARCO, until the sale in 1988 of UARCO. Prior to his role at PACE, Mr. Armstrong served as Senior Vice President of City Investing Company (1982-1984); President and Chief Operating Officer of Filmways, Inc. (1980-1982 at which time Filmways merged with Orion Pictures); and in various executive positions at Chase Manhattan Bank through 1980, where he began his business career in 1969, his last position as a Senior Vice President and Group Head in the Corporate Bank, which Department handled large corporate lending across the United States.

After graduating from Dartmouth College with a degree in English (1965), Mr. Armstrong served in the United States Navy for four years (1965-1969); while working at Chase, he earned an MBA in Finance (1976) from New York University’s Graduate School of Business (now Stern School of Business).

At MCLP, Mr. Armstrong helped manage a $1.5 billion private equity investment fund and he helped raise Stonington Partners new $1 billion private equity investment fund over the 1993-94 period before co-founding Arena in 1997. As Senior Vice President of Chase’s Corporate Banking Department, he was responsible for approximately 40% of Chase’s large corporate relationships across the United States, before leaving Chase to move into executive operating positions at Filmways (a ‘distressed’ public company), City Investing and PACE Industries.

Mr. Armstrong has served on the Boards of Directors of First USA, Inc., Ann Taylor Stores Corporation and World Color Press, Inc., all NYSE-listed public companies, in addition to serving as a Director of numerous private companies over the years (and in two distressed situations serving as CEO as well) in connection with his private equity investment activity.

Mr. Armstrong remains a member of the Board of Trustees of The Buckley School in New York City, where he served as President for nine years, and was formerly a member of the Board of Trustees of Union Settlement Association.

 
 		  
  Jonathan K. Gauntt
Associate		    
 
Prior to joining Arena Capital, Mr. Gauntt was an analyst in the Mergers and Acquisitions Group in London and in the Energy Group in New York at Salomon Smith Barney. He received his B.A. in Economics and European History from Washington & Lee University.

 		  
  Sunil C. Khanna
Managing Director		    
 
Mr. Khanna joined Arena in February 2000 as a Partner. From October 1997 to December 1999, Mr. Khanna was a Director of the Credit Suisse First Boston International Equity Fund, based in Hong Kong with responsibility for investments in the Asia Pacific region. Mr. Khanna began his career at Citibank as a Financial Analyst in 1984, and joined Merrill Lynch's Mergers and Acquisitions Group in 1986. Mr. Khanna was a Principal of Merrill Lynch Capital Partners ("MLCP") from Jan. 1987 to mid 1994, and together with Messrs. Armstrong and McLean, a founding member of Stonington Partners, where he served from 1994 to 1997. Among the transactions Mr. Khanna helped sponsor at MLCP were US Foodservice, Amstar Corporation, Bestform Holdings, Pathmark Stores and WSR Corporation. While at CSFB International Private Equity, Mr. Khanna helped sponsor and served on the Board of Directors of Malee Sampran, a Thai publicly traded consumer products company. Mr. Khanna is a director of La Dove Holdings, Inc. Mr. Khanna graduated with a BA (Honours) in Economics from St. Stephens College and received his MBA from the Johnson School of Management at Cornell University. Mr. Khanna also trained as a Chartered Accountant with Thorne Lancaster & Co., London, UK and qualified as a member of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of England and Wales.


 		  
  Eric Lauerwald
 Principal		    
 


Mr. Lauerwald joined Arena Capital Partners as a Principal in February 2001. Prior to joining Arena, Mr. Lauerwald was an Associate Principal with Churchill Environmental and Industrial Equity Partners (CEIEP), a $128 million private equity fund that he helped form in 1998.  CEIEP was a follow on effort to the Environmental Opportunities Fund, a $38 million private equity fund, at which he started as Lead Analyst in 1996.

Mr. Lauerwald began his career in 1988 as a mechanical engineer with Mannesmann Demag (MD), a large multinational manufacturer of capital equipment.  His five year tenure at MD included a two year rotational program at the firm’s headquarters in Germany, with the remainder of his time spent in the company’s US operations.  In addition to his engineering experience Mr. Lauerwald spent time working in the strategy consulting sector, first for Roland Berger, a top tier consulting firm in Germany, and later as a Senior Associate for Mitchell Madison Group, a strategy focused management consulting firm in the US.

Mr. Lauerwald received his M.B.A. from Columbia Business School in 1995 and his B.S. in Mechanical Engineering from Union College in 1988.


 

  
  Stephen M. McLean
Managing Director 		   
 


Mr. McLean joined Arena Capital Partners in February 1999 as a Managing Director. Previously, he was a General Partner and a Director of Stonington Partners, Inc., a $1 billion private equity firm he helped found in 1994. Prior to Stonington, Mr. McLean had been a Managing Director of Merrill Lynch & Co. having started in the Mergers and Acquisitions Department in 1980. At Merrill, he helped create the Leveraged Buyout Department, which began private equity investing activities in the early 1980s.

In 1984, Mr. McLean was a founding partner of Merrill Lynch Capital Partners, Inc., a $402 million private equity fund, the first such fund sponsored by an investment bank. In 1988, Mr. McLean helped raise MLCP's second fund, which totaled $1.5 billion.

Mr. McLean currently serves on the board of directors of RS Medical Corporation (FDA approved 510K electrotherapy device company); EduNeering Corporation (healthcare focused consulting and FDA compliance solutions company); Stinger Medical Products (hospital carts/patient monitor systems); Susser Holdings (Texas based convenience store chain) and LaDove, Inc. (consumer hair and skin care company). Mr. McLean also serves on the advisory board of the Facilitator Fund, an SBIC private equity fund. In the past, he served on the board of directors of Agencourt Bioscience Corporation (largest privately owned genomic sequencing center and manufacturer and marketer of nucleic acid sample preparation reagents); Obagi Medical Products (specialty pharmaceuticals company focused on skin care); USMC (orthopedic and prosthetic component and device manufacturer); and Packard Bioscience Corporation (analytical instruments and reagents company).

Mr. McLean is the Chairman of the International Biomedical Research Alliance, an organization that supports the NIH/Oxford/Cambridge Scholars Program.

Mr. McLean holds an M.B.A. with distinction from the Wharton School (1980) and a B.S. in Economics summa cum laude from the University of Pennsylvania (1979).

 

  
  Cameron O’Mara
Analyst		    
 
Graduated from Harvard University with a BA in Psychology.
 		  
  Rupinder S. Sidhu
Managing Director		    
 
Mr. Sidhu is a co-founder and Managing Director of Arena. Prior to joining Arena, he was the Managing Member of Merion Capital Management, LLC, a private investment firm with headquarters in New York City. Before Merion, Mr. Sidhu was with Merrill Lynch, in the leveraged buyout unit in the firm's mergers and acquisitions department.

In 1984, Mr. Sidhu was one of the founding partners of MLCP, the management company for MLCP Fund I, a $402 million private equity fund, the first such fund sponsored by a major investment bank. In 1989, Mr. Sidhu was named Managing Director of Merrill Lynch, and MLCP Fund II, a $1.5 billion private equity fund, was established.

Before joining Merrill Lynch, Mr. Sidhu was with the Prudential Insurance Company in the Corporate Finance Department, where he specialized in lending to large and medium-sized corporations as well as investing in leverage buyouts.

Mr. Sidhu received his M.B.A. from the University of Massachusetts (1977) and attended the University of Illinois in the Ph.D. program. He received his graduate degree at St. Stephen's College (1975). Mr. Sidhu is a director of Alliance Mortgage Company and CMI Industries, Inc.

 

  
  John C. Tolleson
Managing Director 		   
 
John Tolleson is a co-founder and Managing Director of Arena and Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Tolleson Wealth Management. He founded the firm after retiring as chairman and CEO of First USA, the financial services company he had founded in 1985.

In building the core team of specialists for Tolleson Wealth Management, Mr. Tolleson called upon his more than three decades of experience in banking and financial services. While attending Southern Methodist University, he began his banking career with National Bank of Commerce, eventually overseeing all the bank’s commercial lending activities. He then joined MBank, Dallas, an MCorp subsidiary, managing correspondent banking. He later served as Chairman and CEO of MBank, Austin, and subsequently as managing director of the retail banking and marketing division of MCorp, which ultimately became First USA. In 1989, Tolleson led a leveraged buyout of First USA, and in 1992, took the company public, listing it on the NYSE. Under his leadership, First USA grew from $400 million to $24.6 billion in credit card loans prior to its merger with Bank One Corporation in 1997. After the merger, Mr. Tolleson joined the board of Bank One and started The Tolleson Group, which is now Tolleson Wealth Management.

As CEO of Tolleson Wealth Management, Mr. Tolleson focuses on strategic planning, policy, and investment services. He and his family continue to be significant clients of the firm. As a community leader, he devotes energy to various charitable and philanthropic organizations. John serves on several boards, including those of Haggar Corporation and Southwestern Medical Foundation. He is a trustee of his alma mater, SMU, and serves there in several other capacities as well: as a vice chairman of the university’s investment committee, on the executive board of the university’s Cox School of Business, as a director of the school’s Willis M. Tate Distinguished Lecture Series and as a board member of the John Goodwin Tower Center for Political Studies. He was awarded the Cox School of Business Distinguished Alumnus Award in 1996. 		 
           
           
           
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