Team

Joe Reece – Co-Founder and Managing Partner
Joe Reece founded Helena Capital, a merchant bank, in April 2015 and served as Chief Executive Officer until January 2017, and then again since October 2018. Mr. Reece also served as Consultant to BDT & Company, LLC from October 2019 to November 2021. He previously served as Executive Vice Chairman and Head of UBS Securities, LLC’s Investment Bank for the Americas from February 2017 to September 2018. Prior to that, he was at Credit Suisse from 1997 to 2015, in roles of increasing responsibility, including eventually serving as Global Head of Equity Capital Markets and Co-Head of Credit Risk. His prior experience includes practicing as an attorney for ten years, including at the law firm of Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP and at the Securities and Exchange Commission. Mr. Reece has been a member of the board of directors of Compass Minerals, Inc. since 2019 and has been Chairman since May 2021. He also previously served as a member of the board of directors of UBS Securities, LLC, of Atlas Technical Consultants, Inc. and its predecessor company, Boxwood Merger Corp., of Del Frisco’s Restaurant Group, Inc., of RumbleOn, Inc., of CST Brands, Inc., and of LSB Industries, Inc.

Steve Kadenacy – Co-Founder and Managing Partner
Steve Kadenacy is the Chief Executive Officer of Boxwood Capital, a private equity firm he founded in 2018. He has been serving as the Chairman of Centerline Logistics Corp, a leading marine oil transportation services firm and ship assist company, since July 2019. Mr. Kadenacy served as Chairman and CEO of Boxwood Merger Corp until its business combination and served on the board of directors of the combined company, Atlas Technical Consultants until May 2021. Between May 2008 and July 2017, Mr. Kadenacy served in a number of senior leadership roles at AECOM, a large engineering and technical services business, including its President and Chief Operating Officer from September 2015 to July 2017, President and Chief Financial Officer from 2014 to 2015 and Chief Financial Officer from 2011 to 2014. During his tenure at AECOM, the company grew from approximately $5 billion of revenues in 2008 to approximately $18 billion in 2017. Previously, Mr. Kadenacy was a Partner at KPMG in Economic Consulting and served as a member of the board of directors of ABM Industries, a provider of facility management services, from 2013 to 2014.

Duncan Murdoch – Chief Investment Officer
Duncan Murdoch has over 20 years of private equity and investment banking experience. Mr. Murdoch is currently Managing Partner and Chief Investment Officer of Boxwood Capital, a position he has served since April 2020. Mr. Murdoch is also Chief Investment Officer of SilverBox Capital. Previously, Mr. Murdoch served as Chief Investment Officer of Boxwood Merger Corp. until its business combination with Atlas Technical Consultants, from November 2018 to February 2020. Prior to that Mr. Murdoch spent approximately 17 years at Macquarie Capital in New York where he was a Senior Managing Director, from 2006 to October 2018, and also served as Co-Head of the Principal Transactions Group US from 2010 to 2018, and as Co-Head of the Industrials Group US from 2006 to 2010. Mr. Murdoch also served on numerous committees at Macquarie Capital including the US Capital Commitments Committee and the US Operating Committee. While at Macquarie Capital, Mr. Murdoch led numerous investments and acquisitions on behalf of Macquarie Capital and funds managed by affiliates of Macquarie Capital across multiple sectors, including infrastructure, business services, environmental services, aerospace, and consumer. Mr. Murdoch served on the board of directors of numerous private companies, including Brek Manufacturing Company, Utility Service Partners, Inc., Puralube, Inc., Icon Parking Systems, Smarte Carte, Inc., DNEG, Anaergia Inc., MST Global, and Skis Rossignol S.A.

Jin Chun – Chief Operating Officer
Jin Chun, has 20 years of private equity and investment banking experience. Mr. Chun is Chief Operating Officer of SilverBox Capital, and a Partner of Boxwood Capital. From November 2005 to December 2020, Mr. Chun was a Managing Director of Macquarie Capital, based in New York where he was responsible for sourcing, executing and managing investments on behalf of Macquarie Capital and funds managed by affiliates of Macquarie Capital. Past investments have included debt, preferred equity and common equity investments across technology, financial services, infrastructure, travel and leisure, and gaming sectors. Prior to that, Mr. Chun worked for Dresdner Kleinwort Wasserstein in its Industrial M&A team from 2001 to 2005. Mr. Chun serves on the board of directors of Read Ahead, Inc.

Dan Esters – Chief Financial Officer
Dan Esters is Chief Financial Officer of SilverBox Capital and a Partner of Boxwood Capital since April 2020. He formerly served as the Chief Financial Officer of Boxwood Merger Corp. from November 2018 to February 2020. Mr. Esters spent 24 years serving in a variety of capacities at several investment banking firms where he accumulated extensive transaction experience including origination, due diligence assessment, structuring, negotiation and marketing of a wide range of merger and acquisitions, debt financings, restructurings and public equity offerings. From August 2014 to September 2018, Mr. Esters served as a managing director of M&A Capital LLC, a boutique investment banking firm and independent sponsor. From May 1996 to August 2014, he served in the Investment Banking department of Jefferies LLC, where his last role was as Managing Director within the firm’s financial sponsor group. Previously, Mr. Esters served with the Investment Banking department of PaineWebber, Inc. and with the audit practice of accounting firm Price Waterhouse LLC, where he earned his C.P.A. license.

Dean Hollis
Dean Hollis brings significant experience in the food and consumer sector, especially in the area of natural and organic foods. Mr. Hollis has been Chair of the Board of Hain Celestial Group, a company focused on natural and organic foods since December 2018, and Chair of the Board of SunOpta Inc., a company focused on plant-based foods and beverages, since October 2016. He is a senior advisor for Oaktree Capital, a global alternative asset management firm. Prior to 2008, Mr. Hollis was President and Chief Operating Officer, ConAgra Foods, Consumer Foods and International. In that role, Mr. Hollis developed and executed a worldwide business strategy, while overseeing the largest part of the ConAgra Foods portfolio, consisting of over 40 global brands in 110 countries as of 2008. Mr. Hollis has also previously served on the boards of Diamond Foods, Inc., a leading branded snacks supplier, until its sale to Snyder’s-Lance Inc., and of Boulder Brands, a leader in health and wellness foods, until its sale to Pinnacle Foods. He has also served on the board of Landec Corporation, a developer and marketer of patented polymer products for food, agriculture and licensed partners applications.

Glenn Marino
Glenn Marino brings 40 years of experience in the consumer retail finance industry. He has served on the board of directors of Rent-A-Center, Inc. since 2020. Mr. Marino previously served as Executive Vice President, CEO — Payment Solutions and Chief Commercial Officer of Synchrony Financial, Inc., from 2014 until 2018. Prior to the spin-off in 2014 of Synchrony by General Electric Corporation, Mr. Marino was an executive with the North American retail finance business of General Electric, serving as CEO — Payment Solutions and Chief Commercial Officer from 2012 – 2013, and CEO — Sales Finance from 2001 to 2011. From 1999 to 2001, Mr. Marino served as CEO of Monogram Credit Services, a joint venture between GE and BankOne (now JPMorgan Chase & Co.). Prior to that, Mr. Marino held various roles of increasing responsibility in finance, business development, credit risk, and marketing with General Electric and Citibank.

David Palmer
David Palmer brings significant experience in the hospitality sector, as well as expertise in consumer subscription businesses. Mr. Palmer is the founder of Bernoulli | Locke, LLC, a Wyoming-based membership club focused on luxury experiential hospitality. Mr. Palmer was the President and Chief Executive Officer and a member of the Board of Directors of Diamond Resorts International, Inc., a resort management and timeshare membership company, from 2013 to 2016. Prior to becoming the Chief Executive Officer at Diamond Resorts International, Mr. Palmer was the President and Chief Financial Officer of its predecessor company, Diamond Resorts Parent, LLC, from 2007 to 2013.

Sunit Patel
Sunit Patel brings more than 30 years of experience, with significant expertise in the telecommunications sector as a member of senior leadership teams. Mr. Patel previously served as the T-Mobile U.S. Executive Vice President, Merger and Integration Lead, from 2018 to 2020. Prior to T-Mobile Mr. Patel, was Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer of CenturyLink from 2017 to 2018, and Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer of Level 3 Communications Inc., from 2003 to 2017, until the merger with CenturyLink in 2017. Prior to that Mr. Patel served in senior leadership positions in a number of telecom companies, and began his professional career in investment banking.

Thomas Werner
Thomas Werner brings significant experience with technology companies, especially in the renewable energy and semiconductor sectors.   Mr. Werner has been Chief Executive Officer and a member of the Board of SunPower Corporation, a leading global solar energy company, since 2003, and Chairman of the Board since 2011.  Before joining SunPower, he held the position of Chief Executive Officer of Silicon Light Machines, Inc., an optical solutions subsidiary of Cypress Semiconductor Corporation, from 2001 to 2003. From 1998 to 2001, Mr. Werner served as Vice President and General Manager of the Business Connectivity Group of 3Com Corp., a network solutions company. He has also held a number of executive management positions at Oak Industries, Inc. and General Electric Co. Mr. Werner currently serves as a board member of Cree, Inc., a LED manufacturer, and the Silicon Valley Leadership Group. He served as a member of the board of directors of Silver Spring Networks, a provider of smart grid applications, from March 2009 to January 2018.

Joe Hurd
Joe Hurd serves as one of our independent directors. Mr. Hurd has been the Global Managing Director, Corporate Development at SOSV LLC, a multi-stage venture capital fund since October 2019 and the founder and managing partner of The Katama Group LLC, a strategic advisory consultancy based in Los Altos, California since September 2004. He is also a Venture Partner with Good Growth Capital, an early-stage technology venture fund, a position he has held since July 2019. Since February 2018, he has served as a Non-Executive Director of GoCo Group plc, a UK-based financial services comparison website, where he serves on the remuneration and nomination committees. Previously, Mr. Hurd was the Director, Emerging Businesses at Facebook from January 2016 until June 2017 and the Vice President, Strategy & Business Development at Gannett from October 2013 until October 2015. From 2009 to 2012, he served as a political appointee in the United States Department of Commerce, where he was on the White House Business Council. Prior to that, Mr. Hurd held senior executive roles at VideoEgg, Friendster and AOL, and started his professional career as a corporate securities lawyer at Linklaters LLP.

Natalie Rothman
Natalie Rothman serves as one of our independent directors. Ms. Rothman is a successful corporate executive with over twenty years of experience working in consumer products, foodservice, beauty, retail and auto. Ms. Rothman has served as the Executive Vice President, Chief Human Resources Officer for Advance Auto Parts since May 2016. Previously, Ms. Rothman served in human resources leadership roles at PepsiCo from 2006 to 2016. She also worked as an employment attorney with the law firm Brown Raysman in New York from 2003 to 2006. Prior to Brown Raysman, she served in recruiting and talent management roles with The Estee Lauder Companies, FreeRide.com, LLC and Gundersen Partners, LLC.