Cassel Salpeter & Co. Facilitates Sale of Westchester General Hospital to Keralty

Cassel Salpeter & Co., an independent investment banking firm that provides advice to middle-market and emerging growth companies in the U.S. and worldwide, announced it acted as exclusive financial advisor to Westchester General Hospital located in Miami, Fl, in connection with its sale to Sanitas USA, Inc. a subsidiary of Keralty SAS, an international health enterprise leader in patient-centered care and health outcomes in operation for over 50 years in seven countries. Cassel Salpeter led the search for the buyer and worked to ensure the transaction was seamless and successful.

When Westchester General Hospital expressed interest in selling the hospital and the property it occupies, Cassel Salpeter utilized its extensive network in the healthcare industry to raise awareness of the opportunity and find a suitable buyer for the hospital. Keralty, under the Sanitas Medical Centers’ name, soon emerged as the purchaser of the hospital, and the parties were able to successfully complete the transaction. 

“We’re proud to have been able to work with Westchester General Hospital and the family that owned it to find an appropriate buyer for the hospital, one that shares the same commitment to serve the community and provide state of-the-art, expert healthcare,” said James S. Cassel, Cassel Salpeter Chairman and Co-founder. “With its Sanitas Medical Centers, Keralty has built a dependable network of health centers, and this acquisition will allow them to expand their network, services, and commitment to serving the community.” 

The sale includes both the 78,000 square foot acute care hospital with 125 beds, inclusive of a 27 bed psychiatric unit, as well as the land surrounding it.  Keralty intends to retain the approximate 570 staff currently employed at the hospital, and the hospital will continue to provide the community with 

emergency services, intensive care, and all other services it does presently. 

The Cassel Salpeter team was led by Chairman and Co-founder James S. Cassel and Vice President Laura Salpeter, with the assistance of Associate Julian Astrove. 

“We are thankful for the help of Cassel Salpeter in working with us to find a suitable buyer that would continue the hospital’s mission of providing invaluable services to our community which our family has done for over 50 years,” said Dr. Gregory Fox of Westchester General Hospital. “James, Laura, Julian, and the rest of the team at Cassel Salpeter worked tirelessly to find viable opportunities for us and were crucial throughout every stage of the deal.” 

Cassel Salpeter also thanks Gary Davis and Sam Goodman of McDermott Will & Emory for serving as the legal advisor for Westchester General Hospital, as well as, Carol Barnhart and Anthony Fernandez of Greenberg Traurig for their role as legal advisor to Keralty. 

About Cassel Salpeter & Co., LLC
Cassel Salpeter & Co. is an investment banking firm with professionals who have more than forty years of financial experience. They deliver smart, straightforward advisory services to middle-market companies across America. With a thorough understanding of their clients’ industries and a keen sense of the economy, the Cassel Salpeter team provides independent, timely advice so clients can capitalize on a rapidly changing global environment. Headquartered in Miami, Florida, Cassel Salpeter is led by James Cassel and Scott Salpeter. Member FINRA and SIPC.

Cassell Salpeter & Co. Welcomes New Associate Edward “Eddie” Kropf and Analyst Tahz Rashid, Adding Rising Talent to a Veteran Team

Committed to providing world-class independent investment banking services, never more critical to middle-market and emerging growth companies, Cassel Salpeter is delighted to announce the addition of two outstanding professionals, Eddie Kropf and Tahz Rashid. 

“As part of our firm’s continued commitment to addressing client needs, made more urgent by these challenging times, we are thrilled to welcome Eddie and Tahz to our team,” said chairman and co-founder James Cassel. “These exceptional professionals bring with them fresh insights, a diligent work ethic, and sharp intellect that will help propel our firm and clients forward.” 

Edward Eddie KropfEDWARD “EDDIE” KROPF 

Eddie will leverage his consulting and research expertise in his role as associate to assist all areas of the firm, from financial analysis to advisory services. He earned a bachelor’s degree in economics from Reed College and a master’s in business administration from the University of Miami.

TAHZ RASHID 

Tahz will support the team as an analyst, actively contributing to the firm’s issuances of valuations. He earned a bachelor’s in economics with a focus in mathematics from the University of Wisconsin-Madison and a master’s in finance from the University of Miami. 

Both Eddie and Tahz served as interns with Cassel Salpeter prior to assuming their respective positions. 

Click to learn more about Eddie and Tahz. 

About Cassel Salpeter & Co., LLC
Cassel Salpeter & Co. is an investment banking firm with professionals who have more than forty years of financial experience. They deliver smart, straightforward advisory services to middle-market companies across America. With a thorough understanding of their clients’ industries and a keen sense of the economy, the Cassel Salpeter team provides independent, timely advice so clients can capitalize on a rapidly changing global environment. Headquartered in Miami, Florida, Cassel Salpeter is led by James Cassel and Scott Salpeter. Member FINRA and SIPC.

Cassel Salpeter Welcomes New Managing Directors Margery Fischbein And Deborah F. Aghib, Ph. D., Expanding Its Healthcare Group

February 10, 2020

​​​​​​​Driven by strong sustained growth and an unwavering commitment to providing top-tier independent investment banking services for middle-market and emerging growth companies, Cassel Salpeter & Co. announced the strategic additions of Margery Fischbein and Deborah F. Aghib, Ph.D. Two exceptional professionals with over 65 combined years of executive experience, Ms. Fishbein and Dr. Aghib will join Ira Leiderman and the team as managing directors of the healthcare group, one of a broad spectrum of industries the firm assists, and an increasingly in-demand vertical for the company.

In these roles, Ms. Fishbein and Dr. Aghib will advise owners and boards of directors of middle-market, private and public companies on a variety of M&A transactions, equity and debt financings, strategic licensing and partnering, and financial advisory assignments across a range of healthcare verticals.
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“As part of our firm’s accelerated forward momentum, we warmly welcome these seasoned industry experts, who join our longtime healthcare managing director, Ira Leiderman,” said chairman and co-founder James Cassel. “Their experience, track record, and client-first approach is perfectly in line with our commitment to providing world-class services. Together with Ira, they will spearhead dynamic new initiatives and help satisfy significant demand for our healthcare services.”


MARGERY FISCHBEIN

Prior to joining Cassel Salpeter, Ms. Fishbein was head of Healthcare Investment Banking for Seaport Global and FBR & Co., and head of East Coast Biotechnology Investment Banking for JMP Securities. Ms. Fischbein also held senior executive positions at the biotechnology companies ImClone Systems and Human Genome Sciences. She began her career rising to senior vice president at Lehman Brothers and then as managing director of investment banking at JPMorgan Chase and Citigroup.

Ms. Fishbein earned a master’s in business administration from Harvard Business School and a bachelor’s degree from Harvard University.


DEBORAH F. AGHIB, PH.D.

Prior to joining Cassel Salpeter, Dr. Aghib was a private equity consultant for CRG LP, a global healthcare-focused investment firm and industry pioneer. Before that, she was the chief business development executive for Stellar Biotechnologies, Inc., and also held other senior executive positions. Dr. Aghib was also an Independent Director on the Stellar Biotechnologies, Inc. board of directors. She is currently a board member of the OpenWorm Foundation.

Dr. Aghib holds a Ph.D. in Molecular and Cellular Biology from the University of Milan (Italy) and a Ph.D. in Human Genetics from the University of Pavia (Italy), and a M.Sc degree in Biological Sciences from the University of Milan (Italy).

About Cassel Salpeter & Co.
Cassel Salpeter & Co. LLC is an independent investment banking firm that provides advice to middle market and emerging growth companies in the U.S. and worldwide. Together, the firm’s professionals have extensive experience providing private and public companies with a broad spectrum of investment banking and financial advisory services, including: mergers and acquisitions; equity and debt capital raises; fairness and solvency opinions; valuations; and restructurings, such as 363 sales and plans of reorganization. Co-founded by James Cassel and Scott Salpeter, the firm provides objective, unbiased, results-focused services that clients need to achieve their goals. Personally involved at every stage of all engagements, the firm’s senior professionals have forged relationships and completed hundreds of transactions and assignments nationwide. The firm’s headquarters are in Miami. Member FINRA and SIPC.

Van Drunen Farms and SouthAm Freeze Dry Announce New Business Partnership

The Van Drunen Family of Companies (“Van Drunen Farms”) and SouthAm Freeze Dry (“SouthAm”) today announced a new partnership whereby Van Drunen Farms will take a majority stake in SouthAm.

Van Drunen Farms, with headquarters in Momence, IL, is a world leader in agriculture, food science, and dehydrating fruits, vegetables, and grains. SouthAm is a trusted freeze-dried fruit supplier to many global CPG companies and is widely known as a leader in delivering the highest quality freeze-dried ingredients. Its headquarters are just outside of Chile’s capital, Santiago. The company enjoys strong competitive advantages that come from its ability to leverage direct, local access to the rich farming output of Chile and the South American supply chain. SouthAm combines a local focus with an international reach.

“This partnership will better position both SouthAm and Van Drunen Farms, offering unique and substantial benefits for our customers,” remarked Kevin Van Drunen, Co-Owner and President of Van Drunen Farms, and Board Member of SouthAm. “It is exciting to see our global platform expanded with a partner that shares our long term vision to be a global leader in freeze-dry ingredients and has a truly international reach.”

The investment in SouthAm provides Van Drunen Farms, including its dietary supplement powerhouse FutureCeuticals, a key competitive advantage for South and Central American fruits in the food, functional food, and supplement spaces, as well as continues SouthAm’s innovation, which is focused on the development of native herbal, fruit, and vegetable ingredients. The partnership allows both organizations to enhance their access to global supply, which benefits each of their respective customer bases.

“We are thrilled to take this next step as a company,” added Boris Hirmas Said, founder and Chairman of the Board of SouthAm. “We started in 2004 with a mission to create a world-class business to showcase Chile’s unique capacity for premium quality manufacturing and food products. With that initial goal achieved, we are now ready to partner with Van Drunen Farms to bring this message and these products to the world. It is truly a win for us, for our Van Drunenpartners, and above all for our customers.  Ultimately, with our combined resources we have now broadened our direct supply chain to both hemispheres, making us both more efficient and effective.”

“What is truly unique about this partnership, and something that is very important to us at Van Drunen Farms, is that both SouthAm and Van Drunen Farms are family owned companies,” remarked Jeff Van Drunen, Co-Owner of Van Drunen Farms, President of FutureCeuticals, and Vice Chairman of the Board of SouthAm. “Once all of the due diligence and pro forma is complete, it’s these kinds of intangibles that transform a project from a fine idea that makes good financial sense into something intrinsically great for everyone involved. Culture and values matter to us, and SouthAm aligns perfectly with who we are as people, a family, and as a corporate entity.”

Cassel Salpeter & Co. served as exclusive financial advisor to SouthAm. The team was led by Chairman James S. Casseland Director Philip Cassel.

“It is a rare occurrence for a partnership to come together with two parties that share such deep-rooted values within their organizations,” said James Cassel. “We believe that Van Drunen Farms and SouthAm, with their similar long-term approach, will create a strong foundation for success well into the future. It was a pleasure to play an important part in facilitating the combination of these two great companies.”

About SouthAm Freeze Dry

SouthAm fuses creativity and innovation with world-class quality standards. SouthAm takes a holistic approach to business; handling everything from sourcing and manufacturing of freeze dried food solutions to custom tailored product development.

About Van Drunen Holdings

The Van Drunen Family of Companies is a global presence in the food, functional food, and nutraceutical industries. Van Drunen Farms, founded in 1856, is a global leader in the growing of culinary herbs, as well as the dehydration of fruit, vegetable, grain, and herbal food ingredients. VDF FutureCeuticals, Inc. is a vertically integrated functional food ingredient, product development, and bioanalytical research and discovery company serving the supplement and functional food industries with patented and clinically-researched functional ingredients. VDF Europe operates an expanding freeze drying facility in Serbia serving the EU, the near East, and Asia. Golden State Herbs is an agricultural and air drying operation located in Thermal, California. Van Drunen Specialty Seeds, a non-gmo seed development company currently focused on proprietary basil seed varietals, operates in Thermal, California.

About Cassel Salpeter & Co.

Cassel Salpeter & Co., LLC is an independent investment banking firm that provides advice to middle market and emerging growth companies in the U.S. and worldwide. Together, the firm’s professionals have more than 50 years of experience providing private and public companies with a broad spectrum of investment banking and financial advisory services,  including: mergers and acquisitions, equity and debt capital raises. Co-founded by James Cassel and Scott Salpeter, the firm’s headquarters are in Miami.

SOURCE Van Drunen Farms; FutureCeuticals, Inc.

Related Links

http://www.vandrunenfarms.com

Cassel Salpeter & Co. LLC Represents Convert IT Marketing LLC, in its Sale to Abbey Road Capital LLC

Cassel Salpeter & Co. LLC served as exclusive financial advisor to Convert IT Marketing LLC, a leading performance-based digital marketing company to the legal vertical, on its sale to Abbey Road Capital LLC.
Founded in 2011, Convert IT Marketing provides outsourced pay-per-click marketing solutions for local law firms in specialty practices throughout the U.S. The company’s unique and proprietary strategies deliver superior performance to its 500+ customers in terms of cost and quality of leads, placing it in the top 1% of all digital marketers serving the legal vertical.
“The decision if and when to sell a company is a difficult one,” said Convert IT Marketing Owner and Founder Paul Rubenstein. “I spoke to several advisors and made a decision to move forward after speaking with Cassel Salpeter. I felt Cassel Salpeter had my best interests in mind from pre-engagement to post-close.”
“We enjoyed working with Paul on this transaction,” said Ranjini Chandirakanthan, Managing Director and Head of the Technology Practice for Cassel Salpeter. “We worked hard to minimize the disruption to the business and we are happy to be part of a great result for the company.”
“Paul and his team have built a tremendous business in Convert IT Marketing,” said Todd House, Managing Partner of Abbey Road Capital. “With a superior customer value proposition and a highly scalable platform, Convert IT Marketing is a clear leader in providing digital marketing services to the legal vertical. We are thrilled that Cassel Salpeter introduced us to the company and guided the company and the entire deal team to a successful close.”

About Cassel Salpeter & Co.

Cassel Salpeter & Co. LLC is an independent investment banking firm that provides advice to middle market and emerging growth companies in the U.S. and worldwide. Together, the firm’s professionals have extensive experience providing private and public companies with a broad spectrum of investment banking and financial advisory services, including: mergers and acquisitions; equity and debt capital raises; fairness and solvency opinions; valuations; and restructurings, such as 363 sales and plans of reorganization. Co-founded by James Cassel and Scott Salpeter, the firm provides objective, unbiased, results-focused services that clients need to achieve their goals. Personally involved at every stage of all engagements, the firm’s senior professionals have forged relationships and completed hundreds of transactions and assignments nationwide. The firm’s headquarters are in Miami. Member FINRA and SIPC. More information is available at www.CasselSalpeter.com.

Cassel Salpeter & Co. Advises Sancilio Pharmaceuticals, Debtor in Chapter 11 Sale of Business Assets

Cassel Salpeter & Co., an independent investment banking firm that provides advice to middle market and emerging growth companies in the U.S. and worldwide, today announced that it served as exclusive financial advisor to Sancilio Pharmaceuticals Company, Inc., debtor-in-possession in a Chapter 11, in two sales pending in Delaware. Sancilio Pharmaceuticals is an integrated specialty pharmaceutical company that develops, manufactures and commercializes pharmaceutical products, over-the-counter and behind-the-counter products and dietary supplements in the dental and women’s health markets.

The Cassel Salpeter team, led by Chairman James S. Cassel, with the assistance of Managing Director Ira Z. Leiderman, Vice President Laura Salpeter and Analyst Julian Astrove, identified and contacted more than 300 strategic and financial parties as part of its work assisting the company.

“Running simultaneous, multiple sales processes for a company can be challenging in any transaction, let alone in a complex, fast-paced bankruptcy 363 sales process,” said Cassel, the firm’s chairman and cofounder. “I am proud of our team and the work accomplished that led to a successful outcome for Sancilio Pharmaceuticals.”

Cassel Salpeter worked with the debtor to run simultaneous, multiple sales processes with two separate stalking horse bidders for different divisions of the company. The sale of Altemia and the ALT Platform, a phase 3 ready product for the treatment of sickle cell disease; a prenatal and dental portfolio of prenatal vitamins and fluorides; and the plant and labs of the company were purchased by Micelle Biopharma, Inc.

The Ocean Blue division of the company was purchased by K.D. Pharma Bexbach GmbH.

MidCap Financial Services, LLC, the company’s lender and stalking horse bidder for all of the company assets except for Ocean Blue, was supportive of the transaction, the company and Cassel Salpeter during the entire bankruptcy and sales process.

Cassel Salpeter also worked closely with the debtors’ Chief Executive Officer, Geoffrey Glass, and debtors’ counsel, Greenberg Traurig lawyers Paul Keenan, John Dodd, Matt Miller and Sara Hoffman.

On July 23, 2018, the United States Bankruptcy Judge for the District of Delaware approved the sale of Sancilio Pharmaceuticals assets. The sale of Ocean Blue closed on August 1, 2018 and the sale of Altemia, the ALT Platform, the prenatal and dental portfolio and the plant and labs closed on August 8, 2018.

About Cassel Salpeter & Co.

Cassel Salpeter & Co., LLC is an independent investment banking firm that provides advice to middle market and emerging growth companies in the U.S. and worldwide. Together, the firm’s professionals have more than 50 years of experience providing private and public companies with a broad spectrum of investment banking and financial advisory services, including: mergers and acquisitions; equity and debt capital raises; fairness and solvency opinions; valuations; and restructurings, such as 363 sales and plans of reorganization. Co-founded by James Cassel and Scott Salpeter, the firm provides objective, unbiased, results-focused services that clients need to achieve their goals. Personally involved at every stage of all engagements, the firm’s senior partners have forged relationships and completed hundreds of transactions and assignments nationwide. The firm’s headquarters are in Miami. Member FINRA and SIPC. More information is available at www.CasselSalpeter.com

Cassel Salpeter & Co. Acts as Exclusive Financial Advisor in Sale of CORD:USE

Cassel Salpeter & Co., LLC, a middle-market investment banking firm providing merger, acquisition, divestiture and corporate finance services, represented CORD:USE Cord Blood Bank (“CORD:USE”) in its sale to Cryo-Cell International, Inc. (“Cryo-Cell”).

CORD:USE, based in Orlando, FL, is a leader in the cord blood and cord tissue banking industry. CORD:USE operates a family bank in Orlando and a public bank based out of the Duke University Medical Center in Durham, NC. Co-founded by a board-certified obstetrician, Dr. Edward Guindi, and his business partner Michael Ernst, together they assembled a world class team of experts in the field and established relationships with some of the leading obstetrical centers in the U.S. Known for their high quality, the CORD:USE banks participated in over 660 stem cell transplants since inception.

Cassel Salpeter advised CORD:USE in evaluating strategic alternatives and ran a process to contact both potential financing sources and acquirers and solicit offers for the Company. During this process, several entities tendered offers to acquire the Company. Cassel Salpeter advised CORD:USE throughout this process, which resulted in Cryo-Cell  acquiring substantially all of CORD:USE’s assets. In connection with the transaction, Cassel Salpeter provided a fairness opinion to the Board of Directors of CORD:USE. Ira Leiderman, Managing Director, Healthcare, who has years of experience helping quality, middle-market life science companies raise capital and complete mergers and acquisitions, joined Vice President Laura Salpeter in leading the Cassel Salpeter team.

CORD:USE Chief Executive Officer Dr. Edward Guindi said: “The Cassel Salpeter team was at our side throughout the transaction. They continuously advised us through the many twists and turns of the deal and their determination did not waiver. It was a pleasure to work with them.”

About Cassel Salpeter & Co.

Cassel Salpeter & Co., LLC is an independent investment banking firm that provides advice to middle market and emerging growth companies in the U.S. and worldwide. Together, the firm’s professionals have experience providing private and public companies with a broad spectrum of investment banking and financial advisory services, including: mergers and acquisitions; equity and debt capital raises; fairness and solvency opinions; valuations; and restructurings, such as 363 sales and plans of reorganization. Co-founded by James Cassel and Scott Salpeter, the firm provides objective, unbiased, results-focused services that clients need to achieve their goals. Personally involved at every stage of all engagements, the firm’s senior professionals have forged relationships and completed hundreds of transactions and assignments nationwide. The firm’s headquarters are in Miami. Member FINRA and SIPC. More information is available at www.CasselSalpeter.com.

Cassel Salpeter & Co. Secures Senior Debt Financing for Lakewood Organics

Cassel Salpeter & Co., LLC, a middle-market investment banking firm providing merger, acquisition, divestiture and corporate finance services, represented Florida Bottling, Inc. d/b/a Lakewood Organics (“Lakewood”) in securing senior debt financing from Fifth Third Bank. The financing will support numerous growth initiatives.

Lakewood, based in Miami, FL, is an independent family juice company bottling a diverse line of pure organic and premium fruit juice products. The Lakewood story began in 1935 with its founder, Fred Fuhrman, and a small fresh fruit facility in the Allapattah neighborhood of Miami from which Fred would deliver fruits and juices to the hotels on Miami Beach. From that modest beginning, Lakewood has expanded its distribution across the U.S. and dozens of countries. Fred’s son, Thomas, took over from his father in the late 1970’s and pioneered Lakewood’s trademark “Fresh Pressed” line of not-from-concentrate juices. Fred’s grandson, Scott Fuhrman, eventually took the reins from Thomas and currently serves as Chairman and Chief Executive Officer. Scott’s three daughters – Eleanor, Amelia, and Penelope – are the fourth generation of Lakewood ownership. The Fuhrman family takes great pride in being a responsible steward of the Lakewood brand, and holds true to its mission to provide the best quality juices to its customers.

Cassel Salpeter advised Lakewood in evaluating its financing options and provided assistance throughout the due diligence and closing process. Cassel Salpeter Director Philip Cassel led the assignment. Cassel has years of experience helping quality, middle-market businesses raise capital and complete mergers and acquisitions.

Lakewood’s Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Scott Fuhrman said: “I am grateful for the good advice and guidance that Cassel Salpeter provided in connection with the financing transaction. The financing will support numerous growth initiatives to capitalize on the fast-growing organic shelf space.”

About Cassel Salpeter & Co.

Cassel Salpeter & Co., LLC is an independent investment banking firm that provides advice to middle market and emerging growth companies in the U.S. and worldwide. Together, the firm’s professionals have experience providing private and public companies with a broad spectrum of investment banking and financial advisory services, including: mergers and acquisitions; equity and debt capital raises; fairness and solvency opinions; valuations; and restructurings, such as 363 sales and plans of reorganization. Co-founded by James Cassel and Scott Salpeter, the firm provides objective, unbiased, results-focused services that clients need to achieve their goals. Personally involved at every stage of all engagements, the firm’s senior professionals have forged relationships and completed hundreds of transactions and assignments nationwide. The firm’s headquarters are in Miami. Member FINRA and SIPC. More information is available at www.CasselSalpeter.com.

About Lakewood Organics  

Lakewood, based in Miami, FL, is an independent family juice company bottling a diverse line of pure organic and premium fruit juice products. The Lakewood story began in 1935 with its founder, Fred Fuhrman, and a small fresh fruit facility in the Allapattah neighborhood of Miami from which Fred would deliver fruits and juices to the hotels on Miami Beach. From that modest beginning, Lakewood has expanded its distribution across the U.S. and dozens of countries. Fred’s son, Thomas, took over from his father in the late 1970’s and pioneered Lakewood’s trademark “Fresh Pressed” line of not-from-concentrate juices. Fred’s grandson, Scott Fuhrman, eventually took the reins from Thomas and currently serves as Chairman & CEO. Scott’s three daughters – Eleanor,  Amelia, and Penelope – are the 4th generation of Lakewood ownership. The Fuhrman family takes great pride in being a responsible steward of the Lakewood brand, and holds true to its mission to provide the best quality juices to its customers.

Cassel Salpeter & Co. Represents Systems 2000, Inc in its Sale to Serent Capital

Cassel Salpeter & Co., a middle-market investment banking firm providing financial advisory services, represented Systems 2000, Inc. (“Sys2k”) in its sale to Serent Capital.  The acquisition will enable Serent Capital to broaden its portfolio of system-of-record software businesses and automobile technology investments.

The Cassel Salpeter team, led by President and Co-Founder Scott Salpeter and Vice President Marcus Wai, supported Sys2k through the closing of the transaction.

Sys2k is a SaaS business that provides a mission-critical dealership management system for the specialty vehicle market. With over 350 customers throughout the U.S. and Canada and a strong recurring revenue base, the Sys2k platform is highly regarded due to its true multi-company, multi-location system offering full DMS capabilities across all departments of a dealership.

Carl Sconnelly, Sys2k’s founder and former President and CEO said, “The Cassel Salpeter team helped guide me throughout the sales process from marketing and LOI negotiation through to due diligence and closing.  The complexity of the Transaction combined with the vigorous due diligence process was made much easier with their help and resulted in the ideal outcome for me and the Company. The support provided by the Cassel Salpeter team was invaluable and I couldn’t have asked for a better outcome.”

“It was a pleasure working with the Sys2k team to find the best fit to take the company to the next level of its growth trajectory.  We believe Sys2k to be a highly attractive investment to Serent Capital given their ownership experience with SaaS based businesses and potential synergies with their other portfolio companies,” said President and Co-Founder Scott Salpeter of Cassel Salpeter & Co.

Ira Rosner, Jordan Schneider, and Ashley Hamilton with Holland & Knight provided legal representation to Sys2k.  Carl Erhardt, Elliot Franklin, and Lori Bibb with Morris, Manning & Martin, LLP provided legal representation to Serent Capital.

About Cassel Salpeter & Co.

Cassel Salpeter & Co., LLC is an independent investment banking firm that provides advice to middle market and emerging growth companies in the U.S. and worldwide. Together, the firm’s professionals have experience providing private and public companies with a broad spectrum of investment banking and financial advisory services, including: mergers and acquisitions; equity and debt capital raises; fairness and solvency opinions; valuations; and restructurings, such as 363 sales and plans of reorganization. Co-founded by James Cassel and Scott Salpeter, the firm provides objective, unbiased, results-focused services that clients need to achieve their goals. Personally involved at every stage of all engagements, the firm’s senior professionals have forged relationships and completed hundreds of transactions and assignments nationwide. The firm’s headquarters are in Miami. Member FINRA and SIPC. For more information, visit www.CasselSalpeter.com.

About Sys2k  

Sys2K is a premier provider of Powersports, Bus, Marine, Automotive, Class 8/Heavy Duty, and RV dealership software. Sys2K’s Infinity software is a fully integrated, Windows-based DMS that features modules including CRM, F&I, Parts and Service, Payroll, Accounting, Rental, Advanced Reporting, as well as offering Premium Websites, Cloud Hosting, and Mobile Apps. Founded in 1984, Sys2K prides itself in developing the highest-quality software solutions for the dealership environment. For more information, visit www.sys2k.com.

About Serent Capital

Serent Capital invests in growing businesses that have developed compelling solutions that address their customers’ needs. As those businesses grow and evolve, the opportunities and challenges that they face change with them. Principals at Serent Capital have firsthand experience at capturing those opportunities and navigating these difficulties through their experiences as CEOs, strategic advisors, and board members to successful growing businesses. By bringing its expertise and capital to bear, Serent helps growing businesses thrive. For more information on Serent Capital, visit www.serentcapital.com.

Cassel Salpeter & Co. Represents Austin-based Software Company, Trucker Path, Inc. in its Sale to Renren, Inc.

Cassel Salpeter & Co. served as exclusive financial advisor to Austin-based Trucker Path, Inc., a leading software platform for the trucking industry, on its sale to Renren, Inc. (NYSE: RENN). This deal represented Cassel Salpeter’s third technology transaction in 2017.

Trucker Path’s core product is the Trucker Path app, a trip planning companion for truck drivers, enabling a large driver community to assist each other in updating the real-time status of relevant points-of-interest on their route. It helps truckers find truck stops, available parking spots, rest areas, scales, open DOT weigh stations, truck washes and more. Expanding on the success of the Trucker Path app, Trucker Path also introduced the Truckloads app, a mobile marketplace providing freight load matching with over 3 million loads posted monthly. Currently, Trucker Path has more than 600,000 monthly active users, which represent more than 33% of all U.S. long haul truck drivers, and maintains steady organic growth. For Renren’s global business, the acquisition of Trucker Path means an entry into the transportation sector.

“We appreciated Cassel Salpeter’s timely and thorough marketing to the right potential acquirers for Trucker Path” said Ivan Tsybaev, Founder and CEO, Trucker Path. “Cassel Salpeter guided us through a competitive process and clearly articulated the acquisition alternatives to management and the Board of Directors. Cassel Salpeter continued to actively guide us through due diligence and closing.”

About Cassel Salpeter & Co.

Cassel Salpeter & Co., LLC is an independent investment banking firm that provides advice to middle market and emerging growth companies in the U.S. and worldwide. Together, the firm’s professionals have experience providing private and public companies with a broad spectrum of investment banking and financial advisory services, including: mergers and acquisitions; equity and debt capital raises; fairness and solvency opinions; valuations; and restructurings, such as 363 sales and plans of reorganization. Co-founded by James Cassel and Scott Salpeter, the firm provides objective, unbiased, results-focused services that clients need to achieve their goals. Personally involved at every stage of all engagements, the firm’s senior professionals have forged relationships and completed hundreds of transactions and assignments nationwide. The firm’s headquarters are in Miami. Member FINRA and SIPC. More information is available at www.CasselSalpeter.com.