Strategic Approaches to Working with Private Equity

CPE: 1 Credit Hour

Private Equity (“PE”) and Private Debt continue to expand their role in the equity and debt markets.  Cooperatives are not immune to this changing marketplace.  Co-ops may have customers who are PE owned, vendors who are PE owned, or may have joint ventures utilizing a PE venture partner.  This presentation will help Cooperative financial professionals and CFOs evaluate unique considerations as they encounter customers and vendors who are PE owned, and consider risks and rewards when a joint venture partner is a PE group.

Presenter and Moderator Bios

Presenter: Juanita Schwartzkopf, CPA, CFE, Senior Managing Director, Focus Management Group

Juanita Schwartzkopf, senior managing director at Focus Management Group, has over 35 years of experience in commercial banking, business management, and financial advisory services. She has dealt with asset recovery situations involving the court and out-of-court situations on behalf of borrowers and lenders. Juanita’s extensive background provides her clients with creative methods of solving complex recovery problems. She has worked with nearly all major financial institutions in the evaluation of credit risk of borrowers, including developing strategies ranging from cost reductions to asset sales, to refinancing of existing lenders. Her experience crosses over into a variety of industries, including all aspects of food and agribusiness, healthcare, energy, distribution, transportation, real estate, manufacturing, and distribution. Juanita's focus is on cash and working capital planning in support of strategic goals for the enterprise she is working with.  She leads a team of professionals that work to assist companies undertaking changes to the their balance sheet, their working capital, and their strategic vision.  

Moderator: Wayne Sine, CPA, MBA, Education Director, National Society of Accountants for Cooperatives

After retiring as Tax Director of a regional supply cooperative on the East Coast, Wayne Sine was asked to serve as Education Director for NSAC. As an active and long-term member of NSAC, Wayne previously served as Chair of NSAC’s Tax Committee, President of the Atlantic Chapter, and was a recipient of NSAC’s Silver Bowl Award. In addition to his work with NSAC, Wayne has also served on the Legal, Tax, and Accounting (LTA) Committee of the National Council of Farmer Cooperatives, Chaired the Tax Committees for both the Virginia Chamber of Commerce and the Virginia Manufacturers Association, served on the Tax Policy Committee of the Virginia Society of CPAs, and served as Region Vice President for Tax Executives Institute.