Algon Group announced that Jim Bannantine, a multi-industry CEO/President with success in start-ups, growth, operations, mergers, acquisitions, divestitures and turnaround situations, has joined the firm in the newly created position of Chairman. Algon's team has managed more than $18 billion of restructurings and financings in an array of high-profile transactions, representing companies, shareholders, lenders, committees, private equity funds and other stakeholders of companies in financial distress.
Mr. Bannantine's distinguished career includes the completion of multi-billion dollar transactions, all with pre-and post-operational and financial restructuring and integration, on three continents. He was most recently President and CEO of Aura Minerals, Inc., a publicly traded (TSX: ORA) Canadian copper and gold mining company, with $200 million revenue and 2,000 employees in Canada, Brazil, Mexico and Honduras. Over five years he surmounted the challenges of generally declining commodity prices and a lack of financing by leading restructuring initiatives to significantly reduce costs, while maintaining or increasing production and paying off approximately $40 million of debt.
Prior to joining Aura Minerals, Mr. Bannantine co-founded and was Managing Partner of Atlantic Capital Group, a $40 million private equity firm located in Baltimore, Maryland. Earlier in his career he served as President and Chief Operating Officer of Broadwing Corporation (NASDAQ: BWNG), an $880 million revenue, 1,700 person, integrated telecom services provider in North America.
Mr. Bannantine previously held several positions over multiple years at Enron. As CEO of Enron Latin America, he led a $1.5 billion revenue, 4,500 person roll up of energy assets into a company operating in both regulated electric and gas utilities and unregulated power and pipeline energy services, including infrastructure development and structured finance.
A licensed Professional Engineer, Mr. Bannantine graduated from West Point in the top 1% of his class with a B.S. in mechanical engineering, and served for 12 years in the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, including three years as Assistant Professor of Finance at West Point. He earned an M.B.A from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania, where he graduated with Distinction, and is fluent in Spanish and Portuguese.
Mr. Bannantine said, "I am excited to join Algon Group and leverage my CEO experience with the firm's world class investment banking and restructuring expertise to provide unparalleled advisory services for stakeholders under stress."
Troy Taylor, President of Algon Group, said, "We are pleased to welcome Jim Bannantine as Algon's first Chairman, as we expand our abilities to provide management and advisory services for results-oriented stakeholders in difficult situations. Algon Group is uniquely unhindered by conflicts or business relationships, allowing us to successfully serve clients in various industries with sophisticated strategies. Jim's broad executive experience, coupled with his turnaround focus, will be valuable to public and private companies that can benefit from a seasoned advisor who will do what it takes to protect value."
About Algon Group
Algon Group is a results-oriented, specialized financial advisory firm that effectively guides clients through complex, challenging, and/or financially distressed situations. Algon has a demonstrated track record of maximizing results for "out of the money" stakeholders, including junior creditors and equity. For publicly-owned and privately-held companies, Algon provides recapitalization, restructuring, and management services, as well as buy-side and sell-side advisory services for mergers and acquisitions.
Learn more at www.algongroup.com.
