ACG San Diego November: M&A in Aerospace & Defense

Mr. Lake is a versatile executive with extensive financial, operational and strategic management experience as CFO/COO and VP Corporate Development/M&A while serving in both publicly traded and privately held companies. Industries include: Aerospace & Defense, Software, Public Safety & Security, Wireless Communications and Medical Devices.

Currently Mr. Lake is CFO for Merlin Global Services, LLC a PE backed government services company focused on manned and unmanned intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance (ISR) systems. Previously, Mr. Lake was an investment banker with Shoreline Partners, LLC and held key positions as VP of Corporate Development/M&A and EVP of Operations for Kratos Defense & Security Solutions (Nasdaq: KTOS), a National Security technology company. In his roles at Kratos, Mr. Lake had responsibility for company-wide corporate development and M&A in support of five operating divisions. 

Mr. Lake serves as the Chair of the Steering Committee of the San Diego Chapter of the Aerospace & Defense Forum and is a Board Member for the SD Chapter of the Financial Executives International (FEI).

Mr. Lake received his B.S. in Business Administration from San Diego State University and resides in San Diego, California.

John W. Hill, Managing Partner, spent 25 years in various technical and leadership roles at Fortune 500 aerospace and electronics companies before founding JW Hill Capital in 2011.  His expertise spans enterprise leadership, operations, strategic planning, business development, sales, technology commercialization, product development, and buy-side M&A.

Originally from Oklahoma and Texas, Mr. Hill began his career with Honeywell (formerly Allied Signal) in their Kansas City division, ultimately running their navigation and communication business. He joined Rockwell Collins in 2001 and spent a decade with the company in various key positions, including leadership of their Orange County, California-based business aviation division.  Earlier in his career, Mr. Hill founded two successful companies, an energy management business and a commercial real estate venture.

Mr. Hill earned his Master of Science, Electrical Engineering, from Oklahoma State University and Bachelor of Science, Physics, from Southern Nazarene University. He is a commercial, multi-engine, instrument-rated pilot. His interests include sailing, flying, photography, and local community involvement.

Neal Nordstrom

Neal C. Nordstrom, Operating Partner, JW Hill Capital, has over 25 years in executive, technical, business development and operations management roles with an emphasis on contract manufacturing for medical device, power generation, dental implant and aerospace industries.  During this time Mr. Nordstrom served as President and CEO of Veridiam, leading the company through divestiture from Carpenter Technology Corporation and building the business both organically and by completing three add-on acquisitions.  As a senior leader within Carpenter

Technology Corporation, he served as General Manager of Carpenter's Special Products Corporation for four years and led Carpenter's Parmatech business unit after its acquisition.  

Mr. Nordstrom is currently CEO of two JWHC portfolio companies – Aerospace Contacts and Bandy Manufacturing.  In these roles, he focuses on helping the newly acquired organizations make the transition to fully functioning, high performing teams.  Aerospace Contacts was acquired from the founder/owner in January 2016 and Bandy Manufacturing was divested from GKN Aerospace in August 2017.

He also supports two, privately held, high technology companies in southern California as a member of their Board of Directors.

Mr. Nordstrom earned his Bachelors of Science degree in Materials Science and Engineering from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and his Masters of Business Administration in Finance from San Diego State University.  He served five years in the U.S. Navy on two nuclear-powered cruisers based in San Diego.

Paul Weisbrich

Paul Weisbrich is a Managing Director and leads the Aerospace, Defense & Industrials Banking team. Previously he was with BankAmerica’s M&A Group and McGladrey Capital Markets, and possesses over two decades of investment banking and corporate finance experience on behalf of middle market and public companies, with a particular emphasis on cross-border transactions. Paul has advised more than 350 companies and led the closing of over $6 billion in transactions spanning five continents. He has served on the board of several middle-market companies as well as LMU’s National Alumni Board.

Paul is a frequent lecturer on investment banking topics in North America and is an active adjunct professor on M&A topics at USC’s Marshall School of Business Executive MBA program. He holds an MBA from USC and a bachelor’s degree in business from LMU.

Steve Alexander, General Manager, Bandy Manufacturing, has over 30 years of sales, operations, customer service and executive leadership experience in custom manufacturing industries serving aerospace, medical, commercial and interconnect businesses. 

As COO at Sorenson Engineering, Mr. Alexander led a manufacturing team of 120 employees and implemented lean initiatives that increased machining production by 40%, improved margin, while consistently exceeding production goals. As Business Development/Sales Manager for Abratec Swiss and Metric Machining, Mr. Alexander led the team in revising job costing, quotation and project tracking tools. Steve was instrumental in securing new business opportunities of $3.1M with existing customers and $1.9M in new opportunities from new customers while at Metric Machining.

Mr. Alexander is currently the General Manager at Bandy Manufacturing, a portfolio company of JW Hill Capital. Steve graduated with a degree in Business management from Fisher College in Boston MA and has participated in the Wichita State Management Development Program.