ACG 101 February 19th 2026 Private Equity and M&A Panel

Tom Waldman’s practice focuses on mergers and acquisitions, with a particular emphasis on private equity transactions, as well as providing strategic legal counsel to corporate clients and investors in alternative assets. Prior to joining Stradling, Tom served as Managing Director, Legal for The Gores Group, LLC, a Los Angeles–based private equity firm, where he represented Gores funds and their portfolio companies in platform and add-on acquisitions, portfolio company matters and exit transactions.

With 30 years of experience representing private equity firms and business sellers, Tom has advised on a wide range of matters, including platform and add-on acquisitions, complex carve outs, divestitures, sales of family owned businesses, corporate finance, structured equity and other minority investments, distressed transactions, such as acquisitions under Section 363 of the Bankruptcy Code, fund formation and representation of management teams in M&A transactions.  He represents international clients investing in the United States, and coordinates with international counsel on multinational investments.

David Bonrouhi is co-founder and Managing Director of Calabasas Capital, a boutique investment banking firm that provides M&A advisory and private equity and debt capital raising for lower mid-market companies focusing on family-owned businesses. David has over 25 years of investment banking and private equity experience. He began his investment banking career at Merrill Lynch in New York and later worked in private equity for UnionBanCal Equities focusing on investments in middle market companies. David began his career as a CPA and tax consultant with Price Waterhouse in New York.  He holds Series 7, 63 and 79 licenses with Fallbrook Capital Securities Corporation (Calabasas Capital is a dba of Fallbrook Capital), is a licensed California CPA (inactive) and a licensed California broker. David has an MBA in Finance and Entrepreneurial Studies from UCLA’s Anderson School of Management, and a Masters in Tax and a B.S. in Accounting from Miami of Ohio.

Based in Los Angeles, Jared manages Trivest’s deal origination efforts in the West region. Prior to joining Trivest, he was at CriticalPoint Partners, a boutique investment bank and buy-side M&A advisory firm located in Manhattan Beach, CA where he was responsible for origination of platform and add-on investments for select private equity clients. Prior to CriticalPoint, he was with Caruso, a real estate development firm based in Los Angeles where he supported the acquisition and development efforts. Jared is a Colorado native; he received his B.S. in Accounting and his MBA from Colorado State University while a member of the D1 football team.

Blair is a Principal of Shamrock Capital. He currently serves on the board of Ad Results Media and Vidmob and supports Shamrock portfolio companies Branded Cities and Canopy Spectrum. Previously, Blair served on the board of DeCurtis Corporation, Bayard Advertising, and Appetize Technologies. Prior to joining Shamrock in 2018, Blair was a Senior Associate at Leeds Equity Partners, a New York-based middle market private equity firm. He previously worked as an Analyst in the technology, media and telecommunications group at Piper Jaffray & Co.

Blair graduated magna cum laude from the University of Notre Dame.

Bryant Yung is a Managing Director at Aurora Capital Partners and has been part of the firm since in 2019.  Previously, he was at Empyrean Capital Partners and Oak Hill Capital Partners.  Prior to Oak Hill, he was in the Investment Banking Division of UBS in New York.  Mr. Yung earned a B.S. degree from Cornell University and a MBA from Harvard Business School.  He currently serves on the Board of Directors of Anova, SRP, Spray-Tek and Universal Pure.