Miami Network Presents - State of the Market: The Road Ahead

Omari Sealy, who serves as the co-head of Holland & Knight's Private Equity practice in the Miami office, is a corporate and private equity attorney who focuses his practice on representing private equity firms and corporations in connection with mergers and acquisitions (M&A) and other general corporate matters, including control acquisitions and dispositions, corporate finance transactions, commercial contracts and other corporate transactions. 

Mr. Sealy has worked with clients to structure, negotiate and close transactions across a wide range of industries, including manufacturing, food and beverage, consumer products, wire and cable, dental services, healthcare and technology. He has assisted clients with Hart-Scott-Rodino filings in connection with their acquisition and sale transactions. 

Mr. Sealy also has experience representing emerging and mature independent sponsors, as well as investors backing independent sponsors. 

In addition, Mr. Sealy represents both insureds and underwriters in connection with transactional risk products, including the issuance of representations and warranties (R&W) insurance policies.

Paul serves as the central region leader within Aon’s U.S. Risk Transaction Advisory Services (TAS) practice group. In this role, he is responsible for overseeing all diligence engagements in the region, including staffing, engagement of Aon's resources, and client deliverables for each transaction. Additionally, Paul leads risk and insurance due diligence projects on behalf of private equity and corporate clients undertaking M&A transactions. He is responsible for aligning Aon's resources to deliver timely and valued expertise to our clients. Paul also supports business development and strategic planning within the region.

Aon’s standard scope of work includes detailed and comprehensive risk analysis, advice on risk mitigation strategies, the financial impact of the pending transaction, and a pro-forma financial model related to insurance issues, which includes analysis of collateral, balance sheet reserves, and quality of earnings. Aon also provides commentary for the purchase agreement to address insurance, claims, indemnification, or liability issues relative to the client’s interest in the transaction.

Prior to joining Aon in 2013, Paul served as an associate in the Financial Institutions and Banking group at KPMG. 

Paul’s experience includes 13 years of service at Aon, working directly with private equity clients on M&A transactions, and 2 years in KPMG’s audit practice.

Paul has general expertise in property & casualty program design, complex coverage analysis, parent company carve-out divestitures and merging multiple businesses from an insurance perspective. Additionally, Paul has experience in financial accounting and earned his CPA in 2011. 

Jon is a Managing Director based in H.I.G.'s Miami office. He is focused on execution of post-closing profit improvement strategies.

Jon has led investments in a number of industries including food, healthcare, retail / consumer products, transportation, oil and gas services, and manufacturing.

Prior to joining H.I.G., Jon was with Bain & Company, a leading management and strategy consulting firm. While at Bain, Jon advised a number of Fortune 100 and Private Equity clients across a range of industries. Prior to Bain, Jon worked at Hewlett-Packard and the Mitchell Madison Group.

Jon earned an M.B.A. from Columbia Business School and an undergraduate degree in Economics from the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania.

Juan Ortega is a Managing Director at ACT Capital Advisors based in Miami.  He focuses his practice on representing founders, corporate owners, and private equity sponsors in connection with middle-market mergers and acquisitions. Mr. Ortega manages all phases of transaction execution, including comprehensive corporate readiness, structural positioning, and the orchestration of competitive, confidential sale processes designed to optimize valuation and structural terms.

Prior to his advisory career, Mr. Ortega spent over a decade executing value-creation strategies as an operator and founder across multiple middle-market enterprises. As Chief Executive Officer of HCOA Fitness, he led a comprehensive operational turnaround culminating in a successful corporate sale. Additionally, he acquired and scaled the regional development rights for Orangetheory Fitness across major Midwestern territories, driving the multi-unit platform to an institutional exit. Earlier in his career, he gained valuable buy-side experience as an investment professional at a multi-billion-dollar family office, where he focused on sourcing, structuring, and executing direct control investments.

Mr. Ortega’s transaction and sector expertise spans aerospace & defense, specialty manufacturing, industrial services, and multi-unit consumer platforms. His background across buy-side investing, corporate operations, and entrepreneurship directly informs his approach to seller representation—driving thorough asset preparation, precise buyer targeting, and competitive, confidential sale processes that maximize value for founders and owners.

Mr. Ortega holds an M.B.A. in Finance from Florida International University and a B.S. in Industrial Engineering and Economics from the Georgia Institute of Technology.

Ariez is an experienced investor, entrepreneur, and advisor. Prior to NB Group, he was a member of the investment team at Audax Group, the Corporate Development team at Yahoo!, a Co-Founder of Scout Finance (sold to a strategic acquirer in 2017), and started his career as a consultant to Fortune 500 companies at McKinsey & Company.

As a Co-Founder at Scout Finance, an enterprise software company focused on the financial industry, Ariez helped lead product development, sales, and fundraising. At Audax Group, a leading middle market private equity fund, Ariez evaluated new investments and worked closely with portfolio companies, including a large business media and data company, and a physical security services provider. At Yahoo!, Ariez was heavily involved in new investments and acquisitions globally in the Mobile and Online services spaces. At McKinsey, Ariez worked with Fortune 500 CEOs in a variety of industries on growth strategy and operational imrovement in the US and abroad.

Ariez is a graduate of the University of Michigan, where he was elected Phi Beta Kappa. He lives in Miami with his wife and two kids.