The core Creo investment team includes three senior professionals with over thirty years of cumulative experience in private equity, investment banking, operations and distressed debt investing. The team is supported by a group of in-house and portfolio-company-level professionals with key expertise in law, finance, management, and turnarounds, and operations that serve critical roles in creating significant value for our portfolio companies.
Gregory
BortzManaging
Partner Email Greg
Greg Bortz has over fourteen years of experience
in private equity, investment banking, and accounting.
Mr. Bortz founded Creo in early 2005, after identifying
a sizable void in the market for private equity
firms focusing on distressed, asset – intensive
companies in the "micro market" (companies
with less than $150 million in revenues). Mr. Bortz
has played an active role in originating, negotiating
and structuring the Firm’s six portfolio investments
to date.
Prior to founding Creo, from 2000 to 2005, Mr. Bortz
served as a Senior Vice President at Lehman
Brothers where he was one of the senior
investment bankers responsible for Lehman's business
and professional services investment banking effort.
During his tenure at Lehman Brothers, Mr. Bortz
led many M&A and capital raising transactions
in a multitude of business and professional services
sub-sectors, including the security, staffing, human
capital management, facilities services, consulting
services, marketing services and business process
outsourcing sectors. Prior to joining Lehman Brothers,
from 1998 to 2000, Mr. Bortz served as a vice president
in investment banking at Credit Suisse,
focusing on providing a full suite of investment
banking services to mid- and large-cap companies
in the Western United States. From 1994 to 1997,
prior to joining Credit Suisse, Mr. Bortz served
as a senior manager in the business assurance practice
at Ernst and Young.
Mr. Bortz graduated from the University
of Cape Town (South Africa) with a Bachelor
of Business Science degree. He qualified as a chartered
accountant in South Africa as well as in England
& Wales in 1996.
Bortz is a member of Young Professionals’
Organization (YPO) and the American Bankruptcy Institute
(ABI).
Nick SternbergPartner Email
Nick
Nick Sternberg has over fourteen years of experience
in accounting, investment banking, and private equity
investing. Mr. Sternberg focuses on transactions
in the food, construction, apparel and energy services
space. Prior to Joining Creo in 2005, Mr. Sternberg
worked at Morgan Stanley in New
York from 2002 to 2005 where he served as a Vice
President in the firm's Financial Institutions Investment
Banking practice and was responsible for capital
raising as well as providing merger and acquisition
and strategic advice to a large number of both private
and publicly held companies. From 2001 to 2002,
Mr. Sternberg was a vice-president responsible for
mergers and acquisitions at National Financial
Partners ("NFP"), a New York-based,
Apollo Group-backed venture involved in the consolidation
of financial service companies such as estate planners,
insurance brokers, financial consultants and money
managers. From 1998 to 2001, Mr. Sternberg worked
as an associate in the Investment Banking division
of Goldman Sachs in New York. From
1993 to1995, Mr. Sternberg was an auditor at Arthur
Andersen & Co. in Cape Town, South
Africa.
Mr. Sternberg has experience in financing investments,
monitoring portfolio companies, and sourcing and
evaluating investment opportunities. Mr. Sternberg
received his Bachelors of Commerce Degree with Honors
from the University of Cape Town in 1992 and his post graduate diploma in Accounting
from the University of Cape Town in 1993. In 1998,
Mr. Sternberg received a Master of Business Administration,
with Honors from Columbia University in
New York. He qualified as a chartered accountant
in South Africa in 1995.
Rob W. HollandPartner Email
Rob
Rob Holland has over seven years of experience in
operations, investment banking, and distressed investing
and participates in all facets of the Firm. Mr.
Holland focuses on transactions in the food, transportation,
and manufacturing space.
Prior to joining Creo, Mr. Holland worked at Trust
Company of the West, a $110 billion Los
Angeles-based asset management firm. While at TCW,
Mr. Holland served in the distressed debt investment
group, where he evaluated dozens of investment opportunities
and was involved in a number of investments in companies
undergoing major operational & financial restructurings.
During Mr. Holland's tenure at TCW, he focused on
the Shared Opportunity Fund IV, which had generated
gross IRRs in excess of 35% for large institutional
investors nationwide. Mr. Holland was also actively
involved in the firm's successful $600 million fund
raising campaign for its fifth distressed investment
fund, Shared Opportunity Fund V.
Prior to joining TCW, Mr. Holland served as an investment
banker at Lehman Brothers. At Lehman
Brothers Mr. Holland focused on M&A and capital
raising transactions in the business services, engineering
and construction, and real estate industries.
Mr. Holland graduated Magna Cum Laude from the
Calloway School of Business and Accountancy at Wake
Forest University where he attended as
a Presidential Scholar.
Holland serves as a board member of the Southern
California Chapter of the Turnaround Management
Association (TMA) and is a member of the American
Bankruptcy Institute (ABI).
John Turner Operating
Executive John Turner
John Turner serves as CEO of Flagship Foods, Prestige Foods, and Co-CEO of Good Harbor Fillet and generally focuses on investments in the branded food and food manufacturing industries. Mr. Turner has over thirty years marketing, sales and operational experience in the food industry across all channels of distribution. Mr. Turner has an extensive track record of brand and strategy development, organizational leadership and turnaround management. He has particular experience in integrating financial metrics across marketing, sales and operational strategies and driving both top and bottom line growth. Mr. Turner has worked for public and private companies like Coca-Cola Foods, Lever Brothers, Rich Products, Hatfield Quality Meats and WLR Foods. He has successfully led two food portfolio companies for J W Childs and Riverside Partners.
Bob Moran Operating
Executive Bob Moran
Robert Moran serves as CEO of Sataria Logistics, a portfolio company of Creo in the food logistics space. Mr. Moran has over 25 years of experience in the transportation industry with executive and ownership tenures at Alliance 3PL Corporation, Amware Logistics Services, Sterling Logistics Corporation, and Pullman Warehouse, among others. Mr. Moran has served on the board and is a member of the International Warehouse Logistics Association (IWLA).
Ted Gardner Operating
Executive Ted Gardner
Ted Gardner has over thirty years of experience in the food, HBC and general merchandise business sectors. Mr. Gardner has successfully grown and turned around a number of companies leading them to record levels of revenues and profits. The businesses have ranged from $5MM to $500MM in size, reflecting his diverse ability to successfully operate in both an entrepreneurial, as well as a more structured environment. Mr. Gardner has spent a sizable portion of his career operating Mexican owned companies in the US and has served on the Boards of both US and Mexican operations. A number of the public and private companies Mr. Gardner has worked for include General Mills, Heinz, Con-Agra, Unified Grocers, Herdez and DESC. Mr. Gardner earned his MBA from the Darden School at the University of Virginia and his ScB in Applied Mathematics and Economics at Brown University.
Bill Stride Operating
Executive
Bill Stride serves as President of Good Harbor Fillet Company, LLC, a Creo portfolio company. Mr. Stride founded Good Harbor in 1985. His prior work experience includes working summers for his father at Turner Fisheries of Boston starting at age 14 and a short stint after college working for Sid Cohen at Seamark Corporation. Mr. Stride has been President of the company for more than 20 years and has driven sales growth from less than $1MM in 1985 to nearly $40MM today. He actively contributed to the development of NutraPure®, a revolutionary new protein technology.
In addition to his role at Good Harbor, Mr. Stride has played an active advisory role to Creo in other capacities. For example, he helped to identify and successfully close Creo's acquisition of Filet of Chicken.
Gary Lim Operating
Executive
Gary Lim is responsible for running the Prestige Food Group. Gary has over sixteen years of experience in the food industry ranging from retail, food service and industrial sales. Prior to joining Prestige Food Group, Gary worked for H&M Concepts, a privately held food company specializing in food service outlets in malls, stadiums & airports. Gary received his Bachelor’s Degree in Business & Marketing from Boise State University in 1994. Gary and his wife, Laura have been married for 11 years and have 3 children and reside in Eagle, Idaho. Gary is an avid sportsman with a passion for fly fishing.
Chuck Kendrew Operating
Executive
Chuck Kendrew is a seasoned veteran of the poultry business and serves as President of Filet of Chicken. He is a graduate of Louisiana State University, where he earned a degree in Journalism and English. Mr. Kendrew began his career in the management training program with ConAgra Poultry Company in 1986 and has also worked in poultry production, sales and management. Chuck is married and a father of four.
Howard Nurtman CFO Email Howard
Howard Nurtman has worked in financial control and accounting for 17 years. He qualified as a chartered accountant in 1992 with the Cape Town office of the auditing firm Arthur Andersen and Co. Howard worked in financial control for Lehman Brothers in London from 1993 to 1994. In 1995, Howard joined the London office of Nomura International PLC. In eight years at Nomura, he worked in various roles within financial control.
In 2004, Howard moved to Los Angeles, and accepted a position as the Controller at Triline Medical LLC, a company that provides specialty support surfaces to long-term care facilities and the VA.
Howard joined Creo Capital Partners as the CFO in August 2007.
Mr. Nurtman graduated from the University of Cape Town (South Africa) with a Bachelor of Business Science degree and received a Post Graduate Diploma in Accounting in 1989.
Adam Grayman, CFA, CA (SA)Associate Email Adam
Adam Grayman has over 5 years experience in financial services and related interests, and joined Creo in 2007. His key responsibilities include monitoring Creo's existing portfolio companies and identifying, diligencing and negotiating new opportunities for the Firm.
Prior to joining Creo, Adam worked for Deloitte (South Africa) in the Corporate Finance division in 2007, involved in financial diligence and valuation engagements. Prior to that, in 2006, Adam was involved in the hedge fund industry, working for Ernst & Young (Cayman Islands) in the Hedge Fund assurance division and for Macquarie Bank (Australia) in the Hedge Fund of Funds Financial Operations division. In the three years prior, he was a part of Deloitte's Financial Institution and Services Team, involved in a considerable number of audits of some of the largest financial institutions in South Africa.
Adam graduated from the University of Johannesburg with a Bachelor's degree in Accounting and a postgraduate Honors degree in Accounting and Finance. Adam qualified as a Chartered Accountant in South Africa in 2005, and became a CFA Charterholder in 2007.
Rachel BayneOffice
Manager Email
Rachel
Rachel Bayne has more than 18 years of combined experience in consumer banking, investment banking, and venture capital. Prior to joining Creo in 2007, Rachel was at Anthem Venture Partners, a Santa Monica-based venture capital firm, whose focus is early-stage technology company investing. While in New York City, prior to moving to Los Angeles, Rachel was at Dillon Read Investment Bank (subsequently merged with SBC Warburg and UBS) in their Mergers & Acquisitions Department for eight years; the last five of which were spent working directly with the UBS Vice Chairman of Corporate Finance/Global Head of the Consumer Products Group. Rachel’s career began working with the CMO in Corporate Marketing of Dime Savings Bank (now Chase).
Jung ParkJunior Accountant Email
Jung
Jung joined the Creo team in February of 2008, as Junior Accountant. He graduated from Cal. State University, where he attained a B.S. degree in finance. Prior to joining Creo, Mr. Park was president of Pro Academy, a math tutoring academy in Los Angeles. Jung has worked in accounting throughout Southern California since 2000.
Natalie WozniakOffice Assistant Email
Natalie
Natalie joined the Creo team in September 2008. Prior to joining Creo, she was with Wells Fargo customer service. Prior to joining the financial sector, Natalie worked in the entertainment industry.
