VMG Partners

Members

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  David G. Baram

  Mr. Baram has spent over 15 years in the consumer products and entertainment and media industries. Prior to co-founding VMG, Mr. Baram served as President and COO of The Firm, a leading Los Angeles-based talent management, consumer brand development and intellectual property creation firm, with which he still serves as an officer and director. During his more than seven year tenure in that role at The Firm, Mr. Baram led, among other things, the acquisition of Pony International and oversaw its operations until its highly successful sale in 2003. In his role at The Firm, Mr. Baram helped raise over $45 million in private equity capital for The Firm from investors such as Thomas H. Lee and Bain Capital. Prior to joining The Firm, Mr. Baram was an attorney with Alshuler, Grossman, Stein & Kahan from 1991 to 1999, becoming Partner in 1995. Prior to that, Mr., Baram practiced law at Paul, Hastings, Janofsky & Walker. Mr. Baram received his J.D. with Honors from Harvard Law School and graduated Summa Cum Laude from Boston University with a B.A. in Economics.

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  Scott Elaine Case

  For over 20 years, Ms. Case has been investing in and advising some of the most significant US and global consumer product companies and brands. Ms. Case began her career at JP Morgan in 1985, was at Merrill Lynch from 1996-1998 and was a Managing Director at Deutsche Bank responsible for the global consumer products group until 2002. As a banker, Ms. Case executed transactions including Gillette's acquisition of Duracell, Bacardi's acquisition of Martini and Rossi and lead managed equity offerings including Carson Products, Dial Corporation and NuSkin International.

  In 2002 Ms. Case moved into private equity at TSG Consumer Partners. She left in 2005 to form VMG Partners. Ms. Case received her B.S. in Computer Science from Bucknell University.

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  Kara Cissell-Roell

  Ms. Roell has spent nearly her entire career in consumer products private equity. Before leaving to help found VMG, Ms. Roell was at The Shansby Group. During her five years at The Shansby Group, Ms. Roell was involved in the sourcing, due diligence, financing, execution and exit of numerous portfolio companies. Ms. Roell's consumer products knowledge spans multiple consumer segments, including food, beverage, health & beauty, pet care and household products. Ms. Roell has had the pleasure of working closely with multiple portfolio company management teams to provide support and guidance in matters relating to debt financing, reporting, business analytics and strategic initiatives. Prior to The Shansby Group, Ms. Roell was an Associate at a private equity fund in New York City called Arena Capital Partners. Ms. Roell began her career as an investment banking analyst at Schroders PLC. Ms. Roell graduated Magna Cum Laude and Phi Beta Kappa from Colgate University with a double major in Economics and German.

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  Mary Kayser

  Ms. Kayser has been working in the Investment Management Industry for over 15 years. Prior to joining VMG Partners in 2007, Ms. Kayser spent almost a decade in various roles within privately and publicly held companies with a strong focus on partnership structures, administration, acquisitions and related integration, technology, investor relations, all areas of finance, accounting and tax. Before working in industry, Ms. Kayser was a Manager at Deloitte in their San Francisco audit practice. Ms. Kayser received a Bachelor of Science in Accounting from the University of Southern California. Ms. Kayser is a Certified Public Accountant and member of the AICPA, California Society of CPAs and Private Equity CFO Association.

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  Mark Leets

  Mr. Leets has spent over 10 years in the consumer products and entertainment and media industries. Prior to VMG, Mr. Leets served as the CFO of The Firm, a leading Los Angeles based talent management, consumer brand development and intellectual property creation firm, where he still serves as a board member. During his more than five year tenure in that role at The Firm, Mr. Leets served as the CFO of Pony International and helped build the company to a highly successful sale in 2003. In his role at The Firm, Mr. Leets managed the relationships with numerous private equity investors including Thomas H. Lee and Bain Capital. Prior to joining the Firm, Mr. Leets was an investment banker with Merrill Lynch from 2000-2002 in the Global Media Group, and with SG Cowen from 1998-2000 in the Media & Entertainment Group. Mr. Leets received his M.B.A. in Finance from The Anderson School at UCLA and a B.A. in Business Economics from UC Santa Barbara.

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  Michael L. Mauzé

  Prior to co-founding VMG Partners, Mr. Mauzé spent over 20 years in the consumer products industry as a principal and advisor to companies. Mr. Mauze was a Managing Director at The Shansby Group, where he was integrally involved in all aspects of the investment process and served as a member of the Investment Committee. Prior to The Shansby Group, Mr. Mauzé was at Lehman Brothers Inc. advising consumer product companies in mergers and acquisitions and capital raising activities. Before joining Lehman Brothers, Mr. Mauzé worked in the mergers and acquisitions group of PaineWebber with a special focus on the consumer products industry. Mr. Mauzé also co-founded of the Asian operations for PaineWebber Inc. He received his A.B. in Economics from Davidson College and his M.B.A. from Columbia Business School.

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  Robert W. Schult

  Prior to co-founding VMG Partners, Mr. Schult spent almost three decades in the consumer products industry. Mr. Schult has held key positions managing more than 50 leading consumer brands and $8 billion in sales across diverse segments including food, beverage, pet care, health and beauty, lifestyle, nutritional and auto care . His experiences include serving as President and Chief Operating Officer of Nestle USA, Inc., founding, managing and selling Novopoint, Inc. as the Company’s Chairman and CEO, a supply chain management technology company for the food and beverage industry. Served as the Chairman and CEO of The Shansby Group’s Food Products Group. Mr. Schult’s responsibilities for the brands he has managed span functional areas from sales and marketing to operations and finance. He has played critical roles in such well known brands as Nestle, Stouffer’s, Hills Bros, Libby’s, Carnation, Buitoni, and Friskies. Mr. Schult has served on numerous boards including The Times Mirror Company, owner of the Los Angeles Times, and the Grocery Manufacturers of America where he was Chairman of the Industry Productivity Council. He currently serves on the Advisory Board of UCLA's Anderson School of Business. Mr. Schult received his B.A. in Political Science from the University of North Carolina.

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  Robin Tsai

  Robin Tsai joined VMG partners in 2009. Previously, he was a consultant at The Boston Consulting Group where he worked in several industries including consumer products and retail, and across a multiple practice areas including brand strategy, merger integration, and organizational design. Prior to BCG, he worked as a middle school history teacher at The SEED Public Charter School in Washington, D.C. Mr. Tsai received his B.A. with honors in Economics and East Asian Studies from Stanford University and an MBA from the Stanford Graduate School of Business.

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  Wayne K. Wu

  Mr. Wu has a diverse background as an executive at an operating company, an investment banker, and an advisor at professional services firm. Prior to VMG, Mr. Wu served as the CFO and VP of Corporate Development of Thomason Autogroup, one of the 125 largest automotive retail organizations in the country at the time. During his tenure at Thomason, Mr. Wu assisted in the expansion of the California-based company into Texas through acquisition. Mr. Wu also led the re-branding effort of automotive retailer to Thomason Autogroup. Prior to joining Thomason Autogroup, Mr. Wu was an investment banker at RBC Capital Markets, participating in over $900 million in M&A and capital raising transactions. Mr. Wu was also an associate at Deloitte & Touche LLP and is a licensed CPA in the State of California. He received his B.S.C. from The Leavey School of Business at Santa Clara University.