| Jan Robertson
Managing Partner & Co-Founder
Jan Robertson, a 28-year veteran of the M&A business, is a frequent speaker and author on topics related to M&A. She has advised numerous technology company clients and boards of directors on a wide variety of M&A transactions during her career. Prior to forming SiVal in 2002, Ms. Roberston was Managing Director of Needham & Company's West Coast M&A Group, which she formed in early 1997. While at Needham, over 25 transactions were completed under her management in a wide range of sectors including: Semiconductor, Semiconductor Capital Equipment, EMS, EDA, Software, e-Commerce, and Communications. Prior to her tenure at Needham, Ms. Robertson worked at major Canadian investment banking firms, such as BMO Nesbitt Burns and RBC Dominion Securities. She holds an M.B.A from Queen's University (Canada), a Bachelor of Science (Honors) from the University of Toronto, and is credentialed as a Chartered Business Valuator. Currently she serves on the board of directors of National Association of Women Business Owners (NAWBO) Silicon Valley chapter and chairs the Mid-Peninsula Group in Palo Alto.
Karen Barnes
Vice President
Karen Barnes has been in the software industry for over 25 years, starting out as a software developer. Karen brings a unique background in that she has worked as an entrepreneur, creating a business plan and helping to raise seed capital, to working for a billion dollar public company managing the key software resources for the entire company. In the last 10 years, Karen has been a leader in more than a half dozen M&A transactions as both an acquirer and the acquired. At Legato, Karen was a project manager reporting to the Vice-President of corporate development and successfully managed two mergers, including participating on due diligence. Subsequently, Karen worked closely with banks, board members, and potential investors helping to close several successful acquisitions. The most recent was the acquisition of Syndera Corporation by Tibco Corporation, in which Karen managed the technical due diligence process and made recommendations on merger details on behalf of Syndera. Karen has a BA degree in Mathematics from University of California, Berkeley, and currently serves on two web 2.0
software company boards.
Naveen Bewtra
Vice President
Dr. Naveen Bewtra brings to SiVal both international M&A and corporate venture experience. He was responsible for running corporate development teams for multinationals such as HOYA Corporation (Tokyo, Japan) and JDSU. He has a track record of performing successful M&A transactions for public and private targets in both North America as well as in Asia Pacific, totaling in excess of $1B USD. In parallel to M&A activities he was also responsible for management of the corporate venture fund via co-investments alongside tier-1 venture capitalists to identify new technologies and markets. In recent years, Naveen has focused on the penetration into the Cleantech (including PV, Solid State Lighting, and Battery) market by identifying key elements of each ecosystem and surfacing target companies. Prior to moving into the corporate venture space, Naveen was a successful serial entrepreneur having a number of successful exits under his belt as well as having held product management positions at Hewlett-Packard and Agilent Technologies. He is a frequent panelist on M&A for organizations such as SEMI, Asian American Manufacturers Association (AAMA) and Korean IT Network (KINCON) and received his Ph.D. in EE (sponsored by Nortel) from the University of Toronto.
Advisors
Eugene Bernosky
Mr. Bernosky is a co-founder of SiVal. During his 26-year career, he has helped many firms build and realize value by assisting with financing, managing Merger & Acquisition processes, and taking temporary operating roles including CEO, Chairman, and General Manager for both private and public companies. Until 1996, Mr. Bernosky served as Founder, President and CEO of Applied Chemical Solutions, a semiconductor equipment company that merged with FSI International. Previously, he held various Marketing Management and Business Development positions for Athens Corporation, Applied Materials, and Hercules. In addition, Mr. Bernosky served as Chairman of the Board of ClearVox Communications from 1998-1999; he is currently a Director of Panoptx, Akrion, and American Integrated Technologies, and has previously been a Director of Smart Machines and Applied Chemical Solutions. Mr. Bernosky holds a Bachelor of Mechanical Engineering from the University of Delaware, and a M.B.A from Wilmington College, Delaware.
Cheemin Bo-Linn
Dr. Bo-Linn is a strategic partner to SiVal, where she lends her expertise in clean tech and related technology sectors. Dr. Bo-Linn is CEO of Peritus Partners, which specializes in strategic business and operational marketing and sales consulting, directly tied to accelerated profit growth. With increased value, clients are then positioned to have choices as a growth company or as an acquisition candidate or as a buyer. Prior, Dr. Bo-Linn held senior leadership positions including Co-Founder, Chief Marketing Executive, and CEO at start-ups. She has also held several senior executive roles at Fortune 100 global companies including IBM Vice-President where she had responsibility for integrated hardware/software solutions and services. Dr. Bo-Linn has been invited to be the keynote speaker at the United Nations, IEEE, and other industry and academic/research institutions.
|
