Mr. Kasdan is Founder and President of Convergence Capital Partners, LLC.  He has more than seventeen years of investment banking, corporate law and corporate strategy experience. Since 1988, Mr. Kasdan has executed over 100 domestic and cross-border transactions totaling more than $10 billion in overall volume in a variety of industries. Prior to founding Convergence, Mr. Kasdan was Founder and President of Alexander B. Kasdan Company Limited, an investment bank focused on the middle market, an investment banker at Barrington Associates in Los Angeles, where he headed the restructuring group, Peter J. Solomon Company, Credit Suisse First Boston and Merrill Lynch.

Mr. Kasdan practiced law with O’Melveny & Myers LLP (formerly O’Sullivan Graev & Karabell LLP) and Paul, Hastings, Janofsky & Walker LLP (formerly Battle Fowler LLP), where he specialized in mergers and acquisitions, private equity and corporate finance transactions.  In addition, Mr. Kasdan served as Corporate Counsel in charge of business development at Schlumberger Ltd., a global oilfield and information services company.

Mr. Kasdan graduated magna cum laude from Middlebury College with a B.A. degree in Economics and Italian and was elected to Phi Beta Kappa during his junior year. In addition, he holds a J.D. degree from Columbia University Law School and has studied at the University of Florence in Italy. Mr. Kasdan is admitted to the Bar in the State of New York.

Mr. Kasdan is active in community affairs and serves on the Board of ICAN Associates, a non-profit concerned with the prevention of child abuse. Mr. Kasdan is a frequent speaker on the subject of mergers and acquisitions, corporate finance and restructuring, including as organizer of the Conference at the Anderson School at UCLA on "Buying and Selling a Company in a Tough Economy - How to Optimize Price and Liquidity in a Buyer's Market." Mr. Kasdan has published articles on the subjects of mergers and acquisitions and corporate finance.

Mr. Kasdan resides in Pacific Palisades with his wife and children.

 ak@cvgpartners.com 

Advisory Board

Jon Dishell

Jon Dishell is President and CEO of Wilshire Capital Partners LLC, a real estate investment firm launched in February 2004 with partner Keith Pomeroy. Mr. Pomeroy, who serves as the company's Chairman, has acquired and/or developed over 10 million square feet of assets in 12 states of virtually all product types. Through affiliated entities, Pomeroy controls, and is the majority owner of, a broad based portfolio of assets totaling over 7 million square feet.

Based in Santa Monica, California, Wilshire Capital Partners and its affiliates are opportunity based real estate investors committed to acquiring, developing or redeveloping assets in such a manner as to deliver superior risk adjusted returns. The firm considers both commercial and residential investment opportunities, and will act as either sponsor or joint venture equity partner as appropriate. During its brief tenure, the firm has invested in assets with an aggregate completed value approaching $200 million.

Mr. Dishell graduated from the University of Arizona with majors in both Finance and Real Estate in December 1984, at which time he moved to Los Angeles to begin his real estate career. Initial positions in appraisal and analysis served as the underpinning of broad based transactional experience in development, finance (debt and equity - private and institutional) and acquisitions/dispositions. Most recently Jon spent eleven years with Douglas Emmett Realty Advisors, one of Los Angeles' largest landlords, where he was a Senior Vice President and member of the firm's Investment and Executive Committees. With responsibility for investor relations, Mr. Dishell raised in excess of $1.2B of equity from a cross section of institutional and high net worth investors. Additionally, he was a key player on the transactional team that acquired over 13 million square feet of assets and consummated over $5B of acquisitions, dispositions and financings.

Mr. Dishell resides in the Los Angeles area with his wife and two sons.