General Investing >> Analyst Interviews >> January 5, 2009
Andre J. Peschong is an investment banker and a private equity commentator. As
an investment banking professional, he has an extensive background in the
creation and evaluation of specialized derivative financial instruments. He has
years of experience in capital structuring, investment banking and institutional
placements from due diligence to gauging key risks associated with institutional
equity positions within potential investment candidates to various exit
strategies. He is currently a Partner with Bridgewater Capital Corporation. As a
founding partner of this boutique merchant/investment banking firm, he has honed
his skills for more than 18 years in the creation and evaluation of specialized
derivative financial instruments. He takes an active role in the negotiations
between companies and institutional investors, and then coordinates subsequent
equity infusions into the respective client companies. While at Bridgewater, he
has been instrumental in the completion, through PIPE (private investment in
public equity) transactions, of over $300 million in equity related capital
infusions for client companies. Additionally, he has completed M&A transactions
with over $100 million in enterprise value, spearheaded the transition of 10
companies from privately held companies to public traded companies as well as
managed three different special situations hedge funds. Recent ventures have
included a Managing Partner position with Instream Capital, LLC, a San
Francisco-based fund that specialized in short-term secured loans to special
situations companies. Additionally, he was also a Managing Partner of Oceanus
Value Fund LP, which specializes in short term bridge loans made to smaller
public and private companies, which also include an equity kicker. These
structured loans allow for a senior secured position while still participating
in an equity upside. From 1991 until 1994, he was a Senior Vice President with
Bentley, Richards & Associates, an investment banking firm specializing in
equity placements with European institutions. While there, Mr. Peschong
assembled an extensive database of criteria for the assessment of risk at many
different levels, such as: market risk, trading risk, fundamental company risk
and economic risk. Prior to joining Bentley, Richards & Associates, he worked
for Cruttenden & Company, a regional brokerage and investment banking firm. Profile
Mr. Peschong: I'll give you the quick version. I started in the business in 1987
when I was licensed as a stockbroker. I caught the first
