Professionals

William G. Freels III , Managing Director (Nashville, TN)

M.B.A. – Emory University, Goizueta School of Business
B.S. – University of Tennessee, Business Marketing
Bill is the Managing Director and Founder of Andra Partners. He has over 35 years of senior experience including M&A, and Andra Partners has partnered with its clients to close over $1.2B in transactions, including platform and add-on investments across industry verticals. He has buy-side advisory relationships with middle market private equity clients across the continental U.S. and has been a panelist at the Southeast Venture Conference. Bill developed the firm’s proprietary 6-step targeted search and engagement process, which is thematic and designed to generate pure proprietary investment opportunities for its clients that are actionable outside of investment bank-led processes.
Email: bfreels@andrapartners.com

Donald E. (“JR”) Wiesmann, Jr. , Director (Austin, TX)

M.B.A. – University of Texas at San Antonio, Alvarez College of Business
B.S. – United States Air Force Academy, Engineering Management
JR is a Director with over 20 years of experience in both civilian and military roles. As an Executive Officer in the Air Force he managed the development of a leading-edge ceramic oxygen generator. After his military service he became a General Manager and eventually the Director of Professional Services for SunGard Availability Services, where he project-managed the development of one of the largest call centers in the nation. After SunGard he joined Oldcastle, a division of CRH, which is the largest building materials company in North America and the second largest worldwide. At Oldcastle he became the V.P. of Corporate Development & Strategy, where he successfully executed 12 acquisitions of companies generating total revenues of $260M.
Email: jwiesmann@andrapartners.com

J. David Jenkins , Director (Princeton, NJ)

M.B.A.  – Pennsylvania State University, Smeal College of Business
B.S. – Pennsylvania State University, Accounting and International Business
Dave is a Director with over 25 years of executive experience in finance, technology, marketing and M&A roles. Dave earned his CPA while working at KPMG LLP, where he managed client engagements in an array of industries.  At Piaggio (Vespa) USA, Inc., Dave was responsible for recruiting the management team and establishing the operations necessary to effectively relaunch Vespa products in the U.S. At Allied Building Products Corp. Dave led the Corporate Development and M&A function, where he executed 19 acquisitions of companies generating total revenues of nearly $1B. Most recently, he founded the company’s Solar Products Division and successfully grew the operation from startup to nearly $100M in annual revenue.
Email:  djenkins@andrapartners.com

Daniel S. Krehnbrink , Director (Atlanta, GA)

M.B.A. – Harvard Business School
B.S. – Cornell University, Business Management
Dan is a Director with over 30 years of professional and executive experience across a variety of industries. Dan began his career as an officer in the US Army, leaving the military with the rank of Captain after commanding US troops in Bosnia. He continued leading people and operations for such companies as Newell Rubbermaid, Webvan, Sun Microsystems, and The Home Depot. Dan has spent 15 years leading M&A activity in the construction and building materials industries, including being the head of strategy and development for both CRH Americas Products (formerly Oldcastle Building Products) and PowerTeam Services, which collectively closed over 50 acquisitions and divestitures totaling over $5B.
Email:  dkrehnbrink@andrapartners.com

William E. (“Chip”) Cayce, Jr. , Director (Fairhope, AL)

M.B.A. – University of Memphis, Fogelman College of Business
B.S. – University of Alabama, Industrial Engineering
Chip is a Director with over 30 years of executive experience in M&A, operations management, marketing and sales roles for middle market and lower middle market companies.  He previously owned and managed 4 companies simultaneously with combined revenues of over $40M. Most recently he served as the VP of Operations for Tri-Dim Filter Company, a division of Mann + Hummel Corporation. There he was part of the M&A team, and was responsible for the post-merger integration of multiple acquisitions while managing over 600 employees. In only two years he improved operating profit margins by 90% while reducing inventory by 20%.  Prior to that he was the President and CEO for WEC Holdings, where he led a team of over 350 employees across the U.S.
Email: ccayce@andrapartners.com

Jacob R. (“Jake”) Varteresian , Director (Boston, MA)

M.B.A. – University of Rhode Island
B.S. – Bentley University, Finance
Jake is a Director with over 20 years of Corporate Finance experience, including the past 12 years at International Gaming Technology (ticker symbol: IGT), a leading NYSE-traded gaming technology provider. There he was the Director of Strategy, Mergers & Acquisitions, and executed more than a dozen acquisitions, joint ventures, divestitures, and partnership transactions totaling over $7.5B in enterprise value. His global transaction experience has spanned 19 countries and an array of industries, including high tech semiconductor equipment, residential building products, home security, theater, and automation, as well as regulated real money gaming. Prior to IGT he held business development and investor relations roles at Nortek, a leading HVAC manufacturer and distributor, and Teradyne, a global manufacturer of test equipment and software.
Email: jvarteresian@andrapartners.com

Tracey E. Figurelli , Director (Nashville, TN)

M.B.A. – Seton Hall University, Stillman School of Business
B.A. – Seton Hall University, Finance
Tracey is a Director with over 20 years of executive experience in professional services, with specific expertise in business transformation, finance and technology. At RGP Consulting, a global, publicly traded consulting firm, she was the EVP of Digital Innovation & Integrated Solutions and led digital transformation efforts including identifying target companies for acquisition.  She architected the M&A strategic plan and post-merger integration framework for RGP, and also launched a service offering that generated $70M in new annual revenue. Prior to that role at RGP Tracey was the Global Managing Director – Information Management, Managing Director, and an Information Management Consultant. She was also previously a Director of Corporate Financial Operations & Systems at Prudential Financial. Tracey is also an active Board Member for VenturesATL.
Email: tfigurelli@andrapartners.com

Kenneth C. Boyle , Director (Des Moines, IA)

M.B.A. – University of Iowa, Tippie School of Business
B.A. – University of West Georgia, History
Ken is a Director with over 30 years of investment, entrepreneurial and senior management experience across a variety of industries. Ken spent 15 years leading Prairie Oak Capital, a venture capital firm he co-founded and focused on innovative manufacturing and technology related investments. Ken served on the Board of Directors and led investments in USA Technologies (now NASDAQ: CTLP), Service Magic (now NASDAQ: ANGI), International Titanium Powder (sold to Cristal Global) and Cline Tool (sold to AFC Industries). Ken began his career at Delta Air Lines where he was responsible for the inception of the airlines’ eBusiness unit growing online sales from concept to $2B. He also served in executive management roles and led transformation, innovation and investment initiatives at iXL, Maytag Corporation and Thermo Fisher Scientific.
Email: kboyle@andrapartners.com

Austin S. Olney , Director (Steamboat Springs, CO)

M.B.A. – University of Denver, Daniels College of Business
B.A. – Connecticut College, Economics
Austin is a Director with over 20 years of experience in M&A. Austin began his career at Shields & Company, a middle market Investment bank, where he spent 7 years advising middle-market companies on the sale of their businesses. After earning his MBA at the University of Denver, Austin spent 8 years as Director of Corporate Development at TTEC, a publicly traded BPO with $2B+ in revenue. At TTEC, he executed over 10 acquisitions globally across various industries including BPO, healthcare, consulting and CX technologies. After TTEC, Austin led M&A for two private equity-backed portfolio companies (Infinity Laboratories and innRoad) where his areas of responsibility included deal sourcing, execution, and integration. Austin has completed 20+ buy-side acquisitions with combined revenues of over $1B.
Email: aolney@andrapartners.com

Kristofer (“Kris”) Kolstad , Director (Hartford, CT)

M.B.A. – Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, Lally School of Management
M.S. – Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, Material Science
B.S. – Yale University, Mechanical Engineering
Kris is a Director with over 25 years of executive experience in strategic planning, operations, product development, and M&A. As the Vice President of Strategy and Business Development at Kaman Corporation, he managed several businesses and architected the company’s organic and strategic growth, including key initiatives in Europe and Asia. Kris developed the strategic plan for the newly created Engineered Products Segment and completed Kaman’s largest acquisition in the company’s history in 2020. He also successfully managed the company’s relationship with Airbus to make Kaman the strategic supplier of the year. He has held leadership roles at Collins Aerospace in program management, product development, and business development. Other career positions include leadership roles in sales, marketing, engineering, and operations at middle market defense and industrial companies.
Email: kkolstad@andrapartners.com

Antonio J. (“Tony”) Aquilina , Director (Boston, MA)

M.B.A. – University of California, Berkeley, Haas School of Business
J.D. – University of California, Berkeley, School of Law
B.S.E. – Princeton University, Computer Science, School of Engineering and Applied Science
Tony is a corporate development and M&A executive with over 25 years of experience across the software industry. Prior to joining Andra Partners, he was the Chief Sourcing Officer of Agile Growth Corp., a $310M special purpose acquisition company. Previously, Tony served as a Business Development lead and Senior Advisor at Thomas H. Lee Partners, a large private equity firm, where he drove software deal sourcing. Prior to these roles, Tony served as Senior V.P. of Strategy and Corporate Development for Progress Software Corporation (NASDAQ: PRGS) and V.P. of Corporate Development at Autodesk (NASDAQ: ADSK). Tony also was previously an investment banker at Broadview International and began his career as a software engineer at Hewlett-Packard (NYSE: HPQ).
Email: taquilina@andrapartners.com

Kathleen C. Koontz , Sr. Research Analyst (Nashville, TN)

A.L.A./M.L.S. – University of Kentucky, Library Science
B.A. – Centre College, French
Kathleen is a Sr. Research Analyst with over 20 years of experience in library and information science. Her professional experience includes creating descriptive metadata and maintaining bibliographic databases. She has co-authored documents on cataloging videos and audio books, and her academic background includes advanced education in both the U.S. and France. She has also taught French at the collegiate level. She identifies and reviews proprietary investment and acquisition opportunities in support of thesis-based client platform and add-on initiatives.
Email: kkoontz@andrapartners.com

Melinda K. Gracey , Research Analyst (Nashville, TN)

M.B.A. – Vanderbilt University, Owen Graduate School of Management
B.S. – University of Tennessee, Political Science
Melinda is a Research Analyst with over 15 years of experience in government, legal and financial sectors. Her experience includes progressive roles in financial management, credit analysis, and corporate litigation management with Caterpillar, a $55B+ public corporation. At Caterpillar she executed financial analysis and quantitative/qualitative research relative to an array of industry sectors and market trends, and did expatriate work in Santiago, Chile and Buenos Aires, Argentina. She leverages unique targeted search protocols to identify proprietary acquisition and investment opportunities.
Email: mgracey@andrapartners.com

Christopher J. (“CJ”) Davies , Research Analyst (Nashville, TN)

Ph.D. – Vanderbilt University, Philosophy
B.A. – New College of Florida, Philosophy
C.J. is a Research Analyst with over 10 years of experience in academic research and publication. His professional experience includes university level teaching, article-length writing projects, and the development of various software tools. He has specialized skills in data analysis and machine learning using Python, and in addition to having a Vanderbilt Ph.D. has served as a lecturer and academic adviser there. He identifies proprietary acquisition and investment opportunities through the use of private and public domain resources in conjunction with proprietary search protocols.
Email: cdavies@andrapartners.com

Prachi Prasad , Research Analyst (Nashville, TN)

M.B.A. – ICFAI Business School (Hyderabad, India)
B.E. – Amravati University, Industrial Electronics
Prachi is a Research Analyst with over 10 years of experience in the financial services sector. She was most recently a Sr. Research Associate with Cognizant Technology Services, Ltd., where she generated strategic research supporting the business development efforts of the leadership team. She executed due diligence research on private equity and M&A transactions, and prepared materials for the evaluation of potential investments. These materials included due diligence, financial analyses, market research and returns analyses. She focused primarily on the U.S. retail sector, and developed sector-specific industry intelligence and competitive landscape analyses.
Email: pprasad@andrapartners.com