Robert M. Koenig
President
Meet Robert Koenig

Robert Koenig founded Woodbridge Group in 1993 after having grown Koenig Corporation, an art supply retail distribution and manufacturing company, from $5 million to $100 million in sales. While president of Koenig Corporation, Robert completed 30 add-on acquisitions and drove organic growth to capture 10% of the U.S. art supply market by the time the company was sold to a strategic buyer. Since leading Woodbridge Group, Robert has successfully completed several hundred million dollars worth of transactions across a broad range of industries. He is known for his integrity, expertise and passion–as well as for his exceptional dexterity at getting deals done. Robert's innovative, marketing-driven approach to M&A and his skill at winning the best possible deal for clients have elevated Woodbridge Group to the prominence it enjoys today.

Robert F. Murphy
Chief Operating Officer

Bob has extensive experience conducting acquisition and divestiture transactions involving middle-market companies, as well as a broad range of general management skills. Prior to joining Woodbridge Group, Bob was a principal of Elite Investment Group, an investment banking firm serving middle market companies, especially in the IT sector. Earlier in his career, Bob was senior vice president at Butler International, Inc. (NASDAQ: BUTL), a $450 million outsourcing company, where he spent over nine years in a variety of key management roles. While at Butler, Bob was responsible for all acquisitions, divestitures, strategic planning and other corporate development activities. Bob is a graduate of SUNY Albany and a CPA and serves as a director of MSRC Co., a leading mass storage solutions business.

Donald A. Krier
Senior Vice President

Don joined Woodbridge Group shortly after its founding, and has been involved in nearly every deal we've done. His entrepreneurial background, tenacity and talent for developing trust among all M&A parties enable Don to bring about profitable results for clients. Don has closed deals for a variety of manufacturers and distributors. Clients value Don's deal-making expertise, commitment and persistence. He is a graduate of Taylor University with a BS in Business/Systems and has extensive marketing and management experience.

Larry Reinharz
Senior Vice President

Larry has completed over $500 million in commercial financings for hundreds of small and mid-size companies. For 15 years, he worked in commercial finance for JP Morgan Chase and Merrill Lynch and then founded Deane Advisors, which has served as Woodbridge Group’s financing affiliate. His responsibilities at Woodbridge Group include new business development and working with clients. He earned a B.A. in political science and economics from Manhattanville College.

Lori S. Green
Senior Vice President, Strategic Marketing

Prior to joining Woodbridge Group in 2000, Lori worked for several middle-market investment banking firms as a financial writer and as a marketing/communications consultant to private and public companies. Companies Lori has served include Chase Manhattan Bank, DHL, CIGNA Healthcare, Cendant, Globecon and UNICEF. She is responsible for our distinctive sell-side books, marketing videos and client-marketing plans, and works with buy-side clients to creatively market them to prospective sellers. Author of numerous business articles and two management books, Lori holds a BA in English from SUNY Binghamton and an MA in Media Studies from the New School for Social Research.

Dirk-Jan Vorgers
Senior Vice President, Woodbridge Group Europe

Prior to joining Woodbridge Group, Dirk-Jan was a principal of the Vorgers Bower Group, an international consulting firm providing advisory services on business development and mergers and acquisitions. There he managed numerous international M&A transactions involving businesses across a range of industries, as well as developing new Web-based applications to improve the due diligence process. Woodbridge Group clients benefit from Dirk-Jan’s extensive international experience and technical expertise. He holds a Master degree in Industrial Engineering & Management from the University of Twente, The Netherlands, where he specialized in Logistics and International Management.

John Mullen
Senior Vice President

John has nearly 30 years of experience in a variety of capacities with middle-market companies. He founded Mullen & Company, Inc., an investment banking firm for privately-held companies. John has overseen both the sale and purchase of middle-market companies, and functioned as a CEO, CFO and director. Prior to his career in investment banking, John was a commercial banking officer. He holds a BS from the University of Massachusetts and an MA in Economics/Finance from Trinity College. He is also a Series 7 and 63 Registered Securities Representative and a Series 24 Registered Principal.

James Locke
Senior M&A Advisor - Woodbridge Brazil

James Locke heads up Woodbridge Group’s Brazilian office. He has 20 years of business experience working with multinational firms in the consumer goods, consulting, telecommunications and finance industries. He has worked for U.S. companies in Brazil, including S.C. Johnson, PepsiCo and A.T. Kearney, and in Eastern Europe for AIG. James has expertise in marketing, strategy and business development. In addition to Brazil, he has served in executive positions based in Europe and the U.S. James earned a BBA in Business Administration from Universidade de São Paulo, Brazil and an MBA from the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University. He is fluent in Portuguese and also speaks Spanish and Greek.

Ney Grant
Senior M&A Advisor

Ney has been involved in buying and selling companies for 20 years. He bought his first company in 1987 and founded a technology company in 1989, which he grew to $4 million in sales before selling it in 1997. Ney then served as founder and vice president of acquisitions for a startup that raised $20 million in venture capital to fund a series of company acquisitions. He then ran his own consulting company that provided M&A services. In addition to serving as Senior M&A Advisor to clients, Ney oversees Woodbridge Group's growth on the West Coast. Ney holds an engineering degree from UC Santa Barbara and an MBA from UC Davis. Read Ney's blog on selling your business here.

Brace Carpenter
Senior M&A Advisor

Brace been active in the middle market M&A industry for over 20 years and, along with Tom Hawke, heads up Woodbridge Group's Boston office. He has successfully completed transactions in the manufacturing, distribution, funeral, technology and business services industries. Brace has completed over 300 M&A transactions and performed more than 200 business valuations. Before joining Woodbridge Group, he founded a Boston-based lower middle-market investment banking firm, and, earlier in his career, was affiliated with Christie Group, a leading M&A firm in the UK and Europe.

Tom Hawke
Senior M&A Advisor

Tom brings over 20 years of M&A experience to Woodbridge Group's Boston office. He has acted as an advisor to sellers and completed over 200 successful transactions in the United States and United Kingdom. Tom previously operated his own group of companies in the hospitality, retail and manufacturing industries and entered the M&A world with Christie Group. A U.K. native, Tom now resides in the Boston area and assists middle market business owners with mergers, acquisitions, divestitures and business valuations.

Ernest Z. Bower
Senior M&A Advisor

Prior to his affiliation with the Woodbridge Group, Ernest was the founder and a principal of The Bower Group, a business consulting and M&A firm. He has provided long- term planning and business development services to a range of public and private companies in diverse industries. Ernest has broad experience in both domestic and international deal making, advising clients on both buy-side and sell-side transactions. During his 10 years in Europe, he acquired expertise in managing complex due diligence activities in multinational transactions. Ernest also served as director of planning and development at Akzo Nobel Salt’s U.S. division. He holds a BA from Colgate University and completed coursework in strategic planning and mergers and acquisitions at the Harvard School of Business.

John Sipala
Senior M&A Advisor

Prior to joining Woodbridge in 2007, Mr. Sipala served as Managing Director of Elite Investment Group, an investment banking firm focused on the middle market that he co-founded in 1996.  Earlier, as Managing Partner of Saddle River Capital, a private investment firm, he was responsible for all aspects of the investments and acquisitions of middle-market companies. Mr. Sipala holds an MBA in Finance from Fairleigh Dickinson University and is Chairman of the Board of Directors of MSRC Co., a leading mass storage solutions business. He is also a strategic advisor to Traffic Control Systems, a perimeter detection and security company.

Keith Dee
Senior M&A Advisor

Keith specializes in advising companies on mergers, acquisition, and divestitures, corporate finance, strategic and business advisory services. He brings over 25 years of experience as an entrepreneur and executive to Woodbridge Group. Keith’s unique combination of financial and operating experience enables him to understand and meet the financing needs of middle-market clients. Keith began his career as a CPA before founding his own accounting firm. Later, he served as president of Earmark, Inc., a New England based manufacturing company and chief financial officer of The Great American Backrub Company, a public specialty retailer and wellness company based in New York. Keith holds a BS in accounting from Bryant University.

Michael C. Muzzy
Senior M&A Advisor

Michael C. Muzzy specializes in providing strategic business planning services. Prior to co-founding his consulting firm Equity Transfers in 1996, Mike was chief financial officer and a board member of Bennett X-Ray Technologies. Previously, he served as a manager of accounting and auditing at Laventhol & Horwath, where he developed multi-disciplined experience with middle market companies in numerous industries. Mike is a founding member of the Long Island Angel Network, Inc. and is a Certified Public Accountant and Licensed Real Estate Broker in the State of New York. He holds a BA in Business Administration from Adelphi University.

Graeme Plant
M&A Advisor

In addition to assisting business owners in the sale of their business, Graeme is the managing director of the El Dorado Hills Technology Incubator and is an active "angel" investor in northern California growth companies. Graeme is on the board of several young growth companies. Graeme started his career in with Sprint and Hewlett Packard before joining startups ShareWave and Little Mountain Group. Graeme led the acquisition efforts to sell Little Mountain Group, which was eventually sold to QLogic in 2001 for just under $30 million. Graeme has an engineering degree from UC Davis and an MBA from UC Berkeley.

Richard D. Okada
M&A Advisor

Richard was President of RO Associates, Inc., an electronics manufacturer in Sunnyvale, CA and former client of Woodbridge Group, which was sold in 2005. Richard served in various executive management positions at RO and negotiated four technical license agreements bringing over $12 million to his company’s bottom line. Richard worked directly with the Woodbridge team to market and close the deal with Emrise Corp., the new owner of RO Associates. Richard was so impressed by the Woodbridge process that he decided to join the firm as a dealmaker. He holds a BS in Physics from UC Berkeley and an MBA from UCLA.

Felicia Hughes
Vice President, Operations

Felicia's background in managing service delivery and marketing teams ensures that our clients capture the attention of targeted buyers and sellers. Prior to joining Woodbridge Group, Felicia worked for a number of direct marketing firms including Dial America, and she worked in pharmaceutical sales for Wyeth/Ayerst Laboratories. Felicia also served as a department manager of several surgical units at Tufts New England Medical Center. Felicia's passion for achieving results, her efficiency and perseverance make her an invaluable asset to our clients. Felicia is a graduate of the University of Connecticut.

Marni K. Connelly
Manager, Professional Services

Prior to joining Woodbridge Group, Marni worked at Pitney Bowes for 13 years, where her last position was IT Project Manager. She currently applies her analytical and operational expertise to supporting our team of dealmakers, and researching and managing a variety of marketing activities on behalf of clients. Marni is instrumental to the firm’s internal marketing activities and process improvement initiatives. Marni holds a business degree with specialization in Management Information Systems from Western Connecticut State University.

Wooda H. McNiven
Financial Analyst

Wooda is a business valuation analyst, business writer and producer of corporate and industrial videos. Since leaving active duty service in the United States Navy, Wooda has focused primarily on business valuations for merger and acquisition purposes but also for estate and tax purposes. He is an Accredited Valuation Analyst through the National Association of Certified Valuation Analysts (NACVA). Wooda earned an MBA from the University of Connecticut and a BFA from New York University in film & video production. He is a Persian Gulf War veteran and still holds a commission as a Commander in the United States Naval Reserve.

Lisa Micali
Business Analyst

Lisa’s talent for writing both compelling and accurate sell-side books gives Woodbridge Group’s clients a distinct advantage over other sellers in presenting their company to prospective buyers. Her professional background includes extensive experience in launching new technology solutions in both consumer and business-to-business markets. She has held senior sales and marketing positions at several IT companies and managed strategic sales and marketing initiatives for Simon & Schuster’s newsletter division. Lisa is the author of two books on online auctions and numerous business articles. She holds a BS in Communications from Northeastern University and a Master’s degree in French from the Sorbonne.

Jorge Duque
Research Analyst

Jorge brings a diverse background in international business to Woodbridge Group. He is responsible for conducting industry research to identify buyers for our sell-side clients and managing the firm's IT resources. Before joining the firm, he served as a financial and administrative manager for Cadena S.A., Colombia's second largest printing and direct marketing company. In the mid-1990s, he worked as a business analyst and exports manager for several leading food and consumer product companies in the U.S. and South America. Jorge holds an MBA from the Universidad de los Andes, Bogota, Colombia and a BS in Computer Science Engineering from the Universidad EAFIT, Medellin, Colombia.

Catherine M. Bucci
Associate Analyst

Catherine joined Woodbridge Group in 2005 and handles a range of activities in support of the firm’s dealmaking activities. Her expertise includes conducting telephone marketing campaigns and research related to sell-side and buy-side mandates. Prior to becoming a part of the Woodbridge Group team, Catherine worked in customer service for PHS Healthnet and earlier in the accounting department for Cartier.

Diana Welch
Associate Analyst

Diana is responsible for researching and launching Woodbridge Group client marketing campaigns and manages ad placement in relevant trade and financial journals. She is also instrumental to Woodbridge Group’s business development initiatives.  Previously, Diana worked in customer service and purchasing for Tetley Inc., and earlier in the Consumer Loan Department at Connecticut National Bank.