Portage Point Partners announced that Thomas Studebaker has joined the firm as Managing Director & Co-Head of the Turnaround & Restructuring practice. Studebaker will partner with industry veteran Vladimir Kasparov to lead the rapidly growing practice across the firm's Chicago, Dallas, Los Angeles and New York offices.
Studebaker brings nearly 20 years of restructuring advisory and interim management experience to Portage Point, having spent the last 15 years at AlixPartners. While at AlixPartners, Studebaker served as Chief Operating Officer (COO) to two public global renewable energy companies, interim Chief Financial Officer (CFO) to a privately owned energy company, interim CFO to a PE owned global consulting company and restructuring advisor to a variety of companies across the technology, energy, business services and retail sectors. Together with Kasparov, Studebaker will be responsible for accelerating Portage Point's leading Turnaround & Restructuring franchise within the broader Portage Point business advisory platform designed to deliver integrated services that identify value capture, mitigate risk and positively impact outcomes at every stage of the ever-changing middle market business and investment life cycle.
Studebaker received his bachelor's degree from the University of Notre Dame, his MBA from Northwestern University's J.L. Kellogg School of Management, is a Certified Insolvency and Restructuring Advisor and a certified public accountant licensed in the state of Massachusetts.
"Tom's wealth of practice building knowledge, deep turnaround and restructuring expertise and expansive network will reinforce and bolster our accelerated growth profile," said Matthew Ray, Founder & Managing Partner of Portage Point. "We are laser focused on delivering a combination of pedigree and situational command unmatched in the middle market. And under Tom and Vlad's leadership our Turnaround & Restructuring practice will continue to offer elite talent with a cross-functional perspective, uncompromising effort and skillful consensus building during the most urgent and complex operational and financial challenges," added Mr. Ray.
"I am thrilled to welcome Tom to the team and lead this practice in partnership," said Mr. Kasparov. "We worked together more than 15 years ago and to reunite now during these unique economic times is truly exciting. Adding Tom's leadership and experience to our platform will further enable the team's ability to maximize value at every stage of the business and investment lifecycle."
"Portage Point has been on my radar since Matt founded the firm just seven years ago," said Studebaker. "The brand has become synonymous with quality and speed to impact. I am incredibly excited to be joining a firm with a clear vision, exciting growth aspirations and a team-first culture all of which allow the firm to deliver exceptional results to its middle market stakeholders."