B. Riley FBR, Inc., a full service investment bank and wholly-owned subsidiary of B. Riley Financial, Inc., announced that it has expanded its investment banking division with the addition of Chris Allick, Todd Blankfort, Paul Clausing and David Suddendorf.
The new additions come from San Francisco-based Hunting Dog Capital LLC, a firm which specializes in providing flexible financing for lower middle-market U.S. companies seeking growth. Allick, Blankfort, Clausing and Suddendorf bring decades of experience to the firm's investment banking division.
"I'm thrilled to have Chris, Todd, Paul and David join the B. Riley FBR team," said Andy Moore, Chief Executive Officer of B. Riley FBR. "With this group's unique skillset and strong origination network, we can generate new small- and micro-cap opportunities by extending our reach to smaller companies and providing the assistance they need to accomplish their business objectives. Additionally, their contribution will enable us to identify additional synergistic opportunities across the entire B. Riley Financial platform, including our lending affiliate whose capabilities currently target mid- to large cap companies, with loans ranging $10 million to $300 million, and expand our overall lending platform. I'm excited to welcome them to the team and look forward to seeing them contribute to our growing success."
Allick co-founded Hunting Dog Capital with Todd Blankfort in 2006 as a managing member of the firm. He joins B. Riley FBR as Managing Director and brings over 35 years of investment banking industry expertise, primarily focused on special situations credit. Prior to co-founding Hunting Dog Capital, Allick founded boutique investment bank Instream Partners in 2000, which then became Instream Capital LLC. He previously co-founded the Corporate Finance Department at Jefferies & Company, Inc. in 1990, prior to which he served in various investment banking roles at Drexel Burnham Lambert and Dean Witter Reynolds. Allick earned an MA in economics from York University and a BA in Economics and English literature from the University of Colorado Boulder and is a member of the FINRA Dispute Resolution Board of Arbitrators.
Chris Allick commented: "Todd, Paul, David and I have collectively established a solid foundation comprised of an extended network and a strong set of capabilities over the past 12 years. This is a new and exciting chapter for us as we not only have the ability to strengthen the foundation we have put in put in place, but we also have the opportunity to expand our reach and generate new opportunities, given the direct access we now have to the resources across the B. Riley Financial platform."
Blankfort joins B. Riley FBR as Managing Director. Prior to co-founding Hunting Dog Capital, he served as a managing member of Instream Capital responsible for originating, evaluating, and structuring investment opportunities. He has served in various investment banking roles over the course of his career, including with UBS Warburg LLC, Veronis Suhler Stevenson and Citicorp Securities. Blankfort earned an MBA with distinction from the University of Michigan (Ross School of Business) and a BA, cum laude, in economics from the University of Pennsylvania.
Clausing joins B. Riley FBR as Managing Director. Prior to joining Hunting Dog Capital in 2015, he held a senior financial operating role at Velti plc. and spent approximately 10 years at Jefferies & Company, Inc. assisting technology, media, and telecom clients with debt and equity issuances, mergers and acquisitions, and restructurings valued at over $8.5 billion. Clausing earned a BS in management with a concentration in finance, magna cum laude, from Boston College and holds the Chartered Financial Analyst designation.
Suddendorf joins B. Riley FBR as Vice President. At Hunting Dog Capital, he was involved in all aspects of the firm's investment activities with a concentration on portfolio company management and monitoring. He also managed the firm's origination network and was involved in marketing and business development activities. Prior to Hunting Dog Capital, Suddendorf worked for Palatine Capital Partners where he analyzed potential debt and equity transactions. He earned an MS in real estate finance from New York University and a BA in philosophy from the University of Washington.