Cowen Group, Inc. announced the formation of the Special Situations Group at Cowen and Company. Lorie Beers, who joins the firm as Managing Director and Head of Special Situations, will be supported by a talented team that includes Jeff Knopping, who has been with Cowen since 2014 as Managing Director, and Randy Lederman who joins the firm as Director. The group will be based in New York and report to Kevin Raidy, Head of Investment Banking.

“With the establishment of the Special Situations Group, our investment banking product expertise will expand to include restructuring and recapitalization advisory services,” said Raidy. “We believe these capabilities will be highly relevant in the current market environment, particularly in certain industry sectors such as Energy and Retail/Consumer Products, and complement our existing debt and equity capital markets capabilities. Lorie, Jeff and Randy have a strong background in these areas and have successfully advised a broad range of companies in challenging situations. We look forward to their contributions to the firm and our clients’ success.”

Beers has 28 years of professional experience that encompasses the full spectrum of restructuring. Most recently, she was Managing Director and Head of Restructuring at StormHarbour Securities and served in a senior level capacity at firms such as Variant Capital Advisors, Seabury Group, KPMG Corporate Finance and Gordian. Beers began her career as a bankruptcy attorney and ultimately became a partner in the Bankruptcy Group at Kasowitz, Benson, Torres & Friedman. She also served as Chief Restructuring Officer and Chief Operating Officer for a middle-market marketing and branding organization. Beers has a B.A. from Dickinson College and a J.D. from the University of Pittsburgh School of Law.

Prior to joining Cowen’s investment banking group in 2014, Knopping was Managing Director at KCAP Financial where he led the origination and capital markets team. Before that, he was with William Blair & Company as Managing Director in the Private Capital and Special Situations group. Knopping also spent 13 years with GE Capital in a variety of roles including Chief Investment Officer of Global Sponsor Finance and Head of Capital Markets for Commercial Finance. He also worked at Citicorp Investment Bank in loan syndications and Bank of America as a commercial banker and credit analyst. Knopping has a B.A. from American University and an M.B.A. from The Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania.

Lederman joins Cowen with 14 years of experience. Most recently he was with StormHarbour Securities as a Director in the energy capital markets group. Prior to that, he was with Global Hunter Securities as a Vice President in the high yield/restructuring group. Lederman also worked with the leveraged finance/restructuring teams at Cantor Fitzgerald, FBR and Macquarie Capital Advisors. He began his career Bank of America Securities in the leveraged finance/liability management group. Lederman received a B.A. from the University of Michigan Ross School of Business.

Cowen and Company and its affiliates offer industry focused investment banking for growth-oriented companies, domain knowledge-driven research and a sales and trading platform for institutional investors. Founded in 1918, the firm is headquartered in New York and has offices worldwide.