Managing Partner

Adam Smith, Managing Partner of Circle Peak, founded the firm to identify and partner with high quality management teams and participate in the profitable growth of small cap companies. Prior to founding CPC, Mr. Smith was in the Financial Sponsors / Mergers & Acquisitions Group at Lehman Brothers. At Lehman Brothers, Mr. Smith advised on financial and strategic issues for leading middle market corporations and private equity firms in multiple industries including consumer, home appliances, manufacturing, and aerospace and defense

Prior to Lehman Brothers, Mr. Smith worked at two leading, billion-dollar private equity firms, Caxton-Iseman Capital and Castle Harlan. In these capacities, Mr. Smith worked directly with management teams in the acquisition and growth of $25 million to $1B billion firms in food, beverage, consumer, restaurant, industrial, aerospace and asset management sectors. As a private equity professional, Mr. Smith was directly involved in investments representing over $1.2 billion in sales, $140 million in EBITDA, and $190 million in equity commitments. Mr. Smith was also employed by Columbus Advisors, an emerging markets hedge fund, and worked at J.P. Morgan and Salomon Brothers in investment banking.

Mr. Smith earned an MBA with honors from the Graduate School of Business at Columbia University and a B.A. cum laude in International Relations and Economics from Boston University. Mr. Smith is an active alumnus of Columbia Business School; advisor and board member to several private businesses, including Chomp Inc., Biowave Corporation. Mr. Smith is married to his wife Aimee with one child and lives in in New York.

Operating Partners

Circle Peak has assembled a team of Operating Partners, consisting of several seasoned business executives, who provide operating, management, and growth support to CPC's portfolio companies. The Operating Partners have a particular strength in Circle Peak's investment areas (Consumer, Wealth Management), with an average of 25 years of relevant operating and general management experience.

Clinton J. Kendrick. CEO, Managing Partner, Long Ridge Investments LLC, a private investment firm specializing in acquisitions and growth of wealth management companies (2001 to present); Executive Director, Shearman & Sterling (2000-2001), responsible for the business management of this major global law firm; Co-Founder and CEO, Matrix Global Investments, Inc., a leveraged private equity firm backed by Castle Harlan Inc. and focused on investments in high quality, small to mid-sized high net worth and institutional money management firms (1995-1999); Managing Director, Lehman Brothers, Inc., responsible for Lehman Brothers Global Asset Management worldwide (1993 to 1995); Co-Founder, President and CEO of Hyperion Capital Management, an institutional money management firm specializing in mortgage-backed and asset-backed securities; President, Alliance Capital Management, Corp. (1977-1987).

Mr. Kendrick is a Charter Trustee of Phillips Academy, Andover, MA, and a Trustee of the Northern Westchester Hospital Center, Mt. Kisco, NY. He holds a B.A. from Yale University, attended New York Graduate School of Business Administration (1967-1971), and is a Chartered Financial Analyst.

Dennis M. Newnham. Mr. Newnham has over 25 years experience in general management, marketing, operating and consulting roles for consumer companies involving fragrance, toiletries, personal care, food condiments, snacks, and branded beverages. Mr. Newnham has held top management positions at leading small and mid-cap consumer firms including B. Manischewitz Co., Tsumura International, Lea & Perrins, Wilkinson Sword, and Adirondack Beverages. He has also worked closely with private equity firms and has served on the Boards of several NYSE and NASDAQ companies.

As an operating executive, Mr. Newnham was most recently President and CEO of B. Manischewitz Co., a 113 year old, $70 million branded food manufacturer with over 600 products, and the largest dedicated kosher food company in North America. Mr. Newnham holds a BA from Binghamton University, and is married with two children and lives in Westfield, NJ.

John J. Spencer. Mr. Spencer has approximately 30 years of experience in senior management, sales and marketing, operational, and corporate development roles in consumer and branded and private-equity related business. Founder, CEO, Spencer Associates (1986 to present). Spencer Associates is a consulting company that focuses on business restructuring and strategic redirection for small to mid-sized companies, including interim management, reorganization, due diligence, M&A, sales and marketing programs. Spencer Associates clients have included private equity and consumer and branded firms including: SMS Brands, BMC\Haas Financial, PepsiCo and Lepercq de Neuflize & Co, the Overseas Private Investment Corporation (OPIC), European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD), Quadrant Management, Pepsi-Cola Company, Coors Brewing Company, and the Whitman Corporation.

Prior to Spencer Associates, Mr. Spencer was President and CEO, RKO bottlers, Inc., a Gencorp Company, a major Pepsi-Cola & Dr Pepper bottling and distribution company (1980-1986). At RKO, Mr. Spencer built RKO from a small regional bottling firm into a competitive multi-state, multi-franchise company that today, continues as a highly profitable division of a major international bottling conglomerate. Mr. Spencer purchased five Pepsi-Cola franchise companies, was chairman of the Marketing Committee of the Pepsi-Cola Bottlers Association, and managed over 1,600 employees and grew RKO from $7 million in EBITDA to $44 million, creating the best performing Pepsi-Cola multifranchise company during his tenure.

Prior to RKO, Mr. Spencer was General Manger (1973-1975) of the Coca-Cola Bottling Company of Puerto Rico, and Vice President, Operations (1975-1980) of the Coca-Cola Bottling Company of New York. Mr. Spencer has worked with Smith Barney, the Sprout Group, and the Lepercq de Neuflize Fund in food and beverage acquisitions. Mr. Spencer has a BA from Seton Hall University (1957).

Henry J. Zwicky. Mr. Zwicky has over 25 years of sales, marketing, operations, and senior management experience in the refrigerated and specialty food industry. Most recently, Mr. Zwicky was founder, CEO of Wisconsin Cheese Group, a packager and producer of specialty cheeses. Mr. Zwicky formed Wisconsin Cheese Group (“WCG”) in 1985 and led the firm as CEO until its sale in December 2002 to a financial buyer, Main Street Capital Holdings LLC. At the time of Mr. Zwicky’s acquisition of the firm, Wisconsin Cheese Group was a commodity cheese company with approximately $3 million in sales. WCG today is the fastest growing Hispanic cheese manufacturer, and produces a variety of domestic and imported specialty cheeses, sold nationwide to more than 350 food service companies, supermarkets and convenience stores. WCG produced approximately $70 million in sales in 2002. Mr. Zwicky is a Vice Chairman of and remains a direct investor in WCG.

Prior to WCG, Mr. Zwicky was a senior operating executive at Milwaukee Cheese, a leading manufacturer and marketer of diversified specialty foods, a leader in cheese, sausage, and pickles. At the time of its sale to Vlasic Foods, Mr. Zwicky was President of Milwaukee Cheese. Prior to Milwaukee Cheese, Mr. Zwicky was President of Flagstaff Foodservice, a leading food manufacturer and portfolio company of Jacobson Partners, a private investment partnership specializing in consumer & branded investments. Mr. Zwicky is also a partner in Midwest Partners and 1722 Real Estate Partnership, a real estate partnership, a board member of Breadeaux Pizza, a 100-unit chain located in St. Joseph, Mo. Mr. Zwicky holds a B.A. in Business Administration from Carthage College, Kenosha, WI, and is married with 2 children in New York City, New York.