Consumer & Retail
Young America Capital is a nationally-recognized broker-dealer and investment bank providing companies and investors with advisory services across a focused range of disciplines. With deep industry and transactional experience spanning over 30 years, our advisory team is acutely aware of the rapid convergence occurring in the consumer-branded and omni-channel retail landscape. We focus our advisory on proprietary, independent, and sound advice, first-class execution, and superior results by understanding transformative industry dynamics.
Service Offerings:
MERGERS AND ACQUISITIONS
Our cumulative industry experience and advisory expertise enable us to customize innovative transactional and strategic solutions for the clients we serve. Our team has an extensive track record in exclusive sale advisory and buy-side transactions. We seek to leverage our senior-level industry relationships and analytical expertise to identify and articulate transactional synergies that maximize value in the sell-side process. We also advise on the acquisition and sale of distressed businesses and assets, including identifying opportunities across sectors for value-enhancing consolidation opportunities.
PUBLIC AND PRIVATE PLACEMENT OF EQUITY & DEBT
Our professionals have a high degree of market insight having lead consumer and retail sell-side capital markets teams at bulge bracket institutions over more than 20 years. We have extensive experience in the placement of private equity and debt leveraging a wide network of both retail and institutional clients. Capital is typically deployed to finance growth initiatives, make strategic transactions, provide liquidity to shareholders, and restructure or stabilize the capital structure.
STRATEGIC ADVISORY SERVICES
Maintaining a high level of confidentiality, we have served as advisors to boards and special committees on a wide range of options, especially with regard to strategic solutions that will minimize potential losses and provide a suitable recovery structure for the client, fund managers, and secured lenders.
PUBLIC MARKET ADVISORY
With extensive IPO and secondary transaction experience, we work with management teams to form a comprehensive strategy to articulate positioning and differentiation that results in heightened investor appreciation of the story and thus increasing value and impact in the institutional investor market.
FAIRNESS OPINIONS
We provide Fairness Opinions under FINRA Rule 5150 relating to transactions between affiliated entities wherein conflicts of interest could arise between related parties.
CONSUMER & RETAIL TEAM
Kristina Walsh, Co-Head - Consumer & Retail Team
Kristina has 18+ years of experience in business consulting and management roles advising small companies
to achieve their strategic plans, and also in the financial services industry. Prior to Young America, Kristina
was a Managing Director at IPC, Partner; Head of Onboarding and Business Consulting for Prime
Services at Cantor Fitzgerald & Co., Partner; Head of the Transition Team at Merlin Securities and Partner;
Head of Investor Relations at Connecticut Capital Management. Kristina received her BA in Psychology
from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. FINRA licenses 82, 63.
Todd D. Slater, Co-Head - Consumer & Retail Team
Todd is a well-known and widely sought-after expert in the retail, wholesale, licensing brand management,
and consumer industries. Todd’s prior experience includes Co-Founding Threadstone Advisors, and
Managing Director leading the Retail and Consumer branded sell-side research teams at both Lazard Capital
Markets and UBS Securities over a 20-year period, where he won numerous industry awards in multiple
categories. Prior to his career as an industry analyst, Todd started in the Executive Training Program at
Macy's New York, rising to senior positions in merchandising, buying, and store management. Todd has
participated in numerous advisory and capital markets transactions, including Limited Brands, Intimate
Brands, Abercrombie & Fitch, Iconix Brands, Xcel Brands, Sequential Brands, Warnaco, Vera Bradley, Signet
Jewelers. Todd received a B.A. in French Literature from Tufts University. FINRA licenses 7, 63, and 79.
Michael Kuntz
Michael has 30+ years of experience working with emerging companies, raising over $1.0 billion in equity
capital for both public and private companies. In addition to investment banking Michael held positions as
CFO/COO for three early stage, start-up companies in the online content, software integration and
broadband delivery industries. Michael received his BS in finance from Boston College and his MBA from
Duke University. FINRA licenses Series 7, 63 and 79.
Peter Formanek, CEO
Peter has 30+ years of experience advising fund managers, family offices and companies. He was a Financial
Analyst at Donaldson, Lufkin & Jenrette, and Spear, Leeds & Kellogg, and CFO and Business Development
at Southern Cross Latin America Private Equity Funds. He has participated in a multitude of middle market
sell and buy side transactions for numerous consumer product and service companies in the fields of CPG,
business services, apparel, retailing, and e-commerce. He has advised both consumer focused venture capital
and private equity funds on their fund capital raise process. Peter received his BS in Accounting, and an
MBA in Finance from the University of Bridgeport, and is a practicing CPA. FINRA licenses 7, 24, 28, 50,
52, 63, 79 and 99.
