JESS M. RAVICH, PRESIDENT AND CEO
CO-HEAD OF INVESTMENT BANKING
(jravich@librasecurities.com)
As Libra's founder, President and Chief Executive Officer, Mr. Ravich has ultimate supervision over all sales, trading and capital markets and corporate finance transactions. Prior to founding Libra in 1991, Mr. Ravich was Executive Vice President of the fixed income department at Jefferies & Company, a Los Angeles-based brokerage firm. Prior to Jefferies, Mr. Ravich was a Senior Vice President at Drexel Burnham Lambert where he was a member of the Executive Committee of the high yield group and shared responsibility for running high yield trading from 1988 until Drexel closed in 1990. Prior to that, Mr. Ravich ran the firm’s convertible trading desk. Mr. Ravich is a graduate of the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania, summa cum laude, and Harvard Law School, magna cum laude and editor of Law Review. He serves on the Board of Directors of Cherokee, Inc. and several private corporations and the Undergraduate Executive Board of the Wharton School and the Archer School for Girls.
MICHAEL COSTER, MANAGING DIRECTOR
(mcoster@librasecurities.com)
Mr. Coster joined Libra in 2000. Prior to joining Libra, Mr. Coster was a Senior Financial Analyst for Primary Network Holdings, a privately held competitive local exchange carrier in St. Louis, Missouri and portfolio client of Libra’s. At Primary, Mr. Coster concentrated on mergers, acquisitions, budgeting and financial reporting. Prior to Primary, Mr. Coster served as the Controller of Independent Stave Holding Company, Inc., a large private multinational manufacturing company headquartered in Southwest Missouri, where he primarily focused on cash management, the design and implementation of financial processes, budgeting and financial reporting. Mr. Coster began his career at Ernst & Young LLP, where he worked as a Senior Accountant in the firm’s Entrepreneurial Services Group servicing a wide variety of middle market clients in industries ranging from technology to basic materials. Mr. Coster received his BSACC, summa cum laude, from the University of Missouri, Columbia.
ROBERT G. MORRISH, EXECUTIVE VICE PRESIDENT
(bmorrish@librasecurities.com)
Mr. Morrish joined Libra in 1994 and participates in selected corporate finance transactions. He also serves as Libra’s general counsel. Prior to joining Libra, he was a partner at Riordan & McKinzie, Los Angeles, California where he specialized in corporate and securities law. Mr. Morrish received his J.D., cum laude, from Harvard Law School in 1982.
CHARLES A. YAMARONE, EXECUTIVE VICE PRESIDENT
(cyamarone@librasecurities.com)
Mr. Yamarone joined Libra in 1991. Mr. Yamarone participates in selected corporate finance, merchant banking and capital markets transactions and has played a principal role in numerous corporate finance assignments ranging in size from $1 million to more than $150 million. Mr. Yamarone is a member of the Board of Directors of Continental Airlines, Inc., El Paso Electric Company and New Millennium Homes, and a former member of the Board of Directors of Bally’s Grand Las Vegas, Inc. He received his B.A. from the University of California, Berkeley and his J.D. from Boalt Hall at the University of California, Berkeley.
HAL BYER, SENIOR VICE PRESIDENT OF MARKETING
(hbyer@librasecurities.com)
Mr. Byer joined Libra in 2001. Prior to joining Libra, Mr. Byer spent the previous twenty-one years as the Chief Executive Officer of a Los Angeles-based food distribution company and concurrently was a Co-founder and Chief Executive Officer of egreatcause.com, an online fundraising company serving over 2,500 schools and other organizations nationwide. Mr. Byer holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in Accounting from Rider University.
SAMMY C. LAI, SENIOR VICE PRESIDENT
(slai@librasecurities.com)
Mr. Lai joined Libra in 2001. From January 2000 to January 2001, he was an Analyst in the Investment Banking Division at Merrill Lynch & Co. and focused on middle-market mergers and acquisitions. From September 1997 to January 2000, Mr. Lai was a fixed income analyst at Lazard Asset Management. Mr. Lai received an A.B., cum laude, from Harvard University with a focus in Economics. Mr. Lai is a CFA charterholder.
STEPHEN G. LEWIS, VICE PRESIDENT
(slewis@librasecurities.com)
Mr. Lewis joined Libra in 2002 as a financial analyst. Prior to joining Libra, Mr. Lewis held various positions with several early-stage internet and technology companies, including Infogate, Inc, a wireless communications firm acquired by Time Warner, and HSX Holdings, Inc., a subsidiary of Cantor Fitzgerald. Mr. Lewis received his B.S.E. in Finance from the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania.
WALTER CHUNG, ANALYST
(wchung@librasecurities.com)
Mr. Chung joined Libra in 2006. Prior to joining Libra, Mr. Chung was an associate within the Corporate Finance group at FTI Consulting, Inc. From 2003 to 2005, he was a public accountant within the Assurance and Advisory Business Services practice at Ernst & Young, LLP. Mr. Chung received a B.A. in Business Economics as well as a minor in Accounting from the University of California, Los Angeles.
NATE LEMMERMAN, ANALYST
(nlemmerman@librasecurities.com)
Joined Libra in 2006. Prior to joining Libra, Mr. Lemmerman was an analyst in the corporate finance group at Pacific Growth Equities, LLC. Mr. Lemmerman received a B.S. in Business Administration with a focus in finance from the Walter A. Haas School of Business at the University of California, Berkeley.
SAID AL-ALAOUI, ANALYST
(sal-alaoui@librasecurities.com)
Mr. Al-Alaoui joined Libra in 2008. Prior to joining Libra, Mr. Al-Alaoui was an associate in the Structured Finance Group at KPMG, LLP where he reverse engineered Asset-Backed Securitization transactions. Mr. Al-Alaoui received a B.S. in Business Administration with an emphasis in finance and a concentration in financial analysis & valuation from the Marshall School of Business at the University of Southern California.
GREGORY BOUSQUETTE, MANAGING DIRECTOR
CO-HEAD OF INVESTMENT BANKING
(gbousquette@ny.librasecurities.com)
Mr. Bousquette joined Libra in 1996. Prior to Libra, Mr. Bousquette worked in the Mergers & Acquisitions Department at Morgan Stanley and in the High Yield Department in Drexel Burnham Lambert’s Beverly Hills office. Mr. Bousquette has an M.B.A. from Stanford University (Arjay Miller Scholar), a law degree from Harvard Law School (cum laude) and a B.B.A. from the University of Michigan (summa cum laude). Mr. Bousquette has been working with the casino industry since 1985.
FRANK SENA, MANAGING DIRECTOR
HEAD OF THE TRAVEL AND LEISURE GROUP
(fsena@ny.librasecurities.com)
Mr. Sena joined Libra in 2003. Prior to joining Libra, Mr. Sena was an Executive Director in the Mergers & Acquisitions Group at CIBC where he worked with clients from various industries including Travel Services, Leisure, Lodging, Gaming and Technology. Prior to joining CIBC, Mr. Sena was an Associate in Salomon Smith Barney’s Technology Group working with clients in the telecommunications equipment, information technology services, Internet, software and PC hardware sectors. Prior to Salomon Smith Barney, Mr. Sena held management positions in two successful startup software companies as a member of Cambridge Technology Group’s staff. Mr. Sena received his M.B.A. from the Wharton School and his B.S. in Electrical Engineering from Yale University.
JUSTIN HIRS, ASSOCIATE
(jhirs@ny.librasecurities.com)
Justin Hirs joined Libra Securities in 2003 as a financial analyst. Mr. Hirs has experience working with travel services companies on Mergers & Acquisitions, financing and strategic advisory projects. Mr. Hirs received a B.S. and B.A., with honors, from the Wharton School and the College of Arts and Sciences at the University of Pennsylvania.
JOSHUA HOFFMAN, SENIOR ANALYST
(jhoffman@ny.librasecurities.com)
Josh Hoffman joined Libra Securities in 2005. Prior to joining Libra, Mr. Hoffman was an associate in the acquisitions group at Icon Capital Corp. where he evaluated investment opportunities. Mr. Hoffman received a B.A. in Economics from Amherst College.
KINERET BAUMBERG, ANALYST
(kbaumberg@ny.librasecurities.com)
Kineret Baumberg joined Libra Securities in 2007. Prior to joining Libra, Ms. Baumberg was a management analyst in the technology solutions group at BearingPoint, Inc. where she worked with hotel and travel services. Ms. Baumberg received a B.S. in
Finance and International Business, from the Leonard N. Stern School of Business at New York University.