In December 2015, Mr. Tirman joined the Supervisory Board of Elan d.o.o. based in Begunje na Gorenjskem, Slovenia www.elan-sports.com, after its acquisition by a group of London-based institutional investors. Mr. Tirman was tasked with leading Elan’s transition from a state-owned enterprise to a privately held firm (state-owned since its inception in 1945). Mr. Tirman, both as a member of the board of directors and then as CEO, has been responsible for the complete restructuring and reorganization of the business, including: i) initial emergency financial stabilisation of the enterprise, ii) reconfiguration of the entire corporate structure, including the development and implementation of new corporate governance policies and procedures focused on transparency and accountability, iii) the hiring and installation of a progressive senior management team, iv) restructuring and streamlining the 4 operating divisions along western-style best practices, including control, reporting and compliance, v) refinancing of the company’s balance sheet (3x), vi) identifying and defining future business direction across all company units (product focus, branding, target markets, etc.), and vii) preparing the company for sale.

In 2018, Mr. Tirman organised and ran the sale process for Elan which resulted in the signing of a Securities Purchase Agreement with Finnish-based private equity firm KJK Capital (“KJK”) in late December 2018, with the transaction closing at the end of April 2019. Based on Mr. Tirman’s performance at Elan, KJK asked Mr. Tirman to form and lead a Luxembourg-based holding company (KJK Sports S.A.) into which KJK Capital contributed all its sporting goods related businesses (in addition to Elan, Leader 96 – a contract bicycle manufacturer based in Plovdiv Bulgaria, and Tahe Outdoors – a watersports business based in Estonia, but with several subsidiaries around Europe). Further, in August 2019, Mr. Tirman led the KJK Sports purchase of Baltik Vairas – a contract bicycle manufacturer based in Šiauliai, Lithuania, and when combined with Leader 96, making KJK Sports the largest continental European contract bicycle manufacturer with annual capacity in excess of 1’000’000 units (both regular and e-bike). As of 31 December 2019, KJK Sports companies employed approximately 2’500 people and generated revenues in excess of €230 million. Mr. Tirman is charged with leading the operational and financial restructuring of the KJK Sports daughter companies with the aim of increasing transparency, as well as operating and financial performance.

From 2009 through 2014, Mr. Tirman was an adjunct professor of Advanced Corporate Finance for the Masters of Sciences in Finance (MScF) program at l'Ecole des Hautes Etudes Commerciales (HEC) in Lausanne, Switzerland, which is a joint effort between l'Université de Lausanne (UNIL), Ecole Polytechnique Fédéral de Lausanne (EPFL) and the Federal Swiss Banking and Finance Institute. The focus of Mr. Tirman’s lectures centered on corporate valuation via balance sheet analysis in compliance with IFRS accounting standards and analytical accounting. Mr. Tirman has also been a guest lecturer for the FAME Program, a nationally coordinated PhD Program in Finance, at the University of Lausanne, in conjunction with the Federal Swiss Banking and Finance Institute. From 2011 through 2013, Mr. Tirman was also a guest lecturer on Credit Markets and Credit Risk for the Asset and Wealth Management Executive MBA (AWEMBA) program at the HEC, which is a joint program between University of Lausanne and the Tepper School of Management at Carnegie Mellon University, in Pennsylvania, USA. The focus of Mr. Tirman’s lectures centered on risk assessment and analysis as it relates to portfolio exposure in credit and credit-related investments. While Mr. Tirman has not actively taught since end of 2014, he has given several presentations and lectures to various MScF classes over the intervening period.

In late 2012, Mr. Tirman co-founded Rhodium Capital Management, a London-based money management firm focused mainly on European and CEEMEA Credit. Mr. Tirman was responsible for the initial funding of Rhodium, along with developing, writing and implementing all aspects of the firms operating, investment, compliance and reporting policies and procedures. Peak assets under management were $260 million. Rhodium was a regulated AIFM under the UK FCA, the US SEC and US CFTC, as well as the Cayman Islands Monetary Authority. At the end of 2015, Mr. Tirman sold his interests in Rhodium to his business partner and ceased activity on behalf of Rhodium.

From 1997 through 2012, Mr. Tirman was president of Talisman Capital. In the period from 1997 through 2001, Talisman was focused on investing in global markets with an emphasis on capital structure arbitrage and other relative value strategies, with peak assets under management of approximately $400 million. Subsequent to 2001, Talisman specialised in corporate restructurings and work-outs on behalf of several large institutional clients. While at Talisman, Mr. Tirman led several different workouts and restructurings in industries ranging from fuel additives to high-end retail to state-sponsored gaming.

In 1990, Mr. Tirman received a Master of Business Administration degree, with an emphasis in corporate finance and tax accounting, from the A.B. Freeman School of Business, Tulane University, New Orleans, Louisiana. Mr. Tirman was an A.B. Freeman Fellowship recipient, a member of the Tulane University President’s Council, a student member of the MBA Faculty Selection Committee, a member of the Financial Management Association National Honor Society, a member of the Beta Gamma Sigma National Honor Society of Collegiate Schools of Business and an elected representative to the Academic Integrity Committee. In 1987, Mr. Tirman received a Bachelor of Business Administration degree, with an emphasis in economics, from the University of Arkansas, Little Rock, Arkansas.

Mr. Hardt has also served as a leader in PwC’s SEC Services group in the firm’s National Office where he was responsible for oversight of both foreign and domestic registrant client SEC filings including both debt and equity IPOs. In his prior roles at PwC, Mr. Hardt has extensive experience with companies preparing to go public including the financial statement and internal controls requirements of The Sarbanes-Oxley Act, interacting with the Securities and Exchange Commission and the financial reporting implications of executing growth strategies involving mergers and acquisitions. Mr. Hardt also has many years of experience interacting with public company Boards and their audit/finance committees. Mr. Hardt is an investor and adviser to Cavan & Co LLC, an early stage American made lifestyle apparel brand. Mr. Hardt holds a BA in Business Administration from Furman University and is a CPA licensed in Ohio, Georgia and New Jersey. Mr. Hardt serves on the President’s Advisory Council of Furman University and is a member of the Parents Board at The Georgia Institute of Technology

In 2012 Mr Bakker joined Channel Capital Advisors LLC in London and launched the Channel High Yield Catalyst fund. He subsequently became a Partner and Chief Risk Officer of the firm. His responsibilities managing the risk of global receivables securitization portfolios, supplier financing transactions, and overseeing the acquisition and risk management of Together Finance, a Dutch Fin Tech platform that provides financing to SME`s by securitizing their receivables portfolios. He was also responsible for addressing any distressed exposures that arose from this business. Consequently, he managed workouts and restructurings in the Dutch SME market. Mr Bakker also arranged acquisition and growth financing for middle market companies with third parties with the primary objective of obtaining the mandate for Togather Finance to provide the receivables financing. As a result of these activities, he established numerous relationships with companies and corporate advisers across the European middle market space. While at Channel, Mr. Bakker was also an advisor to a leading Canadian hedge fund for a period of 5 years. As advisor, he monitored the underlying leveraged loans in the CLO portfolios, made buy/sell recommendations, and valued distressed positions to establish exit/entry levels.

From 2010 to 2012, Mr. Bakker was a Co-Manager/Partner at Talisman Capital where he managed high yield, and distressed positions. Prior to Talisman, Mr. Bakker was a Managing Director at SGS Asset Management from 2005 to 2010, a global value hedge fund employing event-driven credit strategies, distressed investing, and capital structure arbitrage. He managed a team of traders and analysts based in North America, Hong Kong, and Switzerland.

In 2003 and 2004, Mr. Bakker worked at BlueBay Asset Management as high yield and distressed Co-Manager, and from 1995 through 2003, he was a Senior Portfolio Manager at Lazard Freres & Co LLC, where he managed US and European high yield portfolios in excess of $1 bill AUM. Mr. Bakker was also a Senior Vice President at NatWest Markets (1986 – 1995) where he managed a high yield and distressed proprietary trading desk. He started his career at Continental Bank (Bank of America) where he was a Vice President arranging financing for leveraged acquisitions with private equity clients.

Mr. Bakker received a Master of Business Administration degree from the Amos Tuck School at Dartmouth, and a Master’s Degree in Economics from the Erasmus University in Rotterdam.