Edward (Ed) Troy
Ed has been a Partner with Eastman Industries Ltd., a private investment
banking firm, since 1983. Over the years, Ed has been involved in numerous
transactions representing over $1.8 billion in completed transactions.
He has been involved in the automotive OEM and after-market, electronics,
plastics, general manufacturing, medical and distribution industries.
Prior to joining Eastman, Ed was Director of New Product Development
and Acquisitions at the Official Airline Guides, a wholly owned company
of Dun & Bradstreet Corporation. During his five years with OAG, he was involved with four
strategic acquisitions and the development and introduction of six new products.
Prior to OAG, Ed was National Sales Manager for American Hospital Supply (now part
of Baxter) responsible for national contracts, hospital groups and associations.
He oversaw $500,000,000 in contract sales.
Bill Shelton
Bill has joined Eastman Industries as a Partner. Bill has been on all sides of the deal as a buyer, a
seller, an intermediary and as the investor. His career includes M&A work both in the private
as well as corporate arenas and includes both domestic and international ventures. He has
also been the CEO of several businesses both large and small and his industry experience
includes specialty chemicals, oilfield services, galvanizing of steel, plastics packaging,
petrochemicals and polymers. He is familiar with marketing, distribution, service and
manufacturing businesses. Bill is located in the Dallas - Fort Worth area and can be
reached at 817-437-0016 or at bill@billshelton.com.
Tommy Davis
Tommy is an advisor and consultant to Eastman. Tommy was formerly
President and CEO of Champ Industries, a Mergers and Acquisitions
company headquartered in Houston, Texas. During his tenure, Tommy
oversaw the company’s growth from $50 million in sales to in excess
of $300 million by 2001. Tommy has extensive experience in
operations, manufacturing and distribution.
In 2001, Champ was sold to ABC Supply, the industry’s largest
competitor, and Tommy resigned after a six-month transition period.
Today, Tommy is an associate with Eastman Industries and continues
to be actively involved in acquisitions. He brings a tremendous
wealth of knowledge and experience that has proved to be invaluable.
Tommy joined Eastman as an Associate in 2001.
LONG BEACH, CALIFORNIA OFFICE
Richard (Rick) Neill
In 1970 Rick went to work for an old friend who was struggling to get a business going in the distribution
of truck parts. In 1972 they formed a partnership and began Phillips Industries,
a manufacturer of wire and cable and related electrical products for the heavy
duty trucking industry.
Phillips Industries grew to become a world wide major supplier to the trucking industry and a major contributor
as the industry converted from "the electrical to the electronic" era.
Phillips developed a number of products and held a number of patents in this area as it
grew to a $60 million multinational company.
During his tenure at Phillips, Rick performed a number of functions in the organization as
the company grew, primarily in the sales and marketing area. He was a major contributor to the
purchase of two companies and folding them into the Phillips family. For the last 10 years, he held the
position of Executive Vice President. In addition to his duties at Phillips,
Rick was actively involved in Truck Trailer Manufacturers Association, Council
of Fleet Specialists and The American Trucking Association.
Rick joined Eastman as a Partner in 2002.
BIRMINGHAM, ALABAMA OFFICE
Theodore (Ted) Knudsen
Ted has over 31 years of experience in the Commercial Banking business. He was
primarily involved in Corporated Lending to all sizes and industries throughout
the country. Ted was a major loan underwriter for several large (up to $1 billion in revenue)
Alabama corporations.
In addition to his banking background, Ted has manufacturing experience. For 6 years
he was General Manager of several manufacturing plants in Southern California, Houston and Birmingham. The
largest business segment was fabrication of high performance plastics, including
machining, molding and extrusion. Ted was also involved in the manufacture of valves for the fluid sealing industry.
Ted joined Eastman as a Partner in 2003.
Edward (Ed) Troy