Rebwar Berzinji

President, CIO of Pericles Capital Advisors

Rebwar Berzinji formed Pericles Capital Advisors, LLC in late 2012 focusing on special situations and distressed investing and advisory work.  Pericles also advises on infrastructure projects globally.  Notable recent advisory roles include: Akorn Pharmaceuticals, Garret Motion Inc., Hertz Global Holdings, Inc., Latam Airlines and Aeromexico.

Prior to that, Mr. Berzinji was part of the portfolio management team at Ahab Capital Management, Inc. and was responsible for overseeing Ahab's distress and special situation investments.  At Ahab, Mr. Berzinji managed investments in several distressed sectors including automotive, industrials, petrochemicals, retail, energy and broadcasting.  Mr. Berzinji also led and participated in several restructuring committees including Tronox, Inc., Cooper Standard, Inc., Stallion Oil Field Services, Inc., and Ultra Petroleum, Inc.

Previously, Mr. Berzinji advised on complex financial restructuring and distressed M&A engagements across multiple industries, most recently as a Vice President at Rothschild, Inc.’s restructuring group in NY.  Notable engagements included debtor advisor to Delphi Corp, Tecumseh Products, Inc., and Tekni Plex, Inc.

From 2013 to 2015 Mr. Berzinji also acted as the senior financial advisor to the Kurdistan Regional Government of Iraq (KRG) advising them on several financial and economic initiatives including access to the capital markets and infrastructure funding.  Mr. Berzinji advised the KRG in developing their first set of public financials, a regional debt law, an inaugural Euro bond issuance process, and the first UK Export Finance backed financing for a $1.2 billion water project.

Prior to his investment banking career Mr. Berzinji was an operational turnaround manager at Corporate Revitalization Group and at the George Group, Inc. working as a crisis manager and leading multiple due diligence assignments for distress private equity investments.  Notable clients include ITT Automotive, ITT Industries, Honeywell Corp., and Grove Worldwide, Inc.

Mr. Berzinji received his BS and MS in Mechanical Engineering with Honors from the University of Texas at Austin and his MBA from Columbia Business School in 2003.  Mr. Berzinji has lectured at Columbia on distressed investing.

Gabriel Buck 

Managing Director of GKB Ventures LTD. – Export Credit Agency Advisor to Pericles Capital

October 2015 - to date. Managing Director of GKB Ventures LTD. An independent business consultancy helping clients structure their cross border transactions and access international finance for their growth.

January 2011 - to date. Chairman of the British Bankers' Association Export & Trade Finance Committee. Elected to facilitate development and co-ordination between ECAs, banks and various stakeholders of the UK Government.

November 2014 - to date. Commissioner to the "Cole Review". Set up to assist UK Government to define future strategy for making UK Exports more successful. As the only banker appointed to this Commission Gabriel's role was to focus on "Government Support & Access to Finance" after taking submissions from over 100 organisations in the UK.

September 1979 to August 2015. 35 years international banking experience within the Barclays Group. 25 years specialising in investment banking providing advisory services to governments and corporations of all sizes including SME's, facilitating cross border infrastructure goods and services. As Managing Director & Global Head of Barclays ECA & Capex Financing Solutions Group ran a global business successfully concluding transactions in a variety of sectors through varied financial cycles. Over 90 countries with sectors that included road to rail, ports, power stations, petrochemical & LNG plants, satellites, telecommunications, civil and military aircraft, helicopters, air traffic control, airports, cruise ships, water treatment plants, hospitals, hydro dams, steel mills, pipelines, potassium mines. The team achieved a number of market 1st with numerous "Deal of the Year" awards credited by market peers.

July 2013 - to date. Trustee and Member of the Finance Committee of the National Youth Agency. Charity appointed by UK Government responsible for youth work and occupational standards.