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Jeffrey B. Hecktman
Chairman and Chief Executive Officer
jhecktman@hilcotrading.com
.jpg) Jeffrey B. Hecktman is Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Hilco Trading, LLC, one of the most active and successful asset repositioning firms in North America and Europe. Jeffrey founded Hilco in 1987 to conduct business asset liquidations. Today, under his guidance, The Hilco Organization has expanded its services to include asset appraisals, acquisition and disposition services, specialized debt and equity financing, investment banking and retail consulting. Over the course of his career, Jeffrey has structured and directed hundreds of transactions valued in the billions of dollars.
Jeffrey received a bachelor's degree in business administration from the University of Arizona in 1975. He also completed a course of study in international business through George Washington University, attending the Nijenrode International School of Business, Breukelen, The Netherlands. Jeffrey is an active member of the National Retail Federation, the Commercial Finance Association, the Turnaround Management Association and the American Bankruptcy Institute.
Michael Keefe
President and Chief Operating Officer
mkeefe@hilcotrading.com
.jpg) In May, 2008, Mike was named President and COO of Hilco Trading LLC. He will oversee the business relationships between Hilco Trading and five operating units. They are: Merchant Resources, including Hilco UK, Real Estate, Appraisal Services, Industrial and SD Retail Consulting. Mike will continue as CEO of Hilco Merchant Resources.
Mike has been with Hilco since 2000. In that relatively short period, has succeeded in building Hilco Merchant Resources into an industry leader. Mike is respected for his leadership abilities and ethics. He has spent his entire career in the asset disposition industry and has been instrumental in managing many of the country's largest store closing programs. Over the past 19 years, Mike has developed an unique expertise covering virtually every type of retail business and the broadest range of inventory categories and store formats. Mike has also been instrumental in developing, perfecting and executing many of today's most innovative asset disposition practices and tools.
Mark A. Smiley
Chief Financial Officer
msmiley@hilcotrading.com
 Mark has over thirty years of retail, distribution and financial services experience. He has been the Chief Financial Officer of several high-growth retailers and distribution companies in consolidating industries. Mark has significant experience in developing and managing financial, information systems and human resource functions. More recently, he led the business development and merger and acquisition activities for several firms. Mark began his career with Deloitte & Touche in 1976 and was admitted to the partnership in 1986. He graduated from Ohio University in 1976 and received his MBA from Ohio State University in 1980.
Arnold H. Dratt
Executive Vice President
adratt@hilcotrading.com
 Arnie's background includes extensive experience in the business advisory, turnaround and reorganization field. He co-founded The Dratt-Campbell Company in 1991 to provide on-site turnaround assistance and debt restructuring services. The company has also managed the sale of several prominent companies including Schwinn Bicycles and Ace Baking.
While with Dratt-Campbell, Arnie and his staff managed more than 250 engagements in the U.S., Europe and Asia. Prior thereto, Arnie was Executive Vice President and Managing Director of a national crisis management firm. He was responsible for three offices (Chicago, Cleveland and Pittsburgh) and led approximately 50 turnarounds.
Arnie is a graduate of The Harvard Law School (1969) and Amherst College (1966) (Sciences Politiques, Paris, France 1965). He is a member of the Founders' Council of the Governing Board of The Commercial Finance Association Education Foundation, and a frequent lecturer before business, legal and banking groups, such as ALI-ABA, The Turnaround Management Association, The Commercial Finance Association, TEC in Wisconsin, and The Robert Morris association. He has published a number of articles on the workout process, including "Turnaround or Merry Go Round: When One Brass Ring Isn't Enough," and "Gone With The Schwinn." He has taught a class at Northwestern Law School for the past 11 years on Workouts and Restructurings.
Benjamin L. Nortman
Executive Vice President
bnortman@hilcotrading.com
 Ben is respected as an expert in structuring complex asset acquisition and disposition transactions. He serves three roles within Hilco, as Executive Vice President of Hilco Merchant Resources, a world leader in retail asset disposition and operational services, as Managing Director of Hilco Consumer Capital, a leading consumer products brand management firm, and as Executive Vice President of Hilco Trading, the holding company for the entire Hilco platform.
In his roles with Hilco Merchant Resources and Hilco Trading, Ben helps companies, their lenders and professional advisors structure transactions to maximize returns on inventory, machinery and equipment, real estate and accounts receivable. Since 1996, Ben has managed some of the largest asset disposition transactions in North America Since 2006, he has also worked with Hilco Consumer Capital to acquire and develop licensing strategies for numerous iconic brand names, including Sharper Image, Tommy Armour Golf, Bombay Company, Linens ‘N Things and Polaroid.
Prior to joining Hilco, Ben was a Chicago bankruptcy and creditors’ rights attorney at the prominent law firms, Jones, Day, Reavis & Pogue and Holleb & Coff.
Eric W. Kaup
General Counsel and Executive Vice President
ekaup@hilcotrading.com
 A seasoned transactional attorney, Eric Kaup specializes in distressed asset acquisition and disposition strategies. He has documented and closed over one hundred transactions, representing an aggregate asset valuation approaching $1 billion.
Eric joined Hilco in 2004 as Assistant General Counsel and Vice President. In 2007, he was named General Counsel and Executive Vice President. In January, 2010, he was appointed interim CEO of Hilco Consumer Capital. Prior to joining Hilco, Eric was with the Chicago office of Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom, working primarily in Skadden's restructuring group. While there, Eric worked on some of the nation's then largest chapter 11 filings, including Safety-Kleen Corporation, Outboard Marine Corporation, Polaroid Corporation, and National Steel Corporation, developing an expertise in asset sales in the context of chapter 11 proceedings. Eric is a graduate of Yale University and The Ohio State University Moritz School of Law.
Richard L. Kaye
Executive Vice President and Chief Marketing Officer
rkaye@hilcotrading.com
 Rick brings nearly 40 years of corporate development, marketing and business management experience to Hilco. He joined the company in 2003 following a short-lived attempt at retirement, during which he consulted for Hilco. Rick began his business careeer on the corporate side, but struck out on his own in 1972, founding Kaye & Company, Inc. Three organizations evolved, including a strategic marketing consultancy, an advertising advertising agency and a public relations firm. Kaye & Company grew to become one of the Chicago area's most respected business-to-business marketing services firm.
Rick attended the University of Illinois and Roosevelt University where he received a BS in Business Administration. He was awarded a Master's level certificate in financial marketing from the Bank Marketing Association through the University of Southern California. Rick has authored many trade and academic papers and articles on marketing, and has become an authority on successful techniques for marketing professional services.
Joseph A. Malfitano
Executive Vice President, Special Situations
jmalfitano@hilcotrading.com
 For more than a decade, Joe has been structuring complex asset acquisition and disposition transactions involving stressed, distressed and insolvent companies, including both in-court and out-of-court restructurings. Over the years, Joe has developed the expertise needed to quickly assess a situation, formulate a comprehensive set of strategic alternatives, and work to quickly to implement the solution best positioned to maximize short- and long-term stakeholder value.
In his role as EVP, Special Situations, Joe is primarily responsible for sourcing and structuring distressed and non-distressed transactions that involve the investment of capital by Hilco. While the majority of transactions are underpinned by either retail inventory, industrial machinery and equipment or real estate, or combinations thereof, Joe is also active in sourcing and structuring opportunities that touch upon every asset class and involve services offered by all of Hilco’s business units.
Joe joined Hilco in 2007 as the Deputy General Counsel. In that role, he was instrumental in documenting and closing over one hundred transactions representing an aggregate asset valuation in excess of $1 billion. Prior thereto, Joe was a member of the Bankruptcy & Corporate Restructuring practice of Young Conaway Stargatt & Taylor, LLP, one of Delaware's most prominent bankruptcy and corporate restructuring law firms. Among the many companies that benefitted from Joe’s restructuring expertise at Young Conaway are Alterra Healthcare Corporation, Big V Supermarkets, Inc., Budget Rent-a-Car, Polaroid, Inc. (Official Committee of Unsecured Creditors), Smart Papers, LLC, The Institute for Cancer Prevention, The Top-Flite Golf Company, Inc. and Worldtex, Inc.
Joe is a graduate of State University of New York, College at Buffalo and earned his law degree from Temple University - James E. Beasley School of Law.
Ian S. Fredericks
Assistant General Counsel and Vice President
ifredericks@hilcotrading.com
 As Vice President and Assistant General Counsel, Ian is responsible for negotiating and documenting transactions between Hilco's holding company, our various business units and transaction counterparties. Ian comes to Hilco from Skadden, Arps, Slate Meagher & Flom, where he served in the Corporate Restructuring practice group.
Ian brings a wealth of experience in multiple industry sectors, including automotive, airline, agricultural, banking, energy, financial service, manufacturing, real estate, retail, technology, and temporary staffing. He has represented sellers, purchasers, debtors, hedge funds, private equity funds, and lenders in connection with complex distressed and non-distressed transactions, commercial and corporate litigation, in-court and out-of-court restructurings and multi-jurisdictional transactions. In particular, Ian was one of two principal attorneys responsible for managing the liquidation of Circuit City Stores, Inc. and its domestic and foreign subsidiaries, including more than $1.1 billion of inventory and approximately $500 million of other assets.
Earlier, Ian was with Young Conaway Stargatt & Taylor where he represented debtors, secured and unsecured creditors, statutory committees, indenture trustees, purchasers, chapter 11 trustees, and other parties in connection with complex bankruptcy proceedings, out-of-court restructurings and other transactions. Ian also served with a United States Bankruptcy Judge in the Bankruptcy Court in Philadelphia, PA, as well as the U.S. Attorney's Office in Philadelphia.
A Cum Laude graduate of Temple University Law School in May, 2003, Ian also attended St. John's University School of Law where he received an LL.M post-graduate degree in Bankruptcy law. He received a BA degree from Dickinson College in Carlisle, PA.
Jeffrey W. Linstrom
Executive Vice President
jlinstrom@hilcotrading.com
 Jeff has nearly 25 years of experience in corporate reorganizations, bankruptcies, workouts and lending transactions. Prior to joining Hilco in 2000, he was a partner in the Jones, Day law firm and counsel at Skadden, Arps.
Over the course of his law practice, Jeff served as counsel to debtors, secured lenders and creditors' committees in some of the largest and most complex reorganization cases in the U.S., including Montgomery Wards, Morrison Knudsen Corporation, Federated Department Stores, Mercury Finance Corporation, The Singer Company N.V., Philip Services Corporation and USG Corporation. He has also represented both lenders and borrowers in numerous financing transactions and workouts.
At Hilco, Jeff has served as both General Counsel and an Executive Vice President of the holding company. He was instrumental in helping Hilco build its business platform and has structured and executed on hundreds of distressed asset transactions.
Jeff is a graduate of The Ohio State University College of Law (JD, 1987) and Miami University (AB Economics, 1984).
Edward J. Siskin
Executive Vice President
esiskin@hilcotrading.com
Ed's focus is to further build Hilco’s investment banking operations and work closely with various Hilco operating units to expand their activities both domestically and internationally.
Ed brings 30 years of experience in investment banking and corporate finance to Hilco. Most recently, he was a founding principal at Crystal Financial and Crystal Capital, which sourced, structured and managed more than $1 billion of high yield debt transactions. Prior thereto, he founded Back Bay Capital and served as President.
Ed's career in corporate finance began when he joined Bankers Trust in 1980, where he became a Managing Director focused on raising capital for middle market companies. He then moved to the Red Apple Group, a $1 billion private company based in New York, where as head of corporate development he was responsible for acquisitions and start-up ventures, including a charter airline. In 1993, Ed joined specialty finance company, GBFC, Inc., as Chief Operating Officer. The company was acquired in 1996 by BankBoston, N.A., which was purchased in 2004 by Bank of America and Ed was appointed as the Chief Operating Officer at Bank of America Retail Finance Group.
Ed is on the Board of Trustees of the Turnaround Management Association, as well as an active member of the Commercial Finance Association. Ed received a B.A. in Economics from the State University of New York at Albany and an M.B.A. in Finance and International Business from the New York University Graduate School of Business Administration. |
Christopher leads Hilco’s internal audit function, which was created to help Hilco bring a systematic and disciplined approach to improving our risk management, internal control and governance processes. Internal audit provides independent, objective advisory designed to add value and improve the company’s operations. Christopher comes to Hilco from private equity firm, NexGen Capital Partners, where he was Chief Operating Officer, Chief Financial Officer and a Managing Director. Prior thereto, he had been a Director and Chief Audit Executive – Internal Audit with Navigant Consulting. Christopher’s internal audit experience and expertise also includes roles with Jones Lang LaSalle, A.T. Kearney and Arthur Anderson.
Tom spent 15 years within GE Capital before coming to Hilco, a company he knew well during his time with GE. As President and CEO of GE Corporate Finance Bank, London (UK), he was responsible for leveraged finance, ABL and corporate lending efforts across Europe. Tom managed a staff of 150 employees and had $8 Billion in assets under management. .jpg)
Cory specializes in structuring and implementing sophisticated asset redeployment strategies for retailers. A recognized expert in bankruptcy, corporate reorganization and restructurings. Cory was a partner in bankruptcy/commercial law at Jones, Day, Reavis & Pogue, one of the nation's largest law firms. While at Jones Day, he participated in such major retail Chapter 11 cases as Federated Department Stores/Allied Stores Corporation, Herman's Sporting Goods, Warehouse Club and Gantos. Cory is a frequent speaker on legal, financial and bankruptcy issues. He is a graduate of the University of Wisconsin at Madison and earned his law degree from Northwestern University School of Law.
Anton has over 25 years of Senior Level Retail and Asset Management Expertise. Prior to joining Hilco, he was responsible for operations and client relations with a major asset management firm. He was formerly Vice President of Operations and Principal of Channel Home Centers and Vice President of Operations for Home Quarters Warehouse. Anton earned a B.S. from Seton Hall University.
Neil brings nearly 10 years of merger, acquisition, disposition, investment and general deal-making experience to The Hilco Organization. During his career, Neil has been instrumental in the successful completion of over $4 billion in transactions. Prior to joining Hilco, Neil had served as Senior Vice President, Business Development, for Cendant Corporation, where he oversaw all merger, acquisition and investment activity for the Company's hotel and timeshare businesses. 
Greg Apter is Principal and President. He runs the disposition and restructuring practice. His efforts are focused primarily on owned property disposition as well as leasehold acquisition, disposition and restructuring and mitigation. Prior to joining Hilco, Greg was a Senior Vice President and head of Retail Tenant Representation with Jones Lang LaSalle. Prior to joining Jones Lang LaSalle, Greg served as General Counsel for Syndicated Equities Corporation where he managed all corporate business and legal matters, including the evaluation of sites, negotiation of contracts, oversight of loan commitments and documents and the review of lease, zoning, title and environmental issues. 
Robert is perhaps best known for his achievements as CEO of Norman Levy Associates, a worldwide auction and valuation service firm. During its five decades of growth and industry leadership, Norman Levy Associates became the largest and most respected firm of its kind, auctioning and valuing billions of dollars-worth of industrial machinery, equipment, inventory and capital assets with offices throughout the world. 
Steve is a 22 year veteran of the metalworking and woodworking machinery business. He has extensive experience in all aspects of the industry including liquidations, auctions and valuations. Steve was a partner in Turner Industries, a metalworking machinery dealer with 50 years of operation. .jpg)
John co-founded Hilco Equity in February 2002, and is responsible for the strategic direction and investment activities of the firm. Previously, John was a founding Partner of Wynnchurch Capital, a $164 million private equity fund focused on middle market equity investments.While at GE Capital, John played a key role in investing more than $5 billion for acquisitions, buyouts, turnarounds, bankruptcies and growth financings. 
Greg is a seasoned executive in the consulting industry and has been successfully managing retail consulting projects for over 20 years. While his prime responsibilities are in leading the retail practice, he also oversees several major projects each year. Greg has produced results and demonstrated expertise in hundreds of projects in the U.S., Europe and around the world. .jpg)
Paul is a founding partner of Hilco UK and has spent the last 12 years in the European retail and fashion markets, having qualified as a Chartered Accountant in Northern Ireland and spent two years within KPMG, London.
Bruce has more than 30 years of experience on an international scope, having been an asset appraiser and producer of industrial asset auction sales throughout North America and Europe. In addition to managing the appraisal business, Bruce works closely with Hilco Industrial Europe, specialists in machinery, equipment and industrial inventory disposition in the UK and throughout the European Union. 
Andrew Pepper has been providing solutions to under performing businesses for over sixteen years. He has advised Lenders and Directors on all aspects of corporate restructuring, from leading turnaround engagements to being appointed an administrator of a business. Andrew is a Chartered Accountant and a former Partner of Kroll and BDO – he has held senior positions in KPMG and PwC during his career. 
Chris leads the Appraisal and Industrial teams in the European region, assisting clients in both valuation and disposal projects. His experience with some of the largest and most high profile projects in the European region and internationally brings additional value to the skill set of the team. 
Ernie has 25 years of retail experience, both domestically and internationally, including operational management positions, back stage support positions in operations, merchandising, IT, loss prevention and professional consulting services. He is recognized as the industry leader in the area of shrink reduction, risk mitigation, SGA cost reduction and profit improvement.
Jason comes to Hilco from the investment banking and corporate M&A world. Most recently, he was with P&M Corporate Finance, where he was involved in both buy- and sell-side M&A transactions, principally in the life sciences and business services sectors. Prior thereto, Jason was with AON Risk Services, where he led the research and analysis team within the company’s M&A Professional Services group.