Peter S. Kaufman


Peter S. Kaufman is an American investment banker and private equity investor. He is the President and Head of Restructuring and Distressed M&A at , an investment bank and financial advisory firm. He is also a Managing Partner of Bacchus Capital Management, a winery investment concern.

Early life and education

Kaufman attended the Edgemont Junior High School in Westchester County, New York and graduated from The Taft School cum laude. He attended Yale College, where he lettered in varsity lacrosse, was an editor of the Yale Daily News, and had a double major in art history and history, graduating with Honors. He was in the top quarter of his class at the University of Virginia School of Law.

Career

Kaufman practiced law in New York City before going into investment banking in the mid-1980s. Leaving the First Boston Corporation as a Vice President in 1990, Kaufman joined , the leading boutique investment bank specializing in distressed and/or complex financial challenges. Along with CEO Henry Furlow Owsley III, Kaufman is co-author of the definitive works in the field, the recently published, Distressed Investment Banking: To The Abyss and Back - Second Edition, Beard Books 2015, Equity Holders Under Siege: Strategies and Tactics for Distressed Businesses, Beard Books LLC, 2014 and Distressed Investment Banking: To The Abyss and Back, Beard Books 2005. All books are "must-read" for boards of directors, management teams and shareholders and/or owners of financially stressed situations, as well as for buyers and professionals. In The Deal financial restructuring league tables, Peter Kaufman is consistently named one of the country's top 10 restructuring investment bankers, and has been ranked #1.
He is perhaps the nation's most frequent commentator on national television regarding restructurings and distressed financial matters, as well as economic policy issues. He has been recognized by the media as "a top restructuring and distressed debt expert." Kaufman has appeared on, among others, Yahoo! Finance discussing the future and whether more companies will file for Chapter 11, Healthcare Bailouts and Hertz Trying to Sell Equity, the COVID-19 government bailout,Bloomberg TV, CNBC, CNN, Fox Business with Maria Bartiromo, Fox Business, NBC and WSJ TV, on matters relating to insolvency, corporate reorganization, federal "bailout" issues and broader stimulus and economic issues, including General Motors, Chrysler and British Petroleum, American Airlines & Hostess Brands, as well as municipal and state insolvency issues. He also discusses private equity on television and elsewhere. He is often cited in leading publications and international news sources such as The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal and Reuters, and was the subject of a Bloomberg feature.
Kaufman's investment banking practice primarily encompasses advising Boards of Directors, private equity firms, and buyers and sellers of distressed, stressed or "story" situations. Because it does not represent creditors, Gordian is able to achieve meaningful equity recoveries in insolvent situations. In 2013, he testified in front of the ABI Commission on Bankruptcy Reform in regards to valuation. At Bacchus Capital, he is actively involved in the fund's selection and oversight of portfolio company wineries.
Representative engagements where Kaufman led or co-led the matter include: Alexander Gallo Holdings, Alphatec, American Airlines, Enron, Jobson Healthcare, Lee Enterprises, Madoff Bankruptcy, Mendocino Brewing, Metalico, ModSpace, MolyCorp, Montreal, Maine & Atlantic Railroad, Nuo Therapeutics, Spansion, Strata, Trans Energy, Vivaro and Xtreme Power.
Kaufman currently serves as an Adjunct Faculty/Lecturer at the University of Virginia School of Law teaching a course entitled "Advising Boards of Directors Under Siege"; he also assists in teaching courses at Darden Business School at University of Virginia.

Professional recognition

Peter Kaufman and his work have been featured in Bloomberg News.
In The Deal financial restructuring league tables, Kaufman is consistently named one of the country's top 10 restructuring investment bankers, and has been ranked #1.
In January 2017 the industry organization, M&A Advisor, announced that Kaufman's firm Gordian Group LLC had won Boutique Investment Bank of the Year award for the fifth time in seven years. Gordian Group was named a winner for the Out-Of-Court Restructuring of the Year : Restructuring and Sale of Trans Energy, Inc.; and Cross-Border Restructuring Deal of the Year : Cross-Border Restructuring of Alphatec. In 2014, it also awarded Gordian on behalf of their restructurings of Jobson Medical Holdings and Elyria Foundry. In 2014, the University of Virginia awarded him an honorary appointment as a Visiting Executive Lecturer at the Darden Graduate School of Business Administration.
In February 2015, Kaufman was honored with the 2015 M&A Advisor Leadership Award for his contribution to and accomplishments in the industry at the 9th Annual Turnaround Awards Gala on Monday, February 23, 2015 in Palm Beach, FL. In November 2015, Kaufman was inducted into the M&A Advisor Hall of Fame at the 14th Annual M&A Advisor Awards Gala in New York City.

Personal life

Kaufman married the former Theresa Paulson in 1997 in Portland, Oregon. They and their two daughters reside in the Edgemont section of Scarsdale, in Westchester County, where he grew up. They also have a home on Chebeague Island, Maine.

Publications