Principal

Giorgio Andonian

Giorgio Andonian, a FOCUS Principal, has over 15 years of operational experience alongside his sell-side and buy-side experience in the automotive and e-commerce industries.

Industry experience:

Automotive.

Managing Director

Bill Battison

Bill Battison has been a banker with FOCUS since 2013 with a brief hiatus during which he ran his own broker-dealer firm.  He has over 20 years of investment banking experience and has done deals valued at over $1 billion.

Prior to joining FOCUS, Bill’s career included stints at the consulting firm Booz Allen Hamilton, followed by a career in media at ABC, NBC and Westwood One, where he was President for nine years. In his media career, he was responsible for the development of an industry standard for digital satellite distribution of radio networks, which he used to build Westwood One into the largest national radio network in the country.

His background also includes location-based entertainment as well as senior executive positions in two technology-based companies in energy and Internet e-commerce.

Bill has extensive experience in the food & beverage sector and has sold food companies to buyers like Nestlé.  He has represented companies in bread, pasta, bagels and tea; additional industry experience includes aerospace, mining, restaurants and sporting goods.

Bill has an MBA from the Darden Graduate School of Business and a BA from the University of Virginia.

He has been on numerous boards of both public and private companies in the entertainment and technology sectors and is currently on the board of one of the largest not for profit senior living organizations in America.

Industry experience:

Aerospace & defence; Agriculture; Beverages; Electronics; Food; Hotels & restaurants; Information technology; Media, printing and publishing

Partner

John T. Bradshaw

President & CEO, CareCall, Inc.. President and COO, International Telesystems Corp. Sn. VP, Marketing/Sales, and Managing Director, Intl., Reed Elsevier. Director, Xerox Corp.

Industry expertise:

Automotive; Information technology; Telecom

Managing Director

Brent Costello

Managing Partner, Sun West M&A Advisors. Partner, Kaye Scholer LLP. Associate, Cravath, Swaine & Moore.

Industry expertise:

Aerospace & defense; Automotive; Government; Information technology; Media, printing, and publishing; Transport & logistics.

Managing Director

Paul Dickson

Paul has over 30 years of international business experience in leadership, sales, marketing, operations, law and finance. Paul has personally negotiated well over $1B in business transactions (product, services, capital raises and M&A) of various types on several continents in the areas of advanced manufacturing, food and beverage, packaging, IT and software, retail and others.

Paul spent the first couple of decades of his career working in various capacities for several Fortune 500 public high tech companies in Silicon Valley and Silicon Forest.

He later started up a manufacturing software company, built it and sold it to a large public company at a significant multiple.

After selling his business in 2006, Paul decided he wanted to utilize his experiences and successes to help other entrepreneurs and companies grow, build value and exit. He has helped dozens of companies in multiple industries on their journey, culminating in highly profitable M&A events.

Paul holds a J.D. degree from the University of Oregon and an undergraduate degree from the University of Santa Clara. He is a member of the California State Bar, and holds Series 7 and 63 FINRA/Securities Licenses.

Industry experience:

Beverages; Clean technology; Engineering; Food; Information technology; Packaging; Retail and franchising.

Principal

David Freeland

Vice President in the Communications and IT Groups at Redwood Capital. Technology investment banker at America’s Growth Capital. Management consultant at Monitor Group and CRA International. Valuation consulting with the Finance Group at CRA International.

Industry expertise:

Information technology; Retail and franchising; Telecom.

Managing Director

John W. Grady

CEO, Invenio Solutions. Marketing Manager, Dell Computers. Director of Marketing, Ralston Purina. Regional Owner, Decorating Den. Unit Sales Manager, Procter & Gamble.

Industry expertise:

Business services; Healthcare; Information technology; Telecom.

Managing Director

Craig Ladkin

Established derivatives and risk management operation for Nomura Securities. Managing Director, AIG Financial Products. Founder, Wildflower Development. Advised and invested in angel companies.

Industry expertise:

Engineering.

Senior Advisor

Les Mace

Cofounder and VP, Cascadia Technology Corp. VP of R&D, Novametrix Medical Systems (Respironics). Bioscience Grant Review Committee, Washington Technology Center Medical Device Industry Consultant.

Industry expertise:

Engineering; Healthcare; Life sciences.

Principal

Alex Williams

Alex Williams, a FOCUS Principal, joined the firm in 2021 and is a member of the Advanced Manufacturing team. He is responsible for business development, deal origination and qualification, and execution on buy-side and sell-side engagements and transactions.

Industry experience:

Aerospace & defence; Energy & renewables; Engineering; Steel, metal and woodworking.