MANAGEMENT TEAM
William D. Thomas – Senior Managing Director
William D. Thomas is the Senior Managing Director of TGP Investments. He is also the Senior Managing Director of George K. Baum Merchant Banc, L.L.C., the investment manager of the George K. Baum Capital Partners, L.P. (the “GKB Fund”), a $100 million private equity fund. With 40 years of experience in corporate finance, Mr. Thomas has significant expertise in all phases of investment and merchant banking, with emphasis in the areas of structuring, negotiating, and financing leveraged buyouts. From 1974 to 1990, he headed the Corporate Finance Department of George K. Baum & Company, and from 1990 to 1994 was Vice Chairman. Mr. Thomas has served on the board of directors of numerous public and private companies. He is currently a director of Colorado Powersports, Inc., DaVinci Roofscapes, L.L.C., and LICO, Inc. Mr. Thomas has been awarded the professional designation of Chartered Financial Analyst; received a B.A. degree from the University of Kansas; and J.D. and L.L.M. degrees from the University of Missouri of Kansas City.
Eric V. Graham – Managing Director
Eric V. Graham is a Managing Director of TGP Investments. He is also a Vice President of George K. Baum Merchant Banc, L.L.C. where he has served as part of its management team since 2000. Prior to joining Baum, he served as an Associate with Bowles Hollowell Conner & Co., a Charlotte, NC-based investment banking firm focused on mergers and acquisitions serving middle-market corporate clients and the financial sponsor community from 1998 through 2000. Mr. Graham has also worked in Lehman Brothers Inc.’s equity capital markets investment banking group in New York, NY (1994 through 1996) and the investment banking division of A.G. Edwards & Sons, Inc. in St. Louis, MO (1992 through 1994). During graduate school, he worked in Dillon, Read & Co. Inc.’s mergers and acquisitions department in New York, NY (1997). Mr. Graham has considerable experience in the origination, structuring, and execution of a broad range of strategic corporate transactions in a variety of industries. He currently serves on the board of directors of Ascend Integrated Media, L.L.C. Mr. Graham received a B.S. degree magna cum laude in Finance from Kansas State University, and also earned an M.B.A. from the University of Chicago Graduate School of Business.
Shane C. Parr – Managing Director
Shane C. Parr is a Managing Director of TGP Investments. Previously, he served as a member of the George K. Baum Merchant Banc, L.L.C. management team from 1997 through 2009, most recently as Vice President. Prior to that and during graduate school, he worked for Holden Capital Advisors, a venture capital firm based in Prairie Village, Kansas. Mr. Parr has extensive experience in originating, evaluating, and executing acquisitions, as well as working closely with management teams to help achieve long-term objectives. In addition, Mr. Parr has significant experience in raising, structuring, and negotiating senior and subordinate debt facilities. He is a director of Ascend Integrated Media, L.L.C. and DaVinci Roofscapes, L.L.C. Mr. Parr received a B.S. degree in Business Administration and an M.B.A. from the University of Kansas.
Timothy D. Leland - Managing Director
Timothy D. Leland is a Managing Director of TGP Investments, and is responsible for leading the firm's business development efforts. Prior to joining TGP, Mr. Leland served as an investment banker for more than fifteen years, focused primarily on sourcing and executing middle-market mergers and acquisitions transactions. Previous roles include Managing Director and Head of Mergers & Acquisitions at First National Investment Banking, Inc., a division of First National Bank of Omaha; Principal and Head of Financial Sponsor Coverage at Stonebridge Associates, LLC; Director of Mergers and Acquisitions at Carlin, Charron & Rosen, LLP; and Vice President for the Mergers & Acquisitions group at Adams, Harkness & Hill. Mr. Leland is a co-founder and director of the Nebraska chapter of the Association for Corporate Growth (“ACG”). He received an M.B.A. from the J.L. Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University, and a B.A. cum laude from Bowdoin College. Mr. Leland has earned the FINRA Series 7, Series 63 and Series 79 registered representative designations, as well as the FINRA Series 24 registered principal designation.
John J. Williams – Director
John J. Williams is Director of Business Development of TGP Investments. With nearly 40 years in the financial services arena, he has extensive experience in developing client relationships and selling investment and commercial banking services. Before joining TGP Investments, he was a Business Financial Advisor with Merrill Lynch from 2002 thru 2006. For the three years prior, he was a Senior Vice President in the Corporate Finance Department of Oppenheimer & Co. focusing principally on merger and acquisition advisory services and private placements of debt and equity securities. From 1998 to 1999, Mr. Williams was a Senior Vice President of Commercial Lending with INTRUST Bank after spending a year and a half as a Vice President and Producer with Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. For the previous 14 years, he had been a Vice President focusing on business development and relationship management in the Corporate Finance Department at George K. Baum & Company. He had commenced his business career in 1970 with Commerce Bank of Kansas City in Commercial Lending and when he left the Bank in 1982, he was Senior Vice President in charge of the Corporate Group. Mr. Williams received a B.A. degree in History and an M.B.A. from the University of Kansas, after which he served three years on active duty as an officer in the U.S. Navy.