Diverse Expertise. Relentless Focus.

Jack Butler is one of the most highly regarded dealmakers and thought leaders in the restructuring, corporate reorganization, and M&A communities. His recent transactions at Birch Lake include leadership of merchant banking relationships in the food, consumer electronics, legal tech, life sciences, logistics, and transportation industries, among others. Jack has been credited as one of the principal architects of restructuring solutions for dozens of companies across a diverse range of industries helping to create more than $100 billion in value for stakeholders. Earlier in his career, he co-founded the corporate restructuring practice at Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP, where he was a practice leader for twenty-three years and served on the executive leadership team at Hilco Global.

Jack has been inducted into the M&A Advisor Hall of Fame, the Secured Finance Network Hall of Fame, and the Turnaround, Restructuring, and Distressed Investing Industry Hall of Fame. He is a recipient of the Ellis Island Medal of Honor, which is awarded to Americans who exemplify outstanding qualities in both their personal and professional lives. Jack has also been honored with the Harvey R. Miller Outstanding Achievement Award for Service to the Restructuring Industry and he and his family were honored with the Anti-Defamation League’s Jerold S. Solovy Freedom Award. A founder and past chairman of the Turnaround Management Association, Jack has served in leadership positions for many other industry organizations, including the American Bankruptcy Institute, American Board of Certification, INSOL International, New York Institute of Credit and Secured Finance Network, and its Education Foundation. He is also a Fellow in the American College of Bankruptcy and International Insolvency Institute.

Jack received an A.B. from Princeton University and a J.D. from the University of Michigan Law School. In addition to serving in leadership positions with numerous civic and charitable organizations, he officiated high school and college football for many years and is a lifetime member of the American Football Coaches Association.

Pauline Chow is a Managing Director and Principal at Birch Lake. She is responsible for deal sourcing and execution. Pauline specializes in working with founder-led businesses to develop strategies for value creation, sustainable growth and social impact. Pauline has more than two decades of experience with corporate restructurings and is accomplished in capital raising, M&A and recapitalizations. Previously, she supported the partnership at Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP in strategic corporate intelligence and winning new engagements.

In 2023, Pauline was selected for inclusion in the Women In Secured Finance issue of The Secured Lender for exemplifying excellence and distinguishing herself in the industry. Pauline is a member of the Global Executive Board of the Turnaround Management Association (TMA), where she also serves as the Vice President – Finance and on the Network of Women Committee. She is active in the women-led investment community as a member of Private Equity Women Investor Network (PEWIN) and Women’s Association of Venture & Equity (WAVE). In addition, she is a member of the Advisory Board of VALCON, the annual business valuation conference co-sponsored by the American Bankruptcy Institute and the Association of Insolvency & Restructuring Advisors.

Pauline received her B.A. from University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and studied at American University Washington, D.C., and The London School of Economics and Political Science. She holds 7, 24, 63, 79 and 99 licenses.

With more than a decade of capital markets experience, Sean Hogan’s responsibilities as a Director at Birch Lake include identifying, evaluating, and executing investment opportunities and client financial advisory engagements, leading transaction due diligence and analysis, and supporting portfolio companies and management teams on strategic initiatives.

Prior to joining Birch Lake, Sean was associated with Kinsale Capital Partners, a middle-market merchant bank, where he was responsible for sourcing, analyzing, and executing investment transactions across multiple industries, and at Manifest Investment Partners, a technology-focused growth equity firm. Before transitioning to direct investing, Sean was a proprietary equity and derivative trader for seven years.

Sean is an active member of the Association for Corporate Growth and the Turnaround Management Association. He earned a B.S. in Finance from The University of Dayton, an M.S. in Finance from The University of Notre Dame, and an M.B.A. from The University of Chicago Booth School of Business. He holds 7, 63 and 79 licenses.

Almedina evaluates investment opportunities and works with senior executives to implement value accretive strategies. She has extensive experience working with capital providers and stakeholders on portfolio management, capital raising, and mergers and acquisitions. Her recent experience includes transactions in the food, logistics and tech-enabled services sectors.

Almedina joined Birch Lake from the Industrials Group at SunTrust Robinson Humphrey and previously held positions at Bank of America Merrill Lynch and Eli Lilly & Company.

Almedina received her B.S. in Finance from the Kelley School of Business at Indiana University. She holds 7, 63 and 79 licenses.

Rachel brings her experience in both public and private markets to Birch Lake to focus on identifying, evaluating, and helping execute new investment opportunities, monitoring portfolio companies, and partnering with management teams on advisory engagements to develop and implement strategic solutions and value-creation initiatives. She has successfully helped to construct, implement and monitor investment strategy and risk management for complex customized and commingled accounts at Adams Street Partners, a leading private market investment manager with more than $60 billion in assets under management. Prior to Adams Street, she was a fixed income analyst at the Community Trust and Investment Company, where she performed buy-side fixed income trading, analysis, and due diligence.

Rachel earned her B.B.A. in Finance and Marketing from the University of Kentucky. She is a CFA charterholder, and a member of the CFA Institute and the CFA Society Chicago.

She holds 7, 63 and 79 licenses.

Matt brings both private equity and investment banking experience to Birch Lake. He has successfully executed new investments and driven strategic and operational initiatives at portfolio companies owned by Equity Group Investments, the private investment firm founded by Sam Zell, and previously at Riverarch Equity Partners, a middle-market private equity firm. He also worked at Livingstone Partners, where he advised on sell-side, special situations, and debt advisory transactions.

At Birch Lake, Matt uses his merchant banking experience to identify, evaluate, and help execute new investment opportunities, monitor current portfolio companies, and partner with management teams on advisory engagements to develop and implement strategic solutions and value creation initiatives.

Matt earned his B.S. in Finance from the University of Missouri. He holds 7, 63 and 79 licenses.

Jack joins Birch Lake from Antares Capital, a leader in middle-market direct lending with more than $60 billion in assets under management, where he monitored and restructured some of the firm’s more stressed accounts. Prior to Antares, Jack was a member of BMO Capital Markets’ Leverage Finance and Lending teams, where he assisted in the underwriting and syndication of loans used primarily to fund leveraged buyouts.

At Birch Lake, Jack’s deep credit underwriting and restructuring experience adds value to initiating and evaluating investment opportunities, conducting transactional due diligence, and advising management teams in stressed situations to optimize outcomes and drive value creation.

Jack earned his B.S. in Finance and Applied Accounting from the Gabelli School of Business at Fordham University.

He holds 7, 63 and 79 licenses.

Jen Ortega comes to Birch Lake as the firm’s first Chief of Staff after serving in that role for 15 years at a boutique consulting firm specializing in public affairs and government relations where she played a key leadership role acting as a bridge between the firm’s CEO, clients, and the broader team. Earlier in her career, Jen spent more than a decade in the residential lending sector as a wholesale account executive. Her meticulous attention to detail and ability to cultivate strong relationships made her one of the top producers in the wholesale mortgage division.

At Birch Lake, Jen supports the executive leadership team participating in Birch Lake’s strategic, operational, and value creation process and serves as an ambassador of Birch Lake’s culture, brand and core values. She is responsible for maintaining strategic relationships and partnerships with investors, service providers, and referral sources while assisting with day-to-day firm management.

Scott brings more than 25 years of experience building financial models for a diverse range of applications, including business valuations, investment banking transactions and cash forecasts. He has worked with a broad range of clients including Avis, Mayo Clinic, Monsanto and many others in the automotive, distribution, manufacturing, retail, professional services, retail and technology industries. Scott previously held positions at Deloitte Valuation Group, Robert W. Baird and two boutique firms performing investment banking and restructuring advisory services in Chicago.

Scott received his Masters in Business Administration from the Booth School of Business at the University of Chicago and a B.S. in electrical engineering from Northwestern University.

Rich Baxter has worked across the healthcare landscape amassing decades of commercial and investment experience in control equity and minority equity investments, senior secured debt financings, royalty financings, and public bank debt and bond transactions.

He co-founded the healthcare group for the Drawbridge Special Opportunities Fund at Fortress Investment Group, which invested approximately $1 billion in emerging life sciences companies. He also served as co-head of the healthcare team at Hayfin Capital Management LLP, which deployed $1.4 billion in capital over four years. Before starting his investment career, Rich held senior operating roles in the pharmaceutical industry, including positions at PathoGenesis Corp., ViroPharma Inc., and SmithKline Beecham.

On February 1, 2024, Rich joined Firm client Ligand Pharmaceuticals Incorporated as Senior Vice President of Investment Operations and became Managing Director Emeritus and Advisory Board member at Birch Lake where he continues to consult with the Firm. Rich earned an A.B. (cum laude) from Princeton University and an MBA from Harvard Business School.

Over his distinguished career, Bill Welnhofer has helped achieve successful transactions totaling billions of dollars across a wide array of leveraged financings, complex M&A and debt restructurings. Many of these transactions have involved substantial private companies owned either by family offices or private equity. For many years, Bill led the restructuring business in the global investment banking department of Robert W. Baird & Co., which previously acquired his investment banking practice at Starshak Welnhofer & Co., a Chicago-based broker-dealer, that Bill founded and operated for almost two decades. Bill joined Birch Lake from KPMG Corporate Finance, KPMG’s investment banking division in 2016. On February 1, 2023, Bill became Managing Director Emeritus and Retired Partner at Birch Lake.