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ABOUT US

More about Tom...

Tom is the President and Founder of Somerset Shore Associates, Inc., an independent advisory and investment firm he founded in 2005. He has advised several global private investment firms on acquisitions, divestments and turn-arounds of companies ranging in size to several billion dollars in revenue.   He currently serves as Founder and Managing Partner of 54 Madison Partners, as well as Co-Founder & Partner at Athos Capital Partners - both  boutique private equity firms in NYC and Miami.  There, he concentrates on the origination and development of real estate projects in the US.   He was previously Senior Managing Director at Guggenheim Partners, overseeing various Real Estate and Infrastructure investments of the firm.   


Previously he was Executive Chairman of GPSI Holdings, LLC and Executive Chairman of Rita's Water Ice - both wholly owned portfolio companies of Falconhead Capital, LLC located in New York City. Tom was an Operating Partner of Falconhead Capital, LLC from September of 2009 through April of 2013.


From 2006 to 2009, he served as a member of the Board of Directors, President and Chief Executive Officer of Resources Connections, Inc.(NASDAQ:  RECN).  While serving as an independent director, he was a member of the company's Audit Committee and chaired the Compensation and Corporate Governance Committees.  Prior to that, Tom was Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of the Marketing Services Division of Cendant Corporation, where he worked for more than 10 years.


There, he managed and integrated the company’s three direct marketing units (Trilegiant Corp. Progeny Marketing Innovations and cims global - now collectively Affinion Group Holdings), which comprised one of the largest affinity marketing enterprises in the world with revenues exceeding $1.5B and EBITDA of $280M annually.  Before retiring from the company in the fall of 2005, Tom led the strategic divestment of that division in a sale to private equity firm Apollo Management, LP for proceeds in excess of $1.8B.

Prior to that, Tom was Chairman and CEO of the Financial Services Division of Cendant Corporation, where he managed Jackson-Hewitt Tax Services, the second largest tax preparation firm in North America with annual revenues of more than $200M.  In June 2004, he led the 100% Initial Public Offering of that company (NYSE: JTX) which raised more than $800M in proceeds for it’s former parent, Cendant.  In its first two years trading, the company's stock more than doubled.


Before assuming his divisional duties, he was Sr. Executive Vice President and Chief Administrative Officer at Cendant, where he led several corporate functions of the company on a global basis.  Among the departments reporting to him were human resources, information technology, marketing, business development, customer service centers, telecommunications, facilities, corporate real estate, and event planning.  He also managed the company’s corporate aviation department.  He served as the senior management representative to the Compensation and Policy Committees of Cendant’s Board of Directors, headed the company’s Pension Committee and served as the Founder and Chairman of the Cendant Charitable Foundation.  Tom was also Chairman and CEO of Advance-Ross Industries, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Cendant involved in the fabrication and installation of industrial electrostatic precipitators and biofiltration devices  He led the sale of that unit to private equity firm Chartwell Investments in 2004.

Prior to that, Tom was the director of labor relations for the Nabisco Biscuit Company and also worked for several years at the Pepsi-Cola Company.  


He has extensive international experience, having negotiated large scale outsource, joint venture and partnership deals throughout Western and Eastern Europe, Canada, Mexico, Central and South America, Australia, South Africa, Thailand, China and Japan.  Academically, Tom holds a  Bachelor of Arts (BA) from Rutgers University and a Master of Science (MS) from Purdue University where he is a distinguished alumnus.

He is member of the Board of Directors of Zurn-Elkay (NYSE: ZWS) and previously also served on the boards of Rexnord Corporation (NYSE: RXN) and  Apollo Residential Mortgage (NYSE:  AMTG).

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