|  Gianpiero
(JP) Balestrieri, a FOCUS Partner and Project & Structured
Finance Team Leader, brings extensive executive management
and investment banking experience representing and advising
investors, companies, developers, borrowers, lenders and
acquirers in connection with all phases of investment and
corporate strategy, business development, origination, valuation,
structuring, and closing for M&A; divestitures;
turnarounds; joint ventures; corporate, project and structured
finance transactions. Mr. Balestrieri has originated and
led deal execution in various sectors, including without
limitation, IT, infrastructure services, energy, oil & gas,
telecommunications, transportation, shipping and manufacturing.
As the Structured & Project Finance Team Leader
Team, Mr. Balestrieri has extensive international experience
in managing and closing very complex cross-border multi-party
transactions, development, operations and projects in Europe,
Latin America, Africa, Asia, among other Emerging Market
regions.
In joining FOCUS, Mr.
Balestrieri has advised and participated as principal on
divestitures, acquisitions (stock and asset), strategic
equity, debt and restructurings as it relates to structured & project financing for the
development, construction and operations of existing and
new assets. As founder of Warchest Capital, he has been lead
advisor and merchant banker to various corporate and project
clients, and has successfully led and closed on various
transactions and capital formation products, including without
limitation: senior secured debt; private equity; mezzanine;
private placements; turnkey leases; sale-leasebacks; bridge
financing; ABS; factoring; leveraged buy-outs; SPACs; public
offerings (registered/unregistered); and receivables securitizations.
Formerly,
Mr. Balestrieri was part of the founding corporate team at
Optiglobe Communications Inc. where he was Corporate Vice
President responsible for leading the origination, development,
negotiating and closure of the main IT and infrastructure
asset based and corporate financing and exit initiatives.
He led and participated on successfully closing in excess
of $600MM in transactions with lenders, investors, vendors,
partners, systems integrators, and professional services
partners for OptiGlobe’s global IT infrastructure operations.
Prior to OptiGlobe, Mr.
Balestrieri was Director/Senior Counsel for General Electric
where he led and was responsible for representing a transaction
portfolio of up to $2.0 billion per year in M&A, buy-outs, structured & project finance
and joint ventures for energy, oil & gas and equipment
technology and services assets, projects and services in
the US, Europe and the Emerging Markets. He received the
GE Excellence Award for successfully leading and closing
strategic workouts, acquisitions and project finance transactions.
Before GE, he was Deputy
General Counsel/Director at Bechtel-EnergyWorks where he
was responsible for developing, acquiring and financing independent
power production projects. Mr. Balestrieri also served at
Chadbourne & Parke LLP
as a Project Finance and M&A Associate on global capital markets, financing,
privatization and M&A transactions. Before his tenure at Chadbourne & Parke,
Mr. Balestrieri was an Investment Officer at the IFC of the
World Bank Group and completed various transactions in the
Emerging Markets.
Mr. Balestrieri completed
the GMP at Harvard Business School. He also received
an Honors BA in finance/economics (summa cum laude) from the York University/London
School of Economics, a J.D. (Dean’s Fellow/magna cum
laude) and MBA (finance curriculum) at the American University/WCL
in Washington, DC. Mr. Balestrieri is fluent in French, Spanish,
Portuguese and Italian with a working knowledge of Arabic
and Greek.
Contact Information:
Gianpiero (JP) Balestrieri
1133 20th Street, NW
Suite 200
Washington, DC 20036
Phone: 202-785-9404, ext. 1962
Direct: 202-470-1962
Fax: 202.654.5615
JP.Balestrieri@focusbankers.com |
