Executive Officers

Gary P. Smith, 58
Chief Executive Officer and Director

Mr. Smith has held senior management positions at PepsiCo, Red Bull and Big Red, Inc. and NPA I. Mr. Smith was most recently CEO of NPA I and will serve as CEO of NPA II. During his most recent position as CEO of Big Red, Mr. Smith built a diversified beverage company by acquiring numerous, complementary brands across many segments of the market over a 10-year period, ultimately selling the business to Keurig Dr Pepper. Mr. Smith also led the buy side acquisition and integration of All Sport, Nesbitt’s, NuGrape, Thomas Kemper, HyDrive Energy Water and XYIENCE Energy Drink. Prior to Big Red, Mr. Smith joined Red Bull as the executive vice president of a three person board of directors each operating as the co-CEO. Mr. Smith held direct responsibility for sales, trade marketing, motorsports marketing, finance, information systems, legal department, supply chain, operations and human resources. Mr. Smith continued to serve as the senior board member and corporate secretary from 2000 to 2007 while leading all day to day efforts as the Chief Operating Officer. Before taking over the leadership role at Red Bull, Mr. Smith enjoyed a successful career with PepsiCo, Inc. from 1986 to 2000. Mr. Smith began his career in Dallas with PepsiCo Food Systems where he held positions with increasing responsibility that led up to his role as division president. In his last role with PepsiCo, Mr. Smith led the West Florida Bottling Operations for Pepsi Bottling Group. Mr. Smith holds an M.B.A. degree with a concentration in finance from The University of Dallas. Mr. Smith also holds a Bachelor of Business Administration degree in finance from Mississippi State University.

James Bradley, 48
Chief Financial Officer

James Bradley has over 25 years of finance and accounting experience at Arthur Andersen, KPMG, Big Red Group and NPA I. Mr. Bradley was most recently CFO of NPA I and will serve as CFO of NPA II. Mr. Bradley has extensive experience working with companies in the consumer, energy, healthcare, and manufacturing industries. Mr. Bradley spent nearly 10 years as CFO of Big Red until it was acquired by Keurig Dr Pepper in 2018. While at Big Red, Mr. Bradley was instrumental in the sales transaction, four recapitalizations and three acquisitions. Mr. Bradley transformed Big Red’s financial, accounting, tax and back office functions as the business grew from a simple family run business with a single brand to a sponsor backed, diversified beverage company. Prior to joining Big Red, Mr. Bradley spent nearly 10 years in KPMG’s Transaction Services practice leading buy-side and sell-side transactions ranging in size from a few million to several-billion dollars in North America and Europe. Prior to KPMG, Mr. Bradley spent four years in investment banking in Arthur Andersen’s Corporate Finance practice. Mr. Bradley earned a Bachelor’s of Business Administration in Finance from the University of Texas in Austin, graduating with honors. Mr. Bradley is a Chartered Financial Analyst.

Board of Directors

Alexander Coleman, 54
Chairman

Mr. Coleman has 20 years of institutional private equity experience, focused predominantly on U.S. based middle market companies operating in the food and beverage, information, satellite communications, and business services and specialized manufacturing markets. Mr. Coleman was most recently chairman of NPA I and will serve as chairman of NPA II. Mr. Coleman is the founder and Managing Partner of Annex Capital Management LLC, a U.S. based private equity group founded in 2004. Annex Capital focuses on making control investments in middle market companies in a broad array of industries, and also acquires distressed debt and direct equity in the secondary market. Concurrently with Annex, Mr. Coleman was a co-Head and Managing Partner of Citicorp Venture Capital, Citi’s New York based leveraged buyout fund. Mr. Coleman was also a Managing Partner of Sea Hunter, a specialized fund focused on the evolving global cannabis market and a predecessor to Tilt Holdings. Prior to these positions, from 1996 through to 2004, Mr. Coleman was a Managing Investment Partner and co-Head of Dresdner Kleinwort Capital LLC, Dresdner Bank’s North American merchant banking group. While at Dresdner, Mr. Coleman oversaw the bank’s U.S. based private equity businesses, which included control and minority equity investing, mezzanine, distressed senior debt and, for a period of time, a fund-of-funds program. From 1989 to 1995, Mr. Coleman worked with several groups while at Citi, including the Media Group, the Restructuring Group and Citicorp Venture Capital. Mr. Coleman received an MBA from the University of Cambridge and a BA in Economics from the University of Vermont. Mr. Coleman has served as a Director and Chairman of the Board for numerous private and public companies, including Remy Inc., StackTeck Systems Ltd., Maxcess International, TeleCorp PCS, Hypercube (f/k/a KMC Telecom), Mrs. Field’s Famous Brands Inc., Gardenburger Inc., NurseFinders Inc., Waddington International, Inc. and JAC Products, Inc.

Jerry Gregoire, 69
Director nominee

Mr. Gregoire is the founder and Chairman of Redbird Flight Simulations, Inc. the world’s largest manufacturer of full-motion flight simulators for Universities, flight Schools, and military. Mr. Gregoire was formerly the Chief Information Officer of Dell Computer Company in Austin, Texas where he was responsible for all worldwide information systems, including those supporting sales, marketing, service, manufacturing, product development and corporate systems. Mr. Gregoire is recognized in the industry for designing and implementing the G2 architectural strategy, which helped fuel Dell’s unprecedented growth. Prior to joining Dell, he spent 10 years with PepsiCo, Inc., most recently as Chief Information Officer, Vice President of Information Systems for Pepsi-Cola Company, the beverage division of the PepsiCo family. Mr. Gregoire currently serves on the Science and Technology Advisory Board of the University of Texas, the Research and Development Advisory Board of the University of Missouri, is a columnist for AOPA magazine and a member of the Airplane Owner’s and Pilot’s Association advisory board.

Satjiv Chahil, 70
Director nominee

Mr. Chahil is an innovator and marketing pioneer who has helped leading Silicon Valley firms commercialize technologies that have changed the world. Over a varied 40-year career, Mr. Chahil helped establish Apple as the leader in multimedia PCs and digital media, helped Palm create the first mobile digital device, pioneer the mobile computing category, and build brands at Sony, HP and Beats. He has been one of the most successful catalysts of digital convergence, and forged trailblazing alliances between technology firms and the worlds of entertainment, sports, music, and fashion. He is a Board member, C-Level advisor to a wide range of industries and companies. Mr. Chahil’s clients have included: Allianz, BMW, Beats, Sony, Starkey, and Swarovski. Additionally, Mr. Chahil serves as a trustee of the American India Foundation and devotes a substantial amount of time and resources to numerous philanthropic initiatives around the world. Mr. Chahil has a Master’s degree from the American (Thunderbird) Graduate School of International Management and a Bachelor of Commerce degree from Punjab University, India. Mr. Chahil has attended Stanford Law School’s Directors College, and been a featured speaker at Harvard, Stanford, INSEAD, the Sorbonne, and at international thought leadership conferences.

Nick Graziano, 49
Director nominee

Mr. Graziano has served as Managing Member of Venetus Partners LP since August 2020. Mr. Graziano served as Portfolio Manager of Icahn Capital, the entity through which Carl C. Icahn manages investment funds, from February 2018 to August 2020. Mr. Graziano was previously the Founding Partner and Chief Investment Officer of the hedge fund Venetus Partners LP, where he was responsible for portfolio and risk management, along with day-to-day firm management, from June 2015 to August 2017. Prior to founding Venetus, Mr. Graziano was a Partner and Senior Managing Director at the hedge fund Corvex Management LP from December 2010 to March 2015. At Corvex, Mr. Graziano played a key role in investment management and analysis, hiring and training of analysts and risk management. Prior to Corvex, Mr. Graziano was a Portfolio Manager at the hedge fund Omega Advisors, Inc. from September 2009 until December 2010. Before Omega, Mr. Graziano served as a Managing Director and Head of Special Situations Equity at the hedge fund Sandell Asset Management, where he helped build and lead the special situations team responsible for managing a portfolio of concentrated equity investments, from July 2006 to July 2009. Mr. Graziano has served on the Board of Directors of nine public companies including each of: Xerox, from 2018 to current; Cloudera (Chairman of the Board), from August 2019 to January 2021; Conduent Incorporated, from May 2018 to March 2020; Fair Isaac Corporation (FICO) from February 2008 to May 2013; Herbalife Nutrition Ltd. from April 2018 to January 2021; Herc Holdings Inc., an international provider of equipment rental and services, from May 2018 to February 2021; Occidental Petroleum Corporation from March 2020 to February 2021; WCI Communities Inc. from August 2007 to August 2009; and InfoSpace Inc., from May 2007 to October 2008. Mr. Graziano completed a five-year undergraduate/MBA program at Duke University earning a BA in Economics and an MBA from The Fuqua School of Business.