Fueling Growth Through M&A: Building and Structuring the Right Capital Stack
Presented By: JP Morgan Chase
Financing growth often requires more than a single capital partner — and whether you're funding acquisitions, scaling operations, or entering new markets, the type, structure, and timing of that capital can shape outcomes for years to come. In this session, investors, lenders, operators, and advisors explore how companies assemble the right mix of capital across the stack at different stages of growth — from bank financing and senior debt to private equity, mezzanine funding, family offices, and strategic investors. Hear how experienced dealmakers evaluate tradeoffs, structure flexible capital stacks, and align the right partners with long-term strategy — whether the goal is organic expansion, acquisitive growth, or both.
Moderator:
Chief Content Officer
Smart Business
Dustin is an award-winning business journalist, bestselling author, and the chief content officer of Smart Business. Over the past 30 years, he has interviewed thousands of business and civic leaders, and helped more than 50 CEOs and entrepreneurs transform their ideas into books. A trained investigative politics reporter and former digital media entrepreneur, Dustin joined Smart Business in 1997 after serving as an editor at several daily newspapers.
Panelists:
CEO
Verbit
Yair Amsterdam is the CEO of Verbit, bringing decades of leadership experience driving growth, innovation and operational excellence across global SaaS and software organizations. Previously President of Verbit and COO of ProQuest, he led large-scale operations and customer experience teams, helping guide ProQuest through its $5.3B acquisition while serving over 25,000 customers worldwide. Yair has deep expertise in cloud transformation, post-merger integration and optimizing the end-to-end customer journey. As CEO, he is guiding Verbit’s AI transformation to redefine how enterprises leverage intelligent technology at scale. A technology-driven, client-focused leader, he fosters high-performance cultures that deliver measurable business impact. Yair holds engineering and MBA degrees, and is an avid long-distance runner and triathlete.
Managing Partner
Carver Road Capital
Nelson Famadas co-founded Carver Road in 2021, and currently serves as COO and manging Partner at the hsopitality-focused PE fund. He brings extensive operational and investment expertise to Carver Road, with over $600 million in hospitality and real estate projects managed or developed. A seasoned entrepreneur, Nelson’s diverse background spans media, marketing, and finance, with leadership roles in SiriusXM, a Emmy-winning TV production, and service on the board of Dolphin Entertainment. He holds degrees from Harvard and Vanderbilt and proudly represents his Puerto Rican heritage.
Partner
Egis Capital Partners
Annie Lan is a Partner at Egis Capital Partners. With 15 years of experience in finance and investing, she began her career at UBS AG and joined Egis in 2017. Responsible for the origination, execution, and management of investments, along with Egis founder Robert Chefitz, Annie is involved in all aspects of Egis portfolio companies, from growth strategy, corporate development, financing, management recruiting, and governance. She currently serves on the boards of Shields and Sensera. Annie has originated and led the evaluation of numerous companies in the security industry from video, access, identity, IoT analytics/AI, property and construction technology, supply chain, risk management, and public safety. Annie brings her energy and creativity and has been instrumental in enhancing the value of the portfolio as well as the management of Egis.
Executive Director
JPMorgan
Gulru Ozdogan is a senior member of J.P. Morgan’s Private Business Advisory Solutions (PBAS) team covering the Northeast region and Diversified Industries, based in New York City. She partners with business owners and management teams to assess strategic priorities, growth initiatives, and ownership transition pathways. Through PBAS, Gulru helps privately held companies evaluate financing options for growth and explore the full spectrum of transition solutions—ranging from internal approaches (ESOPs, management or family ownership transitions) to external alternatives (sales to strategic buyers, family offices, or private equity firms).
Prior to joining J.P. Morgan in 2025, Gulru was an investment banker at BNP Paribas in New York, most recently serving as Head of Business Services Investment Banking. Gulru holds an Executive MBA from Columbia Business School and B.A. in Economics and Finance from McGill University.