Jay Shepherd, the Founder and President of SGP, has over 30 years of experience working with middle market and emerging growth companies to help them grow and maximize their potential. He has helped build and exit companies as a private equity investor and board member, and as an executive in corporate development and operating roles. He has advised companies on buying and selling businesses as an M&A professional, and provided financing to them as a banker. In these capacities he has participated in transactions totaling billions of dollars. The breadth of perspectives and depth of experiences developed from the many roles he has played make him uniquely qualified to be a thoughtful, knowledgeable partner for CEOs, senior management teams and boards.
Prior to founding SGP in late 2015, Jay Shepherd was a senior partner at ClearLight Partners, a leading Southern California middle-market private equity firm that has raised three funds totaling $900 million. Jay’s experience prior to ClearLight includes operating, financial and advisory roles at the Westec Security Group, the Seidler Companies, Coopers & Lybrand, and Security Pacific Corporation. In those capacities his experiences included corporate development, strategic planning, developing and executing growth initiatives, managing P&Ls, acquiring and integrating businesses, divesting businesses, advising companies on buy-side and sell-side transactions, raising capital in the public debt and equity markets, and providing debt financing to middle market companies.
Jay was recently recognized by the Forum for Corporate Directors (FCD) with its “Director of the Year” Award for early stage companies. He was also recognized with the Association for Corporate Growth’s (ACG) Spotlight Deal of the Year Award for the exit of U.S. Education while at ClearLight Partners. He is a frequent speaker and panelist at FCD events and has been published in Mergers & Acquisitions magazine.
He received a B.A. in Business Economics with honors from UCLA and an M.B.A. from the Harvard Business School.