THE TEAM
Mark Griffin, CCIM, CM&AA
Managing Principal
EMAIL: mark.griffin@topsailcapitaladvisors.com
(FM&AMcccom M&A,,Mark Griffin has over 20 years of experience in commercial investment brokerage, business mergers and acquisitions, and land development industries. Mr. Griffin is a 2000 graduate of Clemson University’s Prestigious Bachelor of Landscape Architecture program focusing on real estate development, business, and land planning. After working several years in Atlanta for some of the top names in the region in land development, Mr. Griffin decided it was time to shift into full-scale commercial real estate brokerage and investments and later branched into business merger and acquisitions. After years of working on “main street” business sell-side deals, Mr. Griffin founded Topsail Capital Advisors after expanding his experience working in the medium to lower middle market business space.
Mr. Griffin’s unique approach to both the business valuation and commercial real estate side creates an added advantage for any company looking to exit with real estate included. Mr. Griffin is an active member of the Alliance of Merger and Acquisition Advisors (AAMA) and Certified Commercial Investment Member Institute (CCIM) and holds the prestigious Certified Merger & Acquisition Advisor designation (CM&AA recognized by the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority) as well as the prestigious Certified Commercial Investment Member (CCIM) designation. Mr. Griffin is also President and Managing Principal of SperryCGA-Griffin Partners, an affiliate of the national commercial real estate company Sperry Commercial Global, with over 65 offices across the US and abroad. SperryCGA-Griffin Partners complements Topsail Capital’s business sell-side advisory on the commercial real estate side.
Mark Griffin has worked with private equity groups, family offices, and institutional investors on both the business M&A and commercial real estate sides. Mr. Griffin is a past President of The Rotary Club of Greenville – City Center, and Monaghan Lodge #251 in Greenville, SC (F&AM) and is actively engaged in many non-profits and charitable organizations throughout South Carolina.
John Kawalchuk
Senior Analyst
As Senior Analyst, John is responsible for overseeing all financial modeling and internal fiancial analysis support for clients. John is versed in business valuation metrics, executes and prepares sell-side CIM packages. John also performs industry-specific due diligence, including market research of industry metrics, trends, and competitive analysis and formulates and prepares presentations to share findings and recommendations for divisional and senior management critical to the decision-making process, conducts ad-hoc analyses at the request of senior executives, and works directly with the client’s and client’s advisors throughout the sell or acquisition process. John holds a BS in Financial Management from Clemson University with a minor in accounting. John also holds a Series 7 securities license.
Kevin Whitehead
Senior Advisor/Commercial Investments
With eight years of experience as a Real Estate Manager for Dollar General in the Southeast region, Kevin is an expert in every aspect of the discount retail sector. Kevin is familiar with the entire process, from site identification through development, property management, and ultimately renegotiating the lease to produce the most favorable terms for his client. Kevin has represented buyers and sellers specializing in single-tenant multi-tenant retail transactions. With more than 20 years of experience in institutional commercial real estate transactions, Kevin is highly skilled in net lease properties and site selection for various preferred developers and concepts across the southeast. Kevin is a graduate of the University of Alabama with a BA in Public Relations and a Minor in Marketing.
Reese Wilson
Financial Analyst
As an integral part of the Topsail Capital valuation and M&A team, Reese brings years of experience in financial modeling, business management, and risk assessment. Reese’s experience as an SBA loan associate gives him an added advantage when assessing and underwriting businesses that qualify for SBA financing. While working for the SBA, Reese guided the curation and distribution of relevant financial materials, was responsible for receiving approval from reviewing entities within the SBA, and developed relationships promptly to de-escalate situations by communicating timelines and processing structures regarding final underwriting. Reese was recognized by the SBA for efficient communication skills and was consistently placed into CPA affiliate call pools for assuring deal flow, tax and balance sheet analysis, and ensuring a smooth transition between preliminary underwriting, final underwriting to loan approval, and closing on business acquisition deals. Reese holds a Bachelor of Business from Clemson University, focusing on finance.
William Lawyer
Equity Advisor
William graduated from the Schack Institute of Real Estate at New York University (NYU, New York, NY) with a Bachelor of Science in Real Estate Investment & Finance. His role as Equity Advisor at Topsail Capital Advisors is to provide advisory services to the client as part of the sell-side deal team with an emphasis in capital restructure, deal underwriting, and post integration advisory. His education and years of experience working in private equity and capital markets helps TCA’s clients achieve their desired result after the close of the transaction. William is versed in 1031 exchange as well. He is a member of the Princeton Club of New York, the NYU Real Estate Institute Student Association (REISA), National Association of Realtors (NAR), Schack Institute of Real Estate Student Association, International Council of Shopping Centers (ICSC), and Project Management Institution Member (PMI). He currently holds the distinguished Commercial & Investment Real Estate Certification (CIREC), and working on the distinguished Financial Modeling & Valuation Analyst (FMVA) designation.
Jessica Griffin
Client Relations Manager
Jessica serves as transaction and client relations manager for the TCA team and is involved in all aspects of deal flow from initial delivery of valuation to coordinating due diligence and scheduling between sell and buy side advisors at the close of the transaction. Jessica also is responsible for supporting all Advisors and Analysts in financial modeling, preparation of SIM packages, and delivery of receivables from clients. Jessica holds a Bachelor of Science from Clemson University.