Team
Mark Gatto, Co-President, Co-CEO and Director
Mr. Gatto, Co-President, Co-CEO, and Director, originally joined ICON in 1999. Prior to purchasing the company, Mr. Gatto held various positions in the firm including, Executive Vice President and Chief Acquisitions Officer, Executive Vice President - Business Development and Associate General Counsel. Before his tenure with ICON, he was an attorney with Cella & Goldstein in New Jersey, concentrating on commercial transactions and general litigation matters. Additionally, he was Director of Player Licensing for the Topps Company and in 2003, co-founded a specialty business consulting firm in New York City where he served as its managing partner before re-joining ICON in 2005. Mr. Gatto received an M.B.A from the W. Paul Stillman School of Business at Seton Hall University, a J.D. from Seton Hall University School of Law, and a B.S. from Montclair State University.
Michael A. Reisner, Co-President, Co-CEO and Director
Mr. Reisner, Co-President, Co-CEO and Director, joined ICON in 2001. Prior to purchasing the company, Mr. Reisner held various positions in the firm including, Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer, General Counsel and Executive Vice President of Acquisitions. Before his tenure with ICON, Mr. Reisner was an attorney from 1996 to 2001 with Brodsky Altman & McMahon, LLP in New York, concentrating on commercial transactions. Mr. Reisner received a J.D. from New York Law School and a B.A. from the University of Vermont.
Tobias Backer, Managing Director - Head of Shipping & Offshore
Mr. Backer, Managing Director and Head of Shipping & Offshore, joined ICON in April 2009. Prior to joining ICON, Tobias spent nine years at Fortis Capital Corp. (now BNP Paribas), as Head of Shipping for the Americas where he managed the shipping team and a portfolio of USD 1.6 billion, consisting of senior and mezzanine loans, covering most asset classes within the shipping and offshore oil services market segments. While at Fortis he became quite familiar with ICON, having financed 16 vessels acquired by ICON over the seven years prior to joining. Prior to working at Fortis, Mr. Backer worked in the Shipping Division of DnB NOR Bank in New York City and in Oslo, Norway. In 1991-92, Mr. Backer served as a Petty Officer in the Royal Norwegian Navy. Mr. Backer received his B.A. in International Relations and B.S. in Business Administration from Boston University and can be reached at 212.418.4716 or tbacker@iconinvestments.com
Sean Connor, Senior Director
Mr. Connor, Senior Director, has been with ICON since 2004 and has held several roles of increasing responsibility. Since joining ICON, Mr. Connor has helped source, negotiate and execute in excess of USD 1.1 billion of transactions in various industries across North America, Europe and Asia. Mr. Connor received his B.A. in Economics from Columbia University. He can be reached at 212.418.4720 or sconnor@iconinvestments.com.
Peter I. Finlay, Managing Director
Mr. Finlay, Managing Director, joined ICON in October 2008 with over 25 years of experience in the origination, structuring and management of debt and equipment finance to middle and large companies in Europe. Prior to joining ICON, Mr. Finlay had leadership roles in Europe with a number of US institutions including GMAC, Lucent Technologies and Transamerica. Prior to this, Mr. Finlay worked for Barclays in their structured leasing business. In 1995 Mr. Finlay received an M.B.A. from City of London Business School, is an Associate of the Chartered Institute of Bankers and a Member of the Institute of Directors. He can be reached at +44.203.170.7967 or pfinlay@iconinvestments.com.
Craig A. Jackson, Managing Director - Asset Management
Mr. Jackson has been Managing Director of Asset Management since March 2007. Mr. Jackson was formerly Vice President - Remarketing and Portfolio Management from February 2006 to March 2007. Previously, from October 2001 to 2006, Mr. Jackson was president and founder of Remarketing Services, Inc., a transportation equipment remarketing company. Prior to 2001, Mr. Jackson served as Vice President of Remarketing and Vice President of Operations for Chancellor Fleet Corporation (an equipment leasing company). Mr. Jackson received a B.A. from Wilkes University. Mr. Jackson can be reached at 212.418.4722 or cjackson@iconinvestments.com.
George Kypraios, Senior Director
Mr. Kypraios, Senior Director, is responsible for business development in Asia. He joined ICON in November 2010 with over 15 years in the origination and structuring of leasing, M&A and debt finance transactions. Prior to joining ICON, Mr Kypraios was the principal of his own corporate finance boutique for six years, ICON being one of his core clients during that time. Before establishing his own firm, Mr Kypraios was responsible for raising equity for US cross border and domestic leases for Macquarie Capital (USA) Inc, based in New York from late 2000 till moving to Europe in mid 2004. He has also worked at PricewaterhouseCoopers (Australia) and Phillips Fox. In 1994, Mr Kypraios graduated from the University of Melbourne with a combined Bachelor of Law/Bachelor of Commerce degree. He can be reached on +65 6631 2736 and gkypraios@iconinvestments.com
Lou Raniero, Managing Director
Mr. Raniero, Managing Director, is responsible for negotiating, structuring and implementing financing transactions in the construction, alternative energy, telecom and technology sectors in the US and all sectors in Latin America. Prior to joining ICON in August of 2008, he was a Partner at Ernst & Young in the Banking and Capital Markets group. Additionally, he held positions with Ernst & Young’s Latin American Group and Ernst & Young’s International Tax Group, where he provided US multinational companies with global integrated tax solutions, including reorganization, acquisition, post-merger integration, repatriation and worldwide tax minimization strategies. Mr. Raniero received a JD from Seton Hall School of Law and was admitted to the NY Bar in 2001. Mr. Raniero is a CPA and received a BS in Accounting from Rutgers University. He can be reached at 212.418.4723 or lraniero@iconinvestments.com
Hardeep Saini, Senior Director
Mr. Saini, Senior Director, has been with ICON Capital since February 2008. Mr. Saini focuses on origination, structuring, and execution of transactions for public and private companies across multiple sectors such as onshore oilfield services, energy, oil & gas, coal, metals and mining, lumber and forest products and chemicals. Prior to joining ICON, Mr. Saini was Risk Management Officer at Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation for a year. Prior to that, he was Strategic Officer at Gazebo and was responsible for strategic growth in the Logistics and Infrastructure space both organically and inorganically. Mr. Saini has a Bachelor degree in Computer Engineering from University of Mumbai, India and MBA (Finance) from the Zicklin School of Business, New York and has also completed his CFA Level I. Mr. Saini can be reached at 646.845.2590 or hsaini@iconinvestments.com
Marcelo Sarago, Senior Director
Mr. Sarago, Senior Director, is responsible for structuring transactions in the manufacturing, automotive, transportation (Over the Road), paper & plastics and flexible packaging industries. Having joined ICON in 2007, with more than 10 years of structured finance and investment banking experience, with a focus on middle-market transactions, he was previously part of Citigroup’s Corporate Strategy and M&A group supporting the financial analysis and valuation of Citigroup’s business segments on acquisitions and divestiture activities. Prior to his role at Citigroup, he was a Senior Associate at American Corporate Services, a boutique investment bank with a specialty in conducting cross-border transactions between European and U.S. companies. Mr. Sarago received a B.S. in Finance from the State University of New York, at Buffalo. Mr. Sarago can be reached at 212.418.4708 or msarago@iconinvestments.com.
Mikael Busch, Senior Director
Mr. Busch, Senior Director, joined ICON in November 2011 with over 18 years experience in originating, structuring and managing leveraged and sub-investment grade debt, acting in the capacity of lender, borrower, investor and advisor. He is currently responsible for business development in Europe. Prior to joining ICON, Mr Busch was a Director at Altima Partners LLP’s Situational Credit Fund, focusing on origination of and investment in sub-investment grade debt. Prior to that role, Mr. Busch was a Director in the Structured Finance Origination team at Landsbanki in London, playing an instrumental part in the development of the business. Prior to joining Landsbanki, Mr. Busch spent four years as a consultant and private investor, primarily as a Partner at Oregon Capital Partners in London. In the earlier part of his career, Mr Busch spent eight years in various roles, including project finance, structure trade & export finance, and leveraged finance, at UBS, West LB and Bear Stearns in Zurich, London, and New York. Mr. Busch has an MSc in Economics & Business Administration from the University of Gothenburg, Sweden and can be reached at +44-20-3170 7968 and mbusch@iconinvestments.com.