John W. Kennedy is a career investment banker for “emerging growth” companies.
John “Whit” Kennedy has thirty-two years of experience in investment banking.
He started at Peat Marwick Mitchell & Co. (KPMG) in 1983, then at Morgan Stanley
& Co. and at D.H. Blair & Company. During his six years as a Vice President and
Managing Director at D.H. Blair he specialized in merchant banking and Initial
Public Offerings (IPOs) for “micro” and “small cap” emerging growth companies.
During that period he participated in raising over $70 million for eight companies in
which D.H. Blair made equity investments (“merchant banking”), including ten
private placements, three pre-IPO “Bridge” financings, and six IPOs (“Initial Public
Offerings”).
D.H. Blair.
In January of 1995 John moved to Brazil when he was asked to build an
international investment banking practice for Banco SRL, a market leader in lending
to small to middle-market companies. In June 1996 he was recruited by Banco
Fonte-Cindam to open and Head their U.S. brokerage firm Fonte-Cindam Securities.
He subsequently closed the first Brazilian “small cap” IPO on NASDAQ, $22 million
by Vitech America Inc. In November 1997 he was recruited by Banco Fibra to Head
Fibra Securities in NY, where he immediately structured and raised for Vitech
America $41.3 million in Global Medium Term Notes, another pioneering transaction
for a Brazilian “emerging growth” company.
In December of 1999 John founded Kennedy Partners as a B.V.I. financial advisory
firm and merchant bank for “micro” and “small-cap” Brazilian companies. Over the
ensuing years, Kennedy´s advisory engagements have included many of Brazil´s
pioneers and leaders in their sectors, such as Vitech America, Inc., Intercontinental
Telecommunications Corp., Octet Brasil S/A, Frans Café Ltda., Alliant Energy
International, Inc., Novopiso S/A, Alcana Destilaria de Álcool de Nanuque S/A,
SAQplast Indústria e Comércio S/A, MasterLink Automação e Segurança Ltda.,
RCR Representações e Serviços Ltda., Computer Warehouse Ltda., AxisMed S/A,
CTF Technologies Inc., BioPetro Participações S/A and BioClean Energy S/A.
Over the years John has had partnerships with market leaders such as Worldinvest
Empreendimentos, Consultoria e Participações Ltda. in conducting jointly corporate
finance advisory for their clients, and Fondelec Capital Advisors, LLC, Capitania S/A
and Endurance Capital Partners S/A in their private equity investment activities.
In merchant banking activities, John and his partners have founded and developed three “start-ups” in Brazil, Resource Holdings, Inc. (RHI Mineracao Ltda.), AgriVest Americas, Inc. and Eucalis Comercial de Madeiras Ltda., investing $1.2 million and raising $15.9 million in total.
John is very active on the Board of Governors of the American Society of Sao Paulo, a philanthropic non-profit institution, where he has served as a Board Member since 2005. He holds an M.B.A. in Finance and International
Business from New York University (1983), a B.A. in Economics and French from
Union College (1979), and a Diploma from Northfield Mt. Hermon School (1975).
Mission Statement
We raise capital for companies led by world-class businessmen who are on the path to
building a highly-valued enterprise.
Leaders of these companies require a financial adviser who understands their particular
challenges and who has a superior understanding of the capital markets in order to
bring them capital and solutions under any market condition.
