ctroe@west-ridge.com

Chuck Troe is the founder and Managing Director of West Ridge Associates. With over 35 years of experience as a senior officer and principal in investment banking firms and as a partner in large law firms, he brings to growth stage and middle market companies a level of maturity, expertise and practical experience not generally available to such companies.

Industry Experience. Mr. Troe has executed transactions for clients in many industries, including technology, telecommunications, basic industry, manufacturing, distribution, banking and finance, insurance, real estate, lodging, and oil and gas.

He is widely recognized for his expertise in the medical products industry. He is active in industry organizations, is a frequent speaker and has published articles on mergers and acquisitions and financing alternatives for the medical device and diagnostics industry. He currently is Program Chair of the Life Science Industry Council and Chaired the Southern California Biomedical Council’s first annual Investment and Strategic Partnering Opportunities Conference. He is a member of the Board or Directors and Chair of the Audit Committee and a member of the Investment Committee of the Los Angeles Biomedical Research Institute at Harbor-UCLA Medical Center.

Mr. Troe currently serves on the Boards of the Los Angeles Biomedical Research Institute, Creatable Media, Inc., Avalon Oil Company, and Hermosa Oil Company.

Prior Firms: Mosaic Capital, LLC, Managing Director; Taurus Capital Group, LLC, Managing Director and Principal; Barrington Associates, Managing Director; Adams, Duque & Hazeltine, Partner, Chair of Business Department; Andrews & Kurth, Partner; Mayer, Brown, Rowe & Maw, Associate, Partner.

Mr. Troe has a BBA from the University of Iowa and received his JD from the University of Chicago. Mr. Troe is admitted to practice law (inactive) in California, Colorado and Illinois and is a FINRA Registered Representative (Series 7).

kreid@west-ridge.com

Kahlil Reid has more than 10 years of domestic and international investment banking experience. Most recently, he was the Head of the Investment Banking Group at Etech Securities, Inc., a boutique investment bank located in Pasadena, CA that focuses on China-based companies seeking access to international capital markets. Mr. Reid has worked at Citigroup Global Corporate and Investment Bank in Palo Alto and New York, and prior to that, at the law firm of Fried, Frank in New York. He has served clients at all stages of development, from growth companies pursuing transformational transactions to mature companies seeking exits.

Armed with a Juris Doctorate, legal experience, and the formal training and experience from a Wall Street bulge-bracket investment bank, Mr. Reid is uniquely positioned to understand and guide the financial, business and legal issues integral to every transaction. At Fried Frank, which he joined in 1996, Mr. Reid worked on transactions with aggregate consideration of over $5 billion where he advised companies such as Merrill Lynch, Goldman Sachs, GE Capital, Merck & Co., and GKN plc on merger and acquisition and corporate finance transactions. At Citigroup, which he joined in 1999, Mr. Reid spent time in both the media and technology investment banking groups where he advised companies such as Yahoo, Trimble Navigation, America Online, Inktomi, and SonicWALL. At Etech Securities, which he joined in 2005, Mr. Reid represented mid-market China-based firms such as Hebi Coal and Electricity Co., Skystar Pharmaceuticals, China Digital Media, and Sunwin International Neutraceuticals.

Mr. Reid has a BS from Cornell University and received his JD from Georgetown University Law Center where he was a staff editor for The Tax Lawyer. Mr. Reid is admitted to practice law (inactive) in New York and is a FINRA Registered Representative (Series 7) and General Securities Principal (Series 24).