ZCG Consulting Expands Bench of Consultants

Adds Stephanie Banyas, Omar Matar and George Russell as Partners

ZCG Consulting (“ZCGC”), the business consulting platform of ZCG and a results‐oriented management consulting firm for middle market businesses, today announced the hiring of three Partners:

• Stephanie Banyas has joined ZCGC as a Partner, Food & Beverage, bringing more than 30 years of experience in food and beverage operations. Ms. Banyas spent 23 years as the Director of Culinary Operations for celebrity chef and restaurateur Bobby Flay and played an instrumental role in Boy Meets Grill, Inc.’s growth and brand positioning. Prior to joining ZCGC, Ms. Banyas was a Culinary Instructor at Montana State University / Gallatin College MSU, where she taught World Cuisine and Regional American Cuisine, and served as a resident pastry chef and consultant for Rockford Coffee in Bozeman, Montana. Ms. Banyas received her Culinary Arts Grande Diplome from the French Culinary Institute in New York City.

• Omar Matar has joined ZCGC as a Partner, Real Estate Operations and Management, bringing more than a decade of global experience in all aspects of real estate, construction management, property optimization and management. Prior to joining ZCGC, Mr. Matar was an Associate Director at Turner & Townsend New York, where he delivered program management and real estate design and construction management services across the sports, leisure and hospitality sectors. During his tenure, he led several notable projects, including the Algonquin Times Square New York City, the W New York – Union Square, and New York Marriott Downtown. Mr. Matar received his Bachelor of Engineering in Civil Engineering from the Lebanese American University and his M.S in Civil Engineering from Columbia University.

• George Russell has joined ZCGC as a Partner, C-Suite Advisory, bringing more than 40 years of experience building consumer and industrial product, service and technology companies. Prior to joining ZCGC, Mr. Russell was the founder and Operating Partner of The Concord Group (“Concord”), where he enhanced CEO and management team effectiveness and drove cost efficiencies for two private equity product and service companies. Before Concord, he was the CEO of PureRed, where he spearheaded its digital transformation and rapid growth. For the past 20 years, Mr. Russell has focused on creating value and accelerating growth for private equity-backed companies and has served as CEO or Operating Partner across firms including AEA Investors, Bain Capital, Blackstone/GSO, Catterton Partners, Cerberus Capital Management, Charlesbank Capital Partners, Oak Hill Capital Partners and Summit Partners. Mr. Russell received his Bachelor of Science in Marketing from Western New England College and his MBA in Marketing from St. John’s University.

About ZCG Consulting

ZCG Consulting (“ZCGC”) is the business consulting platform of ZCG and is a results‐oriented management consulting firm for middle market businesses. A reliable resource for private equity firms and their portfolio companies, our professionals offer deep functional expertise and customizable hands-on solutions to accelerate growth.

About ZCG

ZCG is a leading, privately held merchant bank comprised of private markets asset management, business consulting services, technology development and solutions.

For almost 30 years, ZCG Principals have invested approximately $26 billion and have industry leading track records in private equity and credit.

ZCG has approximately $5.2B of AUM and its investors are some of the largest and most sophisticated global institutional investors including pension funds, endowments, foundations, sovereign wealth funds, central banks, and insurance companies.

ZCG has a global team comprised of over 300 professionals. For more information, please visit www.zcg.com.

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