Investment Banking

John E. Luth

Chairman, President and CEO

John Luth is the founding partner and chief executive of the Seabury Group. Mr. Luth leads major aviation and aerospace advisory assignments, and has advised on over $50 billion of new aircraft orders, over $30 billion of debt and equity capital transactions, and led airline restructurings involving over $50 billion of obligations.

Most recently, Mr. Luth led an out-of-court restructuring for Republic Airways’ regional jet subsidiary, Chautauqua Airlines (2012), and Frontier Airlines (2011), assisted a major Middle East carrier with respect to NewGen widebody orders (2011), and completed a highly successful NewGen widebody aircraft campaign for Cathay Pacific Airways (in 2010), the later resulting in Cathay ordering 30 firm A350s and six firm 777s. Mr. Luth led similar efforts for Air Canada leading to an order of 60 firm and option 787s and 18/18 firm/option 777s and assisted US Airways on renegotiating billions of new aircraft orders (2010). In 2009, Mr. Luth led capital raises for Air Canada ($1.0 billion) that was coupled with a $500 million annual cost reduction program organized and directed by Seabury, and raised $1.1 billion that year for US Airways Group Inc. in the midst of a global credit crisis. Mr. Luth also completed in 2009 successful M&A assignments for two smaller US carriers. He led the Northwest Airlines’ financial restructuring (2005-2007), including securing $750 million of new equity, $1.2 billion of exit debt financing and restructuring of over $10 billion of debt and lease obligations.

Michael B. Cox

Vice Chairman, Seabury Group

Mike Cox joined the Seabury Group as a partner in April 1998. He has over 25 years of airline and aviation-related experience. At Seabury, Mr. Cox has advised numerous airline clients on a variety of projects, including airline treasury, corporate finance, and airline restructuring. Recent engagements have included leading the Seabury team in successfully restructuring the aircraft debt/lease restructuring efforts for the successful reorganization efforts at US Airways, Air Canada and Northwest Airlines. Mr. Cox led the successful out-of-court restructuring of South African Airways resulting in a profitable fiscal year ending March 31, 2008 after losing over 1 billion ZAR the year before. Mr. Cox also advised Frontier Airlines in its Chapter 11 reorganization efforts.

Martin R. Kuehne

Chief Operating Officer, Seabury Group

Martin R. Kuehne joined Seabury Group in 2008 as Managing Director, Human Capital and became the Chief Operating Officer for Seabury Group in 2011. Mr. Kuehne has extensive expertise in maximizing the potential of people, business processes and Human Resource programs to produce superior business results. With over 25 years of experience in a variety of human capital fields.

John R. Kuehne

Chief Financial Officer and Managing Director, Seabury Group

John R. Kuehne joined Seabury group as a Managing Principal, specializing in Workforce Analytics in 2008 and added the additional duties of CFO for the Seabury group in 2009. Mr. Kuehne’s analytical background provides meaningful financial metrics that identify the key leverage points necessary to improve the time and precision of the business decision making process. He has extensive expertise in understanding corporate labor cost and business structures.

James F. Bohlman

Managing Director, Global Head of Corporate Advisory, Aviation Investment Banking & Restructuring, Co-Head of Americas Consulting

Jim Bohlman joined Seabury in 2011 as Managing Director. He is responsible for the firm’s Corporate Advisory division, Aviation Investment Banking & Restructuring practice and Consulting activities in the Americas. He brings over 20 years of management consulting and investment banking experience in a variety of industries, with a focus on aviation, aerospace and defense. He has restructured transactions exceeding US$7billion in aviation and A&D-related matters and has led numerous Aviation-related capital raise mandates. Additionally, he has led virtually every aspect of turnaround and performance improvement efforts for clients, and has advised sell-side and buy-side M&A clients on deal structuring, target assessment and post-acquisition matters for significant transactions in the aviation, aircraft leasing and A&D sectors.

Lorie R. Beers

Managing Director, Co-head of Global Restructuring and Investment Banking

Lorie R. Beers joined Seabury Group in October 2009 as Managing Director, Investment Banking and Restructuring, with responsibility for Seabury’s middle market and aerospace investment banking practice. While at Seabury, she has been involved in numerous buy- and sell- side M&A engagements, private placements of debt and equity and balance sheet recapitalizations across many industry segments, especially aerospace.

Michael Lypka

Managing Director

Michael Lypka recently joined the Seabury Group with over 20 years of airline financing experience. Previously a partner at Babcock & Brown, he has advised numerous airline, leasing company and aerospace manufacturers on a range of transactions including leveraged leases, securitizations, sale-leasebacks and debt restructurings. His clients included Singapore Airlines, Delta Air Lines, Airbus and Cathay Pacific.

Michael D. Mason

Executive Director & Co-Head Airline Corporate Advisory

Michael Mason joined the Seabury Group LLC as a vice president in May 2000. He has more than 15 years of airline and aviation-related experience. At Seabury, Mr. Mason has advised numerous airline clients on a variety of projects, including treasury, cash management, working capital management, cash forecasting and balance sheet restructuring. Mr. Mason has served in various interim financial executive roles in support of the client's restructuring.

Ginger Hughes

Executive Director & Co-Head Airline Corporate Advisory

Ginger Hughes has over 20 years of global airline experience covering a wide range of matters including multiple successful airline restructurings, crisis cash management, due diligence, strategic sourcing negotiations, cost reduction programs and mergers & acquisitions advisory. She has a senior role in liquidity management, vendor negotiation and restructuring issues.

Kenneth A. Raff

Executive Director

Kenneth Raff joined the Seabury Group in May 2001. He has a senior role for client fleet evaluation, planning and aircraft analysis, performance and selection. He also has a senior role in managing new aircraft acquisition campaigns, negotiating fleet-wide power plant and component management agreements, aircraft and engine financing transactions.

A. Ross McKenzie

Executive Director

Ross McKenzie rejoined Seabury in July 2006, having previously worked at Seabury as an analyst and associate at the start of his career. Mr. McKenzie has 15 years of experience in airline business planning, financial modeling, aircraft acquisition analysis, and financial restructurings. At Seabury, he has assisted with or led the financial analysis for a variety of assignments, including corporate advisory projects, due diligence reviews, financial restructurings, and business plan development.

Claude-Henri Hereus

Director, Investment Banking

Claude-Henri Hereus joined Seabury in April 2008 after 17+ years with Airbus (Toulouse, France) and EADS (Munich, Germany).

With Seabury, he led several project including buy-side and sell-side engagements, Support to Governments in their A&D development effort, clients support in capital raises, expertise support in litigations, expertise consulting support to clients related to strategic initiatives in the fields of diversification, enhanced airline support, buy-side related due diligences.

Mr. Hereus joined the Aerospace and Defense industry in early 1990 with Aerospatiale, France and held several positions in Finance, Controlling and, since 1994, Procurement at Aerospatiale Headquarters, Airbus and EADS. In his last position with Airbus he was VP in charge of Procurement overall strategy and Supply Chain monitoring.

Mr. Hereus is a French national. He graduated from HEC, Paris in 1981 with a specialty in Corporate Finance.

Brian Karpiel

Director of Aerospace Investment Banking

Brian Karpiel recently re-joined the Seabury Group in 2012 as Director of Aerospace Investment Banking. He brings over 12 years of investment banking experience, having led or participated in over 90 advisory assignments, including consulting, in-court restructuring and investment banking transactions valued at over US$4 billion. During his investment banking career Mr. Karpiel has covered the A&D sector with Lehman Brothers, at CIT/Edgeview Partners and with Janes Capital Partners. His previous aviation clients while at Seabury include Air Canada, Qantas, South African Airways and US Airways.

Stephan T. Krastev

Senior Vice President

Stephan Krastev joined Seabury in April 2002. During his tenure at Seabury, Mr. Krastev has structured and executed a broad range of transactions, including capital raising, M&A advisory (buy- and sell-side) and restructuring.

Currently, Mr. Krastev is involved in a number of sell-side aerospace banking engagements involving M&A and equity raising. Previously, Mr. Krastev worked on the successful liquidity financing programs for US Airways ($525M) and Air Canada (C$1B) and advised Frontier Airlines in its acquisition by Republic Airways. Other high-profile assignments include US Airways’ liquidity financing program ($1.1B) in 2008; advising Northwest Airlines (2005-2007) during its financial restructuring, including arranging $750 million of new equity and restructuring of debt obligations; and advising Air Canada (2003-2004) and US Airways (2002-2003) during their respective court-supervised proceedings, including restructuring of aircraft debt and lease financings.

Prior to joining Seabury, Mr. Krastev was with Salomon Smith Barney’s Healthcare Investment Banking group, where he performed valuation analyses and assisted in the execution of various transaction types.
Mr. Krastev holds a B.S. degree with a double major in Finance and Computer Applications Information Systems from the University of Bridgeport. He is a FINRA registered representative with Series 7, 63 and 79.

Alan Sbarra

Senior Vice President

Alan Sbarra joined the Seabury Group in January 2008. He has more than 15 years of aviation and aviation-related experience in the areas of strategy development, business and financial planning, economic analysis, and cost analysis. Mr. Sbarra has developed cost-analysis tools and methodologies that allow airlines to benchmark their cost competiveness and productivity to identify areas for improvement.