April 2012.  The Peakstone Group, a leading mergers and acquisitions firm focused on middle market companies, today announced that Nick Clementi has joined as Senior Advisor to lead the Packaging,  Paper and Plastics industry vertical. Nick will focus on advising business owners on capital transactions, including the sale of companies, acquisitions, and debt and equity capital raising. He will focus on companies in the packaging, disposable foodservice, education, multi-media publishing, and related industries which market through retail, food service, and education channels.

Nick brings over 25 years of experience in CEO roles, private equity transactions, corporate development, and strategy consulting. Most recently, he was CEO and Chairman of two private equity-sponsored companies, InnoWare Paper Inc. ($50 million in revenues) and InnoWare Plastics, Inc. ($70 million in revenues). Nick also serves as Managing Partner of Sandhill Consulting Group, a team of senior level consulting executives serving the publishing, packaging and related markets.  Previously, Nick was a Group President of American Greetings, Inc., a $1.6 billion publicly held manufacturer and marketer of greeting cards, party goods, and educational publishing products where he led the management of five key brands and business units, facilitated the sale of the company’s flexible packaging operation and the acquisition of its plastics’ retail business.

Earlier in his career, Nick was CEO of Contempo Colours and Beach Products. Prior to Contempo, he served as Vice President of Marketing for Western Publishing Group where he marketed Pictionary, Little Golden Books, Betty Crocker Cookbooks, Sesame Street Music and Golden Video.

Nick holds a Master of Science in Marketing degree from the University of Wisconsin Graduate School of Business, and a Bachelor of Science degree in Secondary Education, conferred With Distinction, from the University of Wisconsin.

Nick Clementi can be reached at:
(312) 204-7300
nclementi@peakstone.com