Who We Are
The Emerisque team is comprised of proven brand builders with strong repositioning / restructuring capabilities and a deep understanding of the CRIM markets, aligned with an unparalleled network of strategic partners.
Principals
Ajay Khaitan, Founder
Base: London
Ajay has directly managed, as Chairman and CEO, industrial, services and branded businesses from new start-ups to acquisitions in excess of $750 million in revenues, based out of India, Switzerland and the UK, leading them through periods of transformational change. He completed five turnarounds that have delivered annual increases of $75 million in new profits. Beginning his career in 1984 with the conglomerate, Khaitan Group (India), Ajay has trading experience in more than seventy countries. His corporate development roles include mobilizing/deploying and managing more than $2 billion of new investments. He founded London-based Emerisque in 2004, acting as turnaround CEO for its first acquisition, Lee Cooper Group, a UK-based denim brand, before handing over to a professional team. Among other board positions, Khaitan is vice chairman of HMX Group, the U.S. based multi-branded apparel company, having functioned as CEO of the company for a few weeks post-close to see through its restructuring.
Victor Chan
Base: Hong Kong
Victor has more than 25 years of experience working in direct investment, corporate management and finance, private equity, investment and commercial banking. Prior to his association with Emerisque, he had been the Managing Director of the Private Equity arm of Standard Chartered Bank as well as Managing Director for the Bank’s Investment Banking activities, responsible for IPO’s, mergers and acquisitions, financial advisory and corporate restructuring for Asian interests. Prior to joining SCB, Victor worked with Citibank and Manufacturers Hanover (now JP Morgan Chase). Victor has had direct executive management and operational experience with a number of Hong-Kong based companies in various sectors including consumer brands (Victor was part of the hands-on team that turned around Lee Cooper in Asia), education/training, digital media and technology and resource/logistics.
Andy Rigg
Base: London/New York
Andy is a transformational brand builder with an unrivalled record of success rejuvenating brands such as Lee Cooper, Ben Sherman and Puma, and positioning them for international growth. While at Puma, he repositioned the brand and restructured the international marketing organization in 82 countries and helped to triple shareholder value. Rigg’s formula is to “revision” a brand’s DNA, remaining true to its roots while creating relevance to a modern, global consumer base. His proven approach assures maximum creative brand impact, while minimizing spend. While embedded at Lee Cooper following its acquisition, Rigg led the comprehensive reinvention of the century-old denim brand through award-winning product innovation and provocative marketing, including co-branding with The Beatles and the British Olympic Team. He is currently on assignment within HMX Group, assisting in the rejuvenation of its heritage brands.
Andrew Gardner
Base: London
Andrew Gardner has advised leading companies and funds for more than twenty years, initially as a lawyer with Linklaters & Paines, then as an investment banker at Cazenove & Co and Cazenove, Inc., and at Credit Suisse First Boston. His experience has covered a wide range of capital raisings and corporate transactions, including IPO's, public and private equity placements, debt offerings and M&A, both in Europe and in the US. He retains an advisory interest in the closed end fund market and is a also a principal in Lancea Partners, an independent private equity, hedge fund and corporate finance advisory boutique based in London.
Bud McCullar
Base: New York City
Bud McCullar has more than thirty years’ experience in brand management, marketing, sales and operations, licensing and acquisitions. Recent transactional activity has largely involved fashion companies and brands seeking to improve value through emerging market strategies. He has initiated and managed wholesale and retail relationships in the UK, South Africa, Japan, Mexico, Canada, China and India. Bud began his career with VF Corp. and subsequently held senior executive positions in the U.S. at Jhane Barnes, Haggar, Forstmann and Earthbound. After migrating to independent consultancy, he arranged the introduction of OP to Warnaco, leading to its acquisition by Warnaco. Upon his association with Emerisque, Bud helped develop a strategy for Lee Cooper in the United States, and was intensely involved in the transaction origination, diligence and restructuring process for Hartmarx.
Betsy McCullar
Base: New York City
Betsy McCullar’s core competence is in developing and executing practical marketing and strategy solutions for brands and businesses. Beginning her career in retail, Betsy left a boutique advertising and public relations firm for Forstmann, then a leading U.S. textile manufacturer, where she was director of strategic planning and communication. She began consulting more than a decade ago, after Forstmann’s turnaround and emergence from bankruptcy. Her roster of clients has included brand owners and diversified manufacturers and associations across North America, Europe, Central America, Mexico and Asia. Her recent focus has been on transactional due diligence, turnaround strategies and crisis communication. Upon her association with Emerisque, Betsy helped develop a strategy for Lee Cooper in the United States, and was intensely involved in the due diligence and crisis communication process associated with the acquisition of Hartmarx.
Advisory Board
Angus Scrimgeour
Angus served five years as Vice President, World Bank Group and Chief Financial Officer of its Multilateral Investment Guarantee Agency, covering all sectors and more than 150 countries. Previously, he was based in the United Kingdom as Vice President, Citibank. He is also a former Deputy Chairman of the Henry Cooke Group, former Chief Executive Bankside and was a Member of the Executive Team that rescued the Corporation of Lloyd’s. He is on the Board of Trustees of the International Association for Digital Publication and is Chairman of Solar Products Limited.
William Knight
William was with Lloyd’s Bank International for eighteen years in the UK, Asia and Continental Europe, working globally in areas such as project finance, global syndicated lending to governments, investment banking and fund management activities. With Lloyd’s, he broke new ground developing investment funds for emerging markets, such as the first London-listed fund for Thailand and the first investment fund for Vietnam as well as funds for Eastern Europe, Africa and the Indian sub-continent. He has been Chairman, Director and Advisor to the Thai-Euro Fund, L.G. India Fund, Vietnam Fund, Siberian Investment Company, Abingworth Bioventures, and others. William is also chairman of selected investment companies and serves on several boards of investment funds.
Arif Sarfraz
After beginning his career in international fixed income sales at Goldman Sachs, Arif set up and managed the most profitable full service Investment Bank in Pakistan for Bear, Stearns Company, Inc. while working in its Investment Banking and Fixed Income divisions in London and New York. In recent years, Arif has focused on the research and marketing of alternative investment strategies and raising capital.