Mr. Iannini has over 30 years of investment banking/financial experience. He has held senior positions at Salomon Brothers (Now Citigroup) in New York and Los Angeles, Schroder Wertheim (Now Citigroup), Barrington Associates (now Intrepid) , formally a division of Wells Fargo Securities and Greif & Co. During his career, Mr. Iannini has executed over 200 transactions for both large capitalization public companies such as Avon Products, Xerox, Eastman Kodak, Toys R Us, Hilton Hotels, Dial Corp., Viad Corporation and Textron as well as for small and medium-size entrepreneurial and private businesses. For ten years running, the Los Angeles Business Journal has named Mr. Iannini as one of the most influential M&A advisors who has advised on some of the biggest, most challenging and important transactions in the region. Mr. Iannini has been quoted and interviewed many times in various publications regarding his expertise in mergers and acquisitions. Such publications include Business Insider, The Deal, Variety, The Wall Street Journal, Los Angeles Times and Los Angeles Business Journal. In 2021, the Los Angeles Times named Mr. Iannini as an “Investment Banking Visionary”. Mr. Iannini was invited to join the Boston College Business Leadership Forum.
In terms of mergers and acquisitions, Mr. Iannini has worked on both domestic and cross-border transactions including the $3 billion sale/restructuring of Security Pacific Asia Bank Ltd. for Bank of America, the $350 million sale of Avon’s Apparel Fashion Division, Textron’s $2 billion acquisition of Cessna, the $2 billion spin-off of Hilton Hotels gaming operations, the $780 million sale of Dobbs Foodservice to Swiss Airlines and the sale of the $1 billion Petrie stake in Toys R Us; among many others. He has expertise in completing transactions in a variety of industries including consumer products, aerospace/defense, consumer services, manufacturing, distribution, B to B, B to C, technology, business services, retail, hospitality, health care and financial services. Mr. Iannini has completed many middle-market transactions (values of $25-$200 million) including the sale/recapitalization of Intercontinental Art to Madison Dearborn, the sale/recapitalization of KBell Socks to Compass Equity, the sale of Arrow Paper and Food to U.S Foodservice, the sale of Entertainment Data to A.C. Nielsen, the acquisition of Bushman’s of Australia by Channell Commercial Corporation, the acquisitions of RMS Electronics, Standby-Electronics (Canada) and A.C. Egerton Holdings PLC (United Kingdom) by Channell Commercial Corporation as well as the acquisitions of Meridian Technology and Carbon Copy Ltd. by Microcom ( Now part of Hewlett Packard); among many others noted in the “Experience” section on this website. In terms of financing, Mr. Iannini has worked on equity (IPO and Secondary Offerings) and debt capital raising transactions which have raised over $5 billion of public and private common equity, preferred equity, senior debt and subordinated debt.
Mr. Iannini also has significant experience from the “client” side of transactions. He was Treasurer and Vice President of Corporate Development (a.k.a. Mergers & Acquisitions) at Viad Corporation (NYSE:VVI), a $6 billion conglomerate and member of the S&P 400 Index at the time. Notably, he directed a team of investment bankers from Lehman Brothers and Salomon Brothers in the $1.8-billion spin-off of MoneyGram. At Viad, he was the Chairman of the Investment and Acquisition Committees. His treasury duties included the management of the Company’s $7 billion securities portfolio, pension plan, working capital/cash management in addition to his responsibilities for the Company’s capital markets activities including the commercial paper program, medium term note program and the successful completion of a new $425 million revolving credit facility with a syndicate of fifteen major domestic and international banks.
Mr. Iannini served on the Board of Directors of Channell Commercial Corp (NASDAQ: CHNL) where he was the designated Financial Expert and a member of both the Audit Committee and Compensation Committee.
Mr. Iannini has also served as an adjunct professor of accounting at UCLA for several years teaching both accounting and finance courses to undergraduates. He has spoken at various industry and trade show events such as the Hawaii Tax Institute, American Electronics Association and Association for Corporate Growth. Prior to his career executing strategic transactions, Mr. Iannini was an auditor and was promoted to senior accountant with Arthur Andersen & Co. after only two years and he earned his C.P.A. accreditation by passing the entire exam at one sitting, a feat only accomplished by less than 2% of participants. He has a B.S. in Accounting, Magna Cum Laude, from the Carroll School of Management at Boston Co1llege as well as an M.B.A., Summa Cum Laude, from the Anderson School of Management at U.C.L. A. For his M.B.A thesis, Mr. Iannini was chosen by the Dean to lead a team of his classmates in assisting David Murdoch CEO in analyzing various aspects of his businesses at Dole and Castle & Cook. Mr. Iannini is an avid college football fan and in particular all sports relating to Boston College. He is a member of the California Yacht Club, Pacific Palisades YMCA, Los Angeles World Affairs Council and served on the Loyola Marymount President’s Council. Mr. Iannini completed the 1979 Boston Marathon and has twice completed the 50 mile Rosarito to Ensenada Endurance Bike Race. Mr. Iannini was voted Most Likely to Succeed by his high school classmates and was a three year letterman in football who was elected as Co-Captain his Senior Year and earned All-League honors. At Boston College, Mr. Iannini is a member of the Leadership Circle of donors having been recognized and inducted into several prestigious organizations at the school including The 1863 Society, The William B. Neenan, S.J., Society and The Shaw Society. In his Junior year at Boston College, Mr. Iannini was awarded induction into America’s most prestigious academic society, Phi Beta Kappa, which has championed academic excellence and freedom of thought since its inception in 1776. Members of Phi Beta Kappa include 17 U.S. Presidents and 41 Supreme Court Justices.
Mr. Iannini is the sole or major benefactor of a number of charitable enterprises. These organizations include:
Middle Earth Sanctuary – a sanctuary dedicated to saving animals displaced by natural disasters and to find homes for such animals.
Italian-American Heritage Conservancy – based in Vieste, Italy-the ancestral home of the Iannini/Nobiletti family. Mission is to reconnect Americans of Italian descent with their relations in Italy and strengthen these historical ties and heritage.
Soldiers for Animals – employs separate ranger patrols to protect critically endangered animals in Uganda’s Bwindi Impenetrable National Park (gorillas), Bekancan River area in Sumartra Indonesia (Orangutans, Sumartran Tiger/Rhino/Elephants) and Matobo National Park in Zimbabwe (black rhino).
Mr. Iannini and his brother have endowed their high school Alma Mater with sufficient funds to provide $50,000 annually and perpetually to the most promising student(s). The award is named the Americo and Carmela Iannini Prize in dedication to their parents.