A former journalist who began his career in investment banking, Jon leads the financial sponsors practice and advises on media and investor relations, fundraising, deals, portfolio activity, shareholder activism and other special situations. His areas of expertise include:

Financial Sponsors

He advises sponsors, as well as portfolio companies, on strategic communications for investor and media relations, investment activity and fundraising efforts. Current clients include AEA, Apollo, Blackstone, CC Capital, Centerbridge, Cerberus, Cinven, Cornell Capital, DigitalBridge, Dyal, GIC, Kayne Anderson, KSL, L Catterton, Platinum Equity, Pretium Partners, Quantum, Rithm Capital, Roark and Rockpoint.

Real Assets

He advises REITs, lenders and operators in real estate, gaming and infrastructure. Current and former clients include American Campus Communities, American Homes 4 Rent, Americold, Blackstone, Centerbridge, DigitalBridge, GIC, GGP, KSL, LaSalle, Link Logistics, LivCor, Monmouth, Paramount Group, Pretium, Rithm, RMR and Seritage. Jon began his career in real estate investment banking, previously covered real estate as a reporter and has spoken at industry events such as Nareit.

Mergers & Acquisitions

Assignments include advising Apollo on its acquisitions of Verizon Media Group, Athene, Atlas, Tenneco, Lumen and Miller Homes as well as investments in Western Digital, Taboola and Limelight; Blackstone on its acquisitions of PSB, Home Partners of American, Bluerock and sale of Alight; GIC on its acquisitions of Summit and STORE; Rithm on its pending acquisition of Sculptor and acquisition of SLS; DigitalBridge on its acquisitions of GD Towers, Switch, AMP, Vantage, Boingo and Zayo; Pretium on its acquisition of Anchor Loans as well as housing assets from Zillow; Centerbridge’s Suntex on its acquisition of Westrec; CC Capital on its acquisition of Getty Images and Dun & Bradstreet as well as its acquisition and sale, with Blackstone, of Fidelity; Eastdil, in partnership with Temasek and Guggenheim, on its management-led buyout; GGP, Rouse and AEC on their sales to Brookfield; Kayne Anderson on the acquisition of KKR-backed Sentio, the Synovus portfolio and sale of student housing to Temasek’s Mapletree; First Reserve on the sale of infrastructure to BlackRock; and PJT on its acquisition of Camberview and merger with Blackstone’s advisory business.

Shareholder Activism

He counsels public companies on activist investors and defending against proxy contests. Jon has particular expertise in activist campaigns related to real estate or financial services. Recent assignments have been opposite Blackwells, Bow Street, Corvex, Elliott, FrontFour, Greenlight, HG Vora, JANA, Land & Buildings, Marcato Capital and Snow Park.

New Listings

He advises sponsors including AEA, Apollo, Bernhard, Blackstone, CC Capital and Neuberger Berman on new listings, including IPOs and SPACs.

Jon joined Joele Frank in 2012. He previously worked as a financial journalist at Bloomberg, where he led restructuring coverage during the Credit Crisis, regularly contributing to BTV and Businessweek as well as Bloomberg’s conferences globally. While a reporter, Jon was also published in The Wall Street Journal, Reuters, Newsweek, Institutional Investor and Investors & Pensions Europe. He began his career in real estate investment banking at Credit Suisse and Donaldson, Lufkin & Jenrette (DLJ). Jon received a BA in political science from Columbia University and an MA in journalism from New York University, where he graduated from the Business & Economic Reporting program with a merit scholarship.