Consumer Banking Personnel
The Consumer Investment Banking Group takes an industry-focused approach to its investment banking services. Its transactional, client-focused experts deliver superior results. Our team is dedicated to providing capital-raising and financial advisory services to both public and private consumer products and retail companies.
Lead Investment Bankers
Robert M. Berry
Managing Director
Head of Consumer Investment Banking
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Mr. Berry joined Raymond James & Associates in 2009 as Co-Head of the Mergers & Acquisitions Group and was named Head of the Consumer Group in October. Mr. Berry has been an investment banker for 23 years. Prior to joining Raymond James, he was the President and Founding Partner of Lane, Berry & Co. International, a boutique advisory firm comprised of bankers from various bulge-bracket firms. Previously, Mr. Berry was Co-Head of CS First Boston’s regional office in Boston and a Managing Director of Donaldson, Lufkin & Jenrette prior to CSFB's acquisition of DLJ in 2000. Prior to joining DLJ, Mr. Berry spent seven years with Kidder, Peabody & Co. in its New York, London, Los Angeles and Atlanta offices. Mr. Berry received his BS, magna cum laude, from Boston College in 1987. He is also an active member of the Young President's Organization.
Scott Lemone
Managing Director
Consumer Investment Banking
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Scott Lemone joined Raymond James in July 2011 and has over 20 years experience as an Investment Banker covering the Retailing sector. Beginning in 2008, Mr. Lemone added coverage of the Gaming sector.
Prior to joining Raymond James, Mr. Lemone was Head of Corporate Finance and Advisory at The Royal Bank of Scotland where he was responsible for the Consumer and Industrial industry sectors. Previous to that Mr. Lemone was the Head of the Retailing Group at Lehman Brothers Inc. and at Merrill Lynch & Co. Mr. Lemone began his career in 1989 at Kidder Peabody & Co.
During his career Mr. Lemone has advised on over $50 billion of Merger & Acquisition transactions, including Kmart Corps.’ acquisition of Sears Roebuck, Kraft Foods acquisition of Cadbury Sweeps, the sale of U.S. Office Products to Clayton Dubilier & Rice, Lowe’s Companies acquisition of Eagle Hardware & Garden, Cole Nationals’ sale to Luxottica, OfficeDepots’s acquisition of Viking Office Products, and the sale of CSK Automotive to Investcorp.
Additionally, Mr. Lemone has lead over $30 billion of capital markets transactions for many leading Retailing and Gaming companies, including Lowe’s Companies, Best Buy, Autozone, AutoNation, Sears, TJX Companies, OfficeDepot, Petco Animal Supplies, Dick’s Sporting Goods, Michael’s Stores, Barnes & Noble, MGM Resorts, Wynn Resorts, Boyd Gaming, and Penn Gaming.
Mr. Lemone received an MBA with Honors from The Stern School of Business at New York University in 1989.
Morgan Ley
Managing Director
Consumer Investment Banking
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Mr. Ley joined Raymond James & Associates in October from Canaccord Genuity where he was a principal in the investment banking group and served as head of U.S. consumer investment banking. At Canaccord, Mr. Ley focused on health, wellness and lifestyle companies, providing them with financial advisory and capital raising services. He worked previously as a vice president in the consumer and retail investment banking group of SunTrust Robinson Humphrey where he covered a range of retail and consumer product companies. Prior to SunTrust, Mr. Ley worked in the investment banking department at Tucker Anthony incorporated and the fixed income department of CS First Boston. Mr.Ley received his A.B., cum laude, from Harvard College.
Brian McDermott
Managing Director
Consumer Investment Banking
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Mr. McDermott originally joined Raymond James & Associates in 1996, and is active in mergers & acquisitions, public offerings and private placements. Mr. McDermott left Raymond James in 1998 to attend law school, and rejoined the firm in 2001. His previous work experience includes internships at the law firms of Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP and Holland & Knight LLP. Mr. McDermott earned his J.D. degree, cum laude, from Harvard Law School and his B.S. in Business Administration with highest distinction from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, where he was inducted into Phi Beta Kappa.
Laura Provenzale
Managing Director
Consumer Investment Banking
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Ms. Provenzale joined Raymond James & Associates in 2007 after leading the Consumer Investment Banking Group at WR Hambrecht + Co for four years. Previously, she was at Banc of America Securities for five years where she held a number of positions as Group Head of Consumer Products Investment Banking, Consumer Products Mergers & Acquisitions Specialist, and Group Head of Software and IT Services M&A. Prior to Banc of America Securities, she was at JP Morgan & Co. for 10 years in the Consumer M&A, Corporate Finance and Corporate Tax departments.
Ms. Provenzale has advised on over $9 billion in M&A and financing transactions across the consumer products, retail, software and IT services industry sectors. She holds an M.B.A. in International Finance from Fordham University, a B.S. in Accounting from Lehigh University and a CPA.
Daniel P. Fairweather
Senior Vice President
Consumer Investment Banking
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Mr. Fairweather joined Raymond James & Associates in 2009. Most recently, he was a Vice President at Lane, Berry & Co. International. Previously, Mr. Fairweather was at Donaldson, Lufkin & Jenrette and at Credit Suisse First Boston upon CSFB's acquisition of DLJ in 2000. At DLJ and CSFB, Mr. Fairweather concentrated on M&A advisory and debt financings across multiple industries. Prior to joining DLJ, he worked for J.P. Morgan & Co.
Mr. Fairweather has advised on over 20 completed M&A and financing transactions totaling more than $3 billion of announced value. He received his BS, magna cum laude, from the Carroll School of Management at Boston College in 2000.
Robert C. Arnold
Vice President
Consumer Investment Banking
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Mr. Arnold joined Raymond James & Associates in 2011 from FBR Capital Markets where he served as a Vice President. Previously, he was a Vice President at Piper Jaffray where he worked on a multitude of transactions across the restaurant, apparel, retail, food and beverage, grocery and consumer products industries. Prior to joining Piper Jaffray, he was an Associate at Financial Technology Partners and an Analyst at Donaldson, Lufkin & Jenrette prior to CSFB's acquisition of DLJ in 2000.
In total, Mr. Arnold has been providing broad industry and transactional, including mergers, acquisitions, public offering and private placement, advice to growth-oriented consumer companies and private equity firms for approximately 10 years. He has advised on over 40 M&A and financing transactions totaling more than $8.0 billion of aggregate value. Mr. Arnold received his BA from Southern Methodist University.
Julian Cheng
Senior Associate
Consumer Investment Banking
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Mr. Cheng joined Raymond James & Associates in 2007. Previously, he was on the strategy and business development team at Gap Inc., where he primarily focused on turnaround strategies and new growth opportunities for the Old Navy brand. Prior to working at Gap Inc., he was an analyst in the consumer and retail investment banking group at WR Hambrecht + Co. He graduated from Cornell University, where he received his Bachelor of Science in hotel administration with concentrations in both finance and marketing. While completing his degree, he also worked in business development at Larkspur Hotels and in hotel consulting at PKF Consulting.
Stuart Grosser
Analyst
Consumer Investment Banking
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Mr. Grosser joined Raymond James and Associates in March 2010. Previously, he worked at U.S. Terminals Inc., where he was responsible for the financial and operational management of the company. Mr. Grosser studied Biochemistry and Finance at Miami University and holds a Master of Business Administration from Xavier University in Cincinnati, OH.