Mr. Helms has a successful and distinguished record in corporate finance spanning more than 20 years. He has initiated and completed a wide range of mergers, acquisitions, sales, divestitures, financings, and recapitalizations including complex cross-border sales and international joint ventures, and multifaceted sales of small-cap public companies. Mr. Helms has broad industry experience in the business services, consumer, healthcare, industrial products/manufacturing, natural resources/environment, and transportation categories.

Mr. Helms' former board positions include Applebee's International, Inc., a Kansas City-based company (NASDAQ: APPB) with a market capitalization in excess of $2 billion, operating or franchising more than 1,900 casual dining restaurants; and Luigino's, Inc., one of the leading producers and marketers of frozen entrees in North America. He is a frequent speaker on mergers and acquisitions-related topics throughout the country.

Prior to joining Goldsmith Agio Helms (now Lazard Middle Market), Mr. Helms was a partner in a major international law firm practicing in the area of mergers and acquisitions, limited partnerships, and tax and corporate law. Previously, he worked in corporate finance with a Fortune 100 company.

Mr. Helms is a graduate of the University of Michigan Law School magna cum laude and Order of the Coif and a member of the Minnesota bar. He is also a graduate of Iowa State University with a bachelor of science degree in industrial administration, a certified public accountant, and a member of the Minnesota Society of CPAs.