John Stark Email & Phone Number

Pewaukee, Wisconsin, Us

I am the Managing Principal of Water Tower Capital, LLC. Water Tower Capital is a nationally recognized provider of strategic advice to companies, creditors and institutional investors in financially troubled situations. I am recognized as an experienced turnaround and workout professional, expert witness, outside director, and court appointed Chief Restructuring Officer and Receiver. Water Tower Capital is a nationally recognized boutique investment bank that provides capital markets solutions to middle market companies and commercial real estate portfolios.

Pewaukee, Wisconsin, Us

Pewaukee, Wisconsin, Us

Abraxas Petroleum (2002-2003)AET Films (2007-2009)American Restaurant Group (2005-2006)Benchmark Holdings (1994-1998)Bucyrus International (1994-1997)Carolina Steel (1994-1998)Cherrydale Farms (1994-1998)Coldwater Portfolio Partners (2012-2014)Crescent Telecom (1999-2000)IPM Automotive Products (1994-1998)LePages (1996-2000)NCH NuWorld Marketing (1998-2000)Orius Telecom Services (2004-2007)Peebles (1992-1996)PPM America (1990-1999)Yunker Industries, Inc. (2014-2018)

John was appointed as the Receiver for HOLLEY MOULDING, INC., MILLFAB, INC., and New Zealand Forest Products USA, LLC Case No. 14-CV-0559, STATE OF WI, on September 11, 2014.

Grafton, Wi, Us

In April of 2020, John Stark was retained by RAM Tool, Inc. to do an assessment of the family-owned business. RAM Tool, Inc. is a precision machining and Tool & Die manufacturing company, located in Grafton, WI. The Company does: Contract Machining, Prototype Tooling, Die Cast Dies, Custom Inspection, and is ISO 9001:2015 Certified. John recommended that the company be put up for sale, as a going concern. In August, Water Tower Capital, LLC began reaching out to financial and strategic buyers and by September, more than 50 potential purchasers had executed the confidentiality agreement, which permitted them to access the Virtual Data Room that had been populated with information on the company. More than ten proposals were submitted for the purchase of the company, by early October 2020. The company signed an LOI with a strategic purchaser; however, negotiations broke down on the eve of the closing date and both parties backed away from the transaction. On January 4, 2021 John Stark was appointed as the Chief Restructuring Officer of RAM Tool, Inc. Initiatives undertaken by John Stark include, negotiating the refinancing of the company’s funded debt by moving it off of the company’s balance sheet to an affiliate, diversifying the customer base by retaining manufacturers reps, updating and revising the organizational chart, recalculating the burden rate, applying for ITAR certification, formulating a capital expenditure budget, updating Epicor, and recruiting a new Chief Operating Officer.

Oak Creek, Wi, Us

Steelwind specializes in: Heavy Metal Fabrication; Machining; Heat Treating; Abrasive Blasting, and Painting. Steelwind’s >100,000 sq. ft. facility in Oak Creek, WI has multiple overhead cranes with a collective lift capacity of >100 tons. The company also has some of the largest heat treating furnaces, blasting booths, fabrication cells, and painting bays in the area. SteelWinds’ signature projects include the fabrication of the Miller Park retractable roof, the façade on Dolphin Stadium, in Miami, FL, Wind Mill Towers, the MGM City Center in Las Vegas, NV, The Ivanpah Solar Power Facility (California Mojave Desert), and the General Mitchell Airport Renovation Project.

John Stark was appointed as the receiver for Thomas Gialamas’ membership interest in the Old Sauk Trails Park, LP, pursuant to WI Statute 813.16 (the "OSTP Interest.") effective August 21, 2018, The OSTP Interest is a minority interest in the partnership, which primarily owns commercial real estate in Dane County. (Erick Hallic, Plantiff v. Thomas Gialamas; Case No. 2017-CV-0332, Dane County, WI.)

Pewaukee, Wi, Us

Odyne Systems, LLC is a developmental stage company that has developed a High Voltage PEV (Plug In Electric Vehicle) & PHEV (Plug in Hybrid Electric Vehicle) platform for medium and heavy duty work trucks which both reduces NOx emissions by up to 95% and also reduces fuel consumption by 50%. Odyne has also developed, but has not yet brought to market, a Low-Voltage system (58 volts DC charging) that electrifies the chassis, as the High Voltage System does, with the exception of propelling the trucks. Moreover, Odyne’s Low-Voltage solution can be deployed well beyond the utility market and into many other mobile applications requiring electrical high voltage and low voltage electric power solutions.

Elkhorn, Wi, Us

As a member of the board and the management committee, John contributed to initiatives relating to capital structure, facilities upgrades, and operations.

Glendale, Wi, Us

John was retained by the Grover Corporation to effectuate a $1,266,000 Exchange Offer: (Past due payable(s) to fifty vendors were converted into long term debt instruments.)

On October 19, 2015, John Stark, of Water Tower Capital, LLC was appointed as receiver for Criticare Systems, Inc. under a voluntary assignment for the benefit of creditors pursuant to Chapter 128 of the Wisconsin Statutes. (Waukesha County Ct. Case # 15CV02075). On December 13, 2017, Waukesha County Circuit Court Judge William J. Domina signed an Order: 1. Approving the Receiver’s Final Settlement of Account; and 2. Directing that distributions be made to the creditors of Criticare Systems, Inc., (“Criticare”) as outlined in the Final Settlement of Account.Creditors filed a total of 113 general unsecured claims, amounting to $28,759,435.37. The Receiver’s Counsel filed four omnibus objections to the claims that were submitted: o The first omnibus objection reduced the claims by $158,032.09; o The second omnibus objection reduced the claims by $8,755,922.46; o The third omnibus objection reduced the claims by $2,321,955.58; and o The fourth omnibus objection reduced the claims by $1,462,001.13;o The settlement agreement with Cardiac Science and CFS 915, LLC reduced the claims by $2,861,381.65; ando The settlement agreement with an employee reduced the claims by $74,418.75.• Accordingly, the $28,759,435.37 in pre-petition claims that were submitted prior to the bar date were reduced to $13,272,449.13 in claims against the estate.Based on the $13,258,479.13 of agreed-upon pre-petition claims and the $3,441,603.99 of remaining cash, available to pay the agreed upon pre-petition claims, the payout percentage is 25.96%.

Waukesha, Wisconsin, Us

John was recruited by the board of directors to join Telkonet as its Chief Financial Officer in November of 2015, for the purpose of managing several key initiatives, including the sale of EthoStream, Telkonet's HSIA business. Telkonet is a publicly traded clean energy company that manufactures the proprietary ‘green’ technology EcoSmart™ intelligent energy management system and EthoStream® High Speed Internet Access infrastructure,("HSIA"). (OTCQB: TKOI)

Served as the Chief Restructuring Officer during the Chapter 11 reorganization (the Plan of Reorganization was confirmed on September 25, 2015). Supplement Warehouse is a leading nationwide distributor of sports-related energy and nutritional supplements, vitamins, protein bars and related items nationally through its web site, supplementwarehouse.com and two retail locations in Southeastern Wisconsin.

National Premium, Inc. was a $30MM global promotional products company, with offices in WI, MN, KS, Hong Kong, and the Netherlands. WTC supervised the liquidation of the assets for the benefit of the creditors (the 1st lien lender was paid in full, including an early termination fee).

Water Tower Capital was retained to sell the assets of Advantage Refrigeration, LLC.

Water Tower Capital, LLC was retained by Coldwater Portfolio Partners, LLC (“CPP I”), (Case No. 12-31182 N.D. of IN) and the Chapter 7 Trustee for Retail Centers Management, LLC, (“RCM”) (Case No. 12-31617 N.D. of IN) so that John Stark could serve as the CRO of the 55 Klein Retail Centers during the respective reorganizations of the CPP I, CPP II, and the TKG portfolios. RCM is the property manager for the CPP I, CPP II, and TKG portfolios. CPP I owns 37 shadow centers located adjacent to Wal-Mart Supercenters throughout the Midwest and Southern states. CPP II and TKG each own nine Wal-Mart anchored shadow centers. Water Tower Capital was also retained to manage the 363 sale of 14 Super Wal-Mart Shadow Centers.

Corporate Financial Advisors, LLC is a nationally recognized, middle market investment bank with a distinguished record helping its middle market clients realize their capital markets objectives. Founded in 1995, CFA, LLC also provides Sell Side, Buy Side, Corporate Recovery & Reorganization Services; Valuations; Liquidity Solutions; and Litigation Support for matters in state and federal courts. Principals of the firm have represented constituencies in Sportcraft, Schutt, Millennium Radio Group, LLC, Hawkeye Renewables, Spansion, Exide Technologies, Remee Products, Outsourcing Services Group, Aqua-Chem, Comdisco, LTV, and Finova.

OPPENHEIMER & CO. INC., Los Angeles, CA - Managing DirectorCo-head of the Restructuring Group. Transactions included Spansion, Inc., Hawkeye Renewables, Millennium Radio Group, LLC, Schutt Sports, Access 1 Communications, University Medical Products, and Sportcraft, Ltd.

New York, Ny, Us

In Re: Schutt Sports, Inc. Case No. 10-12795 (KJC)United States Bankruptcy Court, District of DelawareDecember 2010 (Hearing Testimony)(Sale of a sporting goods manufacturer)In Re: Hawkeye Renewables, LLC Case No. 09-14461 (KJC)United States Bankruptcy Court, District of DelawareFebruary 2010 (Expert Report)February 2010 (Deposition Testimony)April 2010 (Hearing Testimony)(Valuation of an Ethanol Company)In Re: Spansion, Inc. Case No.: 09-10690 (KJC)United States Bankruptcy Court, District of DelawareNovember 2009 (Expert Report)November 2009 (Deposition Testimony)November 2009 (Hearing Testimony)(Valuation of a NOR Flash Memory Company)

CORPORATE FINANCIAL ADVISORS, LLC, Milwaukee, WI -Partner Head of Corporate Recovery Services. Transactions included: Aqua-Chem; the Exide Technologies Equity Committee; the Applied Extrusions Technologies bondholder committee. Board Memberships: Abraxas Petroleum; AET Films; Orius Telecom; and American Restaurant Group. See also various Expert Witness Testimony.

John Hancock et. al, v. Bank of America, et. al.Southern District of New YorkFebruary 2008 {Expert Report}March 2008 {Rebuttal Report}May 2008 (Deposition Testimony){Due Diligence Obligations of a Private Placement Agent}Highland Crusader Offshore Partners, L. P. et. al. v.Terrestar, f/k/a Motient Corporation101st Judicial District Court, Dallas County, TexasAugust 2007 (Expert Report)October, 2007 (Deposition){Due Diligence obligations of a distressed debt investor.}Mikael Salovaara et al. v. Alfred C. Eckert, III, et al.Superior Court of New JerseyAugust 2006 (Expert Report)October 2008 (Deposition Testimony){Fiduciary Duty of a General Partner to a Limited Partner.}In Re: Applied Extrusion Technologies, IncUnited States Bankruptcy Court, District of DelawareJanuary 2005 (Expert Report)January 2005 (Deposition Testimony){Valuation Issues regarding oriented polypropylene film} Highland Capital Management, L.P., et al., v. Prudential Securities Inc. et al.191st District Court, Dallas County, TexasJuly 2004 (Expert Report)August 2004 (Deposition testimony){Obligation of a receivables warehouse lender to a bondholder}Mosaic InfoForce, et al. v. Information Resources Inc.American Arbitration AssociationJuly 2004 (Expert Report)August 2004 (Expert Report){Valuation of a Partnership Interest.}

Chicago, Illinois, Us

PPM AMERICA, Chicago, IL –EVP, General Counsel, Head of Special Investments GroupResponsibilities included: managed $1 Billion JNL Workout Portfolio, Commercial Finance Group, and PPM America Special Investments Funds. Board Memberships: Bucyrus International; Carolina Steel; NCH NuWorld Marketing; PPM America; Peebles; Benchmark; Cherrydale Farms; Crescent; and LePages.

WASHINGTON SQUARE CAPITAL, Minneapolis, MNInvestment Analyst - Private Placements and WorkoutsInvestment advisory subsidiary of Northwestern National Life Insurance Company, n/k/a ING-Reliastar Financial.

RUBBER RESEARCH ELASTOMERICS, INC. (“RRE”), Minneapolis, MN Chief Operating Officer and General Counsel

Associate in the Commercial Law Department. Worked on a variety of corporate, banking, securities,and bankruptcy matters.

Jd, Law

Ab, Majors In Political Science And Speech