About the firm
Senior people. No layers.
A lender who has underwritten and worked out these credits, alongside an operator who has run the kind of company we get called into. The pairing is deliberate.
Offices
Boston · Atlanta
Palm Beach
Coverage
US, Canada, Europe
Combined experience
100+ years
Passion
We take work we care about, for people we want to be in a foxhole with. That is a filter, not a slogan — we turn down engagements where we would only be adding a signature.
Experience
Every person on an engagement has done the job before, on the operating side as well as the advisory side. Nobody is learning your business at your expense.
Diligence
We would rather tell you something you do not want to hear in week two than write it into a report in month four. Candor is the product.
Why we exist
The restructuring industry is very good at telling a company what is wrong with it, and structurally bad at fixing it.
The economics explain most of it. A large firm staffs an engagement with a partner who sells it, a director who manages it, and a team of analysts who build the model. The plan that comes out is usually right. It is also handed to a management team that is already working sixty-hour weeks and has just been told, in a hundred pages, that they are the problem.
We built Signal Ridge to close that gap. Small teams, senior only, and a willingness to take the operating seat rather than the observer’s chair. If the company needs a CRO, one of our partners becomes the CRO. If the finance function has stopped working, we run it while we rebuild it. If it needs capital and the credit box says no, we know who will look at the assets on their merits and how to put the case to them — because we spent careers building the platforms that lend against exactly these balance sheets.
Modern tooling is what makes the model work at a price a middle-market company can pay. We are fluent in it, we use it on every engagement, and it is why our fees sit below the national firms without the work being handed to anyone junior.
The partners
Credit discipline paired with operating experience.
Daniel F. O’Rourke
Partner · Credit & Restructuring · Boston
Over 25 years in financial services, lending and turnaround management. Co-founded several lending platforms across non-bank specialty finance and the asset-based lending divisions of national and regional banks, in executive roles spanning underwriting, credit, origination, workout and restructuring. In aggregate those platforms financed more than 250 companies across the US, Canada and Europe, totaling over $7.0 billion in originations.
Has also served as Chief Restructuring Officer and Chief Financial Officer at multiple companies. Previously CEO of Rise Line Business Credit, Chief Credit Officer at Metis Commercial Finance, and Co-Founder and Chief Credit Officer of NewAlliance Commercial Finance, a de novo ABL platform built inside a bank.
David A. Supple
Partner · Operations & Growth · Atlanta
More than 30 years of leadership experience building start-ups, growing middle-market companies and developing brands inside large organizations. Combines creative, operating and financing strengths, has led company turnarounds, and is recognized for growing revenue, profitability and enterprise value.
Previously President of Mashburn, the vertically integrated apparel lifestyle brand, where he completed complex growth equity and debt financings, oversaw substantial store build-outs and led the company through significant e-commerce growth. Formerly CEO of Party City of Atlanta, which he led to record revenue and profitability. Earlier led a private equity group invested in a business services franchisor and a renewable energy business.
The team
The bench behind the partners.
Underwriting, examination, analytics and origination, staffed in-house.
Ward Urban
Underwriting & Portfolio Management
Senior transactor and executive financial leader across corporate and leveraged finance, ABL lending, M&A and treasury operations. Has served as fractional CFO, Treasurer, VP Finance and VP Corporate Development at public and private companies, spanning private equity investing, leveraged buyouts and complex financial restructurings.
Tom Garner
Inventory Analytics & Systems
Converts raw company data into SKU-level intelligence. Business Intelligence Lead at Sid Mashburn and Ann Mashburn, previously Director of Inventory and Planning, where he built SQL-based reporting and automation across inventory, receiving, replenishment and warehouse workflows, with integrations spanning ERP, POS and WMS. Earlier Director of Operations at a 29-store national specialty retailer. Georgia Tech MBA, Operations and Supply Chain Management.
Barton Hyte
Appraisal & Field Examination
Leads appraisal and field examination work, supporting credit and operating decisions with on-site review, collateral analysis and valuation insight. Owns the examination scope on every engagement and manages external firms where third-party work is required.
Philip Italiano
Business Development
Drives outreach and relationship building, and is a primary source of new engagements. A graduate of Rutgers University and American University, with an extensive background in corporate development gained across multiple start-ups and established enterprises.
Offices
Boston
Atlanta
Palm Beach
Where we work
Engagements across the US, Canada and Europe. Distance has never been the constraint — being in the building in week one is, and we plan for it.
Not sure it is bad enough to call?
That is usually the right moment. Twenty minutes, confidential.