Managing Partner - Harmon Partners

1 Meagan Hardcastle MBA, CTP, CFE, AVA, CEPA Meagan Hardcastle is a strategic advisor serving owners and managers of privately held companies in the lower middle market. Her areas of expertise include performance improvement, profit maximization, growth strategies, interim management, corporate finance, turnaround, crisis management, loan workouts, debt restructuring, refinancing, business valuation, exit planning, and transactional due diligence. She has worked with middle market clients across a wide variety of industries during her career. Ms. Hardcastle has won several national awards including Turnaround Deal of the Year from both the Turnaround Management Association and the M&A Advisor for her work as Chief Restructuring Officer of a food processing company. She was named Turnaround Professional of the Year by M&A Advisor, was awarded the Manufacturing Business-to-Business Financing Deal of the Year for her work with a troubled plastics manufacturer, and has been a winner or finalist in a number of other transaction award categories.

2 In 2010 Ms. Hardcastle was selected from a pool of international candidates in the M&A, Finance, and Turnaround industries and honored as an award winner at the M&A Advisor s inaugural 40 Under 40 event. Ms. Hardcastle was also recognized by D-Business Magazine in its 2011 30 in Their Thirties Awards, and by Crain s Detroit Business in its 2011 40 Under 40 Awards. Prior to co-founding Harmon Partners , Ms. Hardcastle was a Director in the Turnaround & Corporate Finance practice at O Keefe & Associates, where she focused on strategic advisory services, corporate finance transactions, and complex business valuation. She began her career in the banking industry as a Credit Analyst and then a Middle Market Commercial Banker at Bank One, where she underwrote debt transactions in the Commercial Banking, Commercial Real Estate, and Managed Assets departments. Ms. Hardcastle was also a Commercial Real Estate Investment Specialist at Grubb & Ellis Company, where she provided financial analysis and advisory services related to commercial real estate investments.

3 Ms. Hardcastle holds a Masters degree in Business Administration from the Chicago Booth Graduate School of Business with concentrations in Finance and Strategic Management. She is also a Summa Cum Laude graduate of Wayne State University s Business School, having earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Corporate Finance and Investment Finance. Ms. Hardcastle is a Certified Turnaround Professional (CTP) and a Certified Fraud Examiner (CFE). She is also accredited in Business Valuation (AVA) and is a Certified Exit Planning Advisor (CEPA). Ms. Hardcastle serves on the Board of Directors of the Michigan chapter of the Turnaround Management Association (TMA), is currently the Chapter s Treasurer, and was formerly Chair of the Programming Committee. She has published articles in The Secured Lender, The ABL Journal, Lawyer s Weekly, The Journal of Corporate Renewal, and D-Business Magazine. Ms. Hardcastle has also been a keynote speaker, panelist, and panel moderator at industry events, and has delivered several professional presentations to industry groups.

4 She is a member of several professional organizations including IWIRC, the Risk Management Association (RMA), and the Association for Corporate Growth (ACG). Managing Partner 300 Park Street, Suite 100 Birmingham, MI 48009 Office (248) 723-7933 Mobile (248) 701-1188