^{Westport, Connecticut - U.S.A.}

Professional Staff

E. Per Sorensen

Mr. Sorensen is President and Managing Director of Vistech Corporation. He directs development of international market and joint venture opportunities for industrial clients based in Argentina, Brazil, Ecuador, Italy, Mexico, Venezuela, and the United States. Recently, he raised financing for two biotechnology companies.  He recently also has assisted a major Latin American agribusiness entrepreneur with reorganizing and preparing some of his holdings for divestiture, has directed privatization efforts for cement companies in Ecuador and managed the development of financing for infrastructure projects in the Andean region.

From 1991 to 1993, Mr. Sorensen was Managing Director for the Americas operations of a major European engineering and construction company. The newly established regional group grew from US$ 60 million in revenues to US$ 430 million during this time. The group included seven companies operating in Brazil, Mexico, Venezuela, Argentina and Ecuador, each reporting directly to Mr. Sorensen. During the three year period, Mr. Sorensen regionalized marketing, financial and planning functions, divested noncore activities and developed new business opportunities.

From 1976 to 1990, Mr. Sorensen held Director level staff positions at three different E&C firms. He was Director of Strategy for Combustion Engineering, Inc. (CE), where he had a leading role in corporate initiatives: setting strategy directions, corporate planning, business policy, and mergers and acquisitions. CE was acquired by Asea Brown Boveri (ABB) as part of a global restructuring and consolidation of the energy industry, an event in which Mr. Sorensen took part as negotiator.

At Westinghouse Electric Corporation, Mr. Sorensen initiated and executed international ventures with Japanese and European partners in the cable television and artificial intelligence industries. For Dravo Corporation he was Director Europe & Africa, responsible for engineering and fabrication subsidiaries in Italy, Spain and the Netherlands. He negotiated the acquisition of several natural resources companies, including those which produced lime and limestone.

Earlier, Mr. Sorensen was lead mechanical engineer for Stone & Webster. He holds a B.A. in applied science and a B.S. in mechanical engineering from Lehigh University, and a Master's in Management from the M.I.T. Sloan School. He is a Registered Professional Engineer in Pennsylvania, Wisconsin and Massachusetts. He is fully bilingual Spanish-English and is conversant in Italian, French and Portuguese.

  Lincoln Y. Rathnam

Managing Director of Vistech Corporation, Mr. Rathnam directs the firm's emerging markets investment strategy. From 1996 to 1998 he had a similar role as Chairman of Schooner Asset Management Co. LLC, a company which he founded. Prior to founding Schooner, he was with Scudder, Stevens & Clark, Inc. in Boston, Massachusetts, which he joined as an equity analyst in 1984, subsequently rising to the position of Chairman of the Stock Review Commitee.

Mr. Rathnam's focus on emerging markets began in 1988 when he founded Scudder's emerging markets fixed income group, which he led to pre-eminence, building assets under management to approximately $1.7 billion by the end of 1995. He established Scudder's Latin American Trust for Independent Power in 1994. This fund, initially capitalized at $100 million, was one of the first Latin American private equity funds established following the Latin American debt crisis. It has succesfully completed the bulk of its investment program.

Mr. Rathnam began his investment career in 1979 as an analyst at Connecticut General Investment Management Company, where he followed a variety of industries and worked in both the equity and bond departments. He was educated at Dartmouth College, where he received an A.B in 1971, and Oxford University, where he received the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in 1976.

William L. Melvin

Managing Director of Vistech Corporation, William L. Melvin counts more than 20 years of international experience related to the mining, oil, gas, electric power, and infrastructure sectors.   Mr. Melvin began his mining-related career as the Fellow of the Crane-Rogers Foundation with a special focus on poly-metallic mining in the Andes while residing in Bolivia, Peru, and Ecuador.  Subsequently Mr. Melvin worked as a consultant to both Cyprus Amax and Newmont.   In addition, while overseeing Latin America on behalf of NRG Energy, Inc. and Sempra Energy, Mr. Melvin led energy projects in consortium with Rio Tinto Zinc, Cambior, and Codelco.   Most recently Mr. Melvin served as CEO to PLP Holdings Inc. in which he led the formation of a joint venture to exploit gold and silver tailings in the state of Sonora, Mexico.

Mr. Melvin also has served as director of the Project Review Board of the Scudder Latin America Trust, as well as on various corporate subsidiary boards in Mexico, Argentina, and Bolivia.

Upon leaving Sempra Energy International in 1998, Mr. Melvin co-founded Centurion USA, LLC, an advisory firm specializing in infrastructure project finance, with a particular focus on power.  Mr. Melvin’s client roster has included Vattenfall AB, Nordic Power Invest AB, Lahmeyer International GmbH, NRG Energy Inc., Wartsila Power Development, the International Finance Corporation, Panamerican Investments SA, the World Bank, Bechtel Enterprises, and InfrastructureWorld.com.  Mr. Melvin is a graduate of Georgetown University and Trinity Hall, Cambridge University.

Roberto Nevarez Ycaza

Mr. Nevarez is Vistech's Director of Business Development for Ecuador and Mexico, and branch manager of Vistech's Quito office. He is an Ecuadorian national with over twenty years of experience in trade and diplomatic matters for the Government of Ecuador in Quito, Mexico City and Houston. During the last two years, he has developed Vistech's agribusiness contacts throughout Latin America and his government relations efforts have been important to Vistech's privatization work in Ecuador. Mr. Nevarez attended the University of Houston in Texas. He is bilingual Spanish-English.

Ilana Perez Melnitsky

Mrs. Melnitsky is a Financial Analyst and data-base researcher. Previous assignments included improving cash flow management for an industrial equipment company and devising a business plan for a corporate communications firm.

Graduated from the University of Connecticut with a Master in Business Administration, Mrs. Melnitsky has a Master in International Finance & Trade from Sorbonne University, where she studied to receive her B.A. in Economics. She is bilingual French-English and is fluent in Spanish.

Latin American Based Members of Vistech Network

Argentina - Ricardo A. Progano

Mr. Progano is a Senior Consultant based in Buenos Aires, dedicated to business development and project execution in Argentina, Paraguay and Uruguay. He has over sixteen years of international investment banking experience, all within Argentina. Mr. Progano has represented both the buy and sell sides in privatization work, has arranged cross-border strategic alliances in the private sector, and has coordinated debt and equity placements through the investment firms for which he has worked. These firms include Credit Lyonnais Argentina, Continental Bank of Argentina and Banca Nazionale del Lavoro. His most recent position was as general manager of the investment banking division of Corporación Metropolitana de Finanzas. While a member of the Vistech team, he also is Partner of M&S Corporate Consultores of Buenos Aires.

Mr. Progano obtained his undergraduate degree in economics, with honors, from the Universidad Argentina de La Empresa (Buenos Aires).

Bolivia - Oscar G. Caballero V.

A consultant based in La Paz, Mr. Caballero is dedicated to business development and project execution in Bolivia. He has over eleven years of financial advisory and project execution experience, in Bolivia and the U.S. Mr. Caballero has represented both public sector entities and private sector buyers in privatization work and has arranged cross-border alliances in the private sector as an advisor and as an equity participant. He was the advisor to the winning bidder (Chilean) for the ELFEC electric distribution company in Cochabamba, Bolivia, in 1995, and has also advised Peruvian construction companies in the successful completion of infrastructure projects in Bolivia.

Mr. Caballero obtained his undergraduate degree in industrial engineering from the New York Institute of Technology. While a member of the team network, he is also president of Profin Consultores of La Paz. He is bilingual Spanish-English and is conversant in French.

Brazil - Aloysio Vasconcellos

Mr. Vasconcellos provides access to mid-market company investment opportunities throughout Brazil. He is President of Westchester International Corporation, which provides financial consulting to corporations in Brazil. The company has principal offices in São Paulo and a branch office in Rio de Janeiro. Mr. Vasconcellos has over twenty years of experience in corporate banking and finance. He is a member of the Trade and Finance Committees of the Brazilian - U.S. Chamber of Commerce. Prior to establishing Westchester International, Mr. Vasconcellos was an officer and a member of the legal department of Citibank. As Vice President, Corporate and Private Banking, he headed a corporate unit covering Latin America, Portugal, and Spain and was a member of the New York and Rio de Janeiro credit committees. His responsibilities included funding lease transactions in Latin America, restructuring cross-border loans with Brazil, Venezuela and Mexico, and administering public and private sector risk assets.

Mr. Vasconcellos obtained his law degree from the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro and a master's degree in management from the American Graduate School of International Management (Thunderbird). A native of Brazil, he is bilingual Portuguese-English and is fluent in Spanish and French.

Colombia - Diego Cordoba M.

Based in Santafé de Bogotá, Mr. Cordoba is a consultant dedicated to business development and project execution in Colombia. He has eight years of experience in financial advisory work and privatizations, all in Colombia. Mr. Cordoba has represented foreign investors in various cross-border alliances and privatizations. Two of his most recent projects include the mandate for the winning concessionaires of a US$ 70 million toll road project and the mandate for the winning bidders on the US$ 24 million Cartagena airport privatization, the first airport to be privatized in Latin America.

Mr. Cordoba has an undergraduate and graduate degree in Economics from the Universidad de los Andes. He is president of SOCOL, SA of Santafé de Bogotá.

Mexico - Pedro M. Castro Lluria

Mr. Castro is a Queretaro, Mexico based consultant, dedicated to business development and project execution throughout the country. He has over eleven years experience in the financial analysis and venture capital fields, all within Mexico. He has represented the buy side in privatization work in the steel sector and has arranged cross-border franchise transactions in the fast food business. He also has represented Mexican clients in international strategic alliances in the construction and real estate sectors. Prior to entering the financial field, Mr. Castro was a market researcher for the Mexico City office of A.C. Nielsen.

Mr. Castro has an undergraduate degree in finance from the University of Anahuac and a post graduate degree in finance from ITAM of Mexico City. He is bilingual Spanish-English.

Peru - Richard A. Stoddart Lindarte

Mr. Stoddart is a senior consultant based in Lima, dedicated to business development in Peru. Mr. Stoddart has over sixteen years of international investment and commercial banking experience. He has represented both the buy and sell sides in privatization work in Venezuela and Peru, has arranged cross-border strategic alliances in the private sector, and has coordinated debt and equity placements through the financial institutions and   corporations for which he has worked. Before coming to Peru, Mr. Stoddart was a Deputy Representative at the international investment banking firm, Morgan Grenfell in Venezuela. As a member of its privatization group, Mr. Stoddart was in charge of four privatizations for the Fondo de Inversiones de Venezuela. These included the Astinave shipyard and three hotels. Mr. Stoddart came to Peru with Morgan Grenfell, serving as a member of the financial advisory team that advised the Peruvian government in the privatization of Minero Peru and CPT ENTEL. Subsequently, Mr. Stoddart served as advisor to Grupo Zubillaga in its purchase of a gold mine from the Government of Peru. Until recently,  he worked with the Banco de Lima Sudameris as head of its energy and minerals corporate banking department.

Mr. Stoddart is bilingual English-Spanish  and  fluent in French. He is a Venezuelan national, and resident of Peru. He received an M.A. in Modern Languages from Oxford University in England.


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