One of America’s leading provider of investment banking services, CEA Group, announced today that Jamaica-born global private equity expert and professor Dr David Panton has joined its advisory board as senior advisor – private equity.

Panton is chairman of Panton Equity Partners, a private family office he founded in 2012. He has 25-plus years of experience as a private equity investor, investment banker, and entrepreneur. He is also a co-founder and managing partner of Navigation Capital Partners, a private equity firm focused on
investing in lower middle-market operating companies and special purpose investment companies (SPACs), which was acquired in partnership with Goldman Sachs from prior owner, Mellon Financial.

He serves as an adjunct professor in the Faculty of Finance at Emory University’s Goizueta Business School, where he has taught a course in entrepreneurial private equity for over a decade. Panton has been a member of the Atlanta, GA Chapter of Young President’s Organization (YPO), the largest global community of chief executives, for over a decade and was a founding member of the Atlanta, GA Chapter of TIGER 21, a global community of entrepreneurs and investors.

Long business credentials

He has served as a board member of over 20 publicly-traded or privately held companies and led growth investments in several successful platforms, including Secureworks (sold to Dell), Exeter Finance (sold to Blackstone and Warburg Pincus), and Track Utilities (sold to CIVC Partners). He also previously served as a
vice president at Mellon Ventures (now Navigation Capital Partners); a co-founder and managing director of the Caribbean Investment Fund (a private equity firm focused on investments in the Caribbean and Latin America); and an associate at Morgan Stanley in mergers and acquisitions.

Panton’s long credential continues, as he also served as interim CEO of CMP Industries, a publicly-traded company in Kingston, Jamaica and was appointed a senator in the Upper House of Parliament in Jamaica. He is chairman of the Jamaican-American Chamber of Commerce of Atlanta (JAMCHAM), a former member of the board of the Michael C. Carlos Museum of the Arts, and is a former trustee of Holy Innocents’ Episcopal School in Atlanta, GA.

He had a brief stint in politics in Jamaica, serving as the first president of the young professional arm of the Jamaica Labour Party, G2K, which he founded in 1999 and was appointed a JLP senator in October 2002, before resigning two years later to take up a job in America.

Panton holds a Master Professional Director Certification from the American College of Corporate Directors. He received a doctorate in management studies from Oxford University, where he was a Rhodes Scholar, a J.D. (with honors) from Harvard Law School, where he was elected president of the Harvard Law Review, and an A.B. (with high honours) in public policy from Princeton University.

Born and raised in Jamaica, he resides between Atlanta, GA, and Kingston, Jamaica.

In welcoming Panton to CEA, group chairman and founder Rick Michaels stated: “I am honored to have Dr David Panton, a distinguished global private equity leader, join our Advisory Board. David possesses a plethora of knowledge and achievements, especially relating to global private equity. I consider CEA privileged to have David’s perspectives, insights and expertise which are invaluable to CEA’s objectives. We are looking forward to the many opportunities for collaborations with David.”

Founded in 1973, CEA with a team of experienced personnel worldwide, has an unequaled depth and breadth of industry knowledge, expertise and long-standing industry relationships. CEA has completed over 1,000 transactions totaling US$60+ billion in more than 60 countries. CEA’s reputation and track record of success are built on delivering innovative, value-added solutions and services to clients worldwide.