Mark Sampson

REGIONAL PRESIDENT, CALIFORNIA

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Mark Sampson is the founder and Managing Partner of Torrance, CA based private equity firm Pacific

Growth Investors, LLC (“PGI”) and previously founded in 2003 its predecessor private equity fund,

Vintage Capital Partners. The Firm focuses on completing structured debt and equity investments in

securities of lower middle market companies, seeking to invest with successful, entrepreneurial business

owners in need of flexible capital alternatives and a partner to contribute to the long-term sustainable

growth and value creation of their business. At PGI he co-manages all aspects of the firm’s investing

activities and serves on its investment committee. Mr. Sampson currently is a member of the board of

directors for portfolio companies Emerge Diagnostics, Originate, Inc and Spectra Aerospace (previously

Lanic Aerospace). Mr. Sampson had served as Chairman of the Board and led the business review

operating committees as well as head of Audit Committees, Compensation Committees and Special

Committees for multiple investment portfolio companies for Vintage Capital Partners.

Mr. Sampson began his career as a professional baseball player, having been drafted by the San Diego

Padres upon completing his athletic eligibility at the University of California, Berkeley, where he

attended on a full scholarship and was voted first team All-Pac Ten Conference in 1985. After a brief

minor league baseball career, Mr. Sampson began his career in commercial banking, completing the

Wells Fargo Bank management training program. Mr. Sampson held senior level positions at Wells Fargo

Bank and Union Bank that included sourcing of middle market companies, structuring senior debt

securities, and managing loan portfolios across offices in Southern California. Upon completing his MBA

at the Pepperdine Graziadio Business School, Mr. Sampson joined Credit Suisse in their corporate

banking office in Los Angeles. During his tenure at Credit Suisse, Mr. Sampson managed a portfolio of

global corporate debt transactions and worked in concert with other product groups including, but not

limited to, mergers and acquisitions, high yield and leveraged finance product groups. Mr. Sampson

successfully culminated his banking experience at Credit Suisse First Boston as head of the west coast

credit product portfolio as well as joining the corporate investment banking healthcare industry group

working in both the Los Angeles and New York offices.

Over his career, Mr. Sampson has held senior roles at four successful private equity firms, including

founding and leading the formation of both Vintage Capital Partners and Pacific Growth Investors. Since

the inception of his career, Sampson has been involved in over $3 billion of financing and investments

for a wide range of both public and private companies, covering industries including aerospace and

defense, healthcare and medical devices, industrial manufacturing, software, and technology enabled

businesses.

Mr. Sampson has been a speaker at a variety of industry related events that includes Los Angeles ACG

Business Conference, the Atlantic Mezzanine Conference, the Fulcrum Annual Forum, the Financial

Executives Forum, as well as The Harvard Business School, UCLA Anderson School of Management and

Pepperdine University. Mr. Sampson has been nominated and awarded recognition as a Leader of

Influence in Private Equity and Investors by the Los Angeles Business Journal, Who’s Who in Banking and

Finance by the Los Angeles Business Journal as well as a Banking and Finance Visionaries by the Los

Angeles Times.