Has more than 30 years of international investment management experience, specializing in fund management, corporate funding transactions, turnarounds, restructurings (operational and financial) and workouts. Since beginning his career, Jeff has executed several long and complex international corporate restructurings, turn-arounds, reorganizations and recapitalizations, both as a primary shareholder and on behalf of independent shareholders.
He has also negotiated, executed and participated in numerous types of corporate transactions, including public listings, spin-offs, pre-pack bankruptcies/administration, organizing and leading creditor committees, corporate rationalizations, acquisitions, balance sheet refinancing, as well as analyzing and executing numerous debt and equity investments and capital structure arbitrage positions. Jeff founded Abri Advisors as a private investment firm at the beginning of 2016.
From February 2021 until November 2023, Abri was the sponsor of Abri SPAC I, Inc, (the “Abri SPAC”) which was a US-based $66m Special Purpose Acquisition Vehicle traded on the NASDAQ. In early November 2023, the Abri SPAC successfully closed its merger with DLQ, Inc. (now called Collective Audience).
In December 2015, Mr. Tirman joined the Supervisory Board of Elan d.o.o. based in Begunje na Gorenjskem, Slovenia (www.elan-sports.com), after its acquisition by a group of London-based institutional investors. Mr. Tirman was tasked with leading Elan’s transition from a state-owned enterprise to a privately held firm (state-owned since its inception in 1945). Mr. Tirman, both as a member of the board of directors and as CEO, has been responsible for the complete restructuring and reorganization of the business, including: i) initial emergency financial stabilisation of the enterprise, ii) reconfiguration of the entire corporate structure, including the development and implementation of new corporate governance policies and procedures focused on transparency and accountability, iii) the hiring and installation of a progressive senior management team, iv) restructuring and streamlining the 4 operating divisions along western-style best practices, including control, reporting and compliance, v) refinancing of the company’s balance sheet (3x), vi) identifying and defining future business direction across all company units (product focus, branding, target markets, etc.), and vii) preparing the company for sale. Mr. Tirman continues in his role as CEO of Elan.
In 2018, Mr. Tirman organised and ran the sale process for Elan which resulted in the signing of a Securities Purchase Agreement with Finnish-based private equity firm KJK Capital (“KJK”) in late December 2018, with the transaction closing at the end of April 2019. Based on Mr. Tirman’s performance at Elan, KJK asked Mr. Tirman to form and lead as CEO a Luxembourg-based holding company (KJK Sports S.A.) into which KJK Capital contributed all its sporting goods related businesses (in addition to Elan, Leader 96 – a contract bicycle manufacturer based in Plovdiv Bulgaria, and Tahe Outdoors – a water sports business based in Estonia, but with several subsidiaries around Europe). Further, in August 2019, Mr. Tirman led the KJK Sports purchase of Baltik Vairas – a contract bicycle manufacturer based in Šiauliai, Lithuania, and when combined with Leader 96, making KJK Sports the largest continental European contract bicycle manufacturer with annual capacity in excess of 1’000’000 units (both regular and e-bike). In 2021 and 2002, Mr. Tirman led the sale process for Leader 96 to a London-based private equity firm. As of 31 December 2023, KJK Sports companies employed approximately 2’000 people and generated revenues in excess of €250 million. Mr. Tirman is charged with the operational and financial restructuring of the KJK Sports daughter companies with the aim of increasing transparency, as well as operating and financial performance.
From 2009 through 2014, Mr. Tirman was an adjunct professor of Advanced Corporate Finance for the Master of Sciences in Finance (MScF) program at l'Ecole des Hautes Etudes Commerciales (HEC) in Lausanne, Switzerland, which is a joint effort between l'Université de Lausanne (UNIL), Ecole Polytechnique Fédéral de Lausanne (EPFL) and the Federal Swiss Banking and Finance Institute. The focus of Mr. Tirman’s lectures centered on corporate valuation via balance sheet analysis in compliance with IFRS accounting standards and analytical accounting. Mr. Tirman has also been a guest lecturer for the FAME Program, a nationally coordinated PhD Program in Finance, at the University of Lausanne, in conjunction with the Federal Swiss Banking and Finance Institute. From 2011 through 2013, Mr. Tirman was also a guest lecturer on Credit Markets and Credit Risk for the Asset and Wealth Management Executive MBA (AWEMBA) program at the HEC, which is a joint program between University of Lausanne and the Tepper School of Management at Carnegie Mellon University, in Pennsylvania, USA. The focus of Mr. Tirman’s lectures centered on risk assessment and analysis as it relates to portfolio exposure in credit and credit-related investments. While Mr. Tirman has not actively taught since the end of 2014, he has given several presentations and lectures to various MScF classes over the intervening period.
In late 2012, Mr. Tirman co-founded Rhodium Capital Management, a London-based money management firm focused mainly on European and CEEMEA Credit. Mr. Tirman was responsible for the initial funding of Rhodium, along with developing, writing and implementing all aspects of the firm’s operating, investment, compliance and reporting policies and procedures. Peak assets under management were $260 million. Rhodium was a regulated AIFM under the UK FCA, the US SEC and US CFTC, as well as the Cayman Islands Monetary Authority. At the end of 2015, Mr. Tirman sold his interests in Rhodium to his business partner and ceased activity on behalf of Rhodium.
From 1997 through 2012, Mr. Tirman was president of Talisman Capital. In the period from 1997 through 2001, Talisman was focused on investing in global markets with an emphasis on capital structure arbitrage and other relative value strategies, with peak assets under management of approximately $400 million. Subsequent to 2001, Talisman specialised in corporate restructurings and work-outs on behalf of several large institutional clients. While at Talisman, Mr. Tirman led several different workouts and restructurings in industries ranging from fuel additives to high-end retail to state-sponsored gaming.
In 1990, Mr. Tirman received a Master of Business Administration degree, with an emphasis in corporate finance and tax accounting, from the A.B. Freeman School of Business, Tulane University, New Orleans, Louisiana. Mr. Tirman was an A.B. Freeman Fellowship recipient, a member of the Tulane University President’s Council, a student member of the MBA Faculty Selection Committee, a member of the Financial Management Association National Honor Society, a member of the Beta Gamma Sigma National Honor Society of Collegiate Schools of Business and an elected representative to the Academic Integrity Committee. In 1987, Mr. Tirman received a Bachelor of Business Administration degree, with an emphasis in economics, from the University of Arkansas, Little Rock, Arkansas.
