2020 Deal Of The Year Judges

Kelly founded Milestone and serves as its Managing Director. He was responsible for developing the fundamental investment criteria and implementing the business plan by sourcing qualified acquisition candidates, evaluating targets, negotiating and closing purchases of portfolio companies, and being integrally involved in developing and implementing the portfolio companies’ growth strategies. Kelly has participated in each portfolio transaction and post-acquisition monitoring for Milestone. He has also served as a member of the Board of Directors of each of the Milestone portfolio companies.

Kelly holds an Accounting and Finance degree from Texas A&M University, a Juris Doctorate from South Texas College of Law and a Masters of Law in Taxation (LL.M. Taxation) from New York University.

Kelly lives in Houston, Texas with his wife and five children. He serves on the Board of Directors of the Gulf Coast Chapter of the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation. Kelly is a very active outdoorsman who enjoys snow skiing, running, biking and golfing.

Ernest Hunter II is the Chief Executive Officer of The Frenchy’s Companies, which includes Frenchy’s Chicken, Frenchy’s Sausage Company and Frenchy’s Restaurant Group. A business executive and former investment banker with a deep background in operations, M&A execution and providing financial advisory services to public and private companies.

Ernest has significant deal experience, including sell-side and buy-side M&A, restructuring, and debt financing. He is experienced in all aspects of deal execution. One of Ernest’s deals, ExtremeTix’s sale to eTix, a Parthenon Capital Company was recognized by the Association of Corporate Growth – Houston as Software, Technology, and IT Services Deal of the Year in the inaugural year of the award.

Ernest spent years as an active duty Naval Officer serving both home and abroad. He served on multiple ships including a deployment on a guided missile destroyer, the USS Arleigh Burke (DDG-51). In additional to his time at sea he served as an intelligence officer at the Defense Intelligence Agency in Washington D.C. While there he focused on disrupting the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction throughout the world.

He holds a Bachelors of Science Degree in Electronics Engineering Technology from Texas A&M University in College Station, Texas and a Masters in Business Administration with a focus in Corporate Finance from Howard University in Washington, D.C. where he graduated with honors.

Current Board Participation: Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation (”JDRF”) – Executive Board of Directors and Promise Ball 2020 and 2021 – Co-Chair

Ken is the Executive Director of the Hick, Muse Tate & Furst Center for Private Equity Finance, and a Clinical Associate Professor of Finance at the McCombs School of Business at The University of Texas at Austin. He has been published in leading academic journals, including the Journal of Finance Economics, Financial Management, The Journal of Empirical Finance, Financial Analyst Journal, and The Journal of Applied Corporate Finance, and in The Wall Street Journal.

Ken has also been the COO or CFO of several companies, two of which were taken public by JP Morgan and Bear Sterns respectively, and one was sold to Oracle Corporation. Ken founded and led a restructuring firm, was the managing partner of a money management firm, has worked at three investment banking firms, and was a finance professor at The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill for 17 years. Ken is a certified valuation and interest rate expert in federal bankruptcy court. He was the Chief Restructuring Officer of Turnberry/MGM Grand Towers, LLC, which concluded a multi-year bankruptcy process in 2017. He is also on the Investment Committee at LBJ Wealth Advisors and on the Board of Lawclerk.legal.

Ken was appointed by Governor Brian Sandoval and, from 2011 until 2018, was the Chairman of the Nevada Economic Forum, which estimates the level of state revenues used to establish the Nevada state budget. He is also on Investment Committee for the LBJ Family Wealth Advisors.

He holds a PhD in Finance from The University of Texas at Austin and is a Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA).