Newport Capital Group - Technology Investment Advisers

The Team

Lou Richard	Lou Richard Chairman In 1987, Lou founded the Newport Capital Group. Initial engagements with Computer Power Group and ICL Pacific resulted in multiple acquisitions, new ventures (including the formation of Telepower as joint venture between Computer Power and OTC) and divestments. Lou joined IBM in the mid 1960’s, was trained as a programmer, systems analyst, and finally managed the entire Sydney Data Centre. He then spent 12 years with Computer Resources in sales, sales management, general management and start-up management roles. Lou was appointed Group CEO in 1976, managing over 300 staff, and became a shareholder. In 1979, Lou founded the Australian Technology and Computing Group (ATAC), which achieved rapid growth and sustained profitability, with a wide range of IT products and services activities. ATAC was sold to the UK based Field Engineering & Education Limited (“Fee”) in 1985, and Lou moved to London as Chairman of the Fee Group – until his return to Australia in 1987. Lou remains deeply involved in client projects, using his wide range of industry contacts and his deep knowledge of the global IT&T markets. Lou’s vision drives Newport’s development, with the goal of Newport becoming a leader in technology investment and advisory services in the Asia Pacific market.
Jeremy Morgan	Jeremy Morgan Chief Executive Officer Jeremy has 20+ years experience in M&A and capital raisings spanning a broad range of industries both domestically and internationally. Prior to joining Newport Capital Group, Jeremy was the founder and director of Rockridge Group, a high intervention investment business. In this capacity Jeremy evaluated and managed Rockridge’s investments and undertook directorial and senior management roles within each of Rockridge’s investee companies – in particular being responsible for strategy and M&A. Previously, Jeremy was an Executive Director of iSoft Limited, a large global health IT company listed on the ASX. Being responsible for the company's corporate activity, Jeremy evaluated and managed the acquisition of businesses and the establishment of corporate alliances in Australia, the United States, the United Kingdom, New Zealand, Singapore, Thailand, India and the Middle East. Jeremy also held a number of senior management role within Isoft, including GM of Isoft’s Australian & NZ operations and GM of Isoft’s electronic payments business. Prior to joining iSoft, Jeremy spent 11 years in investment banking, specialising in local and cross border mergers and acquisitions and structured finance transactions. Jeremy spent a number of years working in Hong Kong and Malaysia. He holds a Bachelor of Arts/Law Degree and practiced with Baker & McKenzie, an international law firm, in the early part of his career. Jeremy is currently a director of Ordatronics Pty Ltd, a digital media solution provider for blue chip corporate including Westpac, Tabcorp, Telstra, Stockland and Amcal.
Matthew Costello	Matthew Costello Director Matthew has had over 15 years experience in digital, 10 years in mobile and was a co-founder of 5th Finger, one of Australia’s leading mobile marketing companies that was bought by ninemsn in 2005. Since that time Matthew has completed a Masters of Finance Management and an MBA at Macquarie Graduate School of Management. Matthew’s M&A experience was recently rounded out as Commercial Director of Anittel Limited, an ASX listed IT&T rollup that he grew through acquisition from 20 people in 2008 to over 200 people by 2010 with over $60m in revenue. During this time he worked with the board and advisors on raising $15m in equity financing for the acquisitions along with over $5m in debt financing for operations. During his career, Matthew has held positions as Sales Director, Commercial Director, CFO, Non-Executive Director on ASX listed entities and maintains a board seat with 5th Finger International, a San Francisco based mobile marketing agency.
David Fulep	David Fulep Associate Director David has more than 5 years of experience in the field of M&A during which he worked on several buy-side, sell-side and capital markets transactions in a wide range of industries including telecommunications, IT, healthcare, printing and retail. Prior to joining Newport Capital in 2009, David was Senior Analyst in the M&A/financial advisory team of Concorde Securities, Hungary‘s leading independent investment banking group. At Concorde David was involved in a number of joint mandates with such Tier-1 international investment banks as UBS, Lehman Brother and JP Morgan. David holds a master’s degree from the Budapest University of Economic Sciences where he majored in Corporate Finance.
Feroz Masood Khan	Feroz Masood Khan Senior Associate Feroz joined Newport Capital in 2009 with over 3 years experience in syndicate and investment banking. Currently, Feroz is an associate at Newport Capital with specific mandate to provide merger & acquisition, corporate financing and strategic advisory services to companies across a variety of IT related sectors. Prior to joining Newport, he worked for leading bank in Pakistan as Senior Credit Analyst in Credit Corporate, Syndicate and Investment Banking Department. One of his key responsibilities involved an in-depth knowledge of State Bank of Pakistan’s prudential regulations and legal framework. He was also part of first “Islamic Project Financing Transaction” executed in Pakistan. He holds Master of Commerce in Business and a Master of Commerce in Accounting and Finance from Macquarie University.
Kashif Ansari	Kashif Ansari Associate Joining in late 2010, Kashif comes to the company with over three years of experience in the IT sector where he has held both technical and functional roles. Prior to joining Newport Capital, Kashif started his career in the games industry – working for a Sydney based startup with a focus on the A.I. space. A year later, he moved on to Dubai to cofound a software development and secondment firm which was eventually merged into a Bahrain based Business Consultancy. Here, he led the newly formed software division’s development and consulting activities for over a year before moving back to Australia to further his studies. Kashif is a recent graduate of Macquarie University, where he completed his Master of Economics degree with a focus in finance and monetary policy.
Sasha Richard	Sasha Richard Company Secretary Sasha joined Newport in 1997 as the Administration Manager. She has held a variety of roles within NCG and is currently working as Company Secretary. Whilst at NCG Sasha has obtained a thorough understanding of the TIMES and Venture Capital sectors within the investment banking industry. This has enabled her to carry out successful research and targeting on many client projects. Prior to joining NCG Sasha held roles as Payroll Administrator for Stylz Hair Design and Secretary for the Hip Dysplasia Scheme at the Australian Veterinary Association. This led to a similar role with the British Veterinary Association when Sasha resided in London.