Jennifer Doré Russo Partner |
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Jennifer Doré Russo is a Partner at Sonenshine Partners and the head of the firm’s retail and consumer practice. For over 20 years, Ms. Russo has advised on mergers & acquisitions, restructurings, private capital raises and corporate strategy assignments throughout the US, Europe and Asia. Selected retail and consumer transactions include the sale of HearUSA to Siemens pursuant to §363 of the US Bankruptcy Code; the sale of Finestationery.com to 1-800-Flowers; the acquisition by Reader’s Digest of Haven Home Media; the sale of Salu Inc. (parent of SkinStore.com) to drugstore.com; the sale of Beverages & More (BevMo!), a leading retailer of wine and spirits in the United States on behalf of Madison Dearborn; the operational and financial restructuring of Impower, an e-marketing company; European acquisitions for Scotts Miracle-Gro including Levington Horticulture and Rhône-Poulenc Jardin; the going-private of Fitzwilton, a holding company with stakes in Irish consumer and retail businesses; and the sale of Fred Perry, the iconic British leisurewear brand.
Before joining the firm in 2004, she was a Director at Counsel Corporation, an international asset management firm, where she was responsible for restructuring and exiting Counsel Corporation’s underperforming portfolio investments. Previously she had been a Principal at investment banking firm Roth Capital Partners and a Vice President at Salomon Smith Barney (Citigroup) in London, where she was a founding member of the Financial Entrepreneurs group.
Ms. Russo began her career at the Blackstone Group where she worked on both investment banking mandates and private equity investments.
Ms. Russo holds a BS in Economics, summa cum laude, from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania, where she was a Benjamin Franklin Scholar. Ms. Russo is on the Board of the Arts & Business Council of New York, the Advisory Board of Pentacle, an organization supporting the dance community, and is a member of the Trustees Council of Penn Women. She is a frequent speaker on retailing and other topics and has been a judge for the annual Wharton Business Plan Competition for seven years. Ms. Russo is a dual citizen of the US and the UK.