Our Team

Our team has the relevant expertise within the franchising and lending environment to help clients achieve their goals.

Franchise Mergers & Acquisition Experience

Relevant, franchise-based experience involving thousands of units across many brands. C Squared principals are 4-time winners of the prestigious Franchise Times Deal Maker of the Year Award.

Lending Experience

We’ve held various leadership roles in franchise finance with regulated, unregulated and securitized lending institutions. We have over 20 years of experience within the franchise lending industry placing various credit facilities ranging from multi-institutional syndications to multi-tranche facilities ranging from senior and junior capital to SBA solutions for smaller or start up operators

Franchise Association Experience

We’re fully involved in key aspects that franchisees face every day in running their businesses, including franchisor encroachment/impact concerns, minimum wage laws, predictive scheduling and joint employer issues.

Franchisor Experience

Our team has held leadership positions within the Wendy’s and Dunkin’ Brand systems and has vast experience in refranchising and understands the franchisor transaction approval process.

Franchisee Experience

Our partner is an area developer of Sports Clip franchise that has grown from 1 to 72 units over a 15-year period and has been appointed to several leadership advisory councils, which played a pivotal role in the brand’s growth from 100 to over 1,800 units.

 

CPA Backgrounds

Our principals began their careers in the public accounting, which provided a solid understanding of accounting and finance along with a superior work ethic both of which serve C Squared well on every client engagement.

Carty Davis
Partner

A leader in the Restaurant Finance and Transaction industry for 28 years, Carty Davis has initiated and managed hundreds of innovative transactions involving thousands of restaurant locations. Ranging from large refranchising programs to small equity raises for emerging concepts, Carty has initiated new trends in industry financing and capitalization, with a focus on maximizing value for his clients. Carty is also a 16-year area developer and franchisee of Sports Clip controlling 70+ units in North Carolina.

Dan Connelly
Principal

An experienced and goal driven deal maker, Dan Connelly brings a wealth of experience to the C Squared team. With Dan’s prior experience in accounting and finance and various roles as a member of the Dunkin’ Brands team, Dan most recently excelled in M&A activity as Dunkin’ Brands evolved into new markets and territories.

Patrick McCauley
Principal

An experienced franchise development executive, Pat was responsible for the disposition of 1,200 U.S. and Canadian company restaurants for The Wendy’s Company. As Director of Franchise Development at Wendy’s, Pat excelled at balancing the interests of the franchisor with the demands and challenges of hundreds of franchisees. His understanding of franchisees’ goals, objectives and trigger points for new investment, resulted in well-established, long-term relationships with several franchisees throughout the Wendy’s system.

Brent Elsass
Principal

An accomplished financial professional, Brent has a wide range of experience and expertise providing sell-side and buy-side advisory services, succession planning, and financial solutions to closely held businesses and middle-market corporate clients. Brent’s background as both an advisor and industry professional gives him a greater understanding of all aspects of his client’s businesses.

Pete DiFilippo
Principal

Peter DiFilippo is an accomplished, driven and value-added financial executive that brings a wealth of experience to C Squared having more than 25 years of expertise in the banking and financial industries. Prior to joining C Squared as a principal, Pete was a Senior Vice President and Market Leader at several well-known and reputable financial institutions including his most recent leadership roles at TD Bank and Santander in the Restaurant Finance Divisions, where he was hired to expand the franchise lending programs with Top Tier Brands including Dunkin, Wendy’s, Burger King, Popeye’s and others. 

Tori Wagner
Vice President

Tori Wagner has worked in a number of franchise lending leadership roles for notable banking institutions such as TD Bank and Santander Bank. She has strategically supported and guided high-performing, large-scale franchisees and franchisor leadership with brands such as Dunkin’, McDonald’s, Taco Bell and Wendy’s, helping them navigate complex financial transactions. Previously, Wagner has managed successful client portfolios valued at more than $250 million, earning a reputation within the lending industry for her extraordinary analytical and client relationship-building skills.