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Our Team

Our Principals have extensive operating and financial expertise in the industries and markets we focus on that provide us with a differentiated value creation advantage.

David Brand, Sagamore Capital
David Brand,
Managing Partner

Throughout his career, Mr. Brand has specialized in complex transactions as both a private equity principal and strategic advisor completing over $5 billion in private equity investments as well as over 250 M&A advisory and financing transactions with an aggregate value in excess of $185 billion.  His experience spans a wide variety of industries including aerospace/defense, industrial, technology, business services, and healthcare.

Prior to founding Sagamore Capital in 2008, Mr. Brand was a Principal in Lehman Brothers’ Merchant Banking and Co-Investment Groups.  David joined Lehman Brothers Private Equity Group after 20 years as a senior member of Lehman Brothers’ Global Mergers & Acquisitions Group, leading its Global Technology M&A Group for over 12 years.  David was also a senior member of the Investment Banking Division’s Business Development Committee and the Firm’s e-Commerce Investment Committee.

 

David originated, structured, and oversaw a number of Lehman’s Merchant Banking investments including L3 Technologies (NYSE: LLL) and K&F Industries.  David served on the Board of Directors and assisted these portfolio companies in executing their strategic plans and generating significant returns on their initial equity investments.  David was also integrally involved in a number of Lehman Brothers’ other private equity investments.

 

Mr. Brand joined Lehman Brothers in 1987 after receiving an MBA from the Stanford Graduate School of Business. He earned his Bachelor of Science degree in Mechanical Engineering, cum laude, from Boston University in 1983 and worked as a Nuclear Project Engineer for General Dynamics’ submarine division from 1983 to 1985.

Curtis Brunson - Sagamore Capital

Curtis joined Sagamore Capital in 2017 as a Partner after an over 40 year career as an senior executive in the aerospace/defense and technology industries. From 2007 to 2017, Mr. Brunson served as Executive Vice President at L3 Technologies, a $10.5 billion global aerospace and national security company with 38,000 employees. In this position, he was responsible for leading the execution of L3’s overall business strategy and providing operational oversight of its business units and corporate functions.  A highly-respected industry innovator and thought leader, Mr. Brunson was also tasked with establishing and maintaining customer relationships throughout the Department of Defense (DoD), various U.S. and international government agencies.

Mr. Brunson began his career in 1972 with Sperry’s Systems Management Division prior to its merger into Unisys Government Systems. Over a successful career at Unisys, he held a number of systems engineering and program management leadership positions, which led to his appointment as president of the Unisys Communication Systems division. This business was acquired by Loral Corporation prior to becoming one of L3’s original business segments in 1997. Under Mr. Brunson’s leadership, Communication Systems -West became L3’s fastest-growing business, expanding its operations and more than tripling its sales. Curtis played key roles in the development of communication systems for many manned and unmanned air reconnaissance platforms, including the U-2, RC-135 Rivet Joint, Global Hawk, Predator and Guardrail. He was also responsible for guiding and facilitating L3’s diverse operations in developing next-generation technologies, including its industry-leading datalinks and ROVER family of transceiver products.

Mr. Brunson holds a Bachelor of Science in Computer Science from the New York Institute of Technology and a Master of Science in Computer Science from Polytechnic Institute of New York University. He has served as a member of the Board of Trustees and Engineering Advisory Council of NYU Polytechnic Institute, and on the Board of the National Action Council for Minorities in Engineering (NACME), and the Engineering National Advisory Council for the University of Utah’s College of Engineering. 

Curtis Brunson,
Partner
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