Related Professionals
READING and KING OF PRUSSIA, PA, April 12, 2018 – Stevens & Lee/Griffin’s W. Scott Balestrier, Jay R. Wagner and John A. Lee spoke at the South Central Pennsylvania Vistage Executive Summit in Lancaster, PA, on March 20, 2018.
Messrs. Balestrier, Wagner and Lee presented “The Impact of Tax Reform on Family-Owned Businesses” to an audience of CEOs, business owners and other decision makers. The session focused on the effects of tax reform on the financial statements and valuation of family-owned and closely held businesses, family wealth transfer and related business transition and generational wealth management issues. The presenters also discussed how tax reform and changes in tax accounting will impact mergers and acquisitions from the perspectives of both buyers and sellers.
Mr. Balestrier, a CPA, is President of the Griffin/Stevens & Lee Tax and Consulting Network, a network of 25 tax, accounting, consulting and technology professional services firms, mostly operated by former Big Four professionals.
A former Big Four tax partner with E&Y, KMPG and Andersen, Mr. Balestrier has practiced in the accounting and tax consulting area for more than 26 years. His broad range of skills includes tax, financial accounting, risk management, information technology, capital raise, employee benefits, succession planning and mergers and acquisitions. He has been the lead coordinating partner for companies in a wide variety of industries and has built strong relationships and an excellent business reputation among the professional services community. He holds a B.S./B.A. in Accounting from Kutztown University.
Mr. Wagner is Co-Chair of Stevens & Lee’s Estates and Trusts Department and a Shareholder with the firm. He concentrates his practice in estate and trust planning and administration, wealth preservation, trust and estate litigation, charitable and nonprofit organizations, and guardianship administration.
Mr. Wagner is experienced in advising high net worth clients in all aspects of estate planning, including business succession planning, charitable trusts and other charitable giving techniques, use of insurance to facilitate business transition and other planning objectives, GRATS, QPRTS, defective grantor trusts and other leveraged strategies. As part of his practice, Mr. Wagner routinely advises clients about creditor and other threats to their wealth preservation goals, how various common forms of asset ownership and estate planning strategies might reduce or enhance such threats and how use of asset protection trusts and other tools can help clients preserve the wealth they have worked hard to accumulate. He holds a J.D., magna cum laude, from Villanova University School of Law and a B.B.A., magna cum laude, from Temple University.
Mr. Lee is an investment banker who manages Griffin’s Commercial, Industrial and Services Group. He has 25 years of experience providing merger and acquisition advisory services, private placements of debt and equity capital, and management buyout advisory services for middle market companies in a wide range of industries. His experience includes sourcing, initiating or managing numerous investment banking transactions for middle market business and government services, consumer and industrial manufacturing, distribution, and technology companies.
Prior to joining Griffin, Mr. Lee was a Principal with Horizon Partners Ltd., a private equity investment company that acquires middle market companies in leveraged buyout transactions. Previously he served as a Director with the investment banking arm of Berwind Financial Group, L.P. He has been a featured speaker or co-chair at numerous conferences on mergers and acquisitions and corporate finance.
Mr. Lee received an MBA from The College of William and Mary and a B.A. in Economics and English from Lehigh University. He is the past President of the Association for Corporate Growth (ACG), Philadelphia Chapter. He holds Series 79, 7 and 63 licenses from FINRA.
