NEW YORK, NY – Polaris Business Advisors today announced its formal merger with Second Wind Consultants, among the most respected names in business distress resolution and corporate turnaround.
Through the merger, Polaris Business Advisors will become Rise Alliance – offering new capabilities and expanded resources to clients. Together, Rise Alliance and Second Wind bring together the nation’s largest network of commercial lenders, attorneys, restructuring professionals and working capital providers to serve clients with strength and scope not available anywhere else.
Rise Alliance Managing Partner Michael Petrecca commented, “By merging with Second Wind Consultants, we combine our resources and expertise to deliver powerful results for our clients. The preservation of businesses through our efforts is a testament to our mission and is the focal point of the new Rise Alliance brand. Together, we are committed to establishing the gold standard in the business debt resolution industry.”
Second Wind’s Chief Growth Officer Robert DiNozzi added, “When a business is saved from failure, all parties benefit – even creditors. Second Wind’s mission since 2008 has been to preserve business value and jobs, with solutions that allow owners and creditors to resolve distress without legal morass, without bankruptcy and without the destruction of a business. In furtherance of that mission, bringing Rise Alliance under the Second Wind banner allows us to reach and serve the entire spectrum of distress – from the upper middle market, all the way down to main street, where previously only poor, even predatory options existed.”
Rise Alliance’s mission remains the same: to preserve businesses, fully resolve liabilities, and ensure a fresh second chance for companies struggling with unsupportable debt. The company will continue to operate as a stand-alone brand, but it will also be tightly integrated into the Second Wind ecosystem, benefitting from Second Wind’s extensive network of banking relationships, commercial lenders, law firms and financial advisors. Rise Alliance’s Managing Partner, Michael Petrecca, and CEO, John Garcia, will continue in their current roles, while Gerard Celmer will step into his new position of Chief Operating Officer.
