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Mr. Barnes is a Director at Merit Investment Bank.  He has more than three decades of experience in investment banking, principal investing and corporate development and has successfully structured, negotiated and closed over $1 billion in capital raises and $1 billion in M&A transactions across a wide variety of industries.  Mr. Barnes prides himself on being able to get tough deals closed.  His ability to think creatively to bridge differences between buyers and sellers differentiates him in the industry.  Over his long history in the M&A markets, he has developed extensive contacts that he is able to bring to bear to move deals forward.

In addition to almost 25 years in investment banking, Mr. Barnes’ experience working for a family office in private equity and in corporate development for a publicly traded, Calgary based oilfield services company gives him a unique perspective regarding a buyer’s thinking.

Mr. Barnes has been associated with a number of leading financial services firms including Lehman Brothers, Tucker Anthony Sutro, Cleary Gull and now Merit Investment Bank.  He also successfully ran his own investment banking firm (Sarowdin Partners) for 10 years which created a differentiated position in the industry by focusing on providing senior level, Wall Street quality investment banking services to companies at the lower end of the middle market.  

Mr. Barnes holds the FINRA Series 7, 79 and 63 licenses.  He earned a BS in Petroleum Engineering from Texas A&M University and an MBA from the Kellogg School of Management.

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