Bruce Barren

Bruce W.D. Barren is Group Chairman of The EMCO/Hanover Group, which, since its inception in 1971, has concluded more than $3+ billion in financial transactions worldwide as international merchant bankers, representing more than 1,000 separate corporate transactions. Mr. Barren specializes in matters attendant to the senior management decision process, including those relating to executive and employee compensation, wrongful terminations, board representation, operating management, planning, financial administration, short and long-term debt and capital involvement, including capital sourcing, encompassing all types of investment requirements - business turnarounds, capital restructuring and merger/acquisition, plus foreign licensing along with corporate valuations for cash/ collateral purposes under the U. S. Bankruptcy Act and separately, for estate planning - including tangible and intangible assets. Mr. Barren has personally been involved in more than 200 business turnarounds and emerging businesses, worldwide representing more than $1 billion in annualized payroll.

Mr. Barren has been honored on more than 60 separate occasions by: the Governors of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania plus New York and New Jersey (in addition to their respective U.S. Senators) along with the Governors of Kentucky and Tennessee. In California, he has received commendations from various municipal and county governments as well as its State Assembly, Senate, Offices of the State Treasurer, Controller and several Governors plus by Washington, the Peoples Republic of China and the Central American Parliament.

As part of these accolades, Mr. Barren has also received more than a dozen individual U.S. Congressional Tributes, both from the U.S. Senate and House of Representatives, including one in 1990 from then Congressman Christopher Cox - subsequently the 28th Chairman of the Securities and Exchange Commission. In 1989, Mr. Barren was honored with a commemorative from President Ronald Reagan. Further, between 2000 to 2005 he received letters of commendation from then President Clinton and Vice President Al Gore plus President George W. Bush and Vice President Richard Cheney along with then U.S. Senator Hilary Rodham Clinton (subsequently appointed in 2009 as the U.S. Secretary of State under President Obama) for his then 35+ years of service to the country, various states and their respective community.

Under EMCO/Hanover's Executive Loan Program, Mr. Barren has assumed a number of senior on-line managerial positions, ranging from small- and medium-sized companies to those in the multi-national marketplace. Under this program, Mr. Barren has acted as: a Chief Executive Officer on a motorcycle manufacturer and a President of a satellite microwave equipment manufacturing company – both for separate venture capital firms then located in New York City; a Chief Executive Officer of a California bank under FDIC approval; President of a HMO medical provider, with 23 offices in Southern California, under the State of California, Department of Insurance's approval; Chairman of a printing/graphic design business and as a Chief Executive and Administrative Officer for various companies in the construction/ real estate industry, both commercial and residential.

From 1959 to 1962, Mr. Barren was an Executive Vice President and Board Member of a multi-national industrial processing and chemical company, which he was forced to assume while he was in college, following the death of his father. Other prior experiences included an association with Price Waterhouse (1963-1967) where his responsibilities were directed primarily to client marketing-related problems at the chief executive officer level, involving such companies as Paramount Pictures, Saab Motors (Sweden) and Electrolux.

Between 1968 and 1971 Mr. Barren was a member of several Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) regulated investment banking firms, first as a Vice President at Walston & Co., Inc. and then as a Director/ Senior Vice President of Delafield Childs, Inc. Both were then located in New York City. Since then, he has been advisor to a number of other SEC regulated firms (Bregman Securities, Jesup & Lamont plus Birr Wilson) and in the late 1980’s to Transatlantic Capital Bio-Sciences Fund (London, England) - a “first-stage”, medical bio-sciences venture fund, whose investors included Johnson & Johnson International and Fison Pharmaceutical.

In 1971, Mr. Barren became a Senior Vice President for an AMEX publicly-traded printing services company which also controlled a related company, listed in the Over-the-Counter Marketplace. Currently, Mr. Barren continues to act as an advisor to a variety of companies, engaged in a diversity of business – worldwide, including having served as the designated Chairman of the Executive Committee in 2005-6 for a U.S. publicly held company, with two mandates from the Peoples Republic of China (PRC): to upgrade its Level II hospitals and to introduce the concept of Assisted Care Living.

From 1985-87, Mr. Barren acted as Chief Executive Officer and Vice Chairman of a $200 million multi-national transportation services company operating in some 40 different countries involving Europe along with North, Central and South America, plus Africa and the Middle East in addition to the Far East prior to its acquisition by a foreign corporation, In 1990-91, he was appointed Chief Executive office for a $900 million revenue-based company operating throughout North America, Korea and England. From 1993 to 1996, Mr. Barren initially acted as an advisor and then became the Chief Executive Officer for an aerospace company in order to effect its capital formation program. In so doing, he was further appointed a co-conservator of this company by The Superior Court of Los Angeles, California.

Prior to becoming Chairman of a technical asset management and product disposal company located in England, Mr. Barren was Chief Executive Officer for a multi-national direct sales company, headquartered in Nanjing (PRC), and serving the Far East. Through 2004, Mr. Barren acted as the Lead Consultant for a medical services company whose primary activities focused on Mainland China.

Because of his vast experience, Mr. Barren has been featured in more than 150 articles by various newspapers and internet media in the Far East (China and Japan), Europe and the United States, as "turnaround" specialist and business expert. Included therein were also for one of the "Big 4" accounting firms' KMPG’s Banking Insider, and separately, KMPG's Commissions Markets Insider plus the California CPA Magazine, The Outlook.

In 2005, Mr. Barren became an audio conferencing instructor for Progressive Business Publications (PBP) – representing an audience of some 70,000 people, including Chief Financial Officers for both publicly- and privately-held companies. In 2007, he continued as a CPE- accredited instructor but this time the topic was: “Cash Management: Building and fortifying a strong cash flow strategy.”

In litigation support as an expert witness, Mr.Barren has been accepted as a multi-industry expert in some 45 cases, including against such industry leaders like The Chase Manhattan Bank, Merrill Lynch, Wells Fargo Bank and The Ford Motor Company - representing a variety of capital transactions involving all types of capital, plus minority shareholder interest, management and their fiduciary responsibilities, executive and employee compensation, wrongful employment terminations, corporate valuations plus a diversity of corporate transactions, including mergers and acquisitions. As such, he has given testimony in both District and State Courts plus the U.S. Tax Court and before the IRS plus acted as an expert on behalf of the Securities and Exchange Commission. During his 40 year career, he has written more than 500 valuation and fairness opinions.

Mr. Barren, who has been on various television and radio stations throughout the U.S. as part of his distinguished career, has appeared before numerous professional societies, including the American Management Association, where he wrote articles, conducted lectures and seminars on executive management, strategic planning, corporate finance, merger/acquisition and other business-related matters. From 1978 through 1995, Mr. Barren authored and conducted advanced courses in CRISIS MANAGEMENT, CORPORATE VALUATION TECHNIQUES, MERGER AND ACQUISITIONS, LITIGATION SUPPORT plus CAPITAL SOURCING under the Continuing Professional Education (CPE) program of the then 32,000-member California Certified Public Accountants Foundation for Education and Research, the 35,000-member State of New York, and the 30,000-member Texas Society of Certified Public Accountants.

During the 1980's and 1990's, Mr. Barren appeared on various radio and television shows as an expert in business and the U. S. economy. Between 1991-1993, he was a frequent guest speaker to a number of Price Waterhouse (now PriceWaterhouseCoopers) CFO Forums in Southern California plus acted as a panel judge for Ernst & Young’s Annual Entrepreneurial Awards. For 2001, Mr. Barren was appointed to the Editorial Advisory Board of Prentice-Hall.

From 1990 to 2002, Mr. Barren taught courses as a part-time visiting lecturer for the Anderson Graduate School of Business-UCLA, The University of Southern California; Pepperdine University's Executive MBA Program plus Whittier College of Law and Chapman University's School of Law. In 1995-1996, Mr. Barren co-instructed various "workshop" courses in loan documentation and valuation procedures for Sanwa Bank, then one of the top five international banks.

Since 2005, Mr. Barren has received a number of accolades from various Latin American Countries for his many years of service to them. First, he was honored by the Central American Parliament and then by the President of CENTROAMERICANA DE INVERSIONES S. DE R. L. for his 40-years of service to its member countries in aiding their trade, both imports and exports – worldwide. This was then followed by honoring Mr. Barren for his countless efforts in helping Latin Americans in North America which has resulted in the creation or saving of employment of its people. Subsequently, Mr. Barren was also given another commendation. This was from FUNHDICOL (Fundacion Hondurena Para El Desarrollo Intelectual Colectivo) for his many years of services in which he has assisted in many of this institution’s financial transactions which has helped in this country’s development.

In 2006, Mr. Barren was the Presenter for "Businessman of the Year" Award at the Trumpet Awards Ceremony in Atlanta, Georgia - the “Oscars” for African American Community Service. In 2006, Mr. Barren was presented with a Certificate of Honor from China's State-owned Supervision and Administration Commission of the People's Government of Hunan Province for his "great contribution" for establishing the first Sino-American Joint Ventured Hospital. Subsequently, he was also the keynote speaker at the 20th Annual China Industry Development Forum in Dongguan held by the China Tourist Hotels Association and received a plaque for his being an advisor to the Association. Mr. Barren, under EMCO/Hanover, has further been given an exclusive right to acquire majority control in the privatization of the multiple water treatment facility(s) in China.

In 2007, Mr. Barren, who has appeared on Chinese television on a number of occasions, was presented with a second Certificate of Honor. This time, it was in recognition of his efforts in the award of the first ever granted license to build an assisted-care living community in China which will consist of some 12,000 senior citizen, housing units. Separately, he also received a Letter of Appointment as a senior consultant for the Prosperity of Baotou business and investment from the Baotou Disabled People Welfare Fund Association of The Red Cross of Baotou City, Inner Mongolia from its Chairman – Zheng Jinduo. Concurrent with that, Mr. Barren was further appointed a senior consultant for The Association of Entrepreneur’s Friend, Baotou CPPCC by its President – Li yu ran.

In 2008, Mr. Barren joined the Board of Directors of a publicly-traded U.S. Company, which is an international telecom operator and enabler plus systems integrator to the multi-media industry by facilitating the distribution of all forms of content and telecom services to global consumers. The company also has certain patented technology to prevent credit card fraud. Besides various worldwide licenses in over a dozen markets in Europe, Asia and the Middle East, it also has a license to operate telecommunication switching facilities in China. Through mid-2009, Mr. Barren served as its Company’s Vice Chairman in addition to being Chairman of its Compensation Committees plus the Independent Director for its Nominating and Corporate Governance Committee along with its Audit Committee.

In 2009, Mr. Barren met with the Mayor of Shenyang, China. Mr. Li Yingjie named Mr. Barren the honorary financial and economic adviser to the City of Shenyang. As part of his appointment Mr. Barren will attend the City’s yearly economic forum and other key meetings with the Mayor of Shenyang. This was a great honor. Mr. Barren is the first foreigner to be appointed to be the City’s adviser. In 2011, Mr. Barren further received a Certificate of Recognition from Mr. Bingzhong Zhang, Director - Chinese & International Experts Organization of China (CIEO). He was also a keynote Speaker and Presenter at the Winalite's China 2011 For You Global Congress.Further in 2011, Mr. Barren was elected President, Vice Chairman of the Board and Chairman of the Executive Committee for an emerging internet search engine company (with annual revenues under $4 million), specializing in local search optimization. For this company, he arranged a firm commitment $50 million IPO financing plus a $5 million bridge loan and assisted in raising some $7.2 million from 75-100 private accredited investors. Mr. Barren served in this capacity from 2011 until mid-2012.

In 2013 Mr. Barren was one of the keynote speakers in Beijing addressing the All-China Private Enterprise Federation, which is composed of senior central government officials - department ministers and major Chinese private businesses. He was further appointed Chairman of an Australian based software company, which is in the process of being listed on the Bermuda Stock Exchange and who subsequently announced through its Hong Kong based DJ Central affiliate, a strategic partnership with a New York based on-line advertising technology company, for whom Mr. Barren acts as an advisor.

Also, in 2013, Mr. Barren was appointed Chief Executive Officer of M Line Holdings, Inc., a publicly-listed company (stock symbol: MLHC) that provides products and services to the precision high tech segment of both the aerospace and medical industries as well as selling high end pre-owned Japanese Computer Numerically Controlled ("CNC") Equipment. To listen to a MLHC radio interview about the Company, click here. Also in 2013, Mr. Barren was further honored by the Provincial Government of Laio Ning for his outstanding contributions in its economic development.

Mr. Barren has been listed in Marquis' Who's Who in the World since 1989 where also his academic credentials are presented. These include a Bachelor of Science degree from Babson College in 1962 in Accounting and Finance. In addition, he has a Master’s Degree from Bucknell University in 1963 in Finance and Economics plus in 1967 and 1968, two graduate certificates in International Marketing and Finance - with one, from the Harvard Business School and the other, from Cambridge University (Pembroke College) – England.