Qualifications – Senior Professionals
Chris
M. Mellen, ASA, MCBA, ABAR, CM&AA, MBA – President
Chris Mellen is the president and founder of Delphi Valuation Advisors, Inc. and the Managing Director of Ambus Appraisers, LLC d/b/a American Business Appraisers® National Network, specializing in the valuation of closely held businesses, professional practices and intangible assets. He holds the Accredited Senior Appraiser (“ASA”) and Master Certified Business Appraiser (“MCBA”) designations, and is the first business appraiser in Massachusetts to hold both designations. He also holds the Accredited in Business Appraisal Review (“ABAR”) and Certified Merger & Acquisition Advisor (“CM&AA”) designations. He has an MBA with a concentration in finance from Babson College and a Bachelor of Arts with a major in industrial relations and economics from McGill University. His experience includes completion of over 2,000 valuations of such entities and assets. He has performed business valuations over 22 years in a wide range of industries for such purposes as tax planning and compliance, strategic planning, financing, mergers and acquisitions, post-acquisition purchase price allocation, financial reporting (ASC 350/718/805 f/k/a FASB 142/123R/141R), estate planning, exit planning, buy-sell agreements, marital dissolution, shareholder disputes, and appraisal review. Chris currently serves on the Appraisal Issues Task Force and the Editorial Board for Business Appraisal Practice. He has served as Governor of the Northeast Region (New England, New York and Eastern Canada) of the The Institute of Business Appraisers (“IBA”) for six years, on the faculty of the IBA for eight years, on the Qualifications Review Committee for the IBA for six years, and as President of the Boston Chapter of the American Society of Appraisers for one year. He also served as national Chairman of the Business Valuation Committee of BKR International, consisting of approximately 35 accounting and consulting firms across the country for over four years. He has held senior level positions in the valuation departments of two major accounting firms — Tofias, P.C. as a Principal and KPMG as a Director of Valuation Services. In addition, Chris has published several articles on valuation-related matters, led numerous seminars, and provided expert testimony in court. Finally, Chris is co-author of ASA’s BV301 seminar on Intangible Asset Valuation and of the second edition of the book Valuation for M&A: Building Value in Private Companies. In connection with this book, Chris is co-recipient of the 2010 AM&AA Middle Market Thought Leader of the Year Award, which is designed to honor individuals who have made significant contributions to the middle market M&A advisory profession through the publication of works that promote research, higher standards of excellence, and professional competence.
Download the CV of Chris Mellen
Francis
D. Mainville, CPA/ABV, CFA, MSF – Director
Frank Mainville is a director with Delphi specializing in the valuation of closely held businesses, professional practices, options and warrants, and intangible assets. His experience over the past 20 years includes advising owners of closely held companies in the area of mergers and acquisitions, and business valuation issues. Within business valuation, Frank has developed a particular expertise in valuations required for IRC 409A and ASC 718 compliance. Prior to joining Delphi in May 2004, he was the Manager of Financial Analysis and Planning at WordWave, Inc., a $100 million in revenue, private-equity backed consolidation of the global court reporting and captioning industry. He has also held positions as an associate director with BKR Mergers & Acquisitions Group LLC, business valuation consultant and audit senior with Tofias, P.C., and financial analyst with Fidelity Investments. Frank earned his Master of Science degree in Finance (“MSF”) from the Carroll School of Management at Boston College and his Bachelor of Arts in Economics and a Bachelor of Business Administration from the University of Massachusetts at Amherst. He is licensed in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts as a Certified Public Accountant, and is accredited by the AICPA in business valuations (“CPA/ABV”). He is also a CFA Charterholder (“CFA”) and a member of the CFA Institute and the Boston Security Analyst Society (“BSAS”).
Patrice
L. Riela, CBA, CPA, ABAR – Director
Patrice Riela is a director with Delphi specializing in the valuation of closely held businesses, professional practices, and pass-through entities. Prior to joining Delphi in 2002, she held consulting positions with the Cambridge-based regional accounting and consulting firm of Tofias, P.C., as well as with a boutique consulting firm in New York City, Kahn Consulting, Inc. She was a consultant for approximately 3½ years at Tofias where she specialized in business valuation, litigation support, audit related services, construction contract surety and construction compliance related services. Prior to her experience with Tofias, she was a consultant with Kahn, focusing on construction litigation matters, investigative auditing work, business valuations and financial advisory services. Prior to her experience as a consultant, she was employed as a credit underwriter for a large insurance company, where she performed in-depth financial analyses of mid to large size construction companies. Patrice earned a Bachelor of Science in Finance from Boston College in 1990. She subsequently received a Certificate of Accounting from New York University, passed all four parts of the CPA exam in her first sitting, and is licensed in the State of New Hampshire as a Certified Public Accountant. Patrice is also Certified Business Appraiser, Accredited in Business Appraisal Review, and a member of The Institute of Business Appraisers.
Heather
Tullar, ASA, CPA/ABV/CFF, MBA
Heather Tullar is a director with Delphi specializing in the areas of business valuation and litigation support. Prior to joining Delphi in 2011, she was the founder and President of Valiant Metrics, Inc., a boutique business valuation and litigation services firm. For approximately three years prior, she was the Director of the Boston, MA business valuation and litigation practice of McGladrey, a national accounting and consulting firm. Before joining McGladrey, from 1998 to 2008 Heather was a Senior Manager with The Michel-Shaked Group, a boutique litigation consulting and valuation firm. Heather has also served as the Finance Manager for a university based venture capital and technology transfer office. Heather earned a Masters of Business Administration (“MBA”) with a Concentration in Finance (awarded with High Honors) from the Graduate School of Management of Boston University in 2001and a Bachelor of Science in Accounting from the University of North Carolina at Charlotte in 1989. Heather is accredited by the American Society of Appraisers as an Accredited Senior Appraiser (“ASA”). She passed all four parts of the CPA exam in her first sitting, and is licensed in both Massachusetts and North Carolina as a Certified Public Accountant, and is accredited in business valuations and certified in financial forensics (“CPA/ABV/CFF”).
American Business Appraisers® Valuation Professionals
Should it be necessary, select valuation professionals within the American Business Appraisers® affiliation may assist in the completion of a given engagement. Visit the website of American Business Appraisers® for additional background.
