Nicholas E. Rockecharlie is Managing Director of Rockecharlie & Co., a financial advisory practice he founded in 1979. In its over four decades of existence Rockecharlie & Co. has sponsored and/or arranged a variety of transactions including the sale of privately owned corporations, management buyouts, corporate recapitalizations, mergers, acquisitions and private placements of minority interests.
In 1996 and again in 2001, Rockecharlie originated and co-invested with Tanglewood Investments Inc. in two acquisitions (Forged Vessel Connections Inc. and ITEQ Inc.) that became key components of the Ameri-Forge Group which was sold in 2012 with annual revenues approaching $1 billion to private equity group First Reserve. Between 2004 and 2013, Rockecharlie invested in and assumed operating positions with two former clients: a Houston-based importer and distributor of flexible packaging films and an exploration, production, and drilling company working primarily in Northwest Africa. From 2005 to 2008, Rockecharlie was one of three co-founders and the interim CFO of Seno Medical Instruments in San Antonio TX. Seno is commercializing instrumentation based on cancer detecting functional imaging technology on which it holds a world-wide battery of patents.
From 1977-1979, Rockecharlie was vice president of Charter New York Leasing Corporation (a unit of the Bank of New York, now BNY Mellon) and between 1972-1977, Rockecharlie was vice president of Commercial Credit Capital Corporation and was responsible for institutional sales of equity and debt in leveraged leases arranged by the firm. Between 1968 -1971 Rockecharlie served in the United States Army where he completed the Infantry Officer Candidate Program at Ft. Benning Georgia and subsequently served with the 52nd Signal Battalion in the Republic of Vietnam.
Rockecharlie holds a Bachelor of Science Degree in Mathematics from Loyola University Maryland and a Master of Administrative Science Degree from The Johns Hopkins University’s Carey Business School.
Heidi Helton Rockecharlie is a Managing Director of Rockecharlie & Co. and is primarily responsible for due diligence, marketing and product development. Prior to joining Rockecharlie & Co. she provided consulting services in corporate development, marketing and event planning for various non-profit organizations including Kelsey Research Foundation, Houston Audubon Society, Healthcare for Homeless, Houston and The Regis School of the Sacred Heart. From 1996 to 2002, she was Director of Resource Development & Public Affair for the Hospice at Texas Medical Center, a non-profit charitable organization serving terminally ill patients for whom she raised up to $3 million per year.
From 1980 to 1995, Ms. Rockecharlie worked in business development and marketing for the Warwick Hotel Post Oak and Hilton Hotels, Inc. During her tenure as Director in the hospitality industry, Ms. Rockecharlie contracted and managed corporate and social events and citywide conventions with average annual sales totaling nearly $1M.
Ms. Rockecharlie serves as a member of the Houston Audubon Society’s Advisory Board of Directors and she has chaired the Society’s Annual Gala for two consecutive years, in 2004 and 2005. From 2001 through 2003, she served as a member of the Board Of Trustees of the Houston Symphony Orchestra. She has served on committees for numerous community based Organizations including Susan G. Komen-Race for the Cure, American Cancer Society, American Heart Association, Houston Grand Opera, March of Dimes, Houston Junior Chamber of Commerce, St. John’s/St. Joseph’s Hospitals, Goodwill Industries and Union of American Hebrew Congregations.
Ms. Rockecharlie holds a Bachelor of Business Administration in Finance (Cum Laude) from The University of Houston’s C.T. Bauer College of Business.
Ash K. Shah is Managing Director of Rockecharlie & Co., and an active investor in various market sectors including, Energy, Healthcare, Technology, Retail, and Real Property. Before joining the practice, he served as President and Chief Executive Officer of IMPEX Global, LLC., a company he founded in 1994, which became one of the nation’s premier distributors of plastic films, until its sale in 2012. Under Mr. Shah’s leadership IMPEX grew at a compounded annual growth rate of approximately 30% and served clients in 25 countries around the world. His network and vast experience in global markets has positioned him to play an integral role in leading and arranging international transactions at Rockecharlie & Co.
Prior to founding IMPEX, Mr. Shah was employed with the VINMAR Group. Based in Houston, Texas, VINMAR Group has annual revenues exceeding $1 billion and is a leading supplier of polymer and petrochemical products around the world with offices in more than 20 countries.
Mr. Shah holds a Bachelor Degree in Mathematics and Economics from Coe College in Cedar Rapids, Iowa and a Master of Business Administration from The American Graduate School of International Management (“Thunderbird”) in Phoenix, Arizona specializing in International Marketing.
