WALTER MERGENTHALER

Walter began his seaman’s career at the age of 14 in a grummet school in Stetin, Germany. After combining years at sea and studies, mainly at the Merchant Marine School in New York, he got his Captain license in 1958. From 1956 until 1963 he worked for National Bulk Carriers as Captain for some of the largest merchant vessels of the time.

From 1963 until 1968 he was COO for Transportación Marítima Mexicana and from 1968 until 1972 he was maritime traffic manager for Fertilizantes Fosfatados Mexicanos. In 1972 he founded Liquidadores de Averías, a consulting and adjusting firm for the maritime insurance industry. In 1977 he co-founded NAUTICA S.A. DE C.V.  a leading provider for the energy & maritime industries in Mexico, landing some of the largest projects of their kind for Pemex.

Walter is arguably one of the most knowledgeable professionals in the maritime industry in Mexico.

Eric Mergenthaler

Eric is taking over the helm from his father, Captain Walther Mergenthaler, and will lead the company into its new phase.

Eric is currently the CEO of Active International Mexico, a leading barter-trade company he joined in 2012. Before joining Active, Eric worked for more than ten years as CEO of Havas Media Mexico, the leader in marketing media in Mexico and as CEO of Havas Media Northern Latin America overseeing offices in Colombia, Venezuela, Peru and Bolivia.

From 1997-2001 Eric was a founding partner of MAKE A TEAM Mexico, a company dedicated to improving leadership, team-work and communication within organizations.

Eric is a world-renowned sailor and one of Mexico’s most successful athletes. He represented Mexico in four Olympic Games and ranked top three in the world in the Finn Class for four consecutive years and became World Champion in 1992. During 1994-1995 Eric was Professional Skipper with the German Aerosail GMBH team.

Eric studied Mechanical Engineering at the Universidad Politécnica de Cataluña in Barcelona, the General Management Program at INSEAD in France and the AD2 executive MBA at IPADE, Mexico. Eric is a Mentor with Endeavour providing pro-bono advice to start-up companies in Mexico.

JORGE CASO

Jorge is an independent investor and entrepreneur. His investments have covered a wide spectrum of sectors, ranging from specialized finance companies, to biometrics and biotechnology. For many years he acted as advisor to or part of the acquiring group in transactions in the health, trade-show, education, entertainment, airline, food and beverages industries, among others.

Jorge worked for eleven years in investment banking in the corporate finance groups of OBSA, CS First Boston and Salomon Smith Barney Citigroup in New York and Mexico, where he was involved in privatizations, M&A, and capital markets transactions in the banking, media, telecomm, airline, petrochemical, construction, food and housing industries, among others.

Jorge has been a founding partner and board member of several star-up companies. Jorge is currently a member of the Investment Committee of a private equity fund and a Mentor with Endeavour.

Jorge earned a B. of A. in Economics and Finance from ITAM in Mexico and an MBA from INSEAD (90) in France.

MANUEL GOMEZ URIARTE

Manuel was, until January of this year, Country Executive and Chief Executive Office of the Royal Bank of Scotland Mexico, a position he held since 2011. Before that he was a Managing Director and Head of Corporate Coverage and from 1999 to 2008 acted as Corporate Director and Head of Commercial Clients with ABN-AMRO Bank Mexico S.A. (today’s RBS).

Prior to joining RBS Manuel held several positions with JPMorgan Chase in Mexico and New York. From 1997 to 1999 he was a Vice-President in Investment Banking as Client Executive. From 1996 to 1997 Manuel was Vice-President in the Latin American Financial Advisory Division in New York. From 1991 to 1996 he was an Associate in Investment Banking.

Prior to joining JPMorgan Chase, Manuel was a trader from 1987 to 1989 at ACCIVAL Casa de Bolsa, and from 1985 to 1987 an Auditor with Price Waterhouse Coopers (“PWC”).

Manuel holds a Master in Business Administration at A.B. Freeman School of Business, Tulane University (New Orleans, LA), and a Bachelor of Science, Accounting from Instituto Tecnologico Autonomo de México (“ITAM”).