Our Approach
Established in 2013, we selectively choose our clients, representing only companies we identify as sound investments with long-term growth prospects. This isn’t a volume business. We close all of the assignments we take on because we only say yes when we’re certain. For us, it’s certainty, not probability. We find the right partner for companies that are already exceptional.
Who we are
Chuck Chand
Managing Director
Chuck Chand is a seasoned advisor in beverage alcohol brand acquisitions, investment, and development.
He led the sales of Blue Run Bourbon to Molson Coors, Rabbit Hole Bourbon to Pernod Ricard, and Tres Agaves to Trinchero Wine Estates. Over the past five years, he has placed more than $40 million in startups and advised on brand exits with enterprise values exceeding $700 million, including a runner-up finish for Kentucky Venture Deal of the Year in 2021 for a $5 million investment into Blue Run Bourbon.
Chuck has deep experience in the evaluation and integration of consumer growth brands. He is currently the Managing Director of Samos Capital, LLC, a private investment company that pairs strategic investors with seasoned management professionals to build brands. He is also the co-founder of The Brand Collective, a beverage alcohol import company based in Miami, FL.
Previously, Chuck was co-founder of Espiritus Group, Director of the Corporate Development Group at Brown-Forman (Jack Daniel’s), Finance Director for a $1 billion division at Yum! Brands, and Acquisitions and Business Development Director for Groupe Danone in the Americas.
He has led the acquisition of more than 30 companies and the integration of more than 20 across the U.S. and the Americas.
Chuck holds a BSc in Entrepreneurial Management and Finance and an MSc in International Development and Appropriate Technology from the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania.
Mark Stegeman
Managing Director
Mark Stegeman is a strategic, collaborative, growth-oriented CFO with strong interpersonal skills and diverse consumer products experience.
He has extensive branded global CPG experience, led a successful IPO, and has broad public and private company experience. He is adept at working with private equity, hedge funds, and family offices, with more than 30 years of experience raising capital in public and private markets and delivering results across more than 50 financing transactions.
His career includes finance leadership roles at Brown-Forman Corporation, La-Z-Boy, and Turning Point Brands, where as CFO he led the company’s successful IPO and NYSE listing. Mark also brings experience in corporate and investment banking with UBS, Citibank, and Key Bank. He began his career as an auditor with PricewaterhouseCoopers.
He is a Certified Public Accountant and Certified Cash Manager. He holds a BBA in Accounting and an MBA in Finance from the University of Toledo.
CONTACT
Email: contact@samoscapital.com
Phone: +1-502-797-4556
Address: 912 Veterans Way, Carmel IN 46032
Why Samos?
Samos is a Greek island in the eastern Aegean, birthplace of Pythagoras, Epicurus, and Aristarchus—the first person to propose that the Earth revolves around the sun.
The island was also a refuge for thinkers whose ideas were ahead of their time. Philosophers exiled there for embracing truths that would later become the foundations of science and mathematics.
We chose the name because it reflects how we work: with conviction and a long view. We only take on what we believe in.
