Managing Partner Stephen H. Fraser,
Partner John B. Koch,
Partner Will Morris,
Vice President Jason Girson,
Senior Associate
Ransom has 23 years of experience in private equity, operations, and banking. He has spent the past 17 years in private equity, investing in the field services, niche logistics, and specialty rental services sectors. Prior to founding Grove Mountain in 2020, he was a Co-Founder and Partner at Eagle Merchant Partners, a southeastern-US-focused private equity firm from 2013-2020. From 2004-2013, he was a Director in the US Buyouts group of Arcapita, an international merchant bank. Prior to that, he was in the leveraged finance and corporate banking groups at Merrill Lynch and Wachovia, respectively. Ransom graduated from Washington & Lee University in 1996, and from the Darden School of Business at the University of Virginia in 2001.
Ransom and his wife, Michele, have three children and live in Atlanta. He enjoys traveling, coaching basketball (15 seasons), and spending time with family and friends playing golf, hiking, traveling and eating. He devotes significant time to causes that are important to his family including Children’s Hospital of Atlanta, Atlanta Youth Academy, Meals on Wheels, and Northside Methodist Church, among others.
Stephen has 40 years of experience founding, building, fixing, leading, and governing both private, private equity backed, and public companies, in services, niche logistics, equipment rental, and/or environmental industries. He led the turn-around as interim CEO of NYSE-traded, Horizon Lines (then the largest Jones Act container shipping company serving Puerto Rico, Alaska and Hawaii) completing that assignment in 2012. Previously, he led the revitalization of GENCO’s reverse logistics businesses and spent nearly a decade in private equity leading two company platforms in the logistics and transportation space. Prior to his tenure in private equity, Stephen built a third-party bulk chemical logistics business for GATX Corporation, having previously sold his environmental transportation business to GATX Capital. Previously, he spent 10 years working for international shipping container and associated pooled asset leasing giant, GE Seacontainers in both the U.S. and UK. For the last decade, Stephen has worked with a handful of private equity firms to help identify and acquire services, transportation and logistics businesses, and serve on their boards. He has a degree in Economics and Political Science from Columbia University.
Stephen and his wife live on a farm near Portland, OR – and have three grown children and a grandchild in OR as well. Stephen’s interests include farming, vintage cars, and he aspires to become a proficient fly fisherman on the streams near his place.
John has over 35 years of experience in service companies. He retired as President and CEO of PODS, a leader in the moving and storage industry, in 2021. Having joined the company in 2012, he oversaw PODS’ transformation by developing a culture that drove three critical areas for success: employee engagement into the top decile of U.S. measured companies, industry leading customer satisfaction, and enterprise valuation creation of nearly six times during his tenure. John previously served as President of ADT North America Residential / Small Business from 2010 until 2012. Following ADT’s acquisition of Broadview Security, he led the separation of ADT’s North American operations into residential/small business and commercial business units. He first joined ADT North America in January 2006, as Chief Operating Officer and was shortly promoted to lead the full portfolio of ADT North America. Prior to joining ADT, John was President of Wireline Services at Alltel, a $10 billion wireless and wireline services provider, where his responsibilities included local telephone, long distance, Internet, broadband data and directory operations. He had been with Alltel-related companies since 1991. His previous responsibilities included President of the Southeast Region, Executive Vice President of Marketing, Executive Vice President of Network Services, and Vice President of Marketing. John began his career in 1986 with The Analytic Sciences Corporation, initially working on the Strategic Defense Initiative program. He then directed a team in the design and development of information and decision support systems for government and commercial clients. He graduated from the University of Virginia with a Bachelor of Science in Systems Engineering with Highest Distinction and a Master of Science degree in Systems Engineering.
John and his wife have two grown children and live in Tampa, FL. He is an ardent supporter of the University of Virginia, currently serving as a Trustee for the University of Virginia Engineering Foundation and had previously served on the Advisory Board to the Systems Engineering department for over 12 years. His interests include multiple sports (particularly golf), traveling, wine, and rooting for his beloved Wahoos and Pittsburgh Steelers.
Will is a Vice President with Grove Mountain Partners. Prior to joining Grove Mountain, he was a Senior Associate at Audax Group, a US middle market private equity and private debt firm. Prior to that, he was an Investment Banking Analyst in the Leveraged Finance group at Societe Generale. Will graduated from the University of Alabama with a B.S. in Finance and Economics in 2010 and from the University of Alabama School of Law with a J.D. in 2013.
Will, his wife, and their son live in Atlanta. He enjoys spending time with his family as a new dad, watching SEC & NFL football (Roll Tide!) and English Premier League soccer, and playing fetch with his Portuguese Water Dog, Lily.
Jason is a Senior Associate with Grove Mountain Partners. Prior to joining Grove Mountain, he was a Senior Associate at Sunny River Management, a lower middle market private equity firm in Atlanta, GA. During his time at Sunny River, Jason spent most of his time focused on various industrial & business services sectors. Prior to that, he was an Investment Banking Associate in the Industrials Group at BMO Capital Markets in New York City. Jason graduated from the Vanderbilt University with a B.A. in Economics & History in 2016.
Jason and his wife reside in Atlanta. He grew up in Dallas and is an ardent supporter of his hometown’s professional sports teams, especially the Dallas Cowboys. His interests include sports, hiking, fishing, and traveling the world exploring new places with friends & family.