Robert Berner

Robert is one of the BCAC directors as well as a founder and Joint Managing Partner, Chief Investment Officer of Bespoke and Chairman of Bespoke’s Investment Committee. He has been active in the private equity industry for over 30 years. Mr. Berner has sat on numerous boards and is currently Chairman of Johnnie-O LLC (men’s lifestyle brand). Mr. Berner also was a principal investor in, and Chairman of Diversified Distribution Systems, LLC (DDS), the largest specialty retail distribution and services business in the United States, which was recently sold very successfully to Bunzl Plc. Mr. Berner was previously a Partner at CVC, a global private equity firm with over $50 billion of assets under management and assisted in the opening and development of the firm’s US efforts, including serving as Chairman of CVC US. Prior to CVC, he served as a Managing Director at Ripplewood Holdings and was a member of the firm’s Investment Committee. Prior thereto, Mr. Berner was a Partner and member of the Investment Committee of Charterhouse International. Mr. Berner began his career in the investment banking division of Morgan Stanley where he was a Principal in the mergers and acquisitions department. Mr. Berner also serves on the board of one of Bespoke’s portfolio companies, Vinventions LLC. In addition, Mr. Berner has acted as a non-executive director on the boards of numerous private equity portfolio companies during his private equity career and has sat on the board of several charitable and not for profit organizations. Mr. Berner has an MBA from Northwestern University and a BBA in Finance from the University of Notre Dame.