Richard P. Durham

Founder/Chairman

Rick founded Aries Capital Partners in 2007 because he loves working with entrepreneurial people and wanted to help passionate entrepreneurs build great businesses. He chose to form Aries with Jason Reading and Andrew Dent after having worked with both of them previously and knowing their business acumen, as well as their absolute integrity. Before forming Aries, Rick was a general partner and capital partner at Peterson Partners, a private equity firm.

Previously, Rick was the Chairman and CEO of Pliant Corporation, a leading manufacturer and supplier of plastic films and flexible packaging products with annual revenues of approximately $1 billion. During his tenure at Pliant, annual revenues tripled, and annual cash flow quintupled.

Rick spent his early career at Huntsman Corporation, where he held several positions, including Co-President and Chief Financial Officer and was a member of the board of directors. Rick is a graduate of The Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania.

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Jason Reading

Partner

Jason founded Aries Capital Partners with Rick Durham and Andy Dent in 2007 to focus on helping entrepreneurs and their businesses grow, unconstrained by the limitations of a fund. He has led investments from consumer products to services and includes structures ranging from roll-ups, minority/majority investments, management-led buyouts and growth capital.

Previous to Aries, Jason held positions at Peterson Partners, a private equity fund; Leucadia National, a publicly-held investor in distressed assets; Merrill Lynch, in their investment banking group; and Price Waterhouse, with their Audit and Business Advisory Services group.

Jason earned an MBA from Harvard Business School and a Bachelor of Science from Brigham Young University. He was a major in the Army National Guard, and served a one-year tour of duty in Baghdad as a company commander.

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Andrew Dent

Partner

Andy founded Aries Capital Partners with Rick Durham and Jason Reading in 2007. He recognized it as an opportunity to be involved in the entrepreneurial experience of starting a new investment firm with the vision of being the best financial partners to business leaders. Today, what drives Andy is his unique ability to form long-term relationships with entrepreneurs and uncover key insights needed to fuel growth. He has experience sourcing, analyzing, structuring, and managing private equity investments across a variety of industries.

Prior to joining Aries, Andy worked at Peterson Partners, a private equity firm. Post-graduation, he worked in the Transaction Advisory Services practice at Ernst & Young in New York performing buy-side financial due diligence for private equity firms.

Andy received M.S. and B.S. degrees in Accounting from Brigham Young University.

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Ryan Makahilahila

Associate

Ryan joined Aries Capital Partners in 2021 to help entrepreneurs grow their businesses and succeed through its flexible investment structure. His investment experience ranges across a variety of industries including consumer products and retail, healthcare, leisure and lodging, and technology. He has experience in investing across diverse structures, which include debt financings, mergers and acquisitions, leveraged buyouts, and growth capital.

Previous to Aries, Ryan held positions at Oaktree Capital Management, a publicly-held investor in credit, private equity, real assets and listed equities; Peterson Partners, a private equity fund; and Wells Fargo Securities, in their Leveraged Finance group.

Ryan earned a Bachelor of Science in finance from Brigham Young University. He grew up in Hawaii on the east side of Oahu in Kailua, HI.

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