Matthew L. Caras

Matt is a founder and principal of Leaders LLC, and leads the firm’s petroleum marketing and propane practices, industries in which the firm has completed 12 transactions since 2006.  He has extensive experience negotiating and structuring difficult transactions in a wide range of industries.  In addition to sales and acquisitions, Matt’s practice also focuses on restructurings, divestitures, management buyouts, and shareholder buyouts.  In addition to working full-time in Leaders’ M&A business, Matt is part-time counsel to Verrill Dana LLP, which is a full-service law firm with more than 100 attorneys conducting a nationwide practice from offices in Portland and Augusta, Maine, Boston, Massachusetts, Hartford, Connecticut, and Washington, D.C.  Matt received his A.B., cum laude, from Bowdoin College, and his J.D., with honors, from the University of Connecticut School of Law.

Brian T. Deveaux

Brian is a founder and principal of Leaders LLC.  Prior to forming Leaders, he was Chief Operating Officer at Seabrook International, and held several management positions at Bath Iron Works (A General Dynamics subsidiary).  Brian leads the firm's industrial, medical, and specialty gases practice, an industry in which the firm has completed close to 20 transactions.   He is a frequent speaker at industry events and has been widely published on the topic of mergers and acquisitions.  He serves on several non-profit boards focused on adult literacy.  Brian received his A.B. from Bowdoin College with majors in Economics and Math.

Gov. Angus S. King

Angus joined Leaders LLC in November of 2003 and works with our clients in developing and executing M&A strategies. As Governor of the State of Maine from 1995 until 2003, he focused a great deal of effort and resources on economic development and job creation. Angus had come to appreciate the challenges faced by many small business owners through his own experiences as the founder and President of Northeast Energy Management, Inc.  He is currently a Distinguished Lecturer at Bowdoin College and a Visiting Fellow at the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University .  Governor King is a graduate of Dartmouth College and The University of Virginia Law School.

J.R. “Buzz” Campbell

Buzz began his career in the industrial gas industry in 1962 with Air Products and Chemicals and left APCI in 1975 to join Burdox, Inc. in Cleveland, OH as EVP and COO.  In this position, he was instrumental in the sale of Burdox to AGA (now Linde AG).  In 1981, Buzz started J.R. Campbell & Associates, Inc. to provide highly focused marketing and strategy consulting services to US and international businesses. In 1989, he began publishing CryoGas International, which has become the leading journal covering the industry. Buzz has a B.M.E. from RPI and an MBA from Lehigh University.

Albert L. Small

Al joined Leaders LLC in 2005 after spending over forty years in the petroleum marketing industry. As an independent jobber, he built a successful business with over fifty outlets and a large Dealer network through a series of acquisitions and start-ups. After selling his business in 1986, Al worked for a number of years identifying and negotiating acquisition opportunities for the company that acquired his business. The perspective that Al has, as both a buyer and seller of privately owned businesses in the industry, provides us with a unique ability to advise our clients on the sale of their petroleum marketing businesses.