Ed Ludwig, Managing Director and Member

ed.ludwig@meritcapitaladvisors.com

 

Ed Ludwig is a Managing Director and Member of Merit Capital Advisors, LLC. Since founding the company in April 2012, Mr. Ludwig has closed eight buy side and sell side transactions, in addition to being engaged on various ongoing and completed project finance advisory and strategic advisory mandates for financial and strategic investors. Mr. Ludwig’s experience combines investment banking, energy consulting, and governmental service. His energy career began during college working as an intern for the Pennsylvania Governors Energy Council where he became interested  in cogeneration and small power production. He returned after graduating to help implement the PURPA legislation and regulations that launched the US independent power producer (IPP) industry. During graduate school he interned on Wall Street, assisting on project financings in Drexel Burnham Lambert's municipal finance division. After graduation he returned to Drexel Burnham to join its Lease and Project Finance Group where he worked on independent power M&A in addition to project and lease financings. Mr. Ludwig then started a New York office for ICF Resources focused on due diligence and advisory services before returning to investment banking at Kidder, Peabody and PaineWebber where he continued to specialize in the power and utilities sector, which also included various corporate equity and debt capital markets transactions, in addition to international power projects. Then, at PricewaterhouseCoopers Securities and more recently Dexia Global Structured Finance, Mr. Ludwig was a managing director responsible for their domestic power practices. He has closed more than 50 financial advisory and capital markets transactions representing approximately $10 billion (including several "first of their kind" M&A and project finance advisory transactions), in addition to providing strategic advisory and due diligence services on numerous other engagements. Mr. Ludwig graduated with an AB in Economics from Harvard College and a master's degree in public and private management (MPPM: MBA equivalent) from the Yale School of Management. 



John Maggio,  Associate

john.maggio@meritcapitaladvisors.com


John Maggio is an Associate with Merit Capital Advisors where he brings Wall Street experience as an associate and analyst including in the power sector.  Most recently, he worked in the Power & Alternative Energy Division of Citigroup's Corporate & Investment Banking Department on a variety of asset acquisitions and dispositions, capital raises, and restructurings.  This experience included Term Loan A, Term Loan B and DIP/bankruptcy exit financings and entailed detailed modeling of corporates, projects, and energy hedges.  His prior experience also includes providing analytical support to JP Morgan Chase's Wealth Management Division's Vice Chairman and specialist teams serving ultra high net worth clients and as a treasury analyst for a commodities trading firm.  He graduated from the University of Michigan's Stephen M. Ross School of Business with a Bachelor of Business Administration and with an emphasis on finance and accounting.



Brian Brink, Analyst

brian.brink@meritcapitaladvisors.com


Brian Brink is an Analyst with Merit Capital Advisors where he is applying his prior experience in mergers and acquisitions

and debt capital markets to the independent power industry. Most recently, he was an analyst at Macquarie Capital where he built financial models and assisted transaction teams in the middle market space across four verticals for mergers and acquisitions and fairness opinion engagements, He has additional experience in investment banking participating in debt issuances and tender offfers as well as interning at a boutique private equity firm. His work at Merit Capital Advisors includes mergers and acquisitions and project finance advisory, and he has participated in two closed buy side transactions.  He graduated from New York University's Stern School of Business with a BS in Finance and Economics and where he was a member of the Varsity Swim Team and captain of the Water Polo Team.



Rafaela Da Silva, Analyst

rafaela.dasilva@meritcapitaladvisors.com

 

Rafaela Da Silva is an Analyst with Merit Capital Advisors where she provides assistance with executing transactions along with conducting industry research and preparing presentations.  Ms. Da Silva has supported buy side and sell side transactions and has worked on both conventional and renewable power projects including five closed  transactions. Her role additionally includes maintaining data bases on market transactions and trends and performing specific analyses, organizing due diligence and compiling documentation for buy side and sell side engagements. Ms. Da Silva received a Bachelor of Business Administration from Baruch College where she majored in international marketing. She has a particular interest in international trade and finance and is fluent in several languages.  Ms. Da Silva began interning at Merit Capital Advisors while completing her undergraduate studies.



Christine Davis, Analyst

christine.davis@meritcapitaladvisors.com

 

Christine Davis is an Analyst with Merit Capital Advisors where she draws on prior experience in project and structured finance. Most recently, she was an analyst with ING Capital where she held rotational positions as part of their international talent program which included their natural resources and infrastructure finance and advisory groups. Notably, Ms. Davis participated in a coordinating lead arranger managed transaction that received 2016 Deal of the Year Award from Project Finance International. At Merit, she continues to work in a project finance advisory capacity while also assisting in mergers and acquisitions and providing strategic advisory services. A graduate of the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania, Ms. Davis holds a BS in Economics with a concentration in finance and a certificate in Spanish and where she was a member of their Division I Varsity Rowing Team. 

 



 

 

Additional financial professionals are available to work with the Merit Capital Advisors team on a consulting basis

 

 

 

 
 
 

           Merit Capital Advisors, LLC

           405 Lexington Avenue, 26th Floor

           New York, NY 10174

           212-572-9600

           info@meritcapitaladvisors.com

Ed Ludwig, Managing Director and Member

ed.ludwig@meritcapitaladvisors.com

 

Ed Ludwig is a Managing Director and Member of Merit Capital Advisors, LLC. Since founding the company in 2012, Mr. Ludwig has closed 10 buy side and sell side M&A and project finance advisory transactions, in addition to being engaged on various ongoing and completed project finance advisory and strategic advisory mandates for financial and strategic investors. Mr. Ludwig’s experience combines investment banking, energy consulting, and governmental service. His energy career began during college working as an intern for the Pennsylvania Governors Energy Council where he became interested  in cogeneration and small power production. He returned after graduating to help implement the PURPA legislation and regulations that launched the US independent power producer (IPP) industry. During graduate school he interned on Wall Street, assisting on project financings in Drexel Burnham Lambert's municipal finance division. After graduation he returned to Drexel Burnham to join its Lease and Project Finance Group where he worked on independent power M&A in addition to project and lease financings. Mr. Ludwig then started a New York office for ICF Resources focused on due diligence and advisory services before returning to investment banking at Kidder, Peabody and PaineWebber where he continued to specialize in the power and utilities sector, which also included various corporate equity and debt capital markets transactions, in addition to international power projects. Then, at PricewaterhouseCoopers Securities and more recently Dexia Global Structured Finance, Mr. Ludwig was a managing director responsible for their domestic power practices. He has closed more than 50 financial advisory and capital markets transactions representing approximately $12 billion (including several "first of their kind" M&A and project finance advisory transactions), in addition to providing strategic advisory and due diligence services on numerous other engagements. Mr. Ludwig graduated with an AB in Economics from Harvard College and received a master's degree in public and private management (MPPM: MBA equivalent) from the Yale School of Management. 




Maria Navea, Senior Associate

maria.navea@meritcapitaladvisors.com


Maria Navea is an Investment Banking Senior Associate with Merit Capital Advisors where she assists with all aspects of the firm's engagements, industry research, and marketing. At Merit, Ms. Navea has closed several sell side M&A transactions totaling nearly $1 billion along with additional sales of over $1 billion that have reached definitive agreements. Ms. Navea also has worked at Merit on project financings, valuations, and other strategic advisory engagements involving renewable and conventional power generation consistent with the Energy Transition. Her prior work experience includes investment banking and real estate finance in which she assisted with M&A target searches,  debt and equity financings, and private placements. Prior to joining Merit in 2022,  Ms. Navea received her MBA at Pepperdine with a concentration in Finance.  Her undergraduate degree was conferred by Mount Saint Mary's University where she majored in Business Administration. Throughout her academic studies, Ms. Navea actively participated in various Business Case Competitions where her teams were awarded several top honors, and she has held numerous extra-curricular leadership positions.  She also is fluent in Spanish.



Nancy Zheng, Analyst Intern 

nancy.zheng@meritcapitaladvisors.com

 

Nancy Zheng is an Analyst Intern where she supports the firm's transactional work including target searches and investment screening along with conducting industry research. As part of the firm's market monitoring, Ms. Zheng maintains  and updates various data bases on Mergers and Acquisitions and Project Financings in the power and utilities sector. Ms. Zheng has prior finance internship experience with Waterbrook Advisors where she assisted with target searches,  market analysis, and due diligence and with S&P Global's US Public Finance and Structured Finance groups.  At University of Michigan, Ms. Zheng has actively contributed to the Michigan Investment Group, Wolverine Capital Investments, and Capital Consulting Group, which has included holding various leadership positions.  Ms. Zheng is enrolled in the University of Michigan's Steven M. Ross School of Business with an emphasis in finance and a minor in entrepreneurship. As a competitive handball player for several years, Ms. Zheng was New York City's junior champion from 2021-2023.  She also is fluent in Mandarin.

 

 

Additional financial professionals are available to work with the Merit Capital Advisors team on a consulting basis