Frank Mitsch

Bear, Stearns & Co., Inc. is a global investment banking, securities trading and brokerage firm located in New York City with additional offices in Dallas, Boston and San Francisco. The firm is a subsidiary Bear Sterns Cos., Inc. (NYSE: BSC). Their equity research team consists of senior analysts located throughout the world. In addition to domestic coverage, they have research teams focusing on Latin America, Asia and Europe. The analysts use a bottom-up approach to stock selection. The Bear Stearns fixed-income research department provides coverage of every sector of the fixed-income universe. The financial analytics and structured transactions group (F.A.S.T) provides investment research, fixed-income portfolio management and analytical systems, trading technology and general financial expertise. The group also provides a broad range of services to financial institutions including asset-liability management, balance sheet restructuring, receivables-based financing analysis, security and portfolio analysis, peer analysis, and historical and real-time market-based information.

Veolia WTS USA, Inc. is based in Trevose, PA. Veolia WTS USA, Inc. was acquired by Hercules, Inc. on October 15, 1998 for $2,144.52 million. Part of Veolia Environnement SA, Veolia WTS USA is a company that provides engineered chemical treatment of water, wastewater, and process systems. The company was founded in 1869. Yuvbir Singh has been the CEO of the company since 2019.

Merrill Lynch, Pierce, Fenner & Smith, Inc. (MLPFS) is the SEC-registered broker/dealer subsidiary of Merrill Lynch & Co., Inc., ultimately held by Charlotte-based Bank of America Corp. (NYSE: BAC). The firm was founded in 1958 and is headquartered in New York City. In 2010, Banc of America Securities LLC merged with MLPFS and the firm uses the trade name Bank of America Merrill Lynch. MLPFS's global strategy and economics team serves institutional and individual investors using a wide range of macroeconomic disciplines. Their analysis of global issues provides clients with investment ideas, market forecasts, macro overviews and specific sector recommendations across asset classes, regions and disciplines. Their equity research team conducts fundamental analysis on companies globally and provides institutional and retail clients with industry-specific and in-depth research and analysis on numerous industries. The firm's global fixed-income and equity-linked research focuses on fixed-income and equity derivatives, fixed-income strategy, convertibles, commodities, high-yield, mortgages, municipals and global foreign exchange.

Deutsche Bank Securities, Inc. (DBSI) is a SEC-registered broker/dealer headquartered in New York City. The firm was founded in 1971 and is a wholly-owned investment banking and brokerage arm of DB U.S. Financial Markets Holding Corp., ultimately held by Deutsche Bank AG (NYSE: DB, FRA: DBK) in Germany. DBSI provides securities brokerage and investment advisory services to domestic and international private clients and institutions. They are also a primary dealer in US government securities as designated by the Federal Reserve.

BB&T Securities LLC, doing business as BB&T Capital Markets, is the broker/dealer subsidiary of BB&T Corp. (NYSE: BBT). The firm is headquartered in Richmond, Virginia. They offer a full array of investment, trading and execution services to middle-market companies. BB&T Capital Markets' sales and trading arm is comprised of 2 groups: Debt Securities Sales & Trading and Equity Sales & Trading. The Debt Securities Sales & Trading group focuses on: (1) Government and agency securities (2) corporate bonds (3) municipal bonds (4) asset-backed securities (5) mortgage-backed securities (6) preferred securities and (7) money market desk (short-term securities including BB&T funding). The Equity Sales & Trading group focuses on: (1) institutional block execution services (2) institutional distribution of proprietary research (3) providing proprietary access to industry leading conferences and management teams (4) serving as a NASDAQ market maker for over 250 securities (5) stock buybacks including 10b-18 and 10b5-1 trading plans and (6) 144 stock sales, individual 10b5-1 trading plans (buy and sell) and employee cashless stock option programs. BB&T Capital Markets provides research coverage of the communications, defense and government services, energy, financial services, furnishings and consumer durables, healthcare, industrial services, retail/consumer durables and transportation services sectors.

Kline & Co., Inc. provides business and management consulting services. The company is headquartered in Parsippany, NJ.