CriticalPoint (“CriticalPoint”) is pleased to announce that Joe Onwuegbusi, Nick Cipiti, and Mike Vehaskari have been selected as “2025 Leaders of Influence: Banking & Finance” by the Los Angeles Business Journal (“LABJ”). The LABJ’s annual list profiles notable investment bankers for outstanding leadership and accomplishments in the banking and finance sector, as well as their contributions to the broader Los Angeles business community.
This recognition underscores CriticalPoint’s role as a trusted advisor and partner, known for consistently delivering high-touch, strategic guidance and the right resources to help clients navigate defining moments and beyond. When clients look for high-quality execution and superior outcomes, they rely on CriticalPoint’s proven track record across mergers and acquisitions, capital markets, special situations, deal sourcing, valuation, and special financial advisory situations.
Joe Onwuegbusi, Managing Director, Head of Deal Origination
At CriticalPoint, Joe Onwuegbusi is responsible for leading the Deal Origination division, managing sponsor/non-sponsor client relationships, and broadly originating and executing M&A transactions. He leverages his extensive, multidecade M&A experience across diverse industries to help buy-side clients construct theses and outreach strategies to accelerate capital deployment and to aid sell-side clients craft an effective exit strategy to yield the best outcome.
Joe leads a team of nearly 30 professionals that he has helped grow by nearly 20% as he continues to build out the organization to better serve CriticalPoint’s rapidly expanding client base.
Before CriticalPoint, Joe spent 18 years in various execution and leadership roles within Platinum Equity. Most recently, Joe was involved in firm-wide corporate strategy & development, evaluating different strategic alternatives for the firm. Before that, he was a deal team lead within the firm’s debut Small Cap Fund ($1.5B Fund), which focused on sourcing, negotiating, and structuring new acquisition opportunities with less than $40 million in EBITDA based in North America. Over his tenure, Joe has been directly involved in the acquisitions and/or sale of numerous assets across a range of industries.
Nick Cipiti, Managing Director
Nick joined CriticalPoint in early 2020. Nick’s technology and communications expertise has been additive to the team at CriticalPoint and has helped the firm win mandates in those sectors over the last four years. While Nick’s background is in TMT, he has quickly learned and gained expertise in other industries, including consumer products and business services, where he has helped CriticalPoint to source and execute sell-side transactions.
Nick has continued to grow his practice at CriticalPoint and become better known in the Southern California community. Despite a challenging time for M&A, Nick has continued to close transactions. Nick has a wealth of experience representing family- and founder-owned businesses that are seeking institutional capital or undergoing their first M&A transaction. For many of these clients, it is the most important business transaction they will undertake. Nick’s ability to consistently source and execute transactions for these types of clients is a testament to his client-first attitude and ability to meet a range of client and business needs.
Mike Vehaskari, Managing Director
Mike joined CriticalPoint in 2023 and is responsible for originating and executing mergers and acquisitions. He brings over 25 years of experience in investment banking and management consulting across a range of industries and geographies. His strategic insights are a valuable asset to both the firm and its clients.
Prior to joining CriticalPoint, Mike worked at Fredericks Michael & Co., a New York-based boutique investment bank specializing in cross-border, mid-market transactions. Mike’s clients were predominantly European public and privately owned companies executing both buy-side and sell-side transactions in the US, Europe, and Latin America. Previously, he was with PWC in Helsinki, Finland, in the cross-border investment.
Mike has significant experience advising on transactions involving privately held and family-owned companies, whether as a client or a counterparty, which provides him with an invaluable perspective that he brings when advising his clients who may be navigating their first M&A transaction. He strives to be more than just an advisor to his clients; his goal is to be a trusted partner who advocates for their best interests to ensure the optimal outcome.
To review the LABJ 2025 Leaders of Influence: Banking & Finance in full, please click here.
About CriticalPoint
CriticalPoint provides tailored financial solutions through a trusted platform, combining the best of Investment Banking and Private Capital. Backed by decades of diverse transaction experience, the CriticalPoint team delivers the insights clients and stakeholders need to achieve superior outcomes. Founded in 2012 by senior M&A professionals with a passion for deal-making, CriticalPoint stands out for its deep expertise in Investment Banking—including mergers and acquisitions, capital markets, deal sourcing, special situations, and valuation advisory—as well as in Private Capital investing, with a focus on corporate divestitures and special situations. When business owners, management teams, private equity firms, and corporate sellers reach a defining moment across a range of industries, they rely on CriticalPoint’s proven expertise.
