Fernando Lehrer

About Fernando Lehrer

I’m a Private Equity independent sponsor and Managing Partner at Pontis Group, focused on acquiring and growing lower middle-market businesses in maritime services, industrial contracting, and environmental/safety technology.I came up through the technical side of the maritime industry—starting in shipyards and marine repair in Argentina, then moving into classification roles with Lloyd\'s Register, ClassNK, and ABS, conducting vessel surveys, design certifications, and working with shipyards and asset owners. I later served as President of London Offshore Consultants (Americas) before transitioning into maritime advisory, capital markets, and investment banking roles.I co-founded Seaproc, an e-procurement platform for marine industries, and then stepped into the CEO seat at NanoVapor, leading the commercialization of vapor-suppression and tank-degassing technology for fuel terminals, refineries, and aviation maintenance.That mix of yard floor, class/consulting, entrepreneurship, and CEO experience is what I bring to Pontis Group. I work with founders, families, and financial sponsors to source and structure acquisitions, design capital stacks with PE funds and family offices, and then help professionalize operations, expand margins, and build platforms through add-on M&A in maritime and industrial services.

Experience

1. Managing Partner

   Pontis Group

   Jan 2025 — Present · Houston, TX, US

   Pontis Group is my independent sponsor platform focused on acquiring and scaling lower middle-market companies in maritime services, industrial contracting, and environmental/safety technology.Source, structure, and execute proprietary transactions with founder- and family-owned businesses in asset-intensive and highly regulated sectors. Design tailored capital stacks in partnership with private equity funds, family offices, and lenders—including equity, management rollovers, and structured credit.Build value-creation plans driven by operational improvement, commercial expansion, service-line diversification, and additive M&A (\"second-bite\" outcomes for sellers). Leverage hands-on experience in shipyards, class societies (ABS, Lloyd\'s Register, ClassNK), and leadership of both regional consultancies and growth-stage technology companies to support management teams post-close.Act as an active operating partner: helping professionalize operations, lead integration, and drive measurable margin expansion across industrial and maritime platforms. Focus on transactions ranging from $5M–$30M EBITDA with PE funds, family offices, and strategic co-sponsors.

Education

• University of Buenos Aires

  Master of Science - MS, Mechanical Engineering and Naval Architecture

  1983 — 1989

Skills

• Maritime
• Offshore Drilling
• Marine Engineering
• Shipbuilding
• Naval Architecture
• Maintenance & Repair
• Shipping
• Engineering
• Operations Management
• Inspection
• Risk Assessment
• Petroleum
• Software Development
• Management Consulting
• Product Development
• Upstream
• Oil & Gas Industry
• Ships
• Lng
• Procurement
• Navy
• Gas
• Ship Management
• International Shipping
• Vessels
• Ports
• Navigation
• Welding
• Safety Management Systems
• Marine Survey
• Tanker
• Liquefied Natural Gas (Lng)