The Cambria Group is a private investment company which acquires and invests in small and mid-sized businesses with established operating histories. Cambria’s principals established the firm in 1996 to fill a void in the private equity markets — to pursue businesses which are fundamentally attractive, but which lack both the high growth characteristics sought by traditional venture capitalists and the scale required to interest most fund-based buyout firms.
Paul L. (Lew) Davies III
Mr. Davies founded The Cambria Group in 1996 and is its Managing Principal. He is an experienced private equity investor, having previously been a Principal in the leveraged buyout groups of both Brentwood Associates and The Fremont Group. Mr. Davies brings experience in all stages of the private equity process — identifying and sourcing opportunities, arranging financing for transactions, building management teams at both the functional and executive levels, assisting with portfolio company acquisition and divestiture programs, and exiting investments. He currently serves on seven corporate boards, as well as serving on the Board of Overseers of the Hoover Institution, the Board of Trustees of the Monterey Bay Aquarium, and the Advisory Council of the Stanford University Graduate School of Business. He is a former National Trustee of the Boys & Girls Clubs of America. Previously, Mr. Davies worked for Bechtel Group, Inc., a leading international engineering-construction firm, in both operating and financial roles. Mr. Davies’ positions in project management, as well as field roles in procurement, construction and startup capacities, provided broad line management experience. In addition, Mr. Davies had leadership roles in Bechtel Enterprises, the company’s project financing and investment arm, having opened its office in Saudi Arabia, with responsibility for all Middle Eastern activity, and having worked in numerous capacities in its merchant banking activities. He also served on the team established to secure the release of company personnel trapped during Iraq’s invasion of Kuwait. Earlier, Mr. Davies worked in Chevron Corporation’s foreign operation staff and was the primary real estate analyst for the company’s U.S. and Canadian pension plans. Mr. Davies holds a Bachelor’s degree in Industrial Engineering, with distinction, from Stanford University. He also received an MBA from Stanford’s Graduate School of Business, where he was an Arjay Miller Scholar.
René Lajous
Mr. Lajous is a Principal with The Cambria Group, working in the firm’s Menlo Park office. He participates in all aspects of Cambria’s activities, focusing equally on originating and evaluating investment opportunities, negotiating and arranging financing for transactions, and providing oversight for the firm’s portfolio companies. He has experience both as a member of and observer to the boards of directors of several private companies. Prior to joining Cambria, Mr. Lajous was a consultant at The Boston Consulting Group, a boutique management consulting firm, working in Dallas, Texas and Buenos Aires, Argentina. At BCG, he advised clients in the transportation, energy and telecommunications industries on a variety of issues ranging from strategy and operations to merger and acquisition activity and due diligence. Earlier, Mr. Lajous focused on logistics and operations in the consumer packaged goods industries, working for Procter & Gamble in Canada and Mexico, as well as Pillsbury in Canada. He also draws on broad experience developed leading projects in inventory control and supply chain management for these companies. Mr. Lajous earned a Bachelor of Applied Science in Industrial Engineering from the University of Toronto, earning the W.S. Wilson Medal for academic excellence. He subsequently received an MBA from the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School.
