Johnny Chee How

Johnny Chee-How is an Atlanta-area credit and underwriting professional with a career spanning commercial finance, asset-based lending, and merchant banking. According to an InvestmentBank.com interview referencing Commenda Capital's principals, Chee-How — together with Tom Minick (now a Commenda Capital principal) — opened the first GE Capital office in Atlanta in the 1990s, marking the start of a long career in secured/middle-market lending in the Southeast.

His publicly aggregated work history reflects a progression through underwriting and portfolio-management roles: Assistant Vice President – Underwriting and Portfolio Management, Partner, Vice President of Underwriting and Senior Portfolio Manager, and Principal. He is educated at Sacred Heart University (Fairfield, Connecticut).

He is currently listed on LinkedIn and profile databases as working in Underwriting at Wingspire Capital, LLC, based in Alpharetta, Georgia. Wingspire Capital is a diversified, middle-market specialty finance firm providing senior debt solutions across industries; it is a portfolio company of Blue Owl Capital (its BDC trades as NYSE: OBDC). Wingspire's "Meet the Team" page lists him as a team member.

His link to Commenda Capital is evidenced by his firm email address ([hidden]) and by the shared GE Capital-Atlanta lineage with Commenda principal Tom Minick. Commenda Capital, LLC is an Atlanta merchant bank formed in 2011 by merging Batten Capital (debt and turnarounds) with Runningen Associates (equity and advisory), led by founder John R. Runningen. Note that the current Commenda "Our Team" page does not list Chee-How by name among its published principals and staff, so his precise, current role at Commenda could not be confirmed from primary sources.

• Firm profile (Commenda Capital): a merchant bank/financial-advisory firm that provides "creative, tailored solutions … through capital provision, strategy, and operational support to enhance shareholder value" for established management teams.
• Typical deal metrics (Commenda): target company revenue of ~$10M–$200M, EBITDA of ~$500K–$40M, and enterprise valuations concentrated in the ~$5M–$50M range — i.e., established middle-market companies, not startups.
• Capital and services: debt and turnaround capital, equity, M&A advisory, restructuring, ownership transitions, and growth/profitability support; securities activity runs through Commenda Securities, LLC (FINRA/SIPC).
• Sector orientation: manufacturing, distribution, third-party logistics/transportation, healthcare services and medical devices, and IT / healthcare IT.
• Personal lens (Chee-How): underwriting and credit/portfolio discipline — the "yes" is driven by cash-flow quality, collateral, and management strength typical of asset-based/secured middle-market lending, reflecting his GE Capital and Wingspire background.