Our Firm

Based in Annapolis, Maryland, ILEX Capital Group is a private equity investment and advisory firm that concentrates on direct investments in middle market businesses. We target investment opportunities that require $25 to $250 million in deployed capital per transaction. 

The firm was founded by Joseph Mathews and Rick Foster.  Prior to founding Ilex, Mr. Mathews was a Partner at the investment banking firm, Clearview Partners, from 2002-2006.  At Clearview, Mr. Mathews advised and sponsored transactions in consumer, industrial, technology and media sectors.  Prior to joining Clearview, Mr. Mathews was the founder, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Nexus Communications, Inc. from 1994 to 2001.  Mr. Mathews is currently a Managing Director at Ilex Capital. He holds a Bachelor of Science in Economics from the University of Maryland. 

Prior to joining Ilex in 2006, Rick Foster was with Lightningcast, Inc., a media company based in Baltimore, Maryland.  Mr. Foster served as the Chief Operating Officer and Chief Financial Officer at Lightningcast from 2003 through 2006 when the company was acquired by AOL.  Prior to Lightningcast, Mr. Foster was the President of CyberCFO from 1998 to 2001, a firm that provided outsourced financial officer services to early stage and venture backed companies. Prior to CyberCFO, Mr. Foster was with PriceWaterhouseCoopers where he served in their M&A advisory services group.  Mr. Foster holds a Bachelor of Science in Accounting from Frostburg State College, a Juris Doctor from the University of Baltimore, and an LLM in taxation from New York University School of Law.