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The largest forum for networking and discussion of special purpose acquisition companies and alternative IPO techniques.
Successful finance professionals know that whenever they face an uncertain market, it’s best to be informed with reliable information.
Anyone involved with special purpose acquisition companies cannot afford to miss The SPAC Conference 2023. Each year, this renowned conference hosted by DealFlow Events is widely considered the best in its class, delivering the most current and reliable information needed to thrive in the increasingly challenging SPAC market.
Those who are serious about SPACs know this event is the most important forum for networking and gaining expert perspectives. Now, with all the uncertainty surrounding the future of SPACs, it’s more important than ever to meet and discuss these topics with experts across a range of disciplines.
If you’re a private company considering a SPAC merger (or currently conducting a SPAC merger), we’re offering a unique opportunity to network with the largest group of deal-makers in the business. The conference includes private meeting space for executives interested in meeting with management teams and investors.
Qualifying companies will enjoy all the benefits of attendance which includes access to private meeting areas and use of scheduling software to facilitate introductions. And best of all… if you qualify to participate, you get a free ticket!
SPAC Executives
Law Firms
Brokerage Firms
Institutional Investors
Hedge Funds
SPAC Investors
Investor Relations Professionals
Investment Bankers
Fund Managers
Underwriter and Issuer Counsel
SPAC Targets
Private Equity Investors
Deal Advisors
Accountants
SPAC Sponsors and Management
Structured Finance Investors
The SPAC Conference is the place where the industry’s thought-leaders gather to discuss near-term strategies for deal-making and long-term trends in the market. Attendees will learn from the most experienced and respected professionals working in SPACs today. Their panels and presentations give context to the current state of the market, while considering the future of what’s to come and how best to prepare.
Offering the largest gathering of investors, bankers and management teams in the business. You can count on the best networking to maximize your business development.
The SPAC Conference includes 1-on-1 meetings that you can schedule through our event app, allowing you to connect with conference attendees even before the event.
Our panelists and presenters are thought leaders in the business. They’ll provide perspective on both the current and expected state of the market.
Comprehensive and technical discussions of legal issues, finance trends, and deal dynamics.
Offering the largest gathering of investors, bankers and management teams in the business. You can count on the best networking to maximize your business development.
The SPAC Conference includes 1-on-1 meetings that you can schedule through our event app, allowing you to connect with conference attendees even before the event.
Our panelists and presenters are thought leaders in the business. They’ll provide perspective on both the current and expected state of the market.
Comprehensive and technical discussions of legal issues, finance trends, and deal dynamics.
As we’ve heard time and time again, those who attend The SPAC Conference gain a competitive edge over those who do not.
Senior Vice President
Laurel Hill
Donna Ackerly is a corporate governance professional with extensive experience in hostile and friendly transactions, contested shareholder meetings, executive compensation, corporate governance and other proxy matters.
Prior to joining Laurel Hill, Ms. Ackerly was a Senior Managing Director with Georgeson LLC for more than 30 years. Donna is a member of the Society for Corporate Governance, National Investor Relations Institute and has been a frequent speaker on proxy and corporate governance issues. She was also a panelist on the SEC Roundtable on Proxy Voting.
Americas FAAS Transaction Leader
Ernst & Young
Karim has more than 23 years of experience serving clients in a variety of industries. He has extensive knowledge of special purpose acquisition company (SPAC) mergers covering accounting, reporting, regulatory, operational and integration matters. Karim has lead 50+ SPAC transactions in the past 10 years. Karim advises clients on numerous accounting and financial reporting matters including: mergers and acquisitions, registration statements’ complex accounting matters, policies and procedures, IPOs, debt offerings, purchase accounting, spin-outs, divestitures, valuation-related matters associated with purchase accounting, carve-out accounting, consolidation matters, fresh start and bankruptcy accounting, and other complex accounting matters, as well as compliance with SEC financial reporting requirements for US domestic and foreign private issuers. He is a Certified Public Accountant (CPA) licensed in the state of California; and a member of the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants (AICPA).
Director
Chardan Capital Markets
Guy Barudin is a Director at Chardan Capital Markets providing capital raising and M&A advisory support to emerging growth companies with an emphasis on SPAC transactions. Chardan led and advised more than 170 SPAC IPOs and mergers with more than $38 billion in transaction value since the firm was founded in 2003. Prior to joining Chardan, Mr. Barudin was Managing Director at Terrapin Partners, a private equity investment firm and SPAC sponsor where he was Chief Operating Officer of several Terrapin-sponsored SPACs and worked to close two SPAC business combinations with combined transaction value exceeding $2 billion. Prior to Terrapin, Mr. Barudin held business development positions at Medco Health Solutions and MasterCard International where he focused on strategic alliances and M&A in the pharmacy, healthcare information technology, and payments industries. Prior to Mastercard, managed corporate development, finance, product management, and M&A in venture-backed technology companies serving the energy and industrial controls industries.
US Capital Markets Transactions Leader
Deloitte
Will is a partner with Deloitte &Touche LLP and offers more than 16 years of experience providing advisory and audit services to clients. He leads Deloitte’s Central Region IPO and SPAC Execution Group for the Accounting, Reporting and Advisory practice. He has extensive private equity experience including auditing and/or advising portfolio companies regarding public exit strategies. He has extensive experience leading IPO engagements including reverse mergers, special purpose acquisition companies, recapitalizations, Up-C Structures, predecessor accounting, and SEC pre-clearance filings. He is a certified public accountant in Texas and has a Masters in Professional Accounting from the University of Texas.
Partner
Ropes & Gray
Jackie Cohen is a partner in the firm’s mergers & acquisitions group in the New York office. She guides public and private companies through complex mergers, acquisitions, joint ventures, divestitures, carve-outs spin-offs, and strategic investments.
Jackie advises on both domestic and cross-border transactions across many industries and verticals, including financial services, media and entertainment, retail and consumer products and technology. She also has extensive experience counseling on high-profile and business-critical shareholder activism, takeover defense and corporate governance matters.
Chambers recognizes Jackie as a leading lawyer for Corporate/M&A in New York, where clients praise her “business focus,” describing her as an “excellent, technical practitioner.” Jackie is also recognized as a “Highly Regarded” lawyer for M&A in the U.S. by IFLR1000 and a “Leading Lawyer” for M&A by The Legal 500 US.
Prior to joining Ropes & Gray, Jackie was a partner in the New York office of another international law firm.
Managing Director
Morgan Stanley, Cotto Wealth Management Group
James Cotto is a Managing Director – Wealth Management, Wealth Advisor at The Cotto Wealth Management Group at Morgan Stanley Global Headquarters in Purchase, New York. He built his practice by providing entrepreneurs and other clients with the guidance they need to pursue financial independence for themselves and financial sustainability for the philanthropic organizations most important to them. James’ growing, diverse team of next gen Latinos and women collaboratively work together to serve clients of unique segments such as high-net-worth individuals, families, business owners, professional athletes and entertainers, special purpose acquisition companies, endowments, foundations, and more.
Partner
Kirkland & Ellis
Tamar Donikyan represents public and private companies in a range of corporate and securities matters, including initial and follow-up public offerings, mergers and acquisitions, SEC reporting and compliance and corporate governance matters. Tamar also has an active practice representing SPACs in their IPOs and in their business combination transactions, as well as in financing transactions concurrent to the closing of a SPAC business combination.
Partner
Sidley
Josh DuClos is a partner in Sidley’s office in Century City. He concentrates his practice on representing private equity sponsors, public and privately held companies, and their respective stakeholders and advisors in de-SPAC transactions, mergers, buyouts, investments and divestitures. Josh was named to the Daily Journal’s “Top 40 under 40” list, which celebrates the achievements of California-based lawyers under the age of 40 for 2020.
Senior Vice President & Partner
Woodruff Sawyer
Yelena is a member of Woodruff Sawyer’s transactional insurance brokerage and SPAC teams. She advises clients on M&A- and IPO-related insurance solutions, including representations and warranties insurance and D&O insurance for SPACs.
Yelena is a frequent speaker and author. She serves as the M&A managing editor of the American Bar Association’s Business Law Today and is the executive editor of the SPAC Notebook, a blog series that covers SPACs and SPAC risks.
In 2022, Yelena was named in Insurance Business America's "Hot 100," which lists top professionals whose contributions have helped shape the insurance industry.
Prior to Woodruff Sawyer, Yelena oversaw the development of Bloomberg Law’s practical guidance, reference and analysis content, covering capital markets, M&A, and securities law.
Yelena practiced as a senior capital markets associate at Clifford Chance and a corporate associate at LeBoeuf, Lamb, Greene & MacRae (later Dewey & LeBoeuf) and earned her BS in Economics from Cornell University and her JD from Fordham University School of Law.
Partner
Ellenoff Grossman & Schole
Douglas S. Ellenoff, a member of Ellenoff Grossman & Schole LLP since its founding in 1992, is a corporate and securities attorney with a specialty in alternative financings, including, SPACs, M&A, PIPEs, RDs and Crowdfunding. In the last 10 years, he has been involved at various stages in numerous registered public offerings, including more than 100 financings and, hundreds of private placements into public companies. Since 2002, Mr. Ellenoff has been involved with over 250 SPAC IPOs and 60 business combinations.
COO
Climate Real Impact Solutions
Anne Frank-Shapiro has over 30 years of senior operational experience at SPACs, private equity firms and a global investment bank.
Ms. Frank-Shapiro most recently served as Chief Operating Officer (COO) of Climate Real Impact Solutions (CRIS) three SPACs. Previously, Ms. Frank-Shapiro served as Chief Administrative Officer (CAO) and Chief Compliance Officer (CCO) of PE firm, Pegasus Capital Advisors from 2013 to 2019.
Beforehand, she held the same titles (CAO and CCO) for global PE firm, Hudson Clean Energy.
During 20+ years at Credit Suisse, Ms. Frank-Shapiro held senior positions in the Investment Banking Division including COO for Global Emerging Markets head and led IBD’s Global Expense Management.
Ms. Frank-Shapiro advanced IBD client coverage strategy and account reviews, designed client profitability models (subsequently rolled out across CS), and served as COO for cross-divisional initiatives, including expanding structured products and large cap coverage across CS.
Prior to Credit Suisse, Ms. Frank-Shapiro served as CAO at NYC Department of Environmental Protection managing a $4 billion capital budget.
Ms. Frank Shapiro currently serves as a Trustee of The Town Hall, a national historic landmark venue in NYC.
CEO
Graf Acquisition Corp
James A. Graf has been our Chief Executive Officer since July 2020. Mr. Graf served as the Chief Executive Officer of Graf Industrial Corp., a blank check company, from June 2018 through its business combination with Velodyne Lidar, Inc. in September 2020. Mr. Graf served as a Director of Graf Industrial Corp. from June 2018 to September 2019 and served as a Director of Velodyne Lidar, Inc. from September 2020 to February 2021. Mr. Graf has served as an Independent Director of Catcha Investment Corp. (NYSE: CHAA) since February 2021. Mr. Graf served as a Director of Platinum Eagle Acquisition Corp. from January 2018 through its business combination with Target Logistics Management, LLC and RL Signor Holdings, LLC in March 2019. Mr. Graf served as the Vice President, Chief Financial Officer, and Treasurer of Double Eagle Acquisition Corp. from its inception in June 2015 through its business combination with Williams Scotsman, Inc. in November 2017.
Head of Capital Markets
Nasdaq
At Nasdaq, Jay Heller is senior member of the Capital Markets Team. With over 25 years’ experience in the financial markets arena, Jay was tasked by senior management to lead a team in analyzing and enhancing the process in which new listings are facilitated on the exchange. Over the years, Nasdaq has introduced several innovative tools, leveraging data and technology to provide greater transparency for IPOs and Direct Listings.
Under his leadership, the team has executed more than 2,300 IPOs, consisting of operating companies and SPAC’s. Some of the world’s most innovative companies have gone public on Nasdaq during his tenure including: Rivian, Mobileye, Coinbase, Lyft, TPG, Warner Music, Airbnb and GlobalFoundries, just to name a few.
Prior to joining the Nasdaq in 2008, Jay was the Managing Director of Institutional Trading and Sales at American Capital Partners. There he was a partner on the Institutional Trading and Sales Desk, while working with various hedge funds and financial institutions. Jay also has worked as a market marker at Pershing Capital Markets and NDB Capital Markets, a subsidiary of Deutsche Bank.
Managing Director
The Benchmark Company
Mike Holbert is a Managing Director in Benchmark’s New York Investment Banking Division. Prior to joining Benchmark, Mike was a Managing Director at TIAA (2002-2019) where he held various roles, including most recently managing a $3bn (peak) Global Equity Dividend fund, Director of International Equity Research and Global Telecom Equity Analyst. From 2000-2002 Mike was the Director of Corporate Development for Versatel Telecom in Amsterdam, The Netherlands where he sourced and evaluated financing and strategic opportunities as well as ultimately managing the business’ balance sheet restructuring. Mike worked at Lehman Brothers from 1997-2000 in the Investment Banking group and began his career as a management consultant at Price Waterhouse. Mike earned a B.S. from Cornell University in Business Management and Marketing.
Senior Vice President & Partner
Woodruff Sawyer
Priya Cherian Huskins is partner at Woodruff Sawyer, a full-service commercial insurance brokerage. Priya is a recognized expert in D&O liability risk and its mitigation.
Priya is the author of the popular D&O Notebook blog. There she writes about current issues effecting directors and officers of public and large private companies in the areas of D&O liability, insurance and corporate governance.
Priya service on the board of a public company and a private company board.
Partner & Managing Director
Alix Partners
Matt helps clients solve their most complex and important financial reporting, regulatory, investigation, compliance, and litigation problems. In March 2022, he returned to AlixPartners after spending over three years as the Chief Accountant for the Enforcement Division of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. As Chief Accountant, Matt was responsible for leading the Enforcement Division’s enforcement program related to financial accounting, disclosure, and auditing enforcement matters. His unique combination of experience as a regulator, forensic accountant, auditor and accounting expert make him a trusted advisor to counsel, regulatory agencies, and company management. Matt earned his bachelor’s degree in accounting from the University of Notre Dame. He is a certified public accountant and certified fraud examiner.
Partner
Maples Group
Michael is partner of Maples and Calder's Corporate team in the Maples Group's Cayman Islands office. Michael's expertise covers all aspects of corporate and securities law, including IPOs, mergers and acquisitions, joint ventures, SPACs and a broad range of banking, structured finance and capital markets transactions. His practice focuses on the energy industry and public company listings and corporate governance.
Co-Founder & Co-Managing Partner
SilverBox Capital
Stephen M. Kadenacy is Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Silverbox Corp. III, and is a Co-Founder and a Co-Managing Partner of SilverBox Capital. He also serves as the Chairman of Centerline Logistics Corp, a leading marine oil transportation services firm and ship assist company, since July 2019. Mr. Kadenacy served as the Chief Executive Officer of SBEA until its business combination with BRCC in February 2022 and served as Chairman and CEO of Boxwood Merger Corp until its business combination and remained on the board of directors of the combined company, Atlas Technical Consultants, Inc., until April 2020. Prior roles included a number of senior leadership roles at AECOM, a large engineering and technical services business, including its President, Chief Operating Officer, and Chief Financial Officer. Previously, Mr. Kadenacy was a Partner at KPMG in Economic Consulting and served as a member of the board of directors of ABM Industries, a provider of facility management services, YMCA of Greater Los Angeles and the Board of Trustees for the UCLA’s Anderson School of Business.
Managing Director, SPAC Practice Leader
Centri Consulting
Derek joined Centri Business Consulting, LLC in September 2020 and brings over 20 years of accounting experience in both public and private industries. Derek leads the Centri SPAC Practice that focuses on SPAC and De-SPAC transactions, serving SPAC and target companies across multiple service lines including audit and IPO readiness, financial reporting, technical accounting, valuation and risk advisory services.
He also has significant experience with international and domestic public filers in the technology, media and telecommunications sector, the mining industry and merchant services, as well as experience in the cannabis industry, manufacturing and employee benefit plans. Derek’s focus has been on SEC filings, including IPO registration statements, accounting for complex debt and equity transactions, business combination accounting, as well as international consolidations.
Investment Banking Director
UBS
Adam Kerbis is an Investment Banking Director at UBS on their permanent capital team. He focuses on SPAC IPOs, financings, business combination advisory, and other SPAC-related advisory. Adam joined UBS from Strategy&, where he was an Aerospace & Defense consultant, focused on advising private equity firms on commercial diligence and growth strategy. Previously, he was an investment banker at EarlyBirdCapital focused on SPACs, and an investment banking generalist at Cantor Fitzgerald. He has an M.B.A. from Columbia Business School, and a B.S. from Vanderbilt University.
Partner
Deloitte
Jeff Kranzel is a Partner in Deloitte & Touche LLP. He brings nearly 15 years of US and international experience supporting private equity back companies through capital markets transactions and also advising on technical accounting matters.
Partner
Sichenzia Ross Ference LLP
Huan Lou is Partner in the firm’s Corporate and Securities practice group, focusing on securities law and corporate finance. Ms. Lou represents public and privately-held companies in a wide range of corporate transactions, including public offerings, equity and debt private placements, mergers and acquisitions, and divestures. In addition, Ms. Lou assists business entities of various industries on general corporate matters and transactions, such as asset (stock) purchase agreements, employment agreements, shareholder (partnership or operating) agreements, shareholder and board meetings.
Partner
Latham & Watkins
Ryan Maierson, a partner in the Houston office of Latham & Watkins and a member of the firm’s Executive Committee, is the former Global Chair of the firm’s Public Company Representation Practice and former Chair of the firm’s Houston Corporate Department. Mr. Maierson has particular experience in M&A and corporate finance transactions in the energy industry, as well as in both business combination transactions and initial public offerings involving special purpose acquisition companies.
Founder
SPACInsider
Kristi Marvin is the Founder and writer of SPACInsider.com, a website devoted to providing real-time analysis and data focused exclusively on the Special Purpose Acquisition Company (SPAC) asset class for investors, SPAC teams, bankers, lawyers and other industry “insiders”. She is a former investment banker having been involved in excess of $2 billion in SPAC offerings from a book-runner position and nearly $4 billion in total as lead or co-manager.
Partner
Harter Seacrest & Emery
After working for over nine years as a corporate and securities lawyer in New York City, Chris transitioned to the craft spirits industry where he spent six years founding the first post-prohibition distillery company in Queens and then running the distilling and production operations of one of New York’s largest craft distilleries in Brooklyn before returning to private practice. Now as a member of the HSE Securities and Capital Markets team, Chris leverages his entrepreneurial and legal perspective to help clients achieve their objectives.
Chris advises publicly-traded and privately-held companies on accessing and utilizing capital markets while ensuring federal and state securities law compliance. He counsels clients on corporate governance, public and private offerings of securities, FINRA and stock exchange regulatory compliance, compliance with the Securities Act of 1933, the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, NYSE and NASDAQ rules, and mergers and acquisitions.
Chris has extensive experience representing Special Purpose Acquisition Companies, or SPACs, from formation, listing on an exchange and completing their IPO, through to assisting in the negotiating, signing and closing of a business combination. This experience also extends to advising management teams and companies following a business combination to manage the transition from SPAC to operating company with a view to the long-term success of the transaction. Chris also has experience representing underwriters in connection with SPAC IPOs.
Prior to his distilling career, Chris practiced with Loeb & Loeb LLP and Proskauer Rose LLP in New York City.
Partner, Capital Markets
Kirkland & Ellis
Christian Nagler represents issuers, private equity sponsors, and underwriters in a broad range of securities transactions including offerings, consent solicitations, acquisition financing, and tender and exchange offers involving convertible securities, trust preferred securities, investment grade and high yield debt, and equity derivatives Christian also represents companies and funds with respect to SEC reporting and compliance, including Section 13 and Section 16 obligations, corporate governance issues, and disclosure obligations. Christian has completed transactions in numerous industries including chemicals, consumer goods, energy, financial institutions, food & beverages, healthcare, hotels, media, real estate, shipping, and technology. Christian also has vast experience in working with special purpose acquisition companies.
Christian has been named as a leading lawyer in Chambers USA: America’s Leading Lawyers for Business, Chambers Global: The World's Leading Business Lawyers, IFLR1000, and The Legal 500 U.S. and as one of “500 Leading Dealmakers in America” by Lawdragon. Additionally, in 2022 he was named a “New York Super Lawyer” by Super Lawyers Magazine and a Capital Markets MVP by Law360.
Christian has been sought out for his views on the market by, among others, The New York Times, The Financial Times, Law360, and Nasdaq Trade Talks.
Co-Founder, Head of Investment Banking
Cohen Capital Markets
Dan is the Co-Founder Head of Investment Banking at Cohen Capital Markets ("CCM"). CCM is a full-service boutique investment bank providing M&A, capital markets and SPAC advisory. CCM has emerged as one of the fasting growing firms and leading SPAC advisors on wall street, with 47 deals announced or closed since launching in Q1 2021.
Before founding CCM, Dan served as the Global Head of Internet Investment Banking at Wells Fargo Securities, where he advised numerous leading technology companies. Dan helped grow the technology investment banking business at Wells Fargo and led notable transactions including Carvana's IPO. Prior to Wells Fargo, he was a Technology Investment Banker at BofA Merrill Lynch. where he was involved in high-profile transactions, including the IPOs of LinkedIn, Zulily, and Facebook. Additionally, Dan held a number of finance positions including Chief Financial Officer at Machine Zone, a leading mobile gaming company, and various roles at Riverstone Networks and Intel Corp.
Dan has an MBA from UC Berkeley, BA in Economics from University of Pennsylvania, and a General Course degree focused on Mathematics from the London School of Economics. Dan was born and raised in Silicon Valley and lives in Woodside with his wife and four children.
Capital Markets Partner
Sidley
David Ni serves as co-leader of Sidley’s Special Purpose Acquisition Companies (SPACs) global group. David represents issuers, underwriters and selling securityholders in a variety of public and private offerings, including SPAC initial public offerings and “de-SPACings,” initial public offerings, follow-on offerings, acquisition and leveraged finance transactions, debt restructurings, liability management transactions, remarketings, at-the-market offerings, bank note offerings, and medium-term notes offerings. He counsels companies on a variety of products, including debt (investment grade and high-yield), common stock, preferred stock, depositary shares, warrants, trust preferreds, regulatory capital, Eurobonds, convertible notes and other hybrid securities. He works across a diverse range of industries, including energy, technology, media and telecommunications, life sciences and financial services. David regularly advises public companies regarding corporate governance matters, ongoing reporting obligations and exchange listing requirements.
Vice Chairman; Co-Chair, Capital Markets & Corporate
Loeb & Loeb
Mitch Nussbaum is the vice chair of Loeb & Loeb and serves as co-chair of the firm’s Capital Markets and Corporate Department. His practice focuses on representing emerging growth companies and investment banks in initial public offerings, follow-on public offerings, shelf takedowns, registered direct placements, PIPEs and other private placements (144A, Reg D, Reg A, Reg S, etc.). Mr. Nussbaum also regularly represents public companies regarding their SEC and NYSE or Nasdaq listing compliance and has acted as outside general counsel, including corporate, securities, M&A litigation and business counseling, to hundreds of private and public companies as well as their officers and directors. He also negotiates and documents acquisitions, mergers, going-private transactions, reverse mergers, proxy contests, tender offers, control contests, fund formations and secured lending financings and has represented issuers and underwriters in more than 100 SPAC public offerings and business combinations. Mr. Nussbaum was responsible for developing the groundbreaking IPAC, which features many of the benefits of the SPAC, but offers increased flexibility on pricing and deal structure, along with a more rapid transaction cycle.
Managing Director
Jefferies
Tina Pappas is a Managing Director in Equity Capital Markets at Jefferies LLC and has over 25 years of investment banking experience. Ms. Pappas leads Jefferies’ SPAC practice and has completed over 125 SPAC transactions. Ms. Pappas joined Jefferies from FBR & Co., where she was a Managing Director and head of the SPAC practice. Previously, Ms. Pappas was a Managing Director and head of Equity Capital Markets at Morgan Joseph & Co. Inc., one the earliest and most active underwriters of SPACs, where she was a key architect of the revised SPAC structure that was introduced in 2010. Ms. Pappas received a B.S. in Finance from the Leonard N. Stern School of Business at New York University.
Partner
Withum
With over 14 years of experience, Disha is a partner of Withum’s Audit Team, specializing in accounting and auditing services in the financial services industry. She is actively involved in the development of best practices in the alternative investment industry, and the development of in-house training programs. Disha has experience with IPOs, including SPACs, and other high-value funds, and has in‐depth knowledge of the issues and requirements of the investment company industry.
Partner
WilmerHale
Glenn Pollner is a leading capital markets lawyer with more than 25 years' experience handling transactions and other corporate and securities law matters. He advises on both domestic and cross-border transactions and has experience representing clients from a wide range of industries and sectors, including healthcare, life sciences, technology, telecom, media and entertainment, FinTech and financial services, cleantech and energy, consumer and retail, industrial, REITs and SPACs.
Mr. Pollner regularly represents issuers, investment banks and investors in equity and debt capital markets transactions as well as equity private placement transactions involving public and late stage private companies. He also represents issuers and investment banks in high yield, investment grade and other debt offerings, and issuers and underwriters in follow-on and secondary equity offerings, convertible debt offerings and offerings of preferred and hybrid securities.
In addition to his capital markets practice, Mr. Pollner advises clients on disclosure and reporting obligations under the US federal securities laws, corporate governance issues, state corporate law issues, listed company obligations under stock exchange rules, and in connection with mergers and acquisitions, liability management transactions, restructurings and other strategic transactions. Mr. Pollner has been named a leading capital markets lawyer by the International Financial Law Review.
Partner
White & Case
Joel Rubinstein is a partner at White & Case, and a member of the Firm's Capital Markets Practice.
Joel has particular expertise in advising issuers, underwriters and investors on the IPOs of special purpose acquisition companies (SPACs), as well as SPACs, target companies and investors in de-SPAC business combination transactions. He has been advising clients on SPAC transactions since 2005. Since 2020, Joel has represented clients in more than 130 SPAC IPOs, raising aggregate gross proceeds of more than US$40 billion, and in more than 50 business combination transactions with an aggregate enterprise value of more than US$90 billion.
Joel also represents public companies in initial public offerings and follow-on offerings, as well as offerings of convertible notes and PIPEs, and in mergers and acquisitions.
Chair of SPAC Transactional Practice
DLA Piper
Jeffrey C. Selman represents emerging and middle-market public and private technology and life sciences companies and investors on their formation, equity and debt financing, mergers and acquisitions, licensing, restructurings, board and management issues, and general corporate and commercial transactional matters. He has particular experience advising on the creation and funding of special purpose acquisition companies (SPACs), as well as advising on the use of SPACs as a means of taking companies public.
He has represented companies in a wide range of industries, including software, social networking, mobile device applications, interactive gaming and entertainment, media, semiconductor, network equipment, biotech, medical devices, geothermal, solar, battery, energy storage, metals and emerging automotive technology.
Economist
The Peter Schiff Show
Peter Schiff is an economist, financial broker/dealer, author, frequent guest on national news, and host of the Peter Schiff Show Podcast. He follows up his daily two-hour show with a weekly two-hour podcast focusing on weekly economic data analysis and unbiased coverage of financial news, both in the U.S. and global markets. He is widely recognized for his accurate predictions and his ability to analyze complex financial situations.
VP Solution Sales
Toppan Merrill
Michael Schlanger is a business leader and innovator, with decades of experience in financial printing, who focuses on developing transaction and compliance product strategies in response to client and regulatory needs. Mike leads a team of experts that guide the development and sale of Toppan Merrill’s SEC compliance and XBRL service offerings.
Prior to joining Toppan Merrill, he performed numerous roles with other companies, including sales, sales management, division president and business development.
Mike is currently serving as the Vice Chairman of the Board of XBRL US, which he has been a Board member since 2009. He is a frequent speaker at law firms, financial industry conferences and professional associations on topics related to the SEC regulatory initiatives.
Partner
Zukin Partners
Mr. Schottenstein leads business development for Zukin Partners and Zukin Certification Services.
Ari began his financial advisory career at the Zukin Family Office (Zukin Capital). Ari sourced, screened, and diligenced investment opportunities. He developed strategic plans focused on financial liquidity alternatives for portfolio companies. Ari joined Zukin Partners, as a partner at its formation in 2018.
He has directly advised investment banking client engagements across the entertainment, healthcare, real estate, life sciences, sports, and technology sectors.
Earlier in his career, he advised middle-market clients in a technology strategy role at MAPSYS, an IBM Premier Partner where AI was a central focus.
Ari received his BA from Otterbein University in Westerville, Ohio.
Founder & CEO
Freightos
Zvi Schreiber ("tsvee shryber"), a serial tech entrepreneur, is founder and CEO of Freightos (Nasdaq:CRGO). Freightos is the digital booking platform of the trillion dollar international freight industry and is a recognised LogTech leader.
Previously, Zvi was CEO of Lightech (acquired by GE), and of Unicorn (acquired by IBM). Zvi holds a PhD in computer science and is author of Fizz, the history of physics in a novel, and of Money, Going out of Style, which explores money & economics. He is a frequent speaker at industry events and author of various articles, papers and patents.
Educated in Cambridge University and Imperial College, Zvi lives with his family in Jerusalem and London.
IPO and SPAC Capital Markets Advisory Leader
Ernst & Young
Mark leads EY Capital Advisory’s “EYCA” capital markets advisory team preparing companies to enter the public markets through IPOs, SPAC mergers and direct listings. Prior to joining EYCA, Mark served in senior Equity Capital Markets “ECM” positions on Wall Street for about 15 years. Most recently he was Deutsche Bank's Head of Equity Financing Solutions, and prior to that he was a senior ECM execution banker at Barclays and its predecessor, Lehman Brothers. Before his investment banking years, Mark was a corporate and securities lawyer in Davis Polk's capital markets group, and a staff attorney in the SEC's Division of Corporation Finance.
Director, Restructuring and Dispute Resolution Services
CohnReznick
Taylor Sherman provides financial advisory, business restructuring, and transaction support services to corporations, lending institutions, private equity firms, hedge funds, and law firms. He advises debtors, secured lenders, bondholders, unsecured creditors, stockholders, private equity, and other stakeholders in matters involving turnaround, bankruptcy, out-of-court workouts, litigation, lender and M&A due diligence, transactional support, and profit improvement services.
Partner
SPAC Research
Mr. Rajiv Shukla has an extensive track record of buyouts and equity investments spanning over twenty years. He has served as Chairman & CEO of two Nasdaq-listed Special Purpose Acquisition Companies (SPACs): the first SPAC acquired DMTK which is one of the most successful healthcare SPAC transactions of all time. The second SPAC is in the process of closing on the acquisition of Humacyte, an Industry leader in bioengineered human tissues for applications exceeding $150 billion per annum. Earlier in his career, Rajiv led global M&A for Pfizer R&D where he was involved with nearly $65 billion in acquisitions and then subsequently worked as a hedge fund PM at Morgan Stanley and a private equity investor at CVCI before leading a 4000-person team at a leading publicly listed engineering company as CEO. Rajiv has a Masters in Healthcare Management from Harvard University and a Bachelors in Pharmaceutics from the Indian Institute of Technology.
Associate Vice President, Financial Advisor
Morgan Stanley
Rodrigo Suarez-Navarro is a Financial Advisor at The Cotto Wealth Management Group at Morgan Stanley, based in Purchase, New York. Within his team’s wealth advisory practice, Rodrigo works with publicly traded companies, philanthropic organizations, and high net worth individuals with an entrepreneurial spirit to help them manage their financial well-being.
Rodrigo joined The Cotto Wealth Management Group in 2017 and has assisted in several roles since. He evaluates the various asset allocation techniques when creating client portfolios that are specifically tailored to each client. In addition to portfolio management, he interprets the needs and goals of clients to create comprehensive financial plans. He also oversees the maintenance of client accounts and operational support for institutional clients within the team.
Rodrigo graduated from the Zicklin School of Business at Baruch College with a degree in Finance and Political Science, and holds his Series 7 and Series 66 financial securities licenses. He is a co-founder and former member of the Emerging Leaders Board at Latino U, and a co-founder and member of the Young Professionals Alzheimer’s Council in the Hudson Valley. As a first-generation immigrant from Bolivia, he is passionate about helping other Hispanics who share a similar path. Rodrigo resides in Westchester, New York and enjoys spending time with family and friends, trying new cuisines, working out, skiing, biking and playing soccer.
CPA, Partner
Withum
Michael Tenny is an audit partner in Withum’s Financial Services Group. Michael provides audit, accounting and business advisory services to domestic and international clients in both publicly traded and privately held sectors, including venture capital funds, private equity funds, broker-dealers, management companies, registered investment advisors, and emerging growth and technology companies.
In addition, Michael specializes in providing services related to security transactions, investment banking, complex equity transactions, stock-based compensation, initial public offerings (IPOs), business combinations and registration and reporting under the Securities Act of 1933 and the Securities Exchange Act of 1934. Michael has been involved with numerous IPOs, which raised in excess of 5 billion dollars. The majority of these IPOs were Special Purpose Acquisition Companies (SPACs) sponsored by the investment community.
Managing Director - M&A and Activism Advisory Group
Morrow Sodali
Geoffrey L. Weinberg joined Morrow Sodali in 2023 as a Managing Director in the firm’s M&A and Activism Advisory Group. Prior to joining Morrow Sodali, Geoff was a Senior Managing Director at another leading proxy solicitation firm and before that, an attorney at Weil, Gotshal & Manges LLP in the firm’s Mergers & Acquisitions practice.
Geoff has participated in the representation of public and private companies in shareholder activism defense, proxy contests, mergers, acquisitions and divestitures, tender offers and retail shareholder approvals and analysis, including representing Kroger in their ESG proxy fight with Carl Icahn; Procter & Gamble in their proxy fight with Trian Partners; Blucora in their proxy contest with Ancora; Cannae Holdings and Senator Investment Group in their engagement with CoreLogic; Merck KGaA in its “Vote No” campaign and unsolicited offer to acquire Versum Materials; M&G Investments in their proxy fight with Methanex Corporation; Xerox in their attempted acquisition of HP; Starboard Value in their engagement with LivePerson; and over one hundred successful corporate votes.
Geoff received his J.D. from New York University School of Law, where he was Staff Editor of the NYU Journal of International Law and Politics, and his undergraduate degree from Binghamton University.
Our sponsors are thought-leaders in the industry. Corporate sponsorship provides unmatched exposure during a lengthy promotional campaign and the conference itself. Benefits include pre-conference publicity, logo and literature placement, exhibit space, online ad placement, and complimentary registration.
To become a sponsor, schedule a call with Charlie Napolitano with this calendar link.
The SPAC Conference is more than just another educational event. This is a chance for attendees to unwind, enjoy endless networking opportunities, and to meet with seasoned deal experts who believe in the transformative power of SPACs.
The Westchester Country Club provides the perfect backdrop for what’s planned in 2023. With both indoor and outdoor event space, attendees will enjoy spending time at one of the most prestigious country clubs in America.
99 Biltmore Avenue
Rye, NY 10580
Phone: (914) 967-6000
The Westchester Country Club is one of the premier country clubs in America. Its extensive amenities include a historic residence with three restaurants and two banquet rooms, two eighteen hole golf courses, one nine-hole course, an indoor swimming pool, squash courts, grass tennis courts and a stand-alone beach.
99 Biltmore Avenue
Rye, NY 10580
Phone: (914) 967-6000
The Westchester Country Club is one of the premier country clubs in America. Its extensive amenities include a historic residence with three restaurants and two banquet rooms, two eighteen hole golf courses, one nine-hole course, an indoor swimming pool, squash courts, grass tennis courts and a stand-alone beach.
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