SPACs & Reverse Mergers

September 16th | 5:30 PM

Please join TiE NJ for an exciting panel discussion related to SPACs and Reverse Mergers. This is a continuation of our series on Alternative Sources of Capital for Entrepreneur led companies - building on our recent panels on Crowdfunding and Family Offices.

A SPAC is a publicly-traded buyout company. The investors foot the bill to “go public” and pool that money in trust while they target a company to buy. There is a set timeline in which to identify the company they seek to buy/merge with and subsequently the ‘Newco’ is a publicly-traded entity.

2020 has been a year of the SPACs. The number of SPAC IPOs so far this year has overtaken the total number for the whole of last year. Fast growing companies including DraftKings, Nikola Motors, Virgin Galactic etc. have gone public via merging with a SPAC this year.

More than 100 SPACs are currently on the market, with close to $40 billion in their war chests – so we expect to see more companies going public via this route in 2020 and beyond!

Why should Entrepreneurs care? For fast growing companies, they provide an alternative option to a traditional IPO potentially with lesser time and expenses as there are no roadshows. Additionally since this is a merger and not an IPO, the price is negotiated directly with the buyer, and after the money has been raised, not before.

PANELISTS:

Jacob Cherian, CEO - Vistas Media Acquisition Company 

David C. Bukzin, Vice chairman - Marcum LLP

Lawrence C. Glassberg, Senior Managing Director - MAXIM GROUP LLC 

MODERATOR: 

Sri Geedipalli, Managing Director - Simanor

David C. Bukzin is vice chairman of Marcum LLP and leader of the Firm’s National SEC Services practice. He also serves as Office Managing Partner of the Firm’s Worldwide Headquarters in New York City. Mr. Bukzin has more than 20 years of experience advising clients on SEC policies, practices and procedures and has an in-depth knowledge of the finance and management of closely-held businesses. He is also very active in the Firm’s specialized SEC practice area for SPACs (Specialized Purpose Acquisition Corporation)

Mr. Bukzin founded and spearheads several of the Firm’s practice areas. As SEC and Cannabis Services Industry leader, he has assisted clients with regulatory compliance issues, complex deal structures, raising capital and formulating strategic plans and alliances. He serves as publisher of the Firm’s newsletter SEC Insights, a publication which highlights current issues facing publicly traded companies.

Mr. Bukzin also is a member of the Firm’s High Tech Industry group and has assisted clients with services in the areas of turnaround and workout consulting, reorganizations, and recapitalizations. In addition, he has been a Certified Valuation Analyst and specialized in business valuations involving mergers and acquisitions and corporate finance transactions.
As an integral member of Marcum’s Executive and New York Regional Management Committees, he shares his knowledge and provides guidance internally for the Firm’s operations, strategic planning, practice development, and client service.

Prior to joining the Firm, Mr. Bukzin was a partner at a small New York City practice that experienced tremendous growth under his leadership. That practice subsequently merged with Marcum to form the Firm’s New York City office.

Mr. Jacob Cherian is the CEO of Vistas Media Acquisition Company. He has also Served as CEO of two other SPACs - NASDAQ Listed Acquisition Companies. He has raised hundreds of millions of dollars in cash and public equity through the full SEC IPO Listing process on Wall Street to invest in emerging markets.

Mr. Cherian brings deep U.S. capital markets, IPO, International M&A, public/private equity, and management consulting expertise. He has expertise in all facets of capital investing, including raising investment capital, sourcing and negotiating dozens of investments, building management teams, providing strategic guidance, and creating strategies to provide attractive returns and exits to investors.
Mr. Cherian’s prior work experience with JP Morgan & Co., Director at KPMG LLP, and Partner at Computer Sciences Corp., Fortune 500 Global Information Technology & Services company spans 15 years and three continents of Europe, Middle East, and South Asia.

Mr. Cherian was in-charge of registering with FINCEN, Digital USD (DUSD) which is a Digital Dollar Currency / Stablecoin for the Asian markets underpinned by Blockchain technology and pegged 1:1 to the U.S. dollar with the goal of issuing the digital currency to become a bridge between the assets of the real world and the digital world to inject greater vitality into the Asian economy and giving new value to various types of assets and eventually replace paper money and coinage to create price stability, scalability, privacy, decentralization, and redeamability

Mr.Cherian has been an Adjunct Professor of Finance at St. John’s University, Tobin College of Business, MBA Program in New York for ten years.

Lawrence C. Glassberg, Senior Managing Director, MAXIM GROUP LLC 

Mr. Glassberg has over 18 years of investment banking and financial services experience, having spent the past 14 years with Maxim Group LLC. Mr. Glassberg has completed a vast array of transactions across different product types including IPOs, Secondaries/Follow-Ons, Registered Directs, CMPOs, PIPEs, Privates, Fixed Income, SPACs, Fairness Opinions and M&A mandates. His public offering transactional experience spans a broad range of industries having raised in excess of $5.0 billion, of which, over $2.5 billion was raised in a book runner and/or lead placement agent position. Additionally, Mr. Glassberg has also been involved in over $4.0 billion in M&A assignments for both private and public companies. His prior transactions have been within the following sectors: Maritime Shipping, Energy, Industrials, TMT, REITs, Hospitality, Internet Services, Financial Services, Business and Consumer Products and Services. Mr. Glassberg began his career at Trifecta LLC, a private equity and strategic advisory firm focused on the media and entertainment industries. Mr. Glassberg received his BBA as well as his MTA from the accelerated five-year masters program at The George Washington University School of Business and Public Management.

Sri Geedipalli, Managing Director, Simanor

Srinath ("Sri") Geedipalli has 20 years of professional experience in Operational, Business Development and Finance roles in multiple industries. Sri is a Managing Director and Co-Founder at Simanor, an Advisory firm focused on mid-market companies in the US and India providing M&A, Strategic and Capital Raising Advisory services.

At Simanor, he leads the Company’s initiatives within the Technology, Healthcare and Business Services industries. Sri has successfully originated and advised on multiple M&A transactions involving the US and International companies in the IT, BPO, Healthcare and Engineering industries. Sri has recently closed deals in the Software, Healthcare & Services industriesis also actively focused on SaaS and Emerging Technologies. 

Sri is a Board Member at the NYC chapter of the Alliance of M&A Advisors and TiE New Jersey. He was also presented with M&A Advisor’s Top 40 under 40 award in the recent past. Sri has an MBA from NYU Stern School of Business.