Mergermarket M&A Forum Miami 2023
Our brand-new event for key players in the US dealmaking community!
JW Marriott, 1109 Brickell Ave, Miami
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Aaron’s practice focuses on mergers and acquisitions, private equity and other complex corporate transactions, representing strategic and financial buyers and sellers in public and private acquisitions, as well as venture capital and growth equity financings. He is highly regarded as a dealmaker and strategic adviser to companies within two of the most innovative and rapidly evolving industries – technology and media – with a particular emphasis in cybersecurity, artificial intelligence, the Internet of Things, software as a service (SaaS), healthcare and communications, and frequently works with government contractors.
Randy Bullard is the managing partner of Morrison Foerster’s Miami office and co-chair of the firm’s Latin America Desk. He advises multinational clients in connection with cross-border mergers and acquisitions, joint ventures, securities and finance transactions throughout Central and South America, the Caribbean, Europe and the United States.
Randy’s mergers and acquisitions work has focused on international cross-border mergers and acquisitions across a broad range of sectors, including financial services, telecommunications, media, entertainment, energy, agriculture, manufacturing and food and beverage.
Randy has also advised numerous European global corporations in connection with establishing and developing their U.S. presences, as well as managing their Latin American operations. In addition, he represents issuers in equity and debt offerings and exchange listings.
James Cassel, chairman and co-founder of Cassel Salpeter & Co., is an investment banker who uses his unique experience as a dealmaker and attorney to guide clients and help them achieve their goals.
Focused on representing middle-market companies, Jim has successfully negotiated, structured, and executed a broad spectrum of transactions including mergers, acquisitions, and divestitures, corporate and transactional financings, and public offerings for clients nationwide and worldwide. Having developed a keen understanding of the issues faced and alternatives available for distressed companies, he has particular experience in developing financial restructuring plans, negotiating with creditors, and guiding debtors through bankruptcy proceedings.
Nationally recognized for his investment banking expertise, Jim frequently lectures on timely issues related to middle-market investment banking.
Before founding Cassel Salpeter & Co., Jim was co-founder and chairman of Capitalink, an investment banking firm that was acquired by Ladenburg Thalmann & Co., a New York Stock Exchange member firm, where Jim continued and served as vice chairman, senior managing director, and head of investment banking. He also was chairman of a significant company that owned hospitals.
Jim serves as Honorary Consul of the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg in Miami for the State of Florida. He is also on the American University’s College of Arts and Sciences Advisory Board.
Jim is also the Liquidating Trustee of 1 GC Collections Creditors Liquidating Trust, the successor to 1 Global Capital, LLC debtors-in-possession. At 1 GC, he was the independent manager and oversaw the collection of over $140,000,000 that was distributed to creditors.
He presently serves as a Board Member and Finance Chairperson of the Miami Parking Authority and served as an independent director of the board of Equity One (NYSE:EQY). He also served on their Compensation Committee, Audit Committee, and Governance and Nominating Committee.
Jim is a former board member and president of the South Florida Chapter of the Association for Corporate Growth. He is also a former advisory board member of the University of Miami’s “The Launch Pad” business incubator program for entrepreneurs. He has served on the executive committee of Broad and Cassel, one of Florida’s largest law firms. He has been a member of the American Association of Arbitrators, National Investment Banking Association, and the NASD Board of Arbitrators. He was also a longtime columnist for The Miami Herald writing about emerging trends and strategies and tactics for middle-market business owners.
Jim received a bachelor’s degree in 1976 from American University, in Washington, D.C., and a law degree in 1979 from the University of Miami School of Law, in Miami. He is a member of the New York and Florida Bar Associations.
Mr. Sabrit is the Managing Partner of Leste Group and sits on the Executive Committee overseeing all of the firm’s strategies and operations including real estate equity and credit, private equity, and special situations.
Prior to joining Leste, Mr. Sabrit was a Partner and Portfolio Manager for structured credit funds at Polo Capital Management, a prominent Brazil-based hedge fund, he successfully managed a substantial portfolio valued at R$ 1.3 billion. His expertise in structured credit played a crucial role in the fund's success.
Earlier in his career, Mr. Sabrit served as the Managing Director of Planner Investment Bank in São Paulo, where he demonstrated strong leadership skills in coordinating the issuances of local debt amounting to over R$ 2 billion. This experience showcased his ability to navigate and execute complex financial transactions.
Furthermore, Mr. Sabrit played a pivotal role as a Founding Partner of US Broker Dealer Bulltick Capital Markets, where he contributed to the creation of an impressive US$ 980 million asset-backed securities fund. His expertise and strategic insights were integral to the fund's establishment and subsequent success.
With his extensive experience and profound understanding of the financial industry, Mr. Sabrit brings invaluable knowledge to his role at Leste Group. His contributions and leadership continue to drive the growth and success of the firm, ensuring the delivery of innovative financial solutions to clients and investors.
Daniel M. Florian, Senior Managing Director at Sun Capital, co-leads the Boca Raton transaction team and leads the healthcare and business services investment practice. Throughout his tenure at Sun Capital, Florian has been instrumental in orchestrating numerous transactions, demonstrating his expertise and significantly contributing to the company's growth. Some of the notable deals include, Aclara Technologies, StonePoint Materials, Innocor, and SOS Security.
Prior to joining Sun Capital, Daniel Florian spent five years at PricewaterhouseCoopers (PWC). During his time at PWC, he served as a Senior Associate in the Transaction Services group, specializing in financial due diligence and providing advisory services to a diverse clientele, including corporate entities and financial buyers.
Florian's academic journey is highlighted by his achievement of a Bachelor of Science degree in Accounting, graduating cum laude from Suffolk University. His time at Suffolk University was marked not only by academic excellence but also by active participation in extracurricular activities. He held the position of President of the Beta Alpha Psi fraternity and demonstrated leadership as the captain of the men's basketball team. In recognition of his exceptional contributions to athletics, he received the prestigious honor of induction into the Suffolk University Athletic Hall of Fame in 2016.
Mr. Greca is a member of Houlihan Lokey’s Healthcare Group and leads the firm’s Healthcare Technology (HCIT) practice in North America. He has a decade of investment banking experience and has advised clients on more than 40 M&A, corporate divestitures, and capital-raising transactions for publicly traded and privately held clients across HCIT subsectors.
Mr. Greca’s recent transaction experience includes the partial sale of Revecore to Growth Curve Capital; the sale of Therapy Brands to KKR; the partial sale of Quantum Health to Warburg Pincus; and the divestiture of CarePort, a division of Allscripts, to WellSky.
Prior to joining Houlihan Lokey, Mr. Greca worked for William Blair & Company and Bank of America Merrill Lynch in various investment banking roles and started his career as an attorney.
Mr. Greca holds an MBA from the University of Chicago Booth School of Business and a J.D. from Universidade Federal do Paraná.
Eric Hirschfield is a Partner and Head of the Chicago and Miami offices for Rothschild & Co. Eric joined Rothschild & Co from the Goldman Sachs Chicago office where he ran the global paper and packaging group and covered a variety of other clients across industries. He has been in investment banking for over 34 years, working in Chicago, New York and Paris.
Eric sits on the Board of the Lyric Opera of Chicago (emeritus) and The Dean’s Advisory Council for the Indiana University Kelley School of Business.
Sunny Kantha is Boyd’s Senior Vice President of Corporate Development, responsible for leading global M&A, strategy, and key strategic initiatives.
Working closely with Boyd’s Commercial, R&D and Manufacturing teams, he is focused on identifying and executing strategic acquisition and partnership opportunities to accelerate Boyd’s growth, expand capabilities, and deepen leadership with customers across many end markets.
Prior to joining Boyd, Sunny served as the Vice President of Corporate Development & Strategy at Quotient Technology (formerly Coupons.com), where he sourced, executed and integrated many successful acquisitions and key strategic partnerships, substantially growing Quotient’s revenue and addressable market over his 5+ year tenure. He was previously a VC & Growth Equity investor at Norwest Venture Partners (NVP), a $9.5Bn Silicon Valley VC fund, where he was responsible for identifying and executing potential investments across SaaS/software, IT infrastructure and tech-enabled services. Prior to NVP, he was a clean energy-focused investor at MissionPoint Capital and, prior to that, an investment banker on the Global Industrials team at Morgan Stanley in New York.
Sunny holds a B.S. in Economics and a B.A. in Public Policy Studies from Duke University, where he served on the Board of Trustees and remains actively involved.
Erin Lansky is a Principal at Blue Sea Capital. She assists with identifying, evaluating, and executing investment opportunities as well as providing ongoing support to the firm’s portfolio companies. A member of Blue Sea’s healthcare team, she leads the firm’s investment efforts across medical devices, healthcare products and medtech opportunities.
Prior to joining Blue Sea, Lansky was a Vice President at RoundTable Healthcare Partners, an operating-oriented healthcare private equity firm. Prior to RoundTable, she was a Vice President with BDT Capital Partners and an Associate on GTCR’s healthcare team in Chicago. Lansky began her career as an investment banking analyst in the global mergers and acquisitions group at Bank of America Merrill Lynch in New York.
Lansky graduated magna cum laude, Phi Beta Kappa, with Highest Honors from Dartmouth College, where she double majored in Economics and Spanish/Hispanic Studies.
In her spare time, she leads her Class’s alumni fundraising efforts for the Dartmouth College Fund, which supports student financial aid, and is an active supporter of Minds Matter Chicago, which prepares high school students from underserved communities for college success. She lives in Delray Beach, Florida, with her fiancé and their miniature schnauzer.
For over a decade, Stephen has advised private equity, family offices, asset managers, and governments on macro-economic considerations and cross-border opportunities in Latin America. In 2019, he and his partners structured Emmersion Capital to acquire and build strategic U.S. facing enterprises in the Latin American market, including supply chain and logistics along with technical services such as civil/commercial engineering, cybersecurity, and financial analysis. Originally from Chicago, Stephen is now based in Bogotá and São Paulo where he manages operations in 7 countries and the group's headquarters in Miami.
Over 30 years of experience in investment banking, corporate finance and business management in USA, Latin America and the Caribbean. Previously, investment banker with Pan American Finance from 2005 to 2011, finance advisor focused on M&A and capital raising transactions for the medium sized market in Latin America and the Caribbean.
From 2001 to 2005 worked with Valorem, investment arm of the Santo Domingo Group, as financial advisor and manager for a number of their companies. Investment banker with Violy, Byorum & Partners in New York from 1996 to 2001, originating and executing M&A transactions in Latin America. Engineering degree and Master in Business Administration from Universidad de los Andes (Bogotá DC, Colombia); post-graduate education from Harvard Business School (Boston, USA), Kellogg School of Management (Chicago, USA) and London School of Economics (London, UK).
Mike Papadakis serves as a Managing Director at Cross Keys Capital, a leading middle market investment bank with a nationally recognized healthcare practice. Mike has over 10 years of experience in healthcare-focused M&A, having worked on over 100 closed transactions with an aggregate valuation of over $2B. In addition to numerous PPM deals, his deal sheet includes large billing companies, HCIT investments, health care consulting groups and medical real estate.
Prior to joining Cross Keys, Mike worked at Mednax, Inc., where he held various roles in the Business Development and Legal Departments. He is seasoned in all aspects of M&A, including origination, financial analysis, structuring, due diligence, negotiation and post-closing integration.
Mike earned a B.A. in Economics with distinction from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and a J.D. from Columbia Law School, where he was a Stone Scholar and completed the Oxford Global Alliance program in Law and Finance.
Jeff Ransdell is a venture capitalist building a portfolio of exponential technology companies at Miami-based Fuel Venture Capital, which he founded in 2017 following his departure from the world of wealth management on Wall Street. As Founding Partner and Managing Director, Jeff approaches venture capital with a signature “founder focused, investor driven” mindset, shaped by two decades as a top executive of Bank of America Merrill Lynch. As a managing director and market executive of the financial powerhouse, he managed more than $130 billion of global private client investment assets, a P&L of $2 billion, and over 2,000 employees across the bank’s Southeast Wealth Management Division. His transition to venture capital was motivated by what he saw as mounting evidence that opportunities to shape the economy and capitalize on innovation were steadily shifting from the public markets to the private markets. In the face of much skepticism, Jeff chose Miami, Florida, as the homebase for Fuel Venture Capital, armed with an unparalleled rolodex and emboldened to leverage the city’s untapped resources and advantages. Today, Fuel is a VC firm with more than $550 million assets under management and has a portfolio of 33 companies, including Betr, Tradeshift, Taxfyle, Ubicquia, Curve, and NovoPayment, among others.
Jairo Riveros is an inspirer, strategist, tactician, and transformer leader across Payments, Insurance, Pensions, and Investments. Passionate about the future of financial services, the use of data and analytics, and the need for new business models to challenge the status quo.
Jairo is the Chief Strategy Officer and the Managing Director for the USA and Latam at Paysend, a global Fintech company born in 2017, based in UK and regulated by the FCA, servicing over 8 million customers in 180+ countries. In his role, Jairo is responsible for the strategic direction of the firm, developing a world-class Fintech team, securing regulatory approvals, licences, and partnership deals.
Previously, through his C-suite consulting firm, Artemis Worldwide, and as a Director at Deloitte Consulting, Jairo headed the acquisition team for fintech payments company in Latin America, advised a global pension and insurance fund in a go-to-market strategy with a direct to consumer/client model leveraging analytics, and spearheaded research and technology options to develop an investment platform to facilitate direct investor-placed capital and financing with operators and managers in the alternative investment arena.
From 2013-2015, Jairo was a strategic advisor for AIMCo, one of Canada's largest diversified institutional investment fund managers with an investment portfolio of ~$120B. At AIMCo, he directed the development of their longer-term strategic direction, assessed global opportunities for growth, and developed an institutional capability for scenario and strategic planning.
Jairo was the Head of Strategic Planning for TIAA (New York, USA), a diversified financial services firm (Investment, Advice, Retirement, and Banking) with over $1 trillion in assets under management. From 2009 to 2013, he led the formulation and implementation of a multi-year corporate wide growth and diversification strategy and setting the path for the firm's assets to double, with significant growth in net flows and expansion of revenues sources.
Previously, Jairo was the Head of Market Models and Business Strategies for MasterCard Worldwide and its advisory unit, MasterCard Advisors. In this role, he implemented the Value Quantification Initiative to measure the impact of the MasterCard products and services to the bottom line of its issuing banks; assisted in the evolution of the MasterCard B2B business model to increase payment card issuing and processing in selected markets including opening B2C and B2G channels; Jairo also developed strategic frameworks and business cases for nonfinancial institutions to become issuers of payments products.
Jairo holds a Global Executive MBA from NYU Stern, LSE, and HEC Paris (TRIUM). He is a member of the New York University Stern School Alumni Council, a member of the Board of Directors at Sentio Intercultural Experiences and, served on the Multinational Force & Observers (MFO) in Sinai, Egypt, and Tel Aviv, Israel.
An avid problem-solver, Jairo can currently be found assessing the impacts of disruptive innovation on investment managers and researching about disruption strategies for global themes such as Money in Motion (de-accumulation), Financial Education, and Financial Inclusion.
Trish Skoglund is corporate director of mergers and acquisitions, focused on origination and deal flow of strategic investments that create sustainable growth and accelerate the company’s competitive advantages.
Skoglund contributes to all aspects of strategic acquisitions, equity raises and managing the CVC fund, collaborating with Crowley’s business units to identify growth opportunities that best maximize the company’s diverse capabilities and offerings.
Skoglund earned a bachelor’s degree in business administration and marketing from Portland State University, an MBA in global business from the University of Portland, and an Executive Advanced Finance certificate from The Wharton School of Business.
Adam Solomon is a Partner on the Explore team at Thoma Bravo. Based in Miami, he joined the firm in 2021, and is responsible for co-leading the firm’s Explore platform, which focuses on investing in high growth lower middle-market software and technology companies. Before Thoma Bravo, Adam was a Principal at Francisco Partners, where he was responsible for identifying, executing, and managing investments across the technology industry. Previously, he was an Associate at Hellman & Friedman and an Analyst at Gleacher Partners. Adam holds an MBA from Stanford Graduate School of Business, and he graduated cum laude with a BA in Economics from Harvard University.
Patrick N.W. Turner is a Managing Director of VSS and is responsible for developing investment opportunities, structuring investments, conducting due diligence, executing transactions, and monitoring portfolio companies. Mr. Turner joined VSS in 2014. Mr. Turner is currently a member of the board of the following VSS portfolio companies – Quatrro and Barrier Companies. He previously served on the board of IT-Ernity and MRG. Prior to joining VSS, Mr. Turner was a Managing Director and a member of the Management Committee of Crescent Capital Group LP, a below investment grade alternative credit investment manager that was formerly part of Trust Company of the West, of which he also was a Managing Director. After his service with Crescent, he joined Crimson Capital, a private equity firm based in China, on whose investment committee he served. Prior to joining Trust Company of the West and Crescent in 2005, Mr. Turner was a Managing Partner and co-founder of Canterbury Capital Partners, where he was responsible for the firm’s mezzanine investing activities. Before that, Mr. Turner was a Director at Barclays Mezzanine Group for six years after serving as a Vice President in the leverage buyout group of Marine Midland Bank and as an Associate with Bankers Trust Company, which he joined in 1981. He has had substantial involvement in investments in over 190 companies in the United States and internationally.
In 2005 Ms. Vujinovic identified a global need for mobile payment networks. She went on to acquire and develop over $700M assets across Sub-Saharan Africa and Latin American in mobile payments. This led her to Bitcoin and DLT in 2010 and since, has been an avid builder and an investor in digital assets. In 2013, Maja was involved in buying a first bank that held Tether. In 2014, as a CIO of Emerging Tech at General Electric, she was the catalyst for blockchain across all General Electric. She was responsible for the idea and team construction and management of blockchain as a service platform for all GE customers, inspiring JP Morgan Quorum and Microsoft’s blockchain as a service.
Currently, Maja runs OGroup focused on investments and scale of digital assets/Web3, particularly merging Web3 technology and ideas with Web2 users. Her focus lies in helping Web3 companies scale and exit through operational know-how and M&A advisory. Second, she provides guidance to institutional investors and family offices interested in Web3. Maja is an investor in over 55 companies in digital assets and is an operational and growth partner to Kauffman Fellows DAO.
Maja is on the board of Nayms, Civic, Prism partners and Coindesk, a lead contributor to InfoMoney.br and holds frequent talks at DAS Blockworks, Abudance 360, Financial Times, BTC Miami, large family office gatherings and CEO’s and CIO’s of Fortune500 companies globally. Maja is also an investor in longevity and on a board of Longevity Science Foundation.
Josh Weber is the Managing Director at MBF Healthcare Partners. He joined the firm in 2017 and is responsible for many aspects of the firm’s investment activities including thesis development, portfolio company monitoring, executive search initiatives, as well as sourcing, evaluating and consummating acquisition opportunities for MBF’s portfolio of companies. Josh works closely with executive teams to assist in meeting their respective growth strategies and leads the deal origination team for MBF and the firm’s portfolio companies. Josh is a member of the Board of Directors of Carisk Partners.
Prior to joining MBF, Josh was Vice President at a buy-side healthcare investment bank located in Miami, FL where he was focused entirely on sourcing acquisitions in the healthcare industry.
Josh received a B.S. in Finance at Miami University, OH.
Michael Weinberg joined LLCP in 2008 and currently serves as a Managing Partner of the Firm. In this capacity, he is responsible for LLCP’s global investment activities which include deal origination and structuring, sector strategy, capital markets activities and oversight of the European Investment Team. Michael is a member of the Executive and Investment Committees.
Prior to joining LLCP, Michael was a founding partner of CastleHill Investment Management, focused on private capital solutions for the middle market. Prior to that, he was a Principal and senior investment professional with FriedbergMilstein, a middle market investment boutique. Earlier in his career, Michael held several key roles within BNP Paribas’ Merchant Banking Group and Ernst & Young LLP, both in New York. Michael received a B.S. in Accounting from Binghamton University and an M.B.A. from Columbia University.
John is currently Senior Advisor at H.I.G. Capital based in Miami. John has over 20 years experience in technology private equity. John joined H.I.G. Capital to found, build, and manage HTP, a dedicated technology fund built on the H.I.G. platform. Prior to this, John was a Partner and technology sector head at Advent International. John started his private equity career at The Carlyle Group. Throughout John’s career he has led or sponsored investments in over 30 companies across the enterprise applications, infrastructure software, and fintech sectors.