Mergermarket Private Equity Forum Austin 2023
Mergermarket's brand-new event for the American private equity community!
Four Seasons Hotel, Austin
04
Oct
Sector spotlight: Deep dive into TMT and the AI investment opportunity
Current economic conditions will continue to affect technology investments and valuations after the mid-2021 boom, although opportunities in this downturn remain present, most notably in areas such as cybersecurity, data analytics, and automation. Indeed, valuations of generative AI companies have been on the rise, although the potential of AI to disrupt the private markets remains a potential cause for concern. Our group of experts and investors will discuss the latest dealmaking trends in the sector and how they are continuing to capture opportunities for long-term strategic growth.
- What have been the main drivers of TMT deal flow, from cybersecurity to software?
- Will the sector see an increase in bolt-on acquisitions and further consolidation in the industry?
- How are GPs using AI internally to maximize operational efficiencies such as through investment diligence and predictive analytics? How can fund managers tap into the AI opportunity set?
- What are the potential dangers of AI disruption on the private markets?
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SpeakersTroy Hooper Head of Pre-Event Equity Capital Market Coverage MERGERMARKET
Lawton Cummings General Partner CAPITAL FACTORY
Victor Masaya Managing Partner PRESIDIO INVESTORS
Thomas Thayyil Thomas CEO TERAGONIA
Karl Schade Founder and Managing Partner PRESIDIO INVESTORS
Conner Searcy Managing Partner TRIVE CAPITAL
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Troy Hooper is head of pre-event equity capital market coverage for Mergermarket & Dealreporter. Based in Southern California, Troy has covered M&A and IPOs in the technology sector for this news service for a decade.
Victor Masaya joined Presidio Investors in 2009 and has approximately two decades of private equity investment, financial services, and operating experience. Mr. Masaya serves as Managing Partner for Presidio Investors, where he focuses on lower-middle market private equity investing.
Prior to Presidio Investors, Mr. Masaya served as an investment banker for Presidio Merchant Partners, advising companies on corporate finance transactions and mergers & acquisitions. Previously, he held corporate strategy, finance, and operating roles at GreenPoint Mortgage, a mortgage banking company, and tax and accounting roles at PricewaterhouseCoopers.
Mr. Masaya received an MBA from the Ross School of Business, University of Michigan and a Master of Business, Taxation from the University of Southern California. He earned his undergraduate degree from the Haas School of Business, University of California, Berkeley.
Mr. Masaya is also active in the community, currently serving as a Board Member for Arts Bridging the Gap, based in Los Angeles, California, offering programs that utilize the arts to provide support for young people in under-resourced areas. He also formerly served as a member of the Board and Vice Chairman of the East Bay Asian Youth Center in Oakland, California and is a founding member of Project by Project San Francisco.
Presidio Board Seats: Resolve Tech Solutions, Podium Audio, Golden Pear Funding, Alliant National, NHF, IDS, and Lindora
Thomas is the Founder and CEO of Teragonia, a digital capability enabler for financial sponsors and portfolio companies to exponentially boost value creation, elevate fund professional productivity, and accelerate LP dollars. Adept in quantitative techniques and technology, Thomas, his co-founders, and team of business, technology, and quantitative experts create digital solutions in the gen AI era with a vision of pushing the boundaries of returns and efficiency.
A trusted advisor to financial sponsors, sovereign wealth funds, and conglomerates headquartered on all continents, Thomas advised clients throughout his career on transformative M&A transactions worth over $15 billion in aggregate. Based on his global experiences, Thomas applies a distinct, multicultural perspective to business building.
Prior to founding Teragonia, Thomas worked at Houlihan Lokey for five years where he established two successful and fast-growing practices from the ground up, including a sophisticated data science practice. He led the design and development of a fit-for-purpose, cutting-edge, and highly secure data science technology platform capable of hosting thousands of users and supporting several hundred clients. Leveraging the platform, he innovated several scalable and quickly deployable analytics applications creating significant value for the financial sponsor clients. Thomas also spent over a decade at Ernst & Young, working in the Assurance, M&A Diligence and Strategy Consulting practices in London and Houston, Texas.
Thomas is a Chartered Accountant, and a member of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Scotland. He received his Master of Commerce from MG University, India and his MS Finance from the University of Strathclyde, U.K.
KARL SCHADE
Presidio Investors Founder and Managing Partner
Karl Schade has been structuring, analyzing, and managing private equity investments for over two and a half decades. Today, he serves as Managing Partner of Presidio Investors, the private equity firm he founded in 2007. In this role, Mr. Schade has spent fourteen years focused on middle market buyouts, specifically in the technology, media, and financial services industries. At Presidio Investors, Mr. Schade, and the middle market-focused team he recruited, have invested in thirteen platform investments through thirty-eight acquisitions. Mr. Schade is based in Austin, TX.
Mr. Schade also has significant CEO experience. From 2013-2016, he was the CEO of The Presidio Group, a San Francisco-based financial services firm with ~$5 billion of assets under advisement. As CEO, Mr. Schade worked with the team and Board of Presidio to grow assets, open a Washington D.C. office, and restructure the firm, resulting in a successful exit. During 2011, Mr. Schade also served as CEO of Hattrick Sports Group, one of Presidio Investors’ most successful technology investments.
Prior to founding Presidio Investors, Mr. Schade worked for a decade at several large private equity firms, including The Blackstone Group in New York City, Silver Lake Partners in Menlo Park, and Blum Capital Partners in San Francisco. While at these Firms, Mr. Schade learned industry best practices and was a team-member on deals representing approximately $1 billion of invested equity capital.
Mr. Schade received his MBA from Harvard Business School, and his BA from Claremont McKenna College. Mr. Schade has served on numerous Boards and Associations, and he is a frequent speaker at industry events.
Presidio Board Seats (past and present): Bravas, Podium Audio, Golden Pear Funding, National Health Finance, Hattrick Sports Group, Metropolitan Bank, and Lindora
Conner is the Managing Partner of Trive Capital, responsible for overseeing all facets of the firm’s investment activities. Conner sits on the Board of most of Trive’s portfolio companies. Over his private equity career, Conner has completed over 60 platform investments across more than a dozen industry sectors, representing over $5 billion in revenue.
Prior to founding Trive Capital, Conner was a Partner at Insight Equity, a firm he joined at inception. Conner has also worked at Stonegate, a middle market buyout firm focused on the building products industry, and Bain & Company where he focused on turnaround management, business strategy and merger integration consulting.
Conner received his MBA from the Harvard Business School and graduated with a B.A. from Vanderbilt University in three years.