In-person event: Clifford Chance offices, New York
After an impressive year for M&A in 2021, the road ahead was fraught with obstacles for corporate M&A; volatility, increasing inflation and interest rates, supply chain challenges and a tightening regulatory environment was impacting corporate M&A activity.
The Corporate Secretary & IR Magazine M&A Forum was a multi-stakeholder conference that helped companies build shareholder support, guarantee certainty of close and deliver on the strategic aims of M&A deals.
We were joined by 100+ corporate governance, corporate development and investor relations professionals in New York on November 8 to stay up-to-date on the outlook for the M&A market, understood the changing regulatory regime, and learned how to drive shareholder value across the deal cycle.
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08:30 AM
Registration opens
08:55 AM
Welcome to the M&A Forum 2022
Laurie Havelock, editor-at-large, IR Magazine
Benjamin Sibbett, partner, Clifford Chance
09:00 AM
How to drive value through M&A in 2023
In a time of falling valuations and rising interest rates, our opening session focuses on the outlook for M&A activity during the current economic environment and how companies can adapt their strategic approach to M&A value creation.
Moderator: Steven Wade, head of event content, IR Magazine and Corporate Secretary
Alexander Fries, director of corporate development, Progress
Michael Miller, executive vice president of corporate development and affairs and chief legal officer, Barnes & Noble Education
Colin Murray, vice president of investor relations, PBF Energy
09:45 AM
Improving board oversight on M&A activity
This session looks at how companies can support their board’s ability to make informed decisions across all aspects of the deal cycle, from strategy to diligence and implementation.
Moderator: Ben Maiden, editor-at-large, Corporate Secretary
Stuart Kuntz, associate general counsel, Foot Locker
Michael Lanza, executive vice president and general counsel, Selective Insurance Group
10:30 AM
Morning networking break
11:00 AM
Adapting to accelerating due-diligence approaches
Due diligence is one of the most time-consuming aspects of M&A, but many predict that it is also an aspect that can see the most acceleration in the future. This session discusses how to improve due-diligence efforts and increase efficiency.
Moderator: Laurie Havelock, editor-at-large, IR Magazine
Kevin Knupp, vice president of corporate development, Booking Holdings
Abby Roberts, senior director, Datasite Insights
Matthew Warner, counsel, Clifford Chance
11:45 AM
Best practices when articulating deal value to shareholders
Getting shareholders on board with your M&A activity is critical to success, but sentiment around deals is changing. Join this session to learn how best to engage shareholders in the current environment.
Moderator: Laurie Havelock, editor-at-large, IR Magazine
Alison Sternberg, senior vice president investor relations, fuboTV
Mike Verrechia, managing director of the M&A and activism advisory group, Morrow Sodali
12:30 PM
Lunch
13:30 PM
Technology and M&A: Managing cyber-risk, data privacy and maximizing digitalization opportunities
An ever-increasing reliance on digital infrastructure presents risks and opportunities for deal teams. This session looks at both the benefits and dangers M&A faces from evolving technology and how to manage technology in the deal process effectively.
Moderator: Laurence Taylor, senior conference producer, IR Magazine & Corporate Secretary
Seth Gastwirth, deputy general counsel and assistant corporate secretary, JLL
Dania Nasser, senior associate general counsel, Canon
Steven Rosenberg, corporate development leader
Brian Yin, associate, Clifford Chance
14:15 PM
People & purpose: Assessing deal value through a culture and human capital lens
Leading companies are increasingly linking environmental, social and governance (ESG) strategy to their M&A activities. Human Capital factors are vital assessing deal value, and ensuring successful integration is. This session further examines how culture and company purpose influence the deal.
Moderator: Steve Wade, head of event content, IR Magazine and Corporate Secretary
Aria Glasgow, head of ESG for North America, AON
Sandeep Manchanda, head of insurance M&A, partnerships, EXL
14:45 PM
Afternoon networking break
15:00 PM
Integration: Realizing value through post-merger integration
Once a deal is signed, integration is where true value will is achieved or lost. In this session, we look at how to maximize value following a corporate transaction and communicate M&A impact with your stakeholders.
Moderator: Steve Wade, head of event content, IR Magazine and Corporate Secretary
Derek Spychalski, vice president, corporate counsel & assistant corporate secretary, Zebra Technologies
Brian Walters, executive vice-president and general counsel, Matthews International
15:45 PM
Champagne roundtables: How to add value through M&A in 2023
Help yourself to a glass of bubbly and discuss the topic with your peers in a highly interactive roundtable discussion.
Roundtable leaders
Ben Maiden, editor-at-large, Corporate Secretary
Laurence Taylor, senior conference producer, IR Magazine and Corporate Secretary
Steve Wade, head of event content, IR Magazine and Corporate Secretary
16:30 PM
Closing remarks
Steve Wade, head of event content, IR Magazine and Corporate Secretary
16:45 PM
End of conference and networking drinks
Hear from leading experts across finance, strategy and corporate governance with extensive M&A experience
Aria Glasgow
Head of ESG North America
AON
Sandeep Manchanda
Head of insurance M&A and partnerships
EXL
Benjamin Sibbett
Partner
Clifford Chance
Brian Yin
Associate
Clifford Chance
Alison Sternberg
Senior vice president investor relations
fuboTV
Michael Lanza
Executive vice president and general counsel
Selective Insurance Group
Colin Murray
Vice president of investor relations
PBF Energy
Brian Walters
Executive vice-president and general counsel
Matthews International
Derek Spychalski
Vice president, corporate counsel & assistant corporate secretary
Zebra Technologies
Steven Rosenberg
Corporate development leader
Dania Nasser
Senior associate general counsel
Canon
Seth Gastwirth
Deputy general counsel and assistant corporate secretary
JLL
Abby Roberts
Senior director
Datasite Insights
Mike Verrechia
Managing director of the M&A and activism advisory group
Morrow Sodali
Matthew Warner
Counsel
Clifford Chance
Kevin Knupp
Vice president of corporate development
Booking Holdings
Stuart Kuntz
Associate general counsel
Foot Locker
Michael Miller
Executive vice president of corporate development and affairs and chief legal officer
Barnes & Noble Education
Alexander Fries
Director of corporate development
Progress
Laurie Havelock
Editor-at-large
IR Magazine
Laurence Taylor
Senior conference producer
IR Magazine and Corporate Secretary
Ben Maiden
Editor-at-large
Corporate Secretary
Ben Maiden is the editor-at-large of Corporate Secretary, an IR Media publication, having joined the company in December 2016. He is based in New York. Ben was previously managing editor of Compliance Reporter, covering regulatory and compliance issues affecting broker-dealers and asset management firms in the US and Europe. Before that, he was editor of Euromoney Institutional Investor’s International Financial Law Review and IFLR’s Americas editor, working in London and New York.
Steven Wade
Head of event content
Corporate Secretary and IR Magazine
Steve Wade is a content researcher and conference producer at IR Magazine where he is responsible for crowd-sourcing intelligence on the big global issues facing investor relations. Steve also creates events where the IROs and the wider financial community can discuss, debate and learn about ways to develop the IR function.
Prior to IR Magazine, Steven’s background has been in corporate social responsibility and responsible investment. During his time at Ethical Corporation (now Reuters Events), Steve launched the ESG symposium, an event focused on connecting the socially responsible investment community with corporate sustainability leaders at listed companies. Steve was a judge for the Deloitte Green Frog Awards, celebrating the best corporate reporting in Eastern Europe. Steve also presented research at the Global Sustainable Event Summit in London and has spoken about extra-financial reporting with the United Nations Global Compact, the World Bank and the Polish Ministry of Finance.
Steve has a degree in Event Management and enjoys playing rugby in his spare time.
Our attendees are leading governance, IR and corporate development professionals with a strategic role within their company. Below is a sample of some of our attendees:
Job title | Company | Job title | Company | |
Chief corporate governance officer, senior associate general counsel, assistant secretary | Huntington National Bank | Senior vice president of corporate development | Paramount | |
Chief legal officer | AtriCure | SVP, financial planning & analysis and corporate development | Interpublic Group | |
Director of corporate development | Progress | SVP, market leader | Datamaran | |
Director, M&A integration & operations | Jamf | Vice president | SMBC Nikko Securities America | |
Director, strategy & corporate development | Gartner | Vice president | Zimmer Biomet | |
EVP | Edelman Smithfield | Vice president | Autonomous Research | |
Executive vice president and general counsel | Selective Insurance Group | Vice president legal services & chief privacy officer | The Cheesecake Factory | |
Executive vice president of corporate development and affairs and chief legal officer | Barnes & Noble Education | Vice president of corporate development | Booking Holdings | |
Executive vice president, chief legal officer | Shore United Bank | Vice president of investor relations | PBF Energy | |
Executive vice-president and general counsel | Matthews International | Vice president, corporate counsel & assistant corporate secretary | Zebra Technologies | |
Head of corporate development | Equitable | Vice president, deputy general counsel and assistant secretary | Hewlett Packard Enterprise | |
Head of enterprise M&A | The Hartford | Vice president, M&A and ventures | Xerox | |
Head of ESG North America | Aon | VP | Edelman Smithfield | |
Managing director | Noble Capital Markets | VP corporate development and treasury | DistributionNOW | |
Senior vice president investor relations | fuboTV | VP legal | Shake Shack | |
Senior vice president of corporate development | Houghton Mifflin Harcourt | VP, corporate development | Wheel Pros |
Why partner with us?
The M&A Forum brings together some of the most influential people from legal, finance and corporate development at public companies. The event offers an effective approach to targeting clients at a time when they need it the most.
Through our unrivalled knowledge of the subject matter and commitment to in-depth agenda research, our events attract a qualified audience.
The unique buzz we create at our events makes them multi-faceted and highly interactive with great engagement in particular from corporate secretaries, M&A managers and heads of investor relations. This allows our partners to have meaningful conversations with corporate stakeholders across legal, governance and corporate development.
By partnering with us on an event, you can generate leads, showcase your thought leadership and position yourselves as the partner of choice to our community.
We’d love to have a chat with you about how you can get in front of a truly engaged and motivated audience – get in touch with Ian Richman or call on +1 212 430 6865.
In Association with
Clifford Chance is one of the world’s pre-eminent law firms with significant depth and range of resources across five continents. We provide our clients with the highest-quality advice and legal insight, which combines the firm’s global standards with in-depth local expertise. We advise clients the world over on sustainable business transition and transformation, offering global coverage and technical excellence in the major aspects of ESG. The climate emergency, imperative social issues, and increased importance of effective governance require advice and support from the forefront of ESG developments, as part of achieving the Just Transition. Our team is on hand to enable business transition and to protect and create your sustainable growth.
For more information, please visit our website.
Forum Partners
Datasite is a leading SaaS provider for the M&A industry, empowering dealmakers around the world with the tools they need to succeed across the entire deal lifecycle. For more information, visit www.datasite.com
Morrow Sodali is the leading global consultancy specializing in shareholder services, corporate governance, proxy solicitation and capital markets transactions. The firm provides corporate boards and executives with strategic advice and services relating to a broad range of activities, including: mergers and acquisitions, annual general and extraordinary shareholder meetings, dissident and contested campaigns, shareholder activist initiatives and multinational cross-border equity and debt transactions.
From headquarters in New York and London and nine offices in major capital markets, Morrow Sodali serves more than 700 corporate clients in 40 countries, including many of the world’s largest multinational corporations. In addition to listed and private companies, its clients include mutual funds, stock exchanges, membership associations and activist investors.
For more information, visit morrowsodali.com
The Nuvo Group provides financial printing, digital publishing and EDGAR SEC electronic filing services to some of the world’s most respected financial institutions. We possess the tools, team and advanced technologies to ensure an exceptional customer experience — ease of process, rapid execution, regulatory compliance and, of course, uncompromising accuracy. Our Mission & Vision is to consistently perform in ways that make our customers’ jobs easier, and their printing and filing faster, to leverage the most experienced talent, effective tools and advanced technologies in financial printing, digital publishing and EDGAR SEC filing today in order to simplify, accelerate and enhance the end product we proudly deliver to our customers — on time, in format and on budget. To lead in the design and development of groundbreaking services, solutions and support systems, innovations that redefine the industry of financial printing, digital publishing and EDGAR SEC filing and deliver more tangible value and responsiveness to customers — compressed lead times, error-free documents, streamlined production and reduced cost. Proud to be named one of Inc 5000’s Fastest Growing Private Companies.
For more information, please visit www.thenuvogroup.com.
Supported by
Founded in 1969, NIRI is the professional association of corporate officers and investor relations consultants responsible for communication among corporate management, shareholders, securities analysts and other financial community constituents. NIRI is the largest professional investor relations association in the world with more than 3,300 members representing over 1,600 publicly held companies and $9 trillion in stock market capitalization.
For more information, please visit www.NIRI.org
Register your interest for the 2023 forum by filling in the form at the link below. You will be the first to receive important updates about the event and details about how to request an invite.
If you have any questions, please contact Priscilla Lim at [email protected] or call +44 20 8004 4989
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If you have any questions, please contact Priscilla Lim at [email protected] or +44 20 8004 4989.
For partnership inquiries
+1 212 430 6865
For agenda inquiries
+44 20 3865 8103
For all other inquiries
+44 20 8004 4989