M&A Conference at the University of Chicago (Live Online)

September 2 & 3, 2020

This prestigious annual conference assembles corporate development leaders, in-house M&A counsel, board members, and private equity investors to discuss current challenges impacting complex transactions and learn about innovative methods to improve deal performance.

The cross-disciplinary agenda draws on experienced M&A professionals from various industries and regions to share first-hand experiences, best practices, and recommendations for navigating deals through both internal and external challenges.

This conference will be streamed live online in 2020.

DAY ONE AGENDA: WEDNESDAY SEPTEMBER 2, 2020

8:55am - 9:00am
Opening remarks: William Jefferson Black, Managing Director, Finance Information Group & Publisher, Transaction Advisors

9:00am - 9:50am
M&A strategy: Shaky markets and targets The opening keynote discussion will look at the unique challenges associated with acquisitions when economic conditions are strained, the political environment is murky, and the target may be facing financial or operational distress.

10:00am - 10:50am
Strategic v. Private Equity: Competing on price and forms of consideration This lively session will provide perspective on the techniques that are commonly employed by strategic acquirers and private equity firms.

Mark Legaspi, Associate General Counsel, Director, Corporate Strategy, M&A, Investments and Emerging Technology, Intel
Brett Shawn, Senior Vice President, Assistant General Counsel, Warburg Pincus
Matthew Gemello, Partner - M&A and Private Equity Group, Orrick

11:00am - 11:50am
Diligence methods: Accounting and beyond This session will look at challenging (virtual) diligence obligations including value capture opportunities, quality of earnings, revenue recognition practices, and compliance investigations. The participants will discuss the negotiation of specific deal terms that may be employed to address a range of diligence discoveries related to a target's value drivers.

Katie Nicoletti, Senior Director, Mergers & Acquisitions, Qualcomm
Jeremy Segal, Senior Vice President of Corporate Development, Progress
Christen Morand, Partner, Forensic & Integrity Services Practice, EY

12:00pm - 12:50pm
Human capital diligence: Operational risks This session will provide a detailed look at how effective dealmakers are now approaching human capital due diligence, on site and virtually, to identify people-related operational challenges and look at specific deal terms that may be employed to impact the future state operating model.

Abdou Gueye, Senior Director, Global HR Operations and HR M&A, Zebra Technologies
Dustin Intihar, Corporate Development, Strategy and M&A, Lubrizol
Jeff Black, Partner, Global M&A Advisory Services Leader, Mercer

1:00pm - 1:50pm
Cross border joint ventures: Structuring The participants will discuss mechanisms to address regulatory, cultural, and operational considerations within the structure of the transaction.

Marie Quintero-Johnson, Vice President and Director, Global Mergers & Acquisitions, The Coca-Cola Company
Andrew Gratz, Associate General Counsel, Commercial & Strategic Transactions, LyondellBasell
Maria Green, Board Member, Littelfuse, WEC Energy, Tennant Company; former General Counsel, ITW and Ingersoll Rand
George Casey, Global Managing Partner & Global M&A Practice Group Leader, Shearman & Sterling

2:00pm - 2:50pm
Negotiating risk allocation: Insurance and other mechanisms for downside protection This session will look at the increasing use of transaction insurance and also consider Covid-19 related risks and how dealmakers distinguish between insurable risks and issues that should be addressed through other mechanisms in the purchase agreement.

Hans Grong, Senior Counsel - M&A, 3M
Jay Rittberg, Managing Principal, Euclid Transactional
Aly El Hamamsy, Partner, Freshfields
Bill Monat, Senior Director, Transactional Risk Leader, Willis Towers Watson

3:00pm - 3:50pm
Ask the M&A Leadership Council This interactive session will provide an opportunity for conference participants to ask select members of the prestigious M&A Leadership Council questions on a range of deal-related topics.

Sergio Letelier, Vice President, Deputy General Counsel - Corporate, Securities and M&A, Hewlett Packard Enterprise
Eileen Kamerick, Corporate Director, AIG Funds, Associated Banc-Corp, Legg-Mason Closed-End Mutual Funds, and Hochschild Mining
Lenny (Arslan) El Guindy, Corporate M&A, Deere & Company
Michael Wolf, Vice President, Deputy General Counsel, Baxter International
Nichelle Maynard-Elliott, Board Member, Element Solutions
James Harris, Principal, Corporate Development Integration, Google
Ken Bond, Senior Vice President of Corporate Development, Aon (former)

DAY TWO AGENDA: THURSDAY SEPTEMBER 3, 2020

8:55am - 9:00am
Opening remarks: William Jefferson Black, Managing Director, Finance Information Group & Publisher, Transaction Advisors
Recognition of the M&A Leadership Council

9:00am - 9:50am
Global merger control and antitrust challenges: Conglomerate risk This session will provide guidance on the shifting environment for competition reviews in the United States, Europe, and other jurisdictions. The participants will comment on specific deal terms that anticipate protectionist views and antitrust challenges associated with conglomerate risk and the merits of negotiating prospective remedies or remaining silent.

Morgan Frontczak, Senior Antitrust Counsel, Shell
Chuck Webb, Senior Antitrust Attorney, FedEx
Matthew Readings, Partner, Global Antitrust Practice Group Leader, Shearman & Sterling

10:00am - 10:50am
Developments in deal structuring This discussion will examine current negotiation points and deal terms that may be employed to bridge gaps between buyers and sellers.

Michele Welsh, Vice President, Assistant General Counsel, Carlisle Companies
Saswat Bohidar, Associate General Counsel, M&A and Ventures, Hewlett Packard Enterprise
Elizabeth Donley, Partner, Co-Head of M&A Group Americas, Hogan Lovells

11:00am - 11:50am
Carveout transactions This session will look at the strategic and operational considerations associated with spin-off transactions including specific guidance on the disposal process including shareholder engagement, taxation, and ongoing commercial agreements.

Todd Manning, Vice President - Corporate Development / M&A, American Express
Bradley Marzullo, Vice President & Assistant General Counsel - DaVita Venture Group, DaVita
Yvonne Gyimah, Senior Managing Director Corporate Finance, FTI Consulting

12:00pm - 12:50pm
Keynote Interview: Market dynamics in 2020 and beyond

Stephen G. Morrissette, Ph.D., Adjunct Associate Professor, University of Chicago's Booth School of Business and Head of the M&A Academy
Brian Hwang, Director, Corporate Development & Global Partnerships, Intralinks

1:00pm - 1:50pm
Navigating regulatory hurdles: Trade and tariffs The participants will discuss a range of deal-related trade and tariff risks and consider methods for addressing these variables through merger agreement drafting and negotiations.

Leigh Avsec, Vice President & Associate General Counsel, Fortune Brands Home & Security
Jennafer Watson, Director of Ethics & Compliance, Managing Counsel, Occidental Petroleum Corporation
Nabeel Yousef, Partner, Freshfields

2:00pm - 2:50pm
Integration and change management: Stand-alone acquisitions This session will look at limited integration strategies and tactics for achieving governance for post-merger performance improvement.

Kiranmayi Adabala, M&A Integration, Customer Experience, Cisco Systems
Michael DeVita, M&A Transformation Executive, Salesforce
Kristin Murphy, Global Strategy & Operations Leader - M&A Transaction Services, Mercer

3:00pm - 3:50pm
Acquisition metrics and transaction communications This in-depth review will consider the key considerations in communicating the value of a transaction to the Board, equity and debt capital markets as well as employees, customers, vendors, regulators, and local communities.

Diwakar Rao, Vice President of Corporate Development & Strategy, Zynga
Pat Belotti, Director, M&A Venture Integration, Microsoft
Will Gabrielski, Senior Vice President, Finance/Investor Relations, AECOM
Pat Tucker, Head of M&A and Activism, Abernathy MacGregor

INNOVATION PARTNERS

The conference will feature a number of innovative technology and information platforms that are advancing the M&A practice:

Intralinks provides an artificial intelligence-assisted platform to increase efficiency, reduce risk, and streamline the entire M&A process—from strategy and deal preparation through the due diligence process and post-merger Integration.
Black Duck is a software due diligence solution for M&A that specializes in code reviews for open source and internal compliance as well as security flaws in proprietary, open source, and other third-party software.
Knowable’s M&A offerings convert legal language into structured contract data. Their reliable portfolio-level reporting provides cross-functional stakeholders with actionable insights that improve deal outcomes.
TMF Group is a strategic global partner providing a comprehensive back office solution to ensure all local payroll, accounting, tax and compliance transition from the TSA correctly, dovetailing into the corporate back office processes.
Apperio is a legal spend tracking and analytics platform that provides complete clarity on legal spend in real-time.
Aviator is a cloud-based, full-service M&A tool that simplifies the planning process among workstream teams and provides visibility and reporting against workplans and financials.
Spend Analytics, powered by Accenture’s Applied Intelligence Platform, accelerates the identification of direct and indirect spend synergies by employing artificial intelligence to gather, consolidate, cleanse, categorize, and benchmark spend data.
OrgVue is an organization design and headcount reduction tool that visually compares current organization design to a future design state while capturing the value of operational process efficiencies.

WHO SHOULD ATTEND

This program is for public-company corporate development and integration leaders, in-house M&A and securities counsel, chief financial officers, chief executive officers, board members, and private equity investors. This conference is not designed for advisors or service providers. The proceedings are closed to the media.

Conference attendees may be eligible for CLE and CPE