Nearly forty veteran and sitting CEOs of $100 Million to $3 Billion companies and two representatives from Senator Kirsten Gillibrand's office (D-NY) joined an invitation only discussion featuring New York Stock Exchange Euronext CEO Duncan L. Niederauer on mergers and acquisitions and post integration of a global enterprise. The discussion, co-hosted by The Board of Veteran CEOs, a leading organization for information exchanges, partnerships and networking among CEOs, and Akerman Senterfitt, a national law firm and leader in middle market transactions, was moderated by Richard Goeglein, chairman of Pinnacle Entertainment, Inc. and former CEO.
Amid the pending $8.2 billion acquisition of the NYSE with Intercontinental Exchange, Inc. (ICE), Niederaurer addressed a room full of veteran and sitting CEOs at at the Yale Club in New York City. He provided insight on the global market and M&A space, the climate of IPOs, and the future of financial markets.
"It is not often that mid cap CEOs have the opportunity to sit with someone who has such a broad view of the economy and the status of things around the world as we did listening to Mr. Niederauer," said Ted Santos, chairman of The Board of Veteran CEOs. "We designed this as an exclusive gathering for CEOs to not only learn from the head of the world's leading stock exchange, but to also have peer-to-peer discussions and access to individuals from public and private companies and representatives from Congress."
Niederauer engaged the audience in an interactive discussion. A brief survey among the group found that the majority of mid cap CEOs had a more optimistic outlook for 2013 compared to 2012 and expect to see the purchase price multiples in M&A to increase over the year.
"We are honored to partner with Ted and the Board of Veteran CEOs," said Wayne Wald, a shareholder with Akerman's Corporate Practice Group in New York. "The Board of Veteran CEOs provides an excellent platform to exchange ideas. We feel fortunate to learn alongside some of the world's leading companies, and look forward to continuing our relationship through future events."
The Board of Veteran CEOs is a unique organization that provides sitting CEOs access to retired CEOs who have helped grow enterprises to Fortune 1000 status and beyond. Some of the retired CEOs who serve as Advisory Members of the organization have led companies like Dun & Bradstreet, Ben & Jerry's, Max Factor, and Harrah's Hotel & Casinos, and fortune 500s including NCR and AC Nielsen.
The Breakfast Forum was one of a series of events to take place this year. Every other month The Board of Veteran CEOs holds a roundtable discussion for its members on timely, trending topics, such as global expansion, post M&A integration, CEO transformation, and many others. It also provides CEOs the opportunity to deliberate real time challenges and collaborate with Advisory Members who have 40+ years of management experience, learning about their industry, experience, skills and competencies.
"The Board of Veteran CEOs provides a platform for CEOs to speak candidly about broader, subjective issues happening within their markets, general population demands and their customer base, employee attitudes, etc.," said Goeglein. "The breakfast meetings each month are such a valuable experience. The exchange between retired and sitting CEOs provides an opportunity to hear different viewpoints, not just about new business and industry approaches, but also generational perspectives."
Akerman is recognized by U.S. News - Best Lawyers as a leading U.S. law firm for Corporate, M&A, Private Equity, Securities/Capital Markets, and Securities Regulation Law. In addition, Akerman's Corporate Practice Group is recognized by The Legal 500 within the National Firms - Middle Market category and is ranked #1 by Chambers USA for Corporate/M&A & Private Equity in Florida. Akerman's Corporate Practice Group advises public and private companies, including private equity funds, in mergers & acquisitions, securities offerings, financings and other transactional matters, with a strong focus on the middle market.
About Akerman Senterfitt
Akerman is a leading transactions and trial law firm known for its core strengths in middle market M&A, within the financial services and real estate industries, and for a diverse Latin America practice. With more than 550 lawyers and government affairs professionals and a network of 19 offices, it is ranked among the top 100 law firms in the United States by The National Law Journal NLJ 250 (2012). Akerman also is ranked among the top 100 law firms for diversity by MultiCultural Law Magazine (2012) and recognized as the Law Firm of the Year for Diversity – South by Benchmark Litigation (2012). More information can be found at akerman.com or twitter.com/akerman_law.