Know Who Drives Return

SPAC SEAH is taking Super Group public in a $4.6B deal that investors are hoping will close in the 4th quarter of 2021. Listen in to learn more about John and Neal's backgrounds, why Super Group may be the right bet for investors, and their expectations on deal close timing, what will happen with warrants, and more.

• John and Neal's career histories
• Overview of Super Group's Business
• US growth ambitions
• Playbook for entering new markets/products
• NBA, NFL and thoughts around partnerships 
• Strength of Betway brand, West Ham and Ted Lasso
• Competitive landscape, why invest in Super Group?
• Customer acquisition strategy, MAUs, and promotions
• SPAC deal, UOP, financing, and closing
• M&A or potential acquisition target?
• Social media and the retail investor crowd
• SEAH as sponsor, alignment, and warrants
• Tech and data capabilities 
• Biggest risk to execution?
• Metaverse and e-sports
• Parting words

Boardroom Alpha's SPAC Service
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Data veteran Richard Barlow joins the podcast to discuss why he founded Wejo and the prospects for the company amid what he expects to be a boom in connected vehicle data.

Connected data company Wejo was founded in 2014 by CEO Richard Barlow, a data veteran and motorsport enthusiast. 

Wejo collects millions of data points from an ever growing fleet of connected cars which enables numerous use cases including helping smart cities manage traffic and more. Wejo agreed to go public via Virtuoso Acquisition Corp (VOSO) in a deal giving them an enterprise value of $800M.

Listen in to learn more about Wejo, how Virtuoso (VOSO) is accelerating them, and why investors should be excited.

Boardroom Alpha's SPAC Service
For ongoing tracking, analytics, and data on SPACs checkout Boardroom Alpha's SPAC Data and Analytics service.

Martin Werner, CEO of DD3 Acquisition Corp II (DDMX) and Moshe Edree of Codere Online join David Drapkin to discuss their SPAC transaction and the future of gaming in LatAm.

Codere Online is the online gaming/gambling arm of parent Codere Group. Codere online is going public via DD3 Acquisition Corp II (DDMX) in a $350M EV transaction announced in June this year. 

DDMX shareholders are gearing up for the vote which was just announced for November 18th. 

DDMX CEO Martin Werner, former head of Goldman Sachs Mexico, and Codere's Moshe Edree join us on the podcast to discuss the deal and why LatAm is the next frontier for growth in online gaming + gambling. 

This is the second SPAC from the DD3 team, having previously led the successful acquisition and De-SPAC of Betterware a Mexico-based D2C company. 

Now more than ever Environmental, Social & Governance (ESG) are top of mind for management teams.  Olshan partner Elizabeth Gonzalez-Sussman sits down on our podcast to discuss many of these trends, and what companies should be focused on. 

We touch on activist investors, racial equity audits, and how a little known agitator in Engine 1 successfully won a proxy battle against behemoth Exxon Mobil. 

Elizabeth is an expert in her field and provides valuable insight on not only what's trending but how we can all do better to push the ESG, in particular diversity, agenda. 

Topics Discussed

• Intro to Elizabeth + Olshan
• Diversity mandates for public company boards
• Are mandates or other methods more effective?
• Racial equity audits + company dynamics
• Future of disclosure at the SEC
• How do we get get better at promoting underserved talent
• Trends in Activism in E + S
• Activist vulnerability, and XOM / Engine 1
• ESG Funds and greenwashing
• Negotiation tactics
• Retail investors and effect on activist situations

About Elizabeth Gonzalez-Sussman
Elizabeth represents and provides strategic guidance to hedge funds and other large investors in shareholder activist situations, including large stock accumulations, behind-the-scenes engagements, letter writing, ESG-focused campaigns, exempt solicitations, submitting shareholder proposals, negotiating settlements, proxy contests, hostile takeovers and other activist related M&A activity. She also advises individual directors and management teams in board disputes at private and public companies. Recent representations have included negotiated settlements by various investor groups at Kohl’s Corporation, Bed Bath & Beyond and Big Lots, successful proxy campaigns by investor groups at EQT Corporation and GameStop Corp., and the successful unsolicited acquisition of Perry Ellis International by its founder George Feldenkreis.

Elizabeth also assists both public and privately-held companies in mergers and acquisitions, capital raising transactions, tender and exchange offers, and general corporate and securities law matters, including SEC reporting and corporate governance.

Prior to joining Olshan, Elizabeth practiced in the corporate finance group of O'Melveny & Myers LLP and in the corporate group of Paul, Hastings, Janofsky & Walker LLP.

Learn more about Olshan: https://www.olshanlaw.com/

CompoSecure is going public in a $1.2B deal with the Roman DBDR Tech Acquisition (DBDR) SPAC. CompoSecure is a leading metal card company with significant revenue, great margins, and great partners. With their move to go public they plan to disrupt the crypto space with their Arculus product line.

Listen in to hear why CompSecure CEO Jon Wilk and DBDR CEO Dr. Don Basile believe that the metal cards business is still in the early innings and their move into crypto will pay off for investors.

Discussion Details

• John Wilk's career history 
• Don Basile's career + what happened at Violin
• CompoSecure business overview metal cards + crypto
• Growth in metal credit cards? Will people want these?
• Are you going to face margin pressure?
• Risk of the crypto business going forward 
• Arculus launch update, and does interest move with Crypto?
• Entry into new markets such as gaming and trading
• Sale vs. IPO vs. SPAC
• Why did Roman DBDR choose CompoSecure?
• Investor base and capital structure 
• Leadership team in place 

In this quick hit episode, David Drapkin talks to Matthew Tuttle from Tuttle Capital on the unprecedented action in DWAC as it breaks all SPAC and MEME records following its announcement to merge with Trump Media & Technology Group. Not even during peak SPAC mania have we seen anything like it. Will it bring back much needed attention to the asset class? 

Inspirato is going public in a SPAC deal valued at $1.1B with Thayer Ventures Acquisition (TVAC). Inspirato's CEO, Brent Handler, and CFO,  Web Neighbor, join Boardroom Alpha's David Drapkin for a deep dive on Inspirato and the deal.

** Get your Know Who Drives Return SWAG **

Discussion Details

• Inspirato - Overview
• Club and Pass
• Why public now and why SPAC?
• Why Thayer?
• Travel and COVID affects
• Growth prospects 
• Inspirato valuation 
• Capital Structure 
• Life as a public company
• Competitors
• Favorite places

About Inspirato (https://www.inspirato.com/)
Launched in 2011, Inspirato is the innovative luxury travel subscription brand that provides affluent travelers access to a managed and controlled portfolio of hand-selected vacation options, delivered through a subscription model to ensure the service and certainty that affluent customers demand. The Inspirato Collection includes branded luxury vacation homes available exclusively to subscribers and guests, accommodations at five-star hotel and resort partners, and custom travel experiences. In 2019, Inspirato improved travel by introducing Inspirato Pass, the world's first luxury travel subscription inclusive of nightly rates, taxes, and fees.

Vacasa's CEO Matt Roberts joins David Drapkin to discuss what makes Vacasa a compelling addition to investors' portfolios as it goes public via SPAC. Vacasa is a vacation rental management platform that is going public via TPG Pace Solutions (TPGS) in a $3.7 billion EV deal that was announced this summer.

More on Vacasa: https://www.vacasa.com/
More on TPG Pace Solutions (TPGS): https://www.tpg.com/pace-solutions

Discussion Details

• Matt Roberts - Career History
• Overview of Vacasa's business 
• Vacasa vs. BKNG, EXPE, ABNB
• Covid tailwinds in travel
• What does second home supply look like?
• Growth prospects 
• Why go public now, and private to public transition
• CFO Jamie Cohen and Vacasa's Leadership 
• Why SPAC vs. other capital market routes
• Valuation in context 
• Partnership with TPG
• What's Matt most excited about

Aurora CEO Chris Urmson and Reinvent's (RTPY) Michael Thompson join David Drapkin to talk self-driving technology, why Aurora is setup for success, and the overall SPAC market.

Aurora / Reinvent just announced their shareholder vote on the deal is happening on November 2nd.

Reinvent Technology Partners Y (RTPY), is a special purpose acquisition company (SPAC) led by LinkedIn co-founder Reid Hoffman and Zynga founder Mark Pincus.

More on Aurora: https://aurora.tech/
More on Reinvent: https://www.reinventtechnologypartners.com/

Discussion Details

• Overview of Aurora and its technology, partnerships
• Why public now vs. an additional private round
• Why Reinvent, process of finding a SPAC
• Sponsor alignment with public shareholders
• Keys to success as a public company
• 2023 Truck launch and go-to-market strategy
• Why Aurora vs. a GM or Waymo?
• Valuation in context vs. Peers and latest raise?
• Telling Aurora's story to the public
• Capital structure of the company post close
• Reinvent as a SPAC sponsor - picking SPAC targets
• Future of the SPAC market from a sponsor perspective
• Biggest Risk for Aurora

Bruce Goldfarb, CEO and Founder of Okapi Partners joins David Drapkin on the Know Who Drives Return podcast. Bruce goes deep on what he's seeing in recent proxy seasons, contested M&A, SPACs, AMC, and whether retail investors are good for the markets.

Discussion Details

• Who is Okapi Partners?
• Themes of the current proxy season
• Contested M&A situations
• Getting SPAC deals passed, and retail investor base
• Retail, reddit, and the individual investor dynamic
• AMC, Adam Aron and new retail strategy
• Are retail investors good for the markets?
• Director selection in activist situations

Bruce Goldfarb Biography
Bruce Goldfarb is Founder, President and Chief Executive Officer of Okapi Partners. He works closely with a wide range of clients including corporations, mutual funds, activist investors and shareholder groups as well as private equity sponsors and hedge funds, in solicitation and investor response campaigns. He focuses on proxy solicitation strategy, execution for mergers and acquisitions, proxy fights and other extraordinary transactions.

Prior to establishing Okapi Partners, Bruce was the Senior Managing Director and General Counsel of Georgeson Inc. (now a subsidiary of Computershare Limited), where he headed the Global M&A Advisory Group.

Before entering the proxy solicitation business, Bruce was a Senior Vice President of the investment management firm, Scudder, Stevens & Clark, now a part of Deutsche Bank’s Asset Management unit. He joined Scudder as a member of the Legal Department where he concentrated on transactions, including those involving mergers and acquisitions, international matters, alternative investment vehicles, off-shore funds and closed-end funds. Bruce also served as an executive officer of various closed-end funds advised by Scudder. He was the Chairman of Scudder’s Proxy Review Committee and served as the point person for the Scudder Funds proxy solicitation effort relating to the acquisition of Scudder by Zurich Financial Services Group.

Bruce began his career as an attorney at Cravath, Swaine & Moore, where he worked for more than six years, specializing in corporate law, mergers and acquisitions, securities transactions and international matters.

Bruce holds a J.D. from the Columbia University School of Law. He also earned a B.A. in the History of Art from the University of Pennsylvania concurrently with a B.S. Economics with a concentration in Finance, from the Wharton School.