Supporting Sponsors:

 

 
 

Check out a summary of the keynote presentation and panel discussion in the "You Should Have Been There" post on ACG Boston's blog, TheDealmaker.org!

M&A in 2010: What's the Deal?

DealMakers 2010 Outlook Conference
presented by ACG Boston

This Week: Thursday, February 25, 2010
Park Plaza Hotel, Boston
2:00pm-7:00pm
  Online Registration Closes Wednesday at 12:00pm!
Conference Information

Keynote Speaker:

Bruce Johnstone - Fidelity Investments
Managing Director
Senior Marketing Investment Strategist


Bruce Johnstone, in his 4 4th   year with the company, is a managing director and senior marketing investment strategist for Fidelity Investments, the largest mutual fund company in the United States, the No. 1 provider of workplace retirement savings plans and a leading online brokerage firm.  In these roles, Mr. Johnstone is responsible for educating retail and institutional audiences and helping the company’s clients adjust their portfolios. 
 
Prior to assuming his current position, he was chief investment officer and managing director of Fidelity Investments Limited in London for two years.  Before that, he served as executive vice president and chairman of the Investment Committee for Fidelity Management & Research Co. and group leader of the Income and Growth group of funds.   His most enduring role was 19 years as vice president and portfolio manager of Fidelity Equity-Income Fund -- which he managed from 1972 to 1990.  Early on, he was assistant portfolio manager of Salem Fund, Fidelity Fund, and the precursor of the Fidelity Equity Income Fund.  Mr. Johnstone joined Fidelity as a transportation analyst in 1966. 
 
Born in 1940, Mr. Johnstone earned a Bachelor of Arts degree, cum laude, in physical sciences from Harvard College in 1962 and an MBA from Harvard Business School in 1966.  Between degrees, he was on active duty in the U.S. Navy from 1962 to 1964, where he received the commission of Lieutenant.  Mr. Johnstone is a Chartered Financial Analyst.
 
Mr. Johnstone is involved in numerous community and professional organizations.  He is a director of the Pioneer Institute for Public Policy Research and also the Boston Foundation for Sight.  He is a founding board member of the Needham (MA) Education Foundation, on the Board of Dean’s Advisors at Harvard Business School, and on the executive council for the Inner City Schools Scholarship Fund. He is also on several committees appointed by Harvard University’s Board of Overseers.
 
A native of Ho-Ho-Kus, NJ and graduate of Ridgewood High School, he and his wife of 4 6    years reside in Needham, MA.

Moderator:


Laura Kreutzer - Dow Jones & Co.
Special Writer, Private Equity Analyst


Ms. Kreutzer has covered various beats for Private Equity Analyst since July 2000.  She also co-authors Private Equity Fund of Funds State of the Market, a biennial research report on the fund-of-funds industry, and contributes regularly to online publiciatons LBOWire, VentureWire and Private Equity Beat.  Previously, Ms. Kreutzer spent six years living and working in Hong Kong, Mainland China and Japan.  She has worked at the Hong Kong bureau of Bloomberg News, the Taipei Economic and Cultural Office of Boston and the Shimane Prefecture Board of Education in Japan.  Ms. Kreutzer received a BA in East Asian studies from Brown University and an MA in international affairs from Columbia University.


DealMakers Panelists:


Hiter Harris - Harris Williams & Co.
Co-Founder


Mr. Harris co-founded Harris Williams & Co. in 1991 as a national investment banking firm focusing on mergers and acquisitions. Since the firm's founding in 1991, Mr. Harris has led Harris Williams & Co. to become one of the largest and most influential mergers and acquisitions boutiques in the country. Mr. Harris has nearly 20 years of transactional experience focused in middle-market mergers and acquisitions assignments. Having directed over 200 mergers and acquisitions transactions during his career, Mr. Harris has worked extensively in several industries including consumer products, building products, industrial manufacturing, natural resources, retailing, media, and various services businesses.

Prior to co-founding Harris Williams & Co., Mr. Harris was with Bowles Hollowell Conner and Co. Previous experience includes positions with the investment banking group of First Union Corporation and positions with Crestar Bank.

Mr. Harris earned an M.B.A. from Harvard Business School, with Distinction, and a B.S. in Mathematics and Economics from Hampden-Sydney College, cum laude. Current and former board positions include Hampden-Sydney College Board of Trustees and Finance Committee Chair; Virginia Foundation for Independent Colleges Board of Trustees and Finance Chair; President, St. Catherine's Foundation; St. Catherine's Board of Governors; St. Christopher's Board of Governors; Chesapeake Academy Foundation, Treasurer; Virginia Resources Authority (governor appointed); Virginia Museum of Fine Arts Foundation; Virginia Historical Society; and East Coast Oil Company Board of Advisors. Mr. Harris lives in Richmond with his wife and three children.




Tom Stemberg - Highland Consumer Fund
Managing General Partner


Focuses on retail and consumer services companies, he is also interested in ways technology can be applied to further impact existing businesses. Tom brings to bear his deep understanding of entrepreneurs, new markets, and product innovation in assisting portfolio companies in building successful and enduring companies.

Prior to joining Highland, Tom founded Staples and served as CEO for sixteen years and Chairman for three additional years. Tom pioneered the office superstore industry when he wrote the business plans for Staples in 1986. Tom propelled Staples’ business growth through store expansion programs, a delivered office products business, growing international presence, and award-winning e-commerce operations ultimately creating a $19 billion company. Tom also founded Olly Shoes, a leading children's shoe retailer. Tom currently serves on the boards of CarMax, Inc. (NYSE: KMX), Guitar Center, lululemon athletica (Nasdaq: LULU), PETsMART, Inc. (Nasdaq: PETM), Pharmaca and StriVectin.

Education: Harvard University, A.B., Physical Science; Harvard Business School, M.B.A.



Lee Tesconi - Lexington Partners
Partner

Lee Tesconi is a Partner at Lexington Partners, having opened a Boston office for Lexington in January 2003.  He is predominantly involved in transaction origination and valuation of secondary purchases of buyout, mezzanine and venture partnership interests. 

Prior to joining Lexington, Lee was a Managing Director and spent 15 years with BancBoston Capital (BBC), where he and his team founded BBC’s secondary business, and invested over $1 billion in secondary purchases.  He also made private equity co-investments and primary fund commitments while at BBC. 

Previously, he was a VP in the LBO Acquisition Finance Group for BankBoston for 5 years, and worked at Arthur Andersen, where he obtained his CPA. 

He has a BS in Accounting from Boston College, and an MBA in Finance from MIT’s Sloan School of Management.

Corbin Walburger - Stanley
Vice President, Corporate Business Development

Corbin Walburger is Vice President, Business Development at The Stanley Works in New Britain, Connecticut.  He has leadership responsibility for mergers, acquisitions and divestitures globally, across all business segments.  Corbin joined Stanleyin 2008 after ten years at Goldman, Sachs & Company where he was a Vice President in the Investment Banking Division and led the Building & Construction Practice.  He also served as an associate and analyst in the Investment Banking Division at Goldman Sachs.  During his career, Corbin has been involved in a wide variety of merger and financing-related transactions including buy-sides, sell-sides, divestitures, leveraged buyouts, recapitalizations, hostile takeover defenses, and equity and debt financings for leading public and private companies.  Corbin holds a BA in Quantitative Economic and Decision Sciences from the Universityof Californiaat San Diego and an MBA from the Stanford Graduate School of Business.