Reg A+, Activism, Cybersecurity and Legal Marijuana Highlight the Program at the Growth Capital Expo 2016
LAS VEGAS, April 5, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- A half-day workshop on the Reg A+ "mini-IPO" process, plus expert panels on microcap activism, cybersecurity issues for small public companies, and a full afternoon of exploration of the opportunities and risks of investing in the legal marijuana sector head up the educational program at this year's Growth Capital Expo, scheduled for May 3-5 at Caesars Palace in Las Vegas.
The Growth Capital Expo brings together the best ideas, the most promising companies and the top dealmakers in emerging growth finance for three days of education and networking in the nation's premier destination for meetings and entertainment. Join a select group of emerging growth company executives, investors and finance specialists at the premier U.S. event focused on the pre-IPO and public microcap market.
All told, more than 15 hours of presentations and discussion panels are scheduled over the three days of the Expo, the premier annual event in the emerging growth capital market. The program is fully accredited for CLE and CPE professional continuing education credits and included as a part of regular access ticket for the Expo, available at GrowthCapitalExpo.com.
The program kicks off with the popular Public Company Boot Camp for officers and directors of pre-IPO and newly public emerging growth companies. Two keynote speakers will be featured in addition to the Reg A+ workshop panels. Adam Epstein of Third Creek Advisors, the man who "wrote the book" on small cap corporate governance, will kickoff the afternoon with a presentation on how emerging growth executives and their boards can avoid the most common mistakes made when raising capital and interacting with investors.
This year, the boot camp program is devoted to exploring the Reg A+ "mini-IPO" process. Advisors, attorneys and sponsors active in Reg A+ offerings will offer their advice and counsel on what companies should consider when deciding whether to conduct a Reg A+ offering, what they need to do to prepare for one, who to bring onto their team and when, costs and timelines for executing the offering, the SEC's filing and review process, marketing the offering online, closing the deal and preparing for a listing and the commencement of trading.
David Weild IV of Weild & Co., the "father of the JOBS Act" which revived the Reg A structure and deregulated the small IPO market, will close the boot camp with thoughts on the legislative and work that remains to be done to fully realize the goals of the JOBS Act and the liberalization of the emerging growth capital markets.
The Expo general session kicks off in earnest early on May 4 with the annual "State of the Market" panel featuring our annual soon-to-be-announced all-star panel of some of the emerging growth finance market's most active and experienced deal advisers. Led by Justin Keener of JMJ Financial, they will discuss recent trends in the pricing and structuring of equity private placements.
Other panels on May 4 will focus on regulatory enforcement and accounting issues impacting emerging growth companies, featuring some of the top securities defense attorneys and audit partners active in microcap representation. The microcap litigation and enforcement discussion will feature Tom Sporkin of BuckleySandler; Jacob Frenkel of Shulman Rogers; Nick Morgan of Zaccaro Morgan, and Leslie Halkala of K&L Gates. The accounting panel, led by Friedman LLP's Michael Cohen, will include David Bukzin of Marcum and former PCAOB investigator Shane Garbutt.
The second day of the general session program will explore three hot issues in the emerging growth space: cybersecurity, investor activism, and legal cannabis investment. The May 5 program will start with a panel of experts in cybersecurity issues and solutions for small public companies, from technology to insurance and best practices, led by Michael Tomasulo of AHT Insurance.
From there the Expo program turns to investor activism, featuring a slate of activists focused on the microcap space discussing what attracts them to their targets and how executives and their boards should react when activists come calling. Ele Klein of Schulte Roth & Zabel, the leading law firm in activist counsel, will host this discussion among our group of colorful and committed emerging growth activists, including Andrew Shapiro of Lawndale Capital Management, Paul Kessler of Bristol Capital Advisors, and Ted White of Legion Partners.
The afternoon of the general session's second day is devoted to Opportunities and Risks in Legal Marijuana Investment. In three separate panels entrepreneurs, researchers and legal advisers working in the U.S. legal cannabis environment will discuss recent advances in cannabis therapeutics and in the analysis of consumer, medical, and market data in the medical and recreational marijuana markets.
The marijuana opportunities program will kick off with a keynote address from legendary cannabis researcher and breeder Robert Connell Clarke. Clarke is one of a handful of people responsible for establishing the foundation for virtually all of the commercial cannabis strains on the market today, and led the development of the first strain commissioned by a pharmaceutical company to create a prescription medicine approved by UK, Canadian and US drug regulators. His latest project is mapping the genomes of marijuana and hemp strains collected from around the world to reveal the plant's evolutionary family tree, and identify the genetic markers that will lead to the next generation of drug, fiber and seed strains.
The afternoon continues with a panel of drug researchers and biotech executives active in the development of cannabis-derived compounds for medical use, including recent breakthroughs in the development and application of cannabinoid-based drugs to treat neurological ailments, and as opioid substitutes in pain management. Seth Yakatan of Kalytera Therapeutics; Dr. Mowgli Holmes of Phylos Bioscience, Dr. Lui Franciosi of Veritas Pharma, and Dr. Mark Rosenfield of ISA Scientific will share their insights into the state of research into these therapies and provide a glimpse into what the near future will bring.
The marijuana opportunities program shifts gears from the medical to the recreational market with the following panel. "Phat Data" will explore the broad spectrum of opportunities to apply the tools of big data collection and analytics to manage, certify, evaluate, price and predict future market activity and trends in this rapidly developing consumer market. Joining the discussion will be four executives of companies dedicated to providing market data tools critical to the development of the consumer market, including Giadha DeCarcer of New Frontier Holdings; Daniel Yazbeck of MyDx; Steve Albarran with Confident Cannabis; and Steve Janjic of Amercanex.
The final panel of the day will temper the enthusiasm of the earlier discussions with a reality check on the conflicting and ever-changing state of marijuana laws at the state and federal levels. To address the current state of affairs, the impact of the evolving state regulatory regimes governing medical and recreational use, and the future of the market's federal status near and long term, will be Mark Ross of Sichenzia Ross Friedman Ference; Brian Vicente of Vicente Sederberg; and Amanda Ostrowitz of CannaRegs.
The full agenda for the Growth Capital Expo 2016 can be viewed at http://www.growthcapitalexpo.com/growth-capital-expo-agenda/.
Special rates are available for emerging growth company officers and directors, and accredited investors who wish to attend. Single-day passes are also available for those who wish to only attend the Reg A+ boot camp or the marijuana opportunities program.
For more information and to register go to: http://growthcapitalexpo.com/register-2
The Growth Capital Expo 2016 is produced by SNN, Inc. and MarketNexus Media, Inc.; and sponsored by the best firms in the emerging growth capital market, led by the Expo's premier sponsor Friedman LLP, and including Marcum LLP, JMJ Financial, Schulte Roth & Zabel, Smith Anderson, AHT Insurance, Washor Associates, SEC Compliance, Continental Stock Transfer & Trust, Edgar Agents LLC, Olympic Capital Group, Greentree Financial Group and Alpine Securities.
SOURCE Growth Capital Expo
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