Rob Sher, Principal of CEO to CEO and Author of The Feel of the Deal

Robert Sher is the principal of CEO to CEO and collaborates with and guides business leaders as they navigate critical passages.  Author of The Feel of the Deal; How I Built A Business through Acquisitions.  His CEO case study columns have been widely published, including in the East Bay Business Times and the San Jose Business Journal. 

Robert Sher serves as a Director for the Alliance of Chief Executives.  He was most recently CEO/President and a founder of Bentley Publishing Group. At the helm from 1984 through 2006, this industry leading decorative poster publishing firm has grown significantly, including four acquisitions since 1999.

Between 1995 and 2000, he was a Lecturer under contract with St. Mary's College teaching Entrepreneurship and Small Business Management to hundreds of graduate students in the Professional MBA and Executive MBA programs.

Roger Royse, Founder, Royse Law Firm

Roger Royse has represented numerous domestic and foreign acquirors and targets over the years in connection with acquisitions by companies such as Google, Intel, Microsoft and Cisco. In 2008, Roger was lead counsel to Stirling Energy Systems in a transaction in which NTR, an Irish company, acquired a minority stake for $100 million.

Other notable transactions in which Roger was lead counsel include:

• Silicon Integrated Systems Corp. and SiS Holding Limited (Cayman) in their acquisition of HD-DVD and Blu-ray DVD technologies from ESS Technology Inc.
• Innova Solutions in its $25 million sale to Ness Technologies, an Israeli based company
• OnSpec Electronic in its merger with TPL Group (Intellysis)
• Advent Systems in its sale to US Bank

     Roger has also testified as an expert witness on an attorney’s standard of care in M&A transactions.

Roger’s transactions have required structuring transactions as forward and reverse subsidiary mergers; Section 338(h)(10) elections; less common techniques such as Type C and bankruptcy reorganizations; built-in gains taxes, earnout and installment sales; preserving net operating losses; and inter-species mergers of LLC’s and S corporations.

Prior to founding RoyseLaw, Roger was a partner with GCA Law Partners and was a member of the tax group of Milbank, Tweed Hadley and McCloy, in New York City.

Jeff Faust, Director of Valuations, GROCO

Jeff has over nineteen years experience in the finance and accounting fields with over fourteen years experience in business valuations. Jeff received his BA in Economics from UCLA and has developed his financial expertise working for companies such as Fortis Investors Inc., Titan Value Equities Group, and Transamerica Financial Services. He spent three years as a Valuation Analyst at an Employee Stock Ownership Plan (ESOP) consulting firm and two years as Founder and Vice-President of a stock option software company. Jeff was also Founder and President of FT Solutions, Inc. in San Leandro, CA. Jeff has personally performed hundreds of valuations for various purposes ranging from ESOPs, Stock Options, Family Limited Partnerships (FLPs), Buy-Sell Agreements, Estate/Gift Taxes, to Mergers/Acquisitions and Transactions. He has become an Associate Member of the American Society of Appraisers (ASA) and was elected Secretary for the ASA's San Jose Chapter for 1999-2000. He has also become a member of the National Association of Certified Valuation Analysts (NACVA) and has received the designation of Accredited Valuation Analyst (AVA).

Neil Shroff, Managing Director, Orion Capital Group

Neil Shroff is Managing Director of Orion Capital Group, an M&A advisory and boutique investment banking firm for middle-market companies.  At Orion, Neil has led the sale of several companies and consulted many companies on exit strategies for family transfers or acquisitions.  Prior to co-founding Orion, Neil realized there was a lack of qualified M&A advisors and intermediaries in the lower middle market when he went to sell his manufacturing company that he co-founded and grew through several small acquisitions.  Through the sale process, Neil realized the numerous strategies and significant planning he should have done to maximize value.  Neil also has acquisition and operational experience gained from running a portfolio company of a multi-billion dollar private equity group for two years and from his experience as a management consultant for four years.  Neil has been featured and quoted in many major publications about mergers and acquisitions, exit planning and succession planning.

Nancy Barrett, Private Client Manager, Senior Vice President, US Trust