Q1 2017 San Francisco Bay Area Economic Update with Jim Wunderman

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On this special Bay Area Council quarterly economic update edition of Bay Area Ventures we speak with Jim Wunderman, CEO of The Bay Area Council about the first quarter 2017 San Francisco Bay Area economy.

Additionally we talk about the results of the Bay Area Council’s recently completed 2017 poll. Jim let’s us know what questions were asked and what were the top issues on the top of minds of Bay Area residents. In particular, which issue is considered a crisis.

The Bay Area economy began 2017 on a strong note with robust growth in the tech industry, many large M&A deals and the lowest unemployment rate of any region in the state of California. However, all that success is not without some pain and the Bay Area still suffers from extremely high cost of living and horrendous traffic congestion.


Jim Wunderman headshot
  
Bay Area Council logo
Jim and his organization have been working for years on policies and bills to address these key issues and, in the first quarter, several new laws were passed by the California State Senate to help. Additionally a $52Billion gas tax and DMV fee package was championed by Governor Jerry Brown and passed into law. In this episode Jim talks about all of these acheivements and how they will impact the Bay Area. He hints at when to expect these initiatives to make an impact and then discusses which key issues he’ll be working on next.

 

The Bay Area Council is a public policy organization focused on making the San Francisco Bay Area and the Silicon Valley the most globally competitive and economically productive region in the world. The Council’s membership is comprised of CEOs from hundreds of the top businesses in the nine-county Bay Area. Jim Wunderman has been the Council’s CEO since 2004. For more information on Jim and to see the results of the Bay Area Council’s 2017 poll go to bayareacouncil.org.

This interview was recorded on April 24, 2017, on SiriusXM Channel 111, Business Radio Powered by the Wharton School. Bay Area Ventures airs live on Mondays at 4:00pm Pacific Time, 7:00pm Eastern Time.

For a list of upcoming and past guest information click on the Show link above.

April 2017 M&A Moment – how to sell a publicly traded company

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In this episode of The M&A Moment, I talk with Rick Climan, a partner at Hogan Lovesll, LLP, about 2017 year to date mergers and acquisition numbers, San Francisco Bay Area involved deals and the mechanics of seller a publicly traded company.

Rick and I discuss MaxLiner’s (NYSE: MXL) $660Million takeover of the Bay Area’s Exar Corporation (NASDAQ: EXAR), a deal of particular interest to me because MaxLinear’s CEO, Kishore Seendripu, and their VP, Product Marketing were both classmates of mine in the MBA program at Wharton San Francisco.

In Bay Area technology M&A, we discuss Intel Corporation’s acquisition of Mobileye, the Israeli manufacturer of vehicle collision avoidance systems for $15 billion. This deal gives Intel a major leg up into the world of autonomous vehicles. Next we look at Hewlett-Packard Enterprise’s purchase of Nimble Storage for $1 billion.


Rick Climan headshot
  
Hogan Lovells, LLP logo
While we could not discuss specifics it is interesting to note htat on the day that this show was recorded, Rick’s company was involved with the just-announced $28 Billion takeover of C.R. Bard by Becton-Dickinson. His firm was involved in the recently announced PetSmart acquisition of Chewy.com for $3.35 Billion. The largest online buyout to date. Rick does review some of the publicly available information about about both deals though.

Finally, as mentioned, we take an in-depth look at the M&A “mating dance” from the perspecitve of a publicly traded selling company. We look at how sellers begin the process of validating whether its the right time to sell and, if so, how to set the ball in motion. We talk about the investment banker’s role and discuss the difference between the seller’s cost between an IPO or an outright sale of the firm.

 

This episode was recorded on Bay Area Ventures on SiriusXM Channel 111 Business Radio Powered by the Wharton School on April 24, 2017.

M&A Moment December 2016 – Golden Gate Capital and Neustar Merger

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In this, the final M&A Moment for 2016 Rick Climan of www.weil.com joins me to talk about the recent Golden Gate Capital acquisition of Neustar Inc. (NYSE: NSR) signaling a continued resurgence of private equity firms making financial acquisitions in 2016. This deal is interesting because of some of the foreign capital involved in the deal, as well, which will mandate careful review by US’ Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS). CFIUS also comes into play as Rick discusses President Obama’s veto of a proposed merger of the German semiconductor company Aixtron by a Chinese company Fujian Grand Chip based on national security concerns. It an unusual reach for a US president to get involved in a CFIUS matter.

We also take a brief look at 2016 as a whole but will be doing a full review of M&A Activity for 2016 and will be taking a look ahead at trends and prospects for 2017 on our next episode which will be an extend addition.

Here is a direct link to Rick Climan

Financial Solutions for Startups – CFOs2Go

Posted on Leave a commentPosted in Finance, Hiring Contractors

Robert Weis, founder and CEO of CFOs2Go, a San Francisco Bay Area company offering contract and permanent financial personnel to startup companies discusses his company’s success and the critical factors that other companies need to be thinking about around their finances.

Bob talks about when to bring in a CFO, how to establish bookkeeping, how financial decisions form the backbone of a new or established company and some of the pitfalls that founders run into when they don’t get this function right.

This is a lively discussion suitable for any company and also covers issues relevant to US companies hoping to establish a foreign operation as well as foreign companies looking to penetrate the US market.

For more information about Bob Weis visit CFOs2Go