ACG South Florida Virtual Panel: Current SPAC Trends

James Cassel, chairman and co-founder of Cassel Salpeter & Co., is an investment banker who uses his unique experience as a dealmaker and attorney to guide clients and help them achieve their goals.

Focused on representing middle-market companies, Jim has successfully negotiated, structured, and executed a broad spectrum of transactions including mergers, acquisitions, and divestitures, corporate and transactional financings, and public offerings for clients nationwide and worldwide. Having developed a keen understanding of the issues faced and alternatives available for distressed companies, he has particular experience in developing financial restructuring plans, negotiating with creditors, and guiding debtors through bankruptcy proceedings.

Nationally recognized for his investment banking expertise, Jim frequently lectures on timely issues related to middle-market investment banking.

Alan I. Annex is Co-Chair of the firm's Global Corporate Practice. He leads multi-disciplinary deal teams in a wide variety of large-cap and middle-market domestic and cross-border transactions. Alan has broad experience in corporate and securities matters, and regularly advises public company boards, special committees and executive management regarding their fiduciary duties; corporate governance best practices; and M&A deal strategies, structures and techniques.

Alan was an architect of the structure for the early SPACs of the 1990s. He routinely leads 20+ attorney teams whose deals have increased exponentially in number and value over the past year: Under Alan’s leadership, GT leapt from ranking 20th on SPAC Research’s DeSPAC Legal Advisors table for business combinations in 2019 to ranking second in the same table by 2021 (based on closed and pending deals).

Alan recently lead the team of GT attorneys who handled one of the largest SPAC merger transactions ever, United Wholesale Mortgage, with an approximate value of $16 billion.

Faquiry Diaz Cala is an investor and operator in private and public markets.

Mr. Diaz Cala serves and/or has served as an executive, board member, or observer of various private and public corporations and non-profit organizations in the US and internationally during the past 25 years.

Mr. Diaz Cala is part of the Burgerfi International Inc, Lionheart Acquisition Corporation II, Lionheart III, and Lionheart IV SPAC team.

He is a graduate of the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania and resides in Miami, Florida. 

Mr. Nussbaum is the founder and Chairman of EarlyBirdCapital, Inc. Mr. Nussbaum has over two decades of experience in the securities sector, particularly in the emerging-growth arena, which continues to be his primary focus today. Mr. Nussbaum was the innovative force behind the creation of the Special Purpose Acquisition Corp. (“SPAC”) financing product.

During the 1990s, Mr. Nussbaum’s firm served as lead underwriter for 13 SPAC Initial Public Offerings (“IPOs”). He re-introduced the SPAC vehicle in 2003 and has acted as lead or co-manager in over 125 SPAC IPOs during the past 20 years. Moreover, Mr. Nussbaum has been actively involved in the successful consummation of over 80 SPAC mergers with operating companies.

Mr. Nussbaum began his career as an associate with Rosenman & Colin where he practiced corporate and securities law. In 1984, seeing the need for a quality boutique that would advise and finance small firms, he started GKN Securities, a broker-dealer. When he left to launch EarlyBirdCapital in 2000, GKN had six offices, 500 employees and had originated more that 100 financings for early-stage companies.

A member of the Young Presidents’ Organization, Mr. Nussbaum served as a member of the Board of Directors of the Regional Investment Bankers Association and is a frequent speaker at industry forums. Mr. Nussbaum earned his B.A. degree from the University of Michigan in 1976, graduating with honors, and his JD from New York University Law School in 1980, graduating magna cum laude with Order of the Coif.