Why Canada Profiles

Why Canada? presented January 10, 2011 - The Standard Club, Chicago, IL Speaker Profiles *Opening "Getting a Deal Done" Presentation* Mark Eissman is Midwest Bureau Chief for mergermarket, where he supervises Canada and Midwest U.S. M&A coverage. mergermarket is an independent M&A intelligence service that specializes in providing forward-looking origination and deal flow opportunities, as well as a comprehensive deals database. One of the largest U.S. newspapers has described Mark as "one of the country's top investigative reporters." Mark previously was the Associate Editor of the Chicago Sun-Times, where he had responsibilities in the newspaper's editorial departments, including special projects and investigative business coverage. While an investigative reporter for the Chicago Tribune, Mark's body of work included reporting and writing on business-related issues. Mark has also worked as a journalist in Washington, D.C., covering politics and business. He has been the recipient of awards from both local and national journalism organizations. Prior to joining mergermarket, Mark, an attorney, practiced law in the M&A arena as well as in other areas. One of his areas of concentration was advising and representing media entities. Doing Business in Canada Panel Jay Novak is a Managing Director in Houlihan Lokey’s Chicago office and is the head of the firm’s Consumer, Food & Retail Industry Group. Since joining the firm in 1996, he has managed a variety of corporate finance engagements involving mergers and acquisitions, debt financings, corporate restructurings, fairness opinions, and solvency analyses. He has handled assignments for food, consumer products, retail, entertainment, and manufacturing companies. Mr. Novak’s recent transactions include the following: • ACE Bakery Ltd. sale to George Weston Ltd. • S.T. Specialty Foods, Inc. sale to TreeHouse Foods, Inc. • Flavors business of Agilex Flavors and Fragrances, Inc. sale to Kerry Group plc • Fieldbrook Foods Corporation sale to Arbor Investments • World Gourmet Marketing LLC sale to The Hain Celestial Group • Diedrich Coffee Inc. sale to Green Mountain Coffee Roasters, Inc. • Elan Nutrition, Inc. sale to ConAgra Foods, Inc. • Frozen Pizza Business of Kraft Foods, Inc. sale to Nestle USA. Inc. • Kraft Foods, Inc. purchase of Cadbury plc • Cloverhill Industries, Inc. sale to Quad-C Management, Inc. • Fluid dairy business of Farmland Dairies LLC sale to Grupo Lala, S.A. de C.V. • Aseptic dairy business of Farmland Dairies LLC sale to Agropur Cooperative • The Snack Factory, LLC sale to VMG Partners • Earthbound Farm, LLC sale to HM Capital Partners, LLC • S.T. Specialty Foods, Inc. sale to Windjammer Capital Investors • Hospitality Mints, Inc. sale to Linsalata Capital Partners • Europe’s Best Inc. sale to The J.M. Smucker Company • ACE Bakery Ltd. sale to Glencoe Capital • Humboldt division of Specialty Foods Group, Inc. sale to Ancor Capital • Yogurt business of Wells’ Dairy sale to Grupo Lala, S.A. de C.V. • Golden County Foods sale to Brazos Private Equity Partners • Milton’s Fine Foods, Inc. sale to GESD Capital Partners • Fleischmann’s Vinegar Company sale to American Capital • Aidells Sausage Company sale to Encore Consumer Capital • Bloomfield Bakers sale to Ralcorp Holdings, Inc. • Stampede Meat, Inc. sale to Fairmont Capital, Inc. • Mozzarella Fresca sale to Lactalis American Group, Inc. • Friendship Dairies, Inc. sale to Dean Foods Co. • Rolling Rock Brands of InBev USA sale to Anheuser-Busch, Inc. • Stacy’s Pita Chip Company, Inc. sale to PepsiCo, Inc. • C&H Sugar Company, Inc. sale to American Sugar Refining, Inc. • King & Prince Seafood Corporation sale to Gorton’s, Inc. Prior to joining Houlihan Lokey, Mr. Novak spent five years in international investment banking, serving highly leveraged middle-market and Fortune 500 multinational corporate clients, primarily in consumer-branded goods. His clients included such widely recognized companies as Sara Lee, Procter & Gamble, ConAgra, and Cargill. Mr. Novak also spent two years in the investment banking department at Kidder, Peabody & Co., where he specialized in mergers and acquisitions and debt and equity underwriting. Mr. Novak earned a B.A. in political science from Northwestern University and an M.B.A. in finance and entrepreneurship from the J.L. Kellogg Graduate School of Management at Northwestern University. He is registered with FINRA (formerly the NASD) as a General Securities Representative (Series 7 and 63) and a Limited Representative – Investment Banking (Series 79). Morty White has been involved in private equity investing and corporate financial management for over 15 years. He spearheads the Toronto office of Wynnchurch Capital, a Chicago-based middle market private equity fund with over $1B under management. He currently serves on the Board of Directors of Pro-Fab, a leading manufacturer and distributor of high-quality modular homes in eastern Canada and the northeastern U.S. Prior to Wynnchurch, Morty ran a consulting practice, working with equity funds and growth companies on due diligence, operations, business development and investing in special situations. Engagements included originating sports and entertainment acquisitions for a large private equity firm, Financial Advisor to a boutique venture capital fund, and CFO for an independent print media company. Previously, Morty worked for GE Capital for seven years, most recently as Vice President. While at GE, he was part of a small team that helped launch their Merchant Banking Group. In addition, he successfully co-founded a private equity group focused on building GE's standalone investment portfolio. Morty holds a Bachelor of Commerce, with Great Distinction, from McGill University and an MBA, with High Distinction, from the University of Michigan. William Wolf is the Chief Operating officer of Talon Asset Management, LLC and servers as a portfolio manager for Talon's TalCap public equity product and oversees Talon's private equity investments. Mr. Wolf began his career as an investment banker at Salomon Brothers Inc., before moving to William Blair & Company. Later, he became the founder and CEO of Crown Golf Properties, L.P. Mr. Wolf currently serves on the Board of Directors of Answers Media LLC, Compliance 11, Inc., Lava Lite, LLC, Mindcrest, Inc., PlayNetwork, Inc., and the National Strategy Forum. Mr. Wolf received an AB degree, Magna Cum Laude, from Hamilton College in 1982 and an MBA from the University of Chicago in 1990. *John Kolada* is the Managing Partner of the Firm's Chicago office and one of the partners responsible for the Firm's U.S. initiative. John provides corporate and securities legal advice to both Canadian and foreign clients conducting business in Canada and acts as a liaison for Blakes clients abroad. He also has practised in the Firm's head office in Toronto as well as in the London office. John's practice focuses primarily on Canadian domestic and international mergers and acquisitions (M&A) and corporate finance transactions involving companies in a wide range of industries, including mining, biotechnology, high tech and financial services. He has advised clients from many different parts of the world engaging in Canadian transactions or conducting business in Canada, including the U.S. and the U.K., as well as throughout Europe, India, Africa and Australia. He has advised corporations, investment banks, private equity firms and investment funds on M&A transactions, a broad range of public and private equity and debt financing transactions and other forms of investment, both within Canada and cross-border. Representative cross-border matters on which John has advised include: Friedman, Fleischer & Lowe on its agreed public offer for Loring Ward International H.I.G. Capital on its acquisition of the Canadian aluminum extrusions business of Tredegar Corporation The underwriting syndicate on NovaBay Pharmaceuticals' U.S./Canadian crossborder initial public offering and listing Symphony Technology Group on its agreed public offer for Hummingbird Ltd. Vedanta Resources plc on its take-over bid for Sterlite Gold Ltd. and subsequent sale of its controlling interest to GeoProMining Ltd. Descartes Systems Group on its acquisition of Global Freight Exchange Limited H.I.G. Capital on its acquisition of various subsidiaries comprising the Secure Products International Group of MDC Partners Inc. Descartes Systems Group on its acquisitions of TranSettlements, Inc. and Centricity, Inc. Vedanta Resources plc on its acquisition of a controlling interest in Konkola Copper Mines The underwriting syndicate (led by Lehman Brothers and Merrill Lynch) on a C$1- billion equity financing for Research In Motion (RIM) Glyko Biomedical on its acquisition by BioMarin Pharmaceutical Observer AB on its acquisition of Bowdens Media Monitoring Limited from Rogers Communications Billiton Plc on its take-over bid for Rio Algom John has authored papers and spoken on a wide range of topics related to his areas of practice. He is a member of a number of legal associations, including the American Bar Association (ABA). He is also a member of the Executives' Club of Chicago, The Metropolitan Club and sits on the board of directors for the Canada-U.S. Business Council