Winston & Strawn Sponsors The Deal Economy Conference 2022

Winston & Strawn sponsored The Deal Economy Conference 2022: Predictions and Perspectives, powered by IMN. The conference focused on addressing the following topics:

• How are supply chain, inflation, and labor shortages impacting the ability to value and close deals?
• How will the SPAC market evolve as successful players rise to the top?
• What type of deal structures and financing options are favorable in the current market conditions?
• Will we see the return of the mega-deal?

A former Winston Partner moderated a panel titled “SPACs: Will the Boom Fizzle in a More Challenging Environment?” Key takeaways and considerations from this panel include:

• In an evolving regulatory, financial, and legal landscape will SPACs continue to show resilience?
• Investors shift focus to the quality, path, and valuation of the target company, along with the credibility of the SPAC
• How are seasoned SPAC sponsors getting more creative with deal structures?
• Will de-SPAC deals continue to fuel the M&A market?
• How PIPE investors becoming more selective and focusing on quality and diligence impacted the market
• Recent new SEC regulations and their impact on the future of SPACs

Brad Vaiana moderated a panel titled “Private Equity: Adapting to an Increasingly Competitive Environment.” Key takeaways and considerations from this panel include:

• How have PE firms adapted to a market where increased competition, speed, certainty, and sky-high valuations are the new normal
• How are private equity investors using partnerships, co-investing, and structured equity investments to remain flexible and creative?
• Strategy trends: Using longer-term flexibility, buy-and-build, earnouts, and “no indemnity” deals
• Exploring the pressure points that are moving forward, or holding back the industry as a whole
• How have investor expectations changed? Are LP concerns around ESG shaping investment strategies?
• Are LP’s investment decisions impacted by the PE firms’ own internal ESG initiatives?
• Will PE look for opportunities in public-to-private transactions?
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