Agenda
TMT M&A Deal Talk – Which Deals are Next?
A summary of the most important live deals in digital infrastructure and services over the next 12 months
Thomas Simpson, Americas Editor, TMT Finance
Opening Leadership Fireside Chat: Creating Long-Term Value in Digital Infrastructure Businesses
With Sanjiv Ahuja, Chairman, Tillman Global Holdings
Chaired by Jennifer M. Fritzsche, Managing Director, Greenhill & Company
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Digital Infrastructure Leaders Panel: Who Will Lead the Next Wave?
As billions of dollars pour into new investment and M&A across the four core segments of digital infrastructure, how are leading investors, operators and advisers seeing the market developing, and where is the smart money heading? Our panel discuss plans to take advantage of the dramatic growth of internet traffic and next generation connectivity
- Who is leading investment and where are the opportunities for growth?
- How is M&A impacting the market and which sub-sectors are most active?
- Which new digital infra business models offer the most revenue and profit potential?
- Build vs buy– which growth strategies are winning in the current market?
- How is convergence affecting investment in fiber, towers, datacenters and small cells?
Chaired by Richard S. Lukaj, Senior Managing Director, Bank Street Group
Speakers
Sachit Ahuja, Managing Director, Tillman Global Holdings
Gerald Marshall, President & CEO, Netrality Data Centers
Brett Lindsey, President & CEO, Everstream
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Digital Infrastructure M&A Leaders Panel – How are Mergers and Acquisitions Changing the Industry?
Digital Infrastructure M&A leaders discuss the next wave of transactions in digital infrastructure and services. Panellists will assess the best strategies for leading and negotiating complex deals in a rapidly changing market
- How are TMT M&A deals changing and what are the next big trends that will impact telecom and digital infrastructure transactions in the US and globally?
- Where is M&A happening, what are the drivers, and how are valuations developing across the US and globally?
- What is driving deal flow, including upcoming changes to the US tax environment? When is the right time to exit?
- Where are the M&A and investment opportunities in the current market?
- How is the profile of investors in digital infrastructure changing and what new financing structures are being deployed?
- How is access to financing, changes in valuations and regulatory conditions shaping deal flow?
Chaired by Kemal Hawa, Shareholder, Greenberg Traurig
Speakers
Kevin Smithen, Chief Commercial and Strategy Officer, DigitalBridge
John Kinnaman, Managing Director, Accenture Strategy
Jan Vesely, Partner, EQT Partners
Jason Tofsky, MD, Head of Telecom Investment Banking, Goldman Sachs
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Fiber and Broadband Panel – Growth Strategies for Broadband Infrastructure
The coronavirus pandemic has accelerated the already high need for quality broadband across the US. In this session we’ll explore the growth opportunities and strategies for funding the rollout across the US, including how long the runway is for the current investment cycle.
- Assessing growth strategies for FTTx: M&A, roll-ups and new build
- Where are the best opportunities in FTTP and FTTH in 2022
- How to leverage the overbuild growth opportunity
- What are the best financing options and how is investment criteria changing?
Chaired by Garrett Baker, Global Co-Head - Telecom, Media & Entertainment Group, Lazard
Speakers
Chad Crank, Managing Director, Grain Management
Jon Couch, CFO, FiberLight
Ryan Thom, Investment Director, Antin Infrastructure Partners
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The Future TowerCo Panel – Consolidation and How Can Tower Operators Tap into the Next Wave of Connectivity
- Who is leading investment and where are the opportunities for growth?
- How is M&A impacting the market and which sub-sectors are most active?
- Which new tower business models offer the most revenue and profit potential?
- How is convergence affecting investment in towers?
Chaired by Lawrence Askowitz, Managing Director, Bank Street Group
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Jimmy Eisenstein, Chairman and CEO, Grupo TorreSur
Andrew Grapkowski, SVP Corporate Development, Diamond Communications
Nathan Foster, Founder & CEO, Atlas Tower Group
Robert Paige, SVP of M&A, VerticalBridge
Alexander Schwartz, Vice President Business Development, Tillman Infrastructure
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Breakout Sessions A
Each breakout session takes place in a private room led by an industry expert. Chatham House Rules Apply. Choose from 5 options.
Rural Broadband – Investing in High-speed Connectivity Across the US to Bridge the Digital Divide
With access to high-speed internet connectivity increasingly essential, industry leaders examine innovative business strategies and the recent influx of capital in the space as operators and investors strive to meet the needs of rural customers that previously were unable to connect.
- Reaching the remote pockets: where are the greatest opportunities for rural broadband investment in the US?
- Which players are spearheading the changing face of rural US broadband?
- Where are current investment cycles at for rural fiber companies?
- RDOF: who is best placed to connect rural America?
- To buy or to build?
Chaired by Garrett Baker, Global Co-Head - Telecom, Media & Entertainment Group, Lazard
Speakers
Dan Kennedy, President and CEO, symetry fiber
Dan Davis, CEO, Arcadian Infracom
Ted Mocarski, Senior Partner, Novacap
Jim Turner, Former President & CEO, IFN
Investing in high-speed connectivity across the US to bridge the digital divide
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Enterprise Cloud – Driving Growth and Establishing the Next Frontier 
Cloud communications have changed how enterprises collaborate internally and interact with their customers. As firms migrate away from traditional telephony and email, how is the communications industry reacting to this change? What investments are necessary to take advantage?
- Assessing the market: emerging developments in cloud comms M&A and financing
- Is there enough capacity to support demand and what does the next 3 to 5 years look like?
- Growth and investment – Build your own network vs looking for support from providers
- How is the relationship between cloud cos and providers changing?
- What are the prospects for consolidation in the market?
Chaired by Laura Fazio, Managing Director Technology & Telecom Banking, Huntington Bank
Speakers
Valtin Gallani, Director, SocGen
Bruce Lehrman, CEO, Involta
Jeff Barber, Partner and EVP of Sales and Marketing, Prime Data Centers
Jeff Ferry, Director, Goldman Sachs
Joseph Junda, Managing Director TMT, Capital One
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Financing Digital Infrastructure and Services – How are Debt and Equity Financing Options Changing?
Finance heads, investment bankers and investors assess evolving trends in global debt and equity markets.
- Acquisition, LBO and capex financing: how are pricing and conditions changing?
- Scaling up: how can high growth and mid-cap companies increase access to capital?
- How have digital infrastructure trends and global changes caused financing strategies to evolve over the past 18 months?
- Greenfield investments: where are the opportunities to put financing to work?
- Equity Capital Markets – what’s the 2021 outlook?
Chaired by David Strauss, Principal, Broadband Success Partners
Speakers
Nirav Shah, Managing Director, EQT Partners
Patrick Fear, Managing Director, AB Private Credit Investors
Andrew Frey, Partner, Searchlight Capital
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Latin America – Exploring Cross-border Digital Infrastructure Investment Strategies for Key Growth Markets across Latin America 
With valuation expectations and competition for digital infrastructure assets in mature markets intensifying, investors seek geographical avenues with high-growth prospects to deploy capital.
- Why are we seeing such increased interest in Central and South American digital infrastructure?
- Outbound US M&A: How is appetite changing for US outbound investment into Latin American markets? Which countries and subsectors offer the most opportunity?
- How are new entrants finding operating and dealmaking in the region?
- What are the growth prospects for operators in Central and South America?
- What are the challenges of transacting in the region and how are buyers and sellers navigating them?
Chaired by Richard S. Lukaj, Senior Managing Director, Bank Street Group
Speakers
Waldemar Szlezak, Managing Director Infrastructure, KKR
Jimmy Eisenstein, Chairman and CEO, Grupo TorreSur
Chase Killeen, SVP - Finance, Corporate Development & Strategy, Transtelco
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Wireless infrastructure - Assessing Growth Strategies in the US Market
Wireless tower, broadcast tower and infrastructure leaders and investors assess strategies for the US wireless infrastructure market, focusing on the next wave of opportunities and industry changes posed by 5G and fiber in relation to the towers market.
- Investing in the next phase of growth: The value of moving into higher growth markets of fiber, small cell, 5G, datacenters and edge computing?
- Growth opportunities presented by new entrants and other emerging MNOs
- Partnerships between public and private operators - working with MNOs on the next phase of outsourcing, partnerships, acquisitions and network rollout
- Financing for build vs buy - Which financing options are available for new growth opportunities and M&A?
- Critical Importance of macro towers in network evolution
Chaired by Mark Thiele, CEO and Co-Founder, Edgevana
Speakers
Todd Boyer, CEO, TowerCo
Ryan Lepene, Co-President, Peppertree Capital Management
Nathan Foster, Founder & CEO, Atlas Tower Group
Matt Newton, CEO, Everest Infrastructure Partners
SherAfgan Mehboob, CFO and Head of Corporate Development, Tillman Digital Cities
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Breakout Sessions B
Each breakout session takes place in a private room led by an industry expert. Chatham House Rules Apply. Choose from 5 options.
Satellite Broadband Investment and M&A Opportunities
Industry leaders discuss the swathe of restructurings and M&A transactions in the sector over the past 18 months, changing customer demands, and the vision driving ongoing network evolutions.
- How has Covid-19 led customers’ demands to change and how have those in the industry risen to meet the demand?
- Opportunities in a rapidly evolving LEO and GEO satellite landscape
- M&A outlook and impact of recent restructurings
- How can infrastructure investors add value to sector?
Chaired by David Strauss, Principal, Broadband Success Partners
Speakers
Joe Spytek, CEO, Speedcast
Frank Albus, VP Corporate Development and Business Intelligence, Anuvu
Steven Pickett, Former CEO & President, RigNet
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Datacenters – How are Investors Targeting the Next Wave of Opportunities
- How has greenfield financing developed over the past 18 months+ to meet the data and investment demand?
- What impact are green initiatives having on datacentre investments and financings?
- How are soaring valuations impacting the dealmaking process?
- What impact is edge computing having on datacenter investments?
(final focus and bullet points currently being finalised)
Chaired by Miles Loo, EVP & Global V&A Practice Lead, Newmark
Speakers
Sharif Metwalli, CFO, Vantage Data Centers
Tony Rossabi, CEO, Recovery Point Group
Kevin O'Donnell, CFO, DC BLOX
Anubhav Raj, CFO, Aligned
Daniel English, Co-Founder and President, Legacy Investing
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Densification and Small Cells – Investing in New Infrastructure to Deliver 5G
- How is investment appetite for small cells changing? Where are the opportunities?
- Are current financing models for densification sufficient for a national 5G program?
- How would the financing of small cells differ from traditional investment in macro cells?
- What plans are there to improve cooperation with municipalities and real estate owners?
Chaired by Jennifer Fritzsche, Managing Director, Greenhill & Company
Speakers
Michael Morey, President & CEO, Bluebird Network
Michael Brescio, CFO, ZenFi Networks
Todd Crick, Co-Founder & Partner, Astra Capital Management
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UCaaS – Assessing Opportunities for Investment in Unified Comms
Cloud and UCaaS leaders explore how to build and grow a market leading UCaaS company as investment interest in the sector continues to soar.
- How much growth potential is there to UCaaS businesses and who is best place to capture it?
- How are traditional US-focused UCaaS players transforming their businesses to cater to new geographies?
- What impact will infrastructure funds and hyperscalers have on the UCaaS consolidation market?
- Where are the main UCaaS M&A opportunities uncovered?
- How will UCaaS companies change the face of traditional telecom operators?
Chaired by Dmitry Netis, Managing Director, Q Advisors
Speakers
Greg Nielsen, CEO, TeligentIP
David Johnson, President, Comstar Technologies
Alan Rihm CEO, CoreDial
Matt Siemens, CEO, NUSO
William Rubio, CRO, CallTower
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Digital Infrastructure M&A Strategies – How are Investment Plans Developing across Digital Infrastructure, Services and Beyond
Advisers, investors and executives discuss the latest wave of M&A strategies and investment opportunities in the digital infrastructure and services space.
- How have the roles of buyers and sellers and advisers adapted over the past 18 months?
- Evolutions in deal origination, relationship establishment, and business hold periods
- How has Covid-19 impacted strategies and investment in the digital infrastructure and services space?
- What is the impact of current valuations and multiples on investment strategies?
- Which markets and countries still offer deal opportunities?
Chaired by James Henry, Senior Managing Director, Bank Street Group
Speakers
Taylor Dixon, Vice President, Advisory Sales, Datasite
Dylan Foo, Senior Partner, Co-Lead Infrastructure, Apollo Global Management
Mark Prybutok, Managing Director, GI Partners
Adrian Shatku, CEO, Unifi
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Datacenter Leaders Panel - Investment Trends and Opportunities for 2022 and beyond
We’ve seen robust deal making activity and soaring valuations in the datacentres and Edge space in 2020/2021. In this session, datacenter leaders, investors and advisers discuss investment, growth and consolidation strategies for the next 12 months. Speakers will explore where we’re at in the current investment cycle and how the deal environment is evolving.
- What’s next in terms of valuations, financing structures, consolidation and other deal making activity in the datacentres and edge space?
- New players and business models in the market, including real estate moving to "hybrid infrastructure" and investment by towercos
- Hyperscale vs retail and edge datacentres: Market dynamics, competition and where are the opportunities for partnerships?
- What are the next big greenfield and brownfield opportunities and how will they be financed ?
- Data and applications - where is the user market growth going to come from?
Chaired by Laura Fazio, Managing Director Technology & Telecom Banking, Huntington Bank
Speakers
Anubhav Raj, CFO, Aligned
Amber Caramella, CRO, Netrality Data Centers
Bob DeSantis, CEO, 365 Data Centers
Craig McKesson, Chief Customer & Marketing Officer, T5 Data Centers
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