ABI, the Association of Insolvency & Restructuring Advisors (AIRA) and our distinguished advisory board invite you to VALCON 2023 at the Ritz-Carlton New Orleans, located in New Orleans’ French Quarter.
Taking place this year during the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival, VALCON 2023 is THE place to connect with leaders in the distressed-debt, restructuring and valuation industries. Dealmakers, fund investors, and financial and legal advisors, this is one conference you should not miss! Valuation professionals can expect advanced discussions and fresh perspectives on timely topics to help them navigate the shifting sands of valuation in bankruptcy today.
New this year: ABI’s Complex Financial Restructuring Program has been renamed The Battle of the Plans and will be held on Monday, May 1. Teams will present their best plans of reorganization and discuss leading issues from a case study based on the Caesars bankruptcy case.
Attend either program, or both programs for a reduced registration fee.
VALCON 2023 Registration Opens
VALCON 2023 Welcoming Remarks
VALCON 2023 Opening Session
The Global Metaverse Market: Valuing Property in the Next Frontier (We’re Not in Kansas Anymore)
Metaverse business success can really only happen with significantly more technological adoption, so any valuation of an individual metaverse business is at some level an underwriting of the technological adoption. In what areas may the metaverse be cannibalistic? In what areas may it be accretive to existing platforms/channels? Is the metaverse likely to be principally a business or personal environment, or both? What are the avenues for investment in the metaverse and determining valuation? It has recently been predicted that the metaverse economy could, in the aggregate, “generate up to $5 trillion in impact by 2030 — equivalent to the size of the third-largest economy today, Japan." Much of that impact is seen in e-commerce by far, with other market impacts in virtual learning, advertising and gaming. But how are the various “things” in the metaverse going to be valued? If you don’t know, or don’t know what the metaverse is or encompasses, this panel is for you.
Opening Networking Reception with the Participants of the 2023 Complex Financial Restructuring Program
Enjoy drinks, hors d’oeuvres and local music by Mark and the Pentones with faculty and participants.
Mark and the Pentones
Well known for their killer live performances, the Pentones combine blues, rock and funk to create a tasty gumbo of New Orleans-influenced sound that's uniquely their own. The Pentones are Mark Penton (guitar and vocals), Thomas C. McDonald (bass guitar and vocals) and Eddie Christmas (drums and percussion). In a city with no shortage of great guitarists, Penton is always at or near top of the list, with his vocals often compared to the late great Duane Allman.Sponsored by Cozen O’Connor, Cravath, Swaine & Moore LLP and Malek Capital Advisors
Registration and Networking Breakfast
Sponsored by Pachulski Stang Ziehl & Jones LLP
Welcome Remarks
Valuation of Tangible vs. Intangible Assets
This panel will discuss situations in which valuation is particularly challenging based on the type of asset, the absence of market or comparable valuation data, limitations on available information for the valuation, and other constraints. We will cover the valuation of intellectual property assets, financial assets (including royalties and other revenue streams), digital and electronic assets (including virtual currency, software code, social media assets and platforms), and privately held equity interests, among other asset categories in different sectors, such as emerging restructuring sectors like life sciences. We will also discuss valuation contexts (transaction diligence and structuring, financing and M&A transaction consummation, and distressed situations and insolvency proceedings), focusing on both the practical challenges and evidentiary support for valuation determinations in those contexts. We also will provide examples of situations in which challenging valuations have served as keystones to transactional successes.
Coffee Break
They’re Real, but Not All Are SPAC-tacular
This panel will compare and contrast the SPAC craze of 2020-21 to see where we are now and what lies ahead.
Snacks and Small Bites Break
Sponsored by FTI Consulting, Inc.
Corporate Valuation: Before, During and Post-Pandemic
For nearly 100 years, we have not experienced a shock to the economy where large numbers of industries exhibited disastrous declines in revenues resulting from a pandemic. Frankly, none of us were equipped with readily available valuation frameworks to handle such shocking changes in cash-flow projections, discount rates, the ‘appropriate’ use of comparable companies and the relevant transactions to be used in the M&A comparable method. This panel discussion will present the main valuation parameters that have been affected by the COVID-19 pandemic and the associated legal and experts’ battles, mostly during and post-pandemic.
Luncheon
Reflections on Recent Turmoil in the Banking and Financial Services Industry
Join Mr. Pauker as he shares his perspectives on the recent turmoil in the banking and financial services industry, including what lessons can be learned by comparing recent events to those surrounding the S&L crisis and the 2008 financial crisis.
Sponsored by AlixPartners, LLP
Break
Capital Markets: A Voyage into the Unknown
This panel will focus on the current state of the capital markets and their impact on corporate refinance and restructuring opportunities. Given recent economic events, including inflation, interest rate hikes and their ramifications on the financial sectors, the panelists will discuss and explore those events and how they could affect the ability of companies to access the capital markets. The panelists also will explore how access to the capital markets could force a company to restructure or refinance existing obligations given the recent history of low interest rates and easy access to funding.
Refreshment Break
Expert Outtakes: The Latest on the Economy, Distress and Valuation Within the Automotive, Real Estate and Health Care Industries
This session will be divided into three 25-minute mini-panels, with each segment featuring two industry experts from the automotive, real estate and skilled nursing/senior care industries, respectively. The panelists will highlight the latest hurdles these often unpredictable businesses face in a volatile post-COVID-19 economy, including the effects of inflation, ongoing staffing and supply chain issues, potential liquidity crunches and other challenges.
Real Estate:
Automotive:
Health Care:
Break
Valuing Litigation Claims
Networking Reception
Enjoy drinks and hors d’oeuvres with faculty and participants.
Breakfast Conversation with the Judges on Today’s Hot Topics
Join us for a favorite VALCON tradition: a conversation over breakfast with the attending judges on today's hot topics. Abid Qureshi (Akin Gump) will chat with Hon. David R. Jones (S.D. Tex.) and a special local guest in the Salon Foyer.
Sponsored by Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld LLP
Valuation of a Start-Up
Determining the valuation of a startup poses unique challenges, as typical valuation methodologies, such as analyzing comparable companies, precedent transactions and discounted cash flow analyses, cannot be applied with the same degree of confidence to a company that is lacking an established track record. This panel will examine these challenges and provide insights into valuing a startup from financial, legal and judicial perspectives.
Coffee Break
Sponsored by Jenner & Block
Crypto, Demystified: Valuation, Restructuring, Regulation and Corporate Integrity
This session will discuss crypto asset and exchange valuation parameters and deal structures, and how investors and analysts alike were duped by FTX and its founder, Sam Bankman-Fried, to invest in his multibillion-dollar Ponzi scheme. SBF had painted himself as an industry saint, but he now acknowledges the firm's “massive failure of oversight of risk management.” The panelists will analyze 2022's largest crypto failures — FTX, BlockFi, Three Arrows Capital, Voyager Digital and Celsius Network — and will address their crypto asset valuation parameters, forensic data sources, trading models, likely stakeholder recoveries, failures of internal controls, current and likely future regulatory controls, and corporate integrity and governance protocols in order to understand how these virtual currencies rose and subsequently collapsed.
Adjourn
| Early (by 4/10/23) | Regular (4/11/23-4/28/23) | Late (after 4/28/23) | ||
| VALCON 2023 Registration Rates | ||||
| ABI/AIRA Member | $765 | $815 | $865 | |
| Gov't./Aca./Nonprofit ABI/AIRA Member | $375 | $425 | $475 | |
| New ABI/AIRA Member* | $1,165 | $1,215 | $1,265 | |
| New Gov't./Aca./Nonprofit ABI/AIRA Member* | $500 | $550 | $600 | |
| *Includes a one-year ABI and AIRA membership for first-time members only — a $750 value! You must be an ABI or AIRA member to attend. Membership is individual and nonrefundable. If your ABI membership has expired, select the member rate and add in your ABI membership renewal fee. | ||||
| Early (by 4/10/23) | Regular (4/11/23-4/28/23) | Late (after 4/28/23) | ||
| VALCON 2023 & CFRP 2023 Joint Registration Rates | ||||
| ABI/AIRA Member | $1,025 | $1,075 | $1,125 | |
| Gov't./Aca./Nonprofit ABI/AIRA Member | $600 | $650 | $700 | |
| New ABI/AIRA Member* | $1,425 | $1,475 | $1,525 | |
| New Gov't./Aca./Nonprofit ABI/AIRA Member* | $725 | $775 | $825 | |
| *Includes a one-year ABI and AIRA membership for first-time members only — a $750 value! You must be an ABI or AIRA member to attend. Membership is individual and nonrefundable. If your ABI membership has expired, select the member rate and add in your ABI membership renewal fee. | ||||
| Early (by 4/10/23) | Regular (4/11/23-4/28/23) | Late (after 4/28/23) | ||
| CFRP 2023 Registration Rates | ||||
| ABI/AIRA Member | $575 | $625 | $675 | |
| Gov't./Aca./Nonprofit ABI/AIRA Member | $375 | $425 | $475 | |
| New ABI/AIRA Member* | $975 | $1,025 | $1,075 | |
| New Gov't./Aca./Nonprofit ABI/AIRA Member* | $500 | $550 | $600 | |
| *Includes a one-year ABI membership for first-time members only — a $425 value! You must be an ABI member to attend. Membership is individual and nonrefundable. If your ABI membership has expired, select the member rate and add in your ABI membership renewal fee. | ||||
Cancellation Policy
All fees, except a $75 handling fee, will be refunded if written notice of cancellation is received by April 10, 2023. No refunds will be granted after April 10, but substitutions will be allowed. After April 10, upon written request, a coupon for 20% off the registration fee (not including optional events) will be issued, which can be used (by the canceling registrant only) for any ABI educational program up to one year after this conference, or for this same conference next year.
Hotel
The Ritz-Carlton New Orleans invites visitors to its French Quarter retreat, set within a 1908 Beaux Arts building. ABI and AIRA have arranged a special conference rate of $302 per night from April 30-May 3, 2023. Reservations must be made directly with the hotel prior to April 10, 2023, to take advantage of the special conference rate. In order to be eligible for the group rate, reservations may be made only once you have registered for the program. Upon payment of the conference registration fees, you will receive hotel reservation information with your conference confirmation. Rooms are held on a first-come, first-served basis. ABI cannot guarantee any rooms after the specially rated ABI/AIRA block is filled.
Travel
Air: Fly into New Orleans International Airport (MSY).
Conference Attire
Attire is business casual throughout the conference.
Co-Chairs
Advisory Board
This program is eligible for 9.75 hours of general CLE credit, including 1.5 hour of ethics/professionalism, in states calculating CLE on a 60-minute hour, and 11.7 hours of general CLE credit, including 1.8 hours of ethics/professionalism, in 50-minute-hour states. Credit hours are estimated and are subject to each state’s approval and credit-rounding rules and might not be approved prior to the program. California MCLE: ABI certifies that this activity has been approved for MCLE credit in the amount of 9.75 hours, of which 1 hour will apply to ethics. NY MCLE: This course or program has been approved in accordance with the requirements of the New York State Continuing Legal Education Board for a maximum of 9.75 credit hours, of which 11.7 credit hours can be applied toward the professional practice requirement and 1 credit hour can be applied toward the ethics professionalism requirement. 13.7 hours of CPE credit, including 2.8 hour of ethics, are also available.
Conference Program Information:
Method of Delivery: Live, In-Person
Prerequisites: None
Program Knowledge Level: Intermediate
Advanced Preparation: None
*ABI and AIRA offer intermediate-level courses, which assume that attendees will have at least some detailed knowledge of insolvency matters (pursuant to the “Statement on Standards for CPE Programs” established by AICPA and NASBA). ABI is registered with the National Association of State Boards of Accountancy (NASBA) as a sponsor of continuing professional education on the National Registry of CPE Sponsors. State Boards of Accountancy have the final authority on the acceptance of individual courses for CPE credit. Complaints regarding registered sponsors may be submitted to the National Registry of CPE Sponsors through its website, www.nasbaregistry.org.
Financial Hardship Statement
ABI acknowledges that in some instances there will be persons who need to attend an educational seminar for CLE credit who are not able to pay full registration fees. ABI will handle such instances on a case-by-case basis and will work with the individual on alternative solutions. For persons who cannot meet the full registration rate, ABI will offer a reduced rate based on what the individual can reasonably afford to cover the cost of meals and materials. For persons unable to pay a reduced rate, ABI may allow the individual to work at the registration area for a few hours during attendee check-in, or assist in conference set-up. ABI also has reduced rates for government employees, professors, law clerks and students. Financial assistance is available for this program; all applications for financial assistance must be submitted by March 31, 2023. For more information or to request an application, please contact the American Bankruptcy Institute at (703) 739-0800 or send an e-mail to [email protected].