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Business Excellence Awards 2020

GigCapital: Transforming private entities into Global public corporations

GigCapital: Transforming private entities into Global public corporations

Late-stage private enterprises have a hard time breaking their shells and moving into the global public corporation. GigCapital paves the way to realize the dream of such companies who have the drive to be global leaders. 

The company marks its expertise in three major fields: technology, media, and communication. Also, it perfectly orchestrates the transition to the public market honoring each partner’s company values to the core.

We interviewed Dr. Avi Katz GigCapital’s Founder, Chairman, and CEO, to better understand the company.

What motivated you to establish GigCapital Global?

GigCapital Global (GIG) founded in August 2017 is a Private-to-Public Equity (PPETM) entity headquartered in Palo Alto, California. The company’s sole aim is to enable late-stage growth private companies led by exceptional entrepreneurs to execute their dream in becoming a US publicly traded companies.

GIG is a holding group that launches public emerging companies with the purpose of searching, identifying and entering into a merger, share exchange, asset acquisition, stock purchase, recapitalization, reorganization or similar business combination with one or more businesses, as soon as the appropriate targeted company was defined. Thereafter the GIG entity combines with the target and converts the private company into a traded public entity on a National Exchange.

GIG invites exceptional enterprise candidates for its business combination from the technology, media and telecommunications (TMT) sectors, which has tremendous potential and consolidation opportunities, both organically and strategically well into the future. Dr. Avi Katz started GIG after serving 30+ years in the TMT world including bootstrapping companies. He’s well experienced in taking them public, executing meaningful roll-ups, and un-locking meaningful value to the entrepreneurs and the investors by the successful sale of the entity.

Timeline

GIG launched GigCapital1, a $145M IPO in December 2017 (NYSE: GIG), which combined with Kaleyra, S.p.A. in November 2019 and converted the company into Kaleyra, Inc. (NYSE: KLR). GIG launched GigCapital2, a $175M IPO in June 2019, and is now in an active search for a suitable target company to combine with.

What products and services do you offer? And how does that change the entire scenario of your company’s excellence?

Traditionally private companies enter the U.S public capital market commonly through the method of traditional public offering (IPO).But nowadays, Wall Street is closely focusing on the so-called “unicorn” companies and this has made access through this method difficult for smaller, albeit successful and well-positioned companies.

GIG has coined the defining term of Private to Public Equity (PPETM) for its business transactions and is the leader of the TMT segment.

The PPE/ SPAC (Special Purpose Acquisition Company) comes into the spotlight as a viable alternative IPO of growth-stage companies. The GigCapital team comprises technology executives and entrepreneurs who collaborate with the chosen company, to partner smoothly and monitor its professional transition from a late growth-stage private entity to a public company.

The company’s “IPO-in-a-box” methodology – provides a swift introduction to investors, research analysts, investment bankers, counsels, accountants and the complete US ecosystem that is required for a successful IPO and continuous growth into a Wall-Street TMT company. 

What are your leadership values?

“GIG was established and always strive on the balanced combination of financial and business acumen and the strong, humanistic, soft-values of the team.”

The company strikes a balance between measurable, objective reality factors and humanistic value aptly. GigCapital strongly values the four ‘Ls’: Live, Love, Learn, Legacy.

GigCapital believes that these values are essential for all successful entrepreneurs and entities, where business and financial success is fueled constantly by respect and dignity to the entire participatory team – employees and leaders, partners, investors, customers, and suppliers.

What distinguishes you from your competitors and how do you utilize this to your advantage?

GigCapital ensures solid ongoing support of the company through their Mentor-Investor involvement that includes expert Board of Director membership and Advisory Board Participation. The company also provides the “IPO in a box solution” that brings all the needed practices, connections, methodology, processes, and knowhow to the IPO process.

GigCapital also has extensive experience in global M&A transactions that can be used to accelerate the growth of a business. Mentorship to senior management becomes important when the company develops the business and comes across certain inevitable changes that are associated with the growth. The company’s networks act as introductions to industry leaders, executives, investment bankers, research analysts on a worldwide basis.

Why would owners choose PPE transactions over selling their business?

When owners of late-stage growth, private companies contemplate exit options, the most obvious one is to sell the company in exchange for cash returns or cash and equity returns. While a sale may seem the most straight forward and simple exit, a sale will bring in uncertainties in almost every aspect of a company’s life, some of which being operational control and the management structure.

But there are instances when the new owners’ interests are not aligned with those of current management team and owners end up replacing the founding management team and push for favorable exit terms and valuation, instead of focusing on long-term growth synergy or potential return.

In such cases, it will be difficult for the company and the employees to achieve optimal benefits from the sale. In comparison, becoming a public company by merging with a PPETM/ SPAC is the best alternative, when the executive team is committed to growing the company via organic growth or M&As to unicorn status.

How does it feel to have won this prestigious award?

Avi Katz, CEO, GigCapital stated that it’s a privilege receiving this award on behalf of the numerous teams he has nurtured and partnered with for more than 30 years of his TMT career in the US. He also said that it is a testimonial to the winning spirit of the diversified and most-talented workforce in the industry, and it is a delight to have his GIG team recognized for their unique approach of trail-blazing.

Meet the leader

Dr. Avi Katz, GigCapital’s Founder, Chairman, and CEO, has spent 30+ years holding international managerial and executive positions in the high-technology sector. He is a serial entrepreneur and angel investor with decades of experience working for companies of every size, from start-ups to global enterprises. Throughout his career, Dr. Katz has facilitated leadership team building, large-scale fundraising, initial and secondary public offering, the development of alliances and tech partnerships, mergers, and acquisitions, and almost every other facet of business and financial operations.

“GigCapital is the first Private-to-Public Equity (PPE™) business and technology executive group dedicated to taking late-stage, high-quality private TMT companies to the public market. Our “IPO-in-a-box” methodology provides an alternative to the lengthy traditional IPO process, and our Mentor Investors (MI™) foster growth to the unicorn stage and beyond.”


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