Speaker

Matthew Sherman

President, Joele Frank, Wilkinson Brimmer Katcher

Photograph of Matthew Sherman A founding member of the firm and named President in August 2013, Matt has more than 22 years of experience providing strategic corporate, financial and crisis communications counsel to Boards of Directors and executive leadership of public corporations and private equity firms involved in M&A, hostile takeovers, proxy contests, shareholder activism defense, spin-offs, reorganizations, financial restructurings, management changes, litigation, regulatory actions and a wide range of corporate crises. His areas of expertise include:

  • Shareholder Activism: He has advised many companies in their defense against proxy contests, short attacks and other tactics employed by activist investors. Recent engagements, among others, include: Stewart Information Services (Foundation, Bulldog Investors, Engine Capital); Outerwall (Engaged Capital, JANA); Allison Transmission (ValueAct, Ashe Capital); Capital Senior Living (Red Alder); Perry Ellis (Legion Partners, CalSTRs), Panera Bread (Luxor Capital); Xerox (Carl Icahn); Baxter (Third Point); Brookdale Senior Living (Sandell); Viavi Solutions (formerly known as JDS Uniphase) (Sandell); and Manitowoc (Carl Icahn).
  • Mergers & Acquisitions: Recent assignments include: Danone in its pending acquisition of WhiteWave; Joy Global in its pending sale to Komatsu; Outerwall in its pending going-private transaction with Apollo Group; Valspar in its pending sale to Sherwin-Williams; Keurig Green Mountain in its sale to JAB; Carmike Cinemas in its pending sale to AMC Theatres; Fairchild Semiconductor in its pending sale to ON Semiconductor; Lexmark in its pending sale to a consortium led by Apax Technology and PAG Asia Capital; FMC in its pending sale to Technip; Coherent in its pending acquisition of ROFIN-SINAR; Aruba Networks in its sale to HP; The Pep Boys – Manny, Moe & Jack in its sale to Icahn Enterprises; Altera in its sale to Intel; Life Time Fitness in its going-private transaction with Leonard Green and TPG; Smucker in its acquisition of Big Heart Pet Brands; Family Dollar in its sale to Dollar Tree; Energizer in its separation into two independent companies; and Smithfield Foods in its sale to Shuanghui International.
  • Corporate Governance, Investor Relations & Financial Public Relations: He develops and implements comprehensive investor relations, corporate governance and financial communications programs for clients across a wide range of industries. He also has played a role in numerous corporate reorganizations, financial restructurings, Board and management changes, governance roadshows, earnings pre-announcements, regulatory actions, litigation support and other material corporate developments.
In 2012 Matt received The M&A Advisor’s “40 Under 40” Recognition Award, and in 2007 he was named to PR Week’s inaugural “40 Under 40” list. Matt previously was a vice president in the M&A and crisis communications practice at Abernathy MacGregor Frank. He received an MBA from Columbia Business School and a BA in international relations and a BA in communications from the University of Pennsylvania.