Midday Fireside Chat
Going Private: For most companies, the idea of taking a company public can be an adventurous initiative. But what happens when you do the reverse—take a public company private? That’s just what happened in April when AgroFresh Solutions closed its “go-private” transaction. In this special midday fireside chat, AgroFresh CEO Clint Lewis and Denise Devine, serial entrepreneur and a member of the special committee of AgroFresh’s independent directors, pull back the curtain on this unique M&A deal and discuss how one of the region’s most iconic brands has positioned itself for future growth.
Moderator:
Chief Content Officer
Smart Business
Dustin is an award-winning business journalist, bestselling author, and the chief content officer of Smart Business. Over the past 30 years, he has interviewed thousands of business and civic leaders, and helped more than 50 CEOs and entrepreneurs transform their ideas into books. A trained investigative politics reporter and former digital media entrepreneur, Dustin joined Smart Business in 1997 after serving as an editor at several daily newspapers.
Panelists:
Co-Founder and CFO
RTM Vital Signs, LLC
Denise L. Devine, Founder, CAO and CFO of RTM Vital Signs, LLC a clinical stage medical device and digital health company, is an experienced executive leader, an entrepreneur, and a serial company founder with 30 years of experience spanning start-up companies to Fortune 100 corporations. She is also an experienced public company board director and has served as Compensation Committee Chair, Audit and Risk Committee Chair and is an SEC qualified financial expert. Her leadership experience includes general management, operations and finance. Ms. Devine has executed strategic alliances and licenses with pharmaceutical and food companies as well as research agreements with the United States government. Ms. Devine, a CPA, received an MBA from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania, an M.S. in Taxation from Villanova University and a B.S. in Accounting from Villanova University, graduating summa cum laude and first in her class.
CEO
AgroFresh Solutions, Inc.
Clint Lewis has over 30 years of experience in the life sciences, pharmaceutical and agribusiness industries having previously held senior executive positions across both human health and animal health at Pfizer and Zoetis.
Clint is currently the Chief Executive Officer and member of the Board of Directors for AgroFresh Solutions - a global, market leading agribusiness company focused on the ‘post-harvest’ segment of the fresh fruit and produce sector.
Prior to joining AgroFresh, Clint spent twelve years at Zoetis, Inc. Clint served as a corporate officer and member of the Executive Management Team where he held key roles in the company having previously served as the Executive Vice President and Group President, International Operations, Commercial Development, Aquaculture and Genetics as well as Executive Vice President and President, US Operations.
Prior to the formation of Zoetis, Clint spent 25 years in senior commercial and general management roles of increasing responsibility at Pfizer, Inc. across both human and animal health.
In addition to serving on the Board of Directors for AgroFresh, Clint also currently serves as a member of the Board of Directors for International Paper (NYSE: IP). He also serves on the Board of United Veterinary Care, a PE firm.