Merged into IronNet Cybersecurity, ticker now IRNT
DFNS

Completed

IronNet Cybersecurity

LGL Systems Acquisition Corp.

Underwriter: Jefferies, BTIG
Raised
$125M
CIK
1777946
SPAC Ticker
DFNS
Merger
IronNet Cybersecurity
Merged Ticker
IRNT
Focus
Aerospace, Defense, Telecommunications
External link: SEC Filings

SPAC Team

Leadership

Marc Gabelli has served as a member of our Board of Directors since our inception and Chairman of the Board of Directors and Chief Executive Officer since September 2019. Mr. Gabelli has served as President and Director of GGCP, Inc., the parent company of GAMCO Investors, Inc. (GBL:NYSE) since 1999, and director of Associated Capital Group, Inc. (AC:NYSE) at its formation through to 2017. He is the Chairman of Teton Advisors, Inc. (TETA:OTC) since 2018, and LGL Group (LGL: NYSE American) since 2017, Chairman of Gabelli Merger Plus Trust PLC (GMP:LSE) since 2017. Mr. Gabelli has been Co-Chief Executive Officer of Gabelli Securities International Ltd. since 1994, Managing Partner of Horizon Research of New Delhi India since 2012 and Director and Managing Partner of Swiss based GGCP since 2012 and GAMA Funds Holdings GmbH since 2010. He is also Chairman and Chief Executive of Gabelli & Partners Italia Srl. and Gabelli Value for Italy SPA (VALU: IM), a Milan stock exchange listed corporation since 2018, and a director of Gabelli Merger Plus+ Trust, PLC (GMP: LSE), a London Stock Exchange listed company. As a fund manager since 1990, Mr. Gabelli’s focus is global value investments with portfolio assignments including alternative and traditional asset management. He manages alternative investment portfolios and the group’s investment companies trading on the London Stock Exchange. He has managed several Morningstar five star mutual funds, and a Lipper #1 ranked global equity mutual fund. In corporate matters, he assisted on group restructurings, including GAMCO’s initial public offering and the subsequent formation of AC. He built the hedge fund platform of the group’s indirect wholly-owned subsidiary, Gabelli & Partners, LLC, and expanded the business internationally, opening the GAMCO London and Tokyo offices. In 2001, he also formed and served as General Partner of OpNet Partners, a Gabelli venture capital fund focused on optical networking technologies. He is also a Director of LICT Corporation (LICT: OTC). Mr. Gabelli is active in a variety of charitable educational efforts in the United States, Europe and the United Kingdom.

He began his career in equity research and arbitrage for Lehman Brothers International. He is a member of the New York Society of Security Analysts. He received a MBA from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and is a graduate of Harvard University with a Master’s degree in Government, and from Boston College with a Bachelor’s degree in economics. We believe Mr. Gabelli is qualified to serve on our board of directors due to his business experience and contacts and relationships.

John Mega has served as our President since September 2019. Mr. Mega was an original founding member of L3. Mr Mega built and managed several divisions at L3 since its formation in 1997 after spinning off from Lockheed Martin. Prior to his retirement in 2018, he was a corporate Senior Vice President and President of L3’s Communication Systems, one of the four L3 major business segments. Earlier in his career, he had been President of L3’s Microwave Group, President of Narda Microwave, President of Logimetrics, Inc, Chief Financial Officer and Vice President of at Lockheed Martin Corp’s Tactical Defense Systems, Group Controller at Loral Corp and a principal at Raytheon Company (RTN:NYSE). He received a Bachelor’s degree from Boston College and is a member of American Mensa Ltd.

Robert “Rob” LaPenta has served as our Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer since September 2019. Mr. LaPenta has an extensive career spanning over 25 years in finance, accounting, consulting, capital markets origination, equity trading, asset allocation and mergers and acquisitions and will be active in transaction sourcing, processing and execution. Mr. LaPenta began his career as a Senior Associate at Coopers & Lybrand as a CPA responsible for managing audits, consulting, M&A due diligence and special project engagements for multiple clients in various industries. Mr. LaPenta transitioned full time into the investment banking sector spending the next 13 years focused on trading and capital market activities culminating in the role of Managing Director and Co-head of Equity Trading at Bank of America Securities, LLC where he managed the firm’s equity capital commitment, proprietary trading, secondary offerings and risk management within cash trading. In 2007, Mr. LaPenta joined L-1 Identity Solutions, Inc. as Vice President of Mergers and Acquisitions and Corporate Strategy. Mr. LaPenta managed the firms M&A processes from sourcing, structuring, valuation, diligence and financing of multiple transactions with the most notable being the negotiation of the $1.6b sale of L-1 to Safran and BAE Systems. Following the sale of L-1, Mr. LaPenta became a Partner of Aston Capital an alternative asset management firm of the LaPenta family office. and co-founded the Boundary Group, an investment firm focused on private investments in the aerospace, defense, and intelligence markets. Mr. LaPenta has previously served on the Board of Directors at Revolution Lighting Technologies, Inc. (RVLT: OTC), AFIX Technologies and The Radiant Group and currently presides over the Audit Committee for TherapeuticsMD (TXMD:Nasdaq) (Audit Committee Chair), is a Board observer for Amergint Technologies and sits as an Audit Committee member for St. David’s School New York City. Mr. LaPenta graduated from Boston College with a Bachelor’s degree in Accounting and Finance and has been a registered CPA (inactive) in the State of New York.

Timothy Foufas has served as our Vice President and Chief Operating Officer since September 2019 and previously served as our Chief Executive Officer from our inception until September 2019. Mr. Foufas has had a longstanding relationship with the Gabelli organization since 1997 when he served as an analyst at Gabelli & Company Inc. covering multiple industries and reporting directly to Mario Gabelli. He has also been a member of the Board of The LGL Group, Inc. (LGL:NYSE American) since 2007 and former board member of certain affiliates of the Gabelli organization. Mr. Foufas has a diverse background, including experiences in industries such as technology, real estate, gaming, consumer products, and financial services. Since 2005, he has served as Managing Partner of Plato Foufas & Company LLC, a financial services company, where he oversees all investment and management activities of the firm. Prior to the successful divestiture of its investment portfolio, Mr. Foufas also served as President of Levalon Properties LLC, a real estate property management company and as Senior Vice President of Bayshore Management Company LLC. Prior to joining Bayshore, he was the Director of Investments at Liam Ventures Inc., a private equity investment firm, where he was responsible for its venture capital and buyout investments. Mr. Foufas holds a MBA from Northwestern University’s Kellogg Graduate School of Management and a Bachelor’s degree from Boston College. Mr. Foufas is active in various civic institutions in Chicago having been a founding board member of Auxiliary Board of the John G. Shedd Aquarium and is currently a Sustaining Guild Board Member of Boys & Girls Clubs of Chicago.

George Anthony Bancroft II has served as our Vice President since our inception. He is the Aerospace & Defense team leader in research for GAMCO Investors. Mr. Bancroft and his team run the Gabelli Aerospace & Defense annual institutional investment conference, now entering its 25th year. He has been an analyst as part of the Gabelli group industrial team since 2009. Prior to Gabelli, Mr. Bancroft was in the United States Marine Corp., where he remains currently active, serving as a Lieutenant Colonel in the Marine Corps Reserve. Mr. Bancroft was an F/A-18 Fighter Pilot in the Marine Corps from May 1998 to July 2009, during which time he had extensive leadership experience in aviation operations, logistics, and maintenance. Mr. Bancroft received a Bachelor’s degree in Systems Engineering from the United States Naval Academy and an MBA in Finance and Economics from Columbia Business School.

Hendi Susanto has served as our Vice President since our inception. He has been Vice President, Equity Research, at Gabelli since August 2007 and has also been a Portfolio Manager at GAMCO Investors, Inc. since December 2015. Mr. Susanto joined the Board of Directors of The LGL Group, Inc. (LGL: NYSE American) in June 2016. Prior to 2007, Mr. Susanto worked as an Analyst at Silicon Laboratories (SLAB:NASD) and a supply chain management consultant in the technology sector at JDA Software. Mr. Susanto received a Bachelor’s degree summa cum laude in Chemical Engineering from the University of Minnesota, an MS in Chemical Engineering from MIT, with a minor in Quantitative Finance from MIT Sloan, and an MBA in Finance from the Wharton school.

Patrick Huvane has served as our Vice President, Finance and Accounting since September 2019, and previously served as our Chief Financial Officer from our inception until September 2019. Mr. Huvane has served as the Chief Financial Officer of Teton Advisors, Inc. (TETA:OTC) since 2019. Mr. Huvane has also served as Senior Vice President, Business Development of The LGL Group, Inc. (LGL: NYSE American) since April 2019. Mr. Huvane has a broad background in finance working in publicly traded companies including due diligence for acquisitions. He was Vice President, Finance of Standard Diversified Inc. (NYSE American: SDI) from December 2018 to April 2019. From November 2007 to December 2018, Mr. Huvane was employed by Tiptree Inc. (NASD: TIPT), a diversified holding company that operates across multiple industry sectors with a focus on financial services such as insurance, real estate, asset management, and specialty finance. Mr. Huvane served in various capacities including Chief Accounting Officer of the parent company as well as its subsidiary, Care Investment Trust, LLC which is a real estate investment company focused exclusively on owning and operating various seniors housing properties. Prior to joining Tiptree in 2007, Mr. Huvane was Controller at Axon Financial Services, Inc. from 2006 to 2007. For the five years prior to joining Axon, Mr. Huvane was employed at Fletcher Asset Management, Inc. and held positions of increasing responsibility, including as Chief Financial Officer and Chief Compliance Officer. Prior to joining Fletcher, Mr. Huvane held positions of increasing responsibility at large financial institutions such as Credit Suisse and Sumitomo Bank. He began his career as an auditor at Ernst & Young in 1990. Mr. Huvane received a Bachelor’s degree from Manhattan College where he was a part-time adjunct faculty member of its Department of Economics & Finance from 2008 to 2009. He received a MBA from New York University. Mr. Huvane is a Certified Public Accountant in New York and is also a CFA charterholder.

Mary E Gallagher has served as a member of our board of directors since September 2019. Ms. Gallagher served as Chief Financial Officer for Wheels Up from 2016 to 2018. Wheels Up is a membership-based private aviation company. Prior to joining Wheels Up, Ms. Gallagher spent 12 years with United Technologies Corporation (NYSE: UTX), a global leader in aerospace and building technologies. Ms. Gallagher held a variety of top financial roles at UTX, most recently as CFO of Sikorsky Aircraft from November of 2013 through June of 2016. From 1996 to 2004 Ms. Gallagher served as the VP Controller and Chief Accounting Officer of Olin Corporation (NYSE: OLN), a global manufacturer and distributor of chemical products and a leading U.S. manufacturer of ammunition. Prior to joining Olin, Ms. Gallagher spent 9 years with KPMG in various positions in the audit, mergers/acquisitions, consulting and training groups. Ms. Gallagher graduated from the University of Vermont in 1987 with a Bachelor’s degree in Accounting and earned her MBA from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 2008 as a UTC sponsored participant in the Sloan Fellows Program. Ms. Gallagher is a Certified Public Accountant in New York. We believe Ms. Gallagher is qualified to serve on our board of directors due to her business experience and contacts and relationships as well as her background as a CPA.

Michael J. Ferrantino has served as a member of our Board of Directors since September 2019. Mr. Ferrantino has served on the board of directors of The LGL Group (LGL: NYSE American) since 2019. Since 2015, Mr. Ferrantino has served as Chief Executive Officer for InterEx Inc., a full-service company specializing in the design, fabrication, management and service of custom exhibit spaces for the trade show retail and museum markets. From 2012 to 2014, Mr. Ferrantino was a Vice President at CTS Corporation (NYSE: CTS), a leading designer and manufacturer of electronic components and sensors, as well as a provider of electronics manufacturing services to manufacturers in the automotive, communications, medical, defense and aerospace industries. Prior to this, Mr. Ferrantino spent 11 years at Valpey-Fisher Corporation (NASDAQ:VPF); a company specializing in the marketing, design, and manufacture of high-accuracy frequency control subsystems used in digital and optical telecommunications systems. Mr. Ferrantino served in several leadership roles at VPF; most recently as the President and Chief Executive Officer. Previously, Mr. Ferrantino served as Vice President at Performax, Inc. from 2001to 2003. Performax is a company that specialized in the design, administration, and management of fully customized health and benefit plans. From 2000 to 2001, Mr. Ferrantino was a Vice President at Bicycle Health Benefits, Inc. after beginning his career at Eaton Corporation as a Product Marketing Manager. Mr. Ferrantino currently serves on the board of directors of The Gabelli Equity Trust Inc. and Gabelli Utility Trust. Mr. Ferrantino graduated from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in 1994 with a Bachelor’s degree in Materials Engineering and earned his MBA from Loyola College in 2003. We believe Mr. Ferrantino is qualified to serve on our board of directors due to his business experience and contacts and relationships.

Michael C. Martin has served as a member of our Board of Directors since September 2019. Mr. Martin is a cofounder and Managing Partner of Herndon Capital, a Washington, D.C. based private equity firm founded in 2019 and focused on companies within the national security and defense sectors. Prior to founding Herndon Capital, Mr. Martin was a portfolio manager with UBS O’Connor, a $6 billion multi strategy global hedge fund, where he managed a long short equity portfolio and led the investment team through 600 initial public offerings and private placements, from 2012 to 2018. Prior to O’Connor, Mr. Martin was a Director on the convertible securities team at Bank of America Merrill Lynch. Mr. Martin served as the co-leader of the Bank of America Metro New York Veterans Group and was part of the leadership team that brought together five of the nation’s largest banks to create VOWS (Veterans on Wall Street) with the mission of supporting transitioning military veterans into the private sector. As a Navy SEAL officer, Mr. Martin served worldwide in several leadership roles as the operations officer of two SEAL Teams and as a deployed task unit commander. Mr. Martin conducted several deployments to include Afghanistan and Iraq and was awarded numerous combat awards and medals including the Bronze Star with Valor. Mr. Martin received a Bachelor’s degree in Mathematics with merit from the United States Naval Academy and currently serves as Vice Chairman of the Board of Directors on the Navy SEAL Foundation. We believe Mr. Martin is qualified to serve on our board of directors due to his business and board experience, contacts and relationships.

Special Advisors

Robert Jacobson is President and Chief Executive Officer at Lite Coms LLC. Previously, he served as L3’s President of both the Tactical Satcom Sector as well as the Global Communications Systems (GCS) Division. Mr. Jacobson retired from L3 in September 2016. His first eighteen years of professional experience were with Harris RF Communications. Mr. Jacobson has a Bachelor of Science with Distinction from Clarkson University and graduated from the Harris/University of Florida Business Program.

Les Daniels is an Operating Partner of AE Industrial Partners, L.P. He currently serves on the board of directors of Moeller Aerosapce, as well as GAMCO Investors, Inc. (GBL-NYSE) and CSAT Solutions. Mr. Daniels also serves on The Advisory Committee on Trade Policy and Negotiation (ACTPN) as a presidential appointee. He is a former chairman and former member of Florida’s State Board of Administration, Investment Advisory Council (IAC), and serves as a Commissioner of the Health Care District of Palm Beach County. Mr. Daniels was a founding partner of CAI Managers & Co., L.P., a private equity firm located in New York City from 1989 to 2014. Prior to CAI Managers, he was President of Burdge, Daniels & Co., Inc., a company engaged as a principal in venture capital and buyout investments and trading of private placement securities. Mr. Daniels also served as Senior Vice President of Blyth, Eastman, Dillon & Co., where he was responsible for its corporate fixed-income sales and trading departments. Mr. Daniels is a former Director of AeroSat Corporation, Aster-Cephac SA, Bioanalytical Systems, Inc. (BASI-Nasdaq), Douglas Machine & Tool Co., Inc., IVAX Corporation, MIM Corporation, MIST Inc., Mylan Laboratories Inc. (MYL-Nasdaq), NBS Technologies Inc. and Safeguard Health Enterprises, Inc. He served as Chairman of TurboCombustor Technology Inc. and Zenith Laboratories, Inc. Mr. Daniels is a graduate of Fordham University.

Alan Carson has been the President of Envistacom since June 2019 and had previously been Vice President, Markets since 2014. Envistacom is a privately held, Hispanic woman-owned technology company that provides counterterrorism, cyber and communications solutions to U.S. and coalition partners in the aerospace, defense and intelligence communities. Its innovation and domain expertise helps protect military, civilians and critical infrastructure around the world. From 2007 to 2011, Mr. Carson was Vice President at Obor Digital, a broadcast media-related company. Mr. Carson also spent 7 years at DataPath, Inc. in increasing levels of responsibility. DataPath provides end-to-end Satcom solutions. After spending 5 years at Turner Broadcasting as an engineer, Mr. Carson was President and CEO of Carolina Microwave, Inc. from 1994 to 1999.

Nathan Miller has worked in institutional investment management with an emphasis towards Defense & National Security. In 2012, Mr. Miller launched NGM Asset Management to combine passive, positive carry, high quality securities with opportunistic active management. From 2011 to 2012, Mr. Miller managed an equity long/short portfolio at Citadel Investment Group in New York. From 2009 to 2011, Mr. Miller was Co-Head of Equity Long/Short Desk at RBC Capital (RY-NYSE), with a focus on Industrials and Cyclicals. He also oversaw risk management and the structure of eleven different investment teams across all sectors for the $2 billion fund. From 2003 to 2009, Mr. Miller served as an Aerospace & Defense, Industrials & Cyclicals and Multi-Industry analyst at SAC Capital where he managed a carve-out of a larger $1 billion Industrials portfolio. From 2000 to 2003, Mr. Miller served as a home-building, building materials and retail analyst for Goldman Sachs (GS-NYSE). Mr. Miller graduated from The Johns Hopkins University with a Bachelor’s degree in Biomedical Engineering and Electrical & Computer Engineering, a Bachelor’s degree in Economics and a Minor in Entrepreneurship & Management.

Jason Lamb is the founder and Managing Partner of Hard Yards. Hard Yards is a digital product management and transformation consulting firm working with Fortune 100 companies and innovators in the Special Operations and Intelligence Communities. At Hard Yards, Mr. Lamb served as a System Engineering Technical Advisor for the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) facilitating technology transition to the U.S. Special Operations Command. Prior to Hard Yards, Mr. Lamb was a Vice President and Advisor at The HumanGeo Group and a Product Manager at Ringtail Design. Both companies are software development and data visualization pioneers supporting national security agencies. He is a former Navy SEAL officer and brings more than 20 years of deep special operations and intelligence community expertise. He holds an MBA from the University of Virginia Darden School of Business with a focus on venture capital and entrepreneurial studies. He also received an M.S. in the Management of Information Technology from the University of Virginia, an M.A. in National Security and Strategic Studies from the Naval War College and a Bachelor’s degree in Political Science from the United States Naval Academy.