Merged into Danimer Scientific, ticker now DNMR
LOAK

Completed

Danimer Scientific

DNMR
First $4.70
Merger $37.52
698%
Merger +6mo $16.73
256%
Merger +1yr $5.83
24%
Recent $1.05
78%

Live Oak Acquisition Corp

Raised
$200M
CIK
1779020
SPAC Ticker
LOAK
Merger
Danimer Scientific
Merged Ticker
DNMR
Focus
Business Services, Financial Services, Industrial, Real Estate, Unicorns
External link: SEC Filings

SPAC Team

Leadership

John P. Amboian serves as our Chairman following the effective date of the registration statement of which this prospectus forms part. Mr. Amboian is a business leader with over 30 years of experience in mergers and acquisitions, capital management, product development, branding, and distribution for both privately held and public companies, across multiple industries. He served as Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Nuveen Investments, Inc., or Nuveen (formerly NYSE: JNC), from 2007 to 2016. He was President of Nuveen from 1999 through 2007 after joining as its Chief Financial Officer from 1995 to 1999. During his time in leadership positions at Nuveen, Mr. Amboian participated in over 20 M&A and capital markets transactions, in addition to playing a leading role in Nuveen’s sale to an investment group led by Madison Dearborn, in 2007 and Nuveen’s sale process to TIAA (Teacher’s Insurance and Annuity Association of New York) in 2014. Mr. Amboian served on the Nuveen Mutual Funds board from 2007 through 2016 in addition to serving on Nuveen Investments’ public board from 1996 through 2007. Prior to Nuveen, Mr. Amboian was the Chief Financial Officer and Senior Vice President of Strategy of the Miller Brewing Company. He began his career in Corporate and International Finance at Kraft Foods, Inc., where he ended his tenure as Treasurer. Since 2013, Mr. Amboian has served at Madison Dearborn Partners as an industry advisor and is an Independent Director of the general partnership of Adams Street Partners, a private-markets investment firm. Additionally, since 2017 Mr. Amboian has been a senior advisor to Estancia Capital and since 2018 chaired the board of North Square Investments, a boutique asset management firm. Mr. Amboian is on the advisory board of Cresset Capital Management, a wealth management firm, and advises several small businesses on organic and inorganic growth initiatives through JA Capital Advisors, LLC. He received both his Bachelor’s degree and his M.B.A. from the University of Chicago. He is well-qualified to serve on our board due to his extensive finance, investment and operational background.

Richard J. Hendrix has been our Chief Executive Officer since 2019 and a member of our Board of Directors since 2020. He has significant experience in executive leadership, corporate strategy, M&A, capital markets, and corporate finance for public companies. Over the course of his career, Mr. Hendrix has worked extensively with issuers and investors focused on companies in the financial services, real estate, energy, industrial, and business and consumer services sectors. He has led dozens of initial equity offerings for founder-led and sponsor-backed companies primarily within the banking, insurance, and real estate sectors. Additionally, Mr. Hendrix has considerable experience advising chief executives, boards of directors, and large shareholders regarding strategy, capital structure, and capital access. He has significant leadership experience in the financial industry, having served as Chief Executive Officer of FBR & Co., or FBR (formerly NASDAQ: FBRC), a capital markets firm, from 2009 to 2017, and Chairman from 2012 to 2017. Mr. Hendrix helped FBR grow into a leading bookrunner for initial common stock offerings for middle market U.S. companies. While at FBR Mr. Hendrix oversaw the growth of the company and oversaw numerous strategic transactions while in his role as Chairman and Chief Executive Officer at FBR, ultimately executing a merger with B. Riley Financial, Inc. (NASDAQ: RILY) in 2017. Following the merger, Mr. Hendrix served as director of B. Riley Financial until October 2017. Prior to his tenure as Chief Executive Officer of FBR, Mr. Hendrix served as Arlington Asset Investment Corp.’s (NYSE: AI) President and Chief Operating Officer from 2004 to 2007 and its Chief Investment Officer from 2003 to 2004. Previously, he was the President and Chief Operating Officer of FBR Asset Investment Corporation and concurrently headed the Real Estate and Diversified Industrials Investment Banking groups of FBR. Prior to FBR, Mr. Hendrix was a Managing Director in PNC Capital Markets’ investment banking group and headed PNC’s asset-backed securities business. Mr. Hendrix is a co-founder and Managing Partner of Live Oak Merchant Partners, a merchant bank providing capital and advisory services to middle market companies across several industries. Mr. Hendrix also currently serves as a Senior Advisor to Crestview Partners, a private equity firm, since 2017 and is currently the Chairman of Protect My Car, a portfolio company of Crestview Partners that provides extended auto warranty plans to consumers. Mr. Hendrix’s affiliation with Crestview Partners began with Crestview’s investment in FBR over a decade before. In the last five years, Mr. Hendrix has also been the Founder and Chief Executive Officer of RJH Management Co, a privately held investment management business. Mr. Hendrix received his B.S.in Finance from Miami University. He is well-qualified to serve on our board due to his extensive finance, investment and advisory background.

Andrea K. Tarbox has been our Chief Financial Officer and a member of our Board of Directors since 2020. Ms. Tarbox served as Chief Financial Officer and Vice President of KapStone Paper & Packaging, or Kapstone (formerly NYSE: KS), from 2007 until 2018. KapStone, a producer of unbleached kraft paper and corrugated packaging products, became public via a merger with Stone Arcade Acquisition Corporation, or Stone Arcade, in 2007. Ms. Tarbox joined KapStone during the business combination approval process in 2006. During her tenure as Chief Financial Officer, Ms. Tarbox negotiated major provisions in five key acquisitions and secured financings of nearly $3.0 billion. Ms. Tarbox played a significant role in KapStone’s sale to WestRock Company (NYSE: WRK). In 2014 and 2015, Institutional Investor named Ms. Tarbox to their All-America Executive team as one of America’s best Chief Financial Officers, and in 2012, Financial Executives International named Ms. Tarbox the Chicago Chief Financial Officer of the Year. Previously, Ms. Tarbox assumed positions of increasing responsibility at various companies, including Uniscribe Professional Services, Inc., a provider of paper- and technology-based document management solutions, Gartner Inc., a research and advisory company, British Petroleum, p.l.c., (NYSE:BP) and Fortune Brands, Inc., a holding company with diversified product lines. In these roles, Ms. Tarbox developed significant experience acquiring and integrating companies. Ms. Tarbox began her career at Ernst & Young LLP where she became a certified public accountant. Ms. Tarbox earned a B.A. degree in Psychology from Connecticut College and an M.B.A. from the University of Rhode Island. She is well-qualified to serve on our board due to her extensive operational background as well as her significant experience in acquiring and integrating companies.

Gary K. Wunderlich, Jr. has been our President since 2020 and was a Director from inception until his resignation in January 2020. Mr. Wunderlich is Co-Founder and Managing Partner of Live Oak Merchant Partners, a merchant bank providing capital and advisory services to middle market companies across a wide range of industries. Prior to co-founding Live Oak in 2017, Mr. Wunderlich was the Founder and Chief Executive Officer of Wunderlich Securities, Inc., or WSI, a full-service investment banking and brokerage firm, from 1996 until its successful merger in 2017 with B. Riley Financial, Inc. (NASDAQ: RILY). Following the merger, Mr. Wunderlich served as a Director of B. Riley from 2017 to July 2018 and remained Chief Executive Officer of WSI (rebranded B Riley Wealth) until November 2018. As Chief Executive Officer of WSI, Mr. Wunderlich was involved in all aspects of company growth from a virtual start-up into a full-service investment bank. In 2011, Mr. Wunderlich, along with WSI and WSI’s Chief Compliance Officer, consented, without admitting or denying the findings therein, to the entry of an SEC order finding that, from 2007 to 2009, as WSI was converting hundreds of its existing fee-based brokerage accounts to investment advisory accounts, in response to regulatory changes affecting certain broker-dealers that provided investment advice, WSI willfully violated the Investment Advisers Act of 1940, or the Advisers Act, and its rules by failing to have adequate written policies and procedures and a code of ethics, and Mr. Wunderlich, who was then WSI’s Chief Executive Officer, willfully aided and abetted and caused such violations. The order also found that WSI willfully violated the Advisers Act and its rules by overcharging advisory clients for commissions and other transactional fees totaling approximately $120,835 in approximately 6,338 separate transactions, which the SEC stated appeared to have occurred primarily due to back-office errors, and by engaging in principal trading without providing certain required disclosures to its clients. Mr. Wunderlich has also been consistently involved in securities industry organizations throughout his career. From 2016 to 2018 Mr. Wunderlich was a member of the Securities Industry and Financial Markets Association’s (“SIFMA”) National Board of Directors. He was also a founding board member of the American Securities Association from its inception in 2016 until 2018. Mr. Wunderlich also served in various capacities with the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) including serving on the National Advisory Board, serving on the District 5 Committee as both a Member and Chairman, and serving as a Member of the National Membership Council. Since 2005, Mr. Wunderlich has been a member of the Young Presidents’ Organization and participates in the Family Business, Family Office, Financial Services and Entrepreneurship and Innovation Networks. He was inducted into the Society of Entrepreneurs in 2014 and has served as a Director since 2016. He is also the Managing Member of Eighty Park Avenue Partners LLC, a family investment vehicle. Mr. Wunderlich received a B.A.in Economics from the University of Virginia and an M.B.A. from the University of Memphis.

Ross Berner has been our Chief Operating Officer since 2020 and was a Director from inception until his resignation in January 2020. Mr. Berner has significant experience in growth companies, executive leadership, corporate strategy, M&A, capital markets and corporate finance. Mr. Berner was a Founding Partner at PCO Investment Management LP., an investment management company, from 2013 to 2016. He served as Partner and Portfolio Manager at Weintraub Capital Management, L.P. from 1999 to 2012 where he oversaw investments in special situations and event-driven opportunities across all industries. Mr. Berner was also a Co-Founder of United Road Services, which went public in 1997 and became one of the largest non-union car hauling companies in the United States, was acquired by Charterhouse Financial in 2000 and is currently owned by private equity firm Carlyle Group. Mr. Berner co-founded Fenix Parts, Inc. (formerly NASDAQ: FENX), a consolidator of recycled auto parts, in 2014. Fenix completed its initial public offering in 2015 and was taken private in 2018. Mr. Berner received an M.B.A. from Columbia University and a B.A. degree in Economics from Northwestern University.

Tor R. Braham serves as a member of our Board of Directors following the effective date of the registration statement of which this prospectus forms part. Mr. Braham has spent 15 years working in M&A in at multiple investment banks and currently serves on multiple public company boards. He currently serves on the boards of Viavi Solutions Inc. (NASDAQ: VIAV), a company that provides network test, monitoring, and assurance services (elected 2015); Altaba Inc. (NASDAQ: AABA), an investment management company (elected 2016); A10 Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ: ATEN), a supplier of ADC networking and security equipment (elected 2018) and Micro Lambda Wireless, Inc., a private provider of microwave components and subsystems for the wireless, instrumentation and defense industries (elected 1987). Previously, he served as a Director of Yahoo! Inc., predecessor of Altaba Inc., from 2016 until 2017, as Independent Director of Sigma Designs, Inc. (OTCMKTS: SIGM), a SOC semiconductor company, from 2014 to 2016, and an Independent Director of NetApp, Inc. (NASDAQ: NATP), a data management company, from 2014 to 2016. Mr. Braham served as the Global Head of Technology M&A at Deutsche Bank Securities from 2004 to 2012. Prior to that, Mr. Braham was the Co-head of West Coast Technology M&A at Credit Suisse First Boston from 2000 to 2004 and the Global Head of Technology M&A at UBS Securities from 1997 to 2000. From 1989 to 1997, Mr. Braham was a partner at the law firm of Wilson Sonsini Goodrich and Rosati where he specialized in technology mergers and acquisitions, venture capital and intellectual property law. Mr. Braham is also currently Of Counsel to the law firm of King, Holmes, Paterno and Soriano. Mr. Braham received his J.D. degree from New York University School of Law and his B.S. degree in English from Columbia University. He is well-qualified to serve on our board due to his extensive public company, technology, finance and banking background.

Jonathan Furer serves as a member of our Board of Directors following the effective date of the registration statement of which this prospectus forms part. He has over 30 years of private equity, operating and capital markets experience and has served as chairman, advisor, investor and active board member to businesses across a wide range of industries, including: healthcare, financial services, manufacturing and consumer products. Mr. Furer co-founded Arcade Partners, an entrepreneurial-focused middle market private equity firm. Mr. Furer was Co-Founder and Director of Stone Arcade, a blank check company that completed its initial business combination with KapStone in 2007. Mr. Furer was a Co-Founder and Director of Stone Arcade, where he was primarily responsible for recruiting the executive team and, together with the management team, assisted in the identification and evaluation of business combination opportunities which led to the successful acquisition of the assets from International Paper (NYSE: IP) by KapStone. In 2007, Kapstone became public through the merger with Stone Arcade. This initial business combination represented one of the first corporate carve-out transactions completed by a blank check company. Mr. Furer joined the KapStone Board of Directors upon completion of the business combination and remained on the Board for 11 years until KapStone was acquired by WestRock Company (NYSE: WRK) in 2018. Mr. Furer was also the Chief Executive Officer and Director of Arcade Acquisition Corporation, a blank check company that announced a business combination in 2008 and subsequently liquidated in 2009 during the global financial crisis. Prior to KapStone, Mr. Furer was a Partner at Washington and Congress Advisors, a private equity firm. He oversaw a number of portfolio companies, including several with significant operational and financial challenges that required a “hands-on” approach to deal with lender, co-investor and employee issues. Mr. Furer was also a Co-Founder of Meridian Capital Partners, where he completed the “buy and build” of SWF Machinery, a West Coast based manufacturer of packaging machinery equipment that was sold to Dover Industries. He began his career as an analyst in the corporate finance department with Jesup & Lamont, a merchant bank. During his 10 years at Jesup, Mr. Furer rose from analyst to President and Chief Executive Officer, prior to his retirement from the firm. He graduated from the George Washington University with a B.B.A. in International Business. He is well-qualified to serve on our board due to his extensive investment, operational and finance background.

Harold Ford, Jr. serves as a member of our Board of Directors following the effective date of the registration statement of which this prospectus forms part. He served in Congress for 10 years, from 1997 to 2007. Representing Tennessee’s 9th congressional district, Mr. Ford, Jr. was a member of the House Financial Services, Budget and Education Committees during his time in Washington. Known as a moderate Democrat willing to reach across the political aisle to find common ground, he was a member of both the Blue Dog coalition and Congressional Black Caucus. Mr. Ford, Jr. is also an active member of Issue One, an organization of former senators, governors, and members of Congress committed to reform our political and campaign systems. After leaving Congress, from 2007 until 2011, Mr. Ford Jr. was a Vice Chairman and senior policy adviser at Merrill Lynch and from 2011 until 2018 was a Managing Director at Morgan Stanley. Mr. Ford Jr. has taught public policy at Vanderbilt University and the University of Michigan and is frequently quoted on television as an expert on MSNBC. In the last five years, Mr. Ford, Jr. has been Managing Partner of HFJ Ventures, a business consulting firm and non-executive Chairman of Rx Saver, a portfolio company of MacAndrews and Forbes which provides a search engine platform for consumers and patients to find the lowest prices for prescription medications. He holds a B.A. in History from the University of Pennsylvania and a J.D. from the University of Michigan Law School. He is well-qualified to serve on our board due to his extensive public service, government and finance background.

John W. Sweet, Jr. serves as a member of our Board of Directors following the effective date of the registration statement of which this prospectus forms part. Mr. Sweet has extensive experience in real estate investing and over forty years of investment banking and corporate finance experience. Mr. Sweet founded and served as the Chief Investment Officer of Physicians Realty Trust (NYSE: DOC) until his retirement on December 31, 2016. Physicians Realty Trust was established as a private fund in 2005 and was taken public in 2013. At the end of Mr. Sweet’s tenure, Physicians Realty Trust’s portfolio included 246 medical office buildings, with over 10 million square feet of leasable area. In 2002, Mr. Sweet co-founded Windrose Medical Properties Trust (NYSE: WRT), a healthcare REIT purchased by Welltower REIT (NYSE: WELL) in 2005. From 1997 to 2001, Mr. Sweet served as Senior Vice President, Corporate Finance for B.C. Ziegler and Company, a boutique investment banking firm serving hospitals, charter schools and senior living operator. Since his retirement, Mr. Sweet has served as the President of JWS-MRE, Inc., a consulting firm, and advises institutions and private equity firms in the investment of healthcare real estate. Currently, he serves on the board of directors of City Office REIT, Inc. (NYSE: CIO), a REIT that invests in office buildings throughout the United States. Previously, Mr. Sweet served as Chairman of the Board of Wheeler Real Estate Investment Trust, Inc. (NASDAQ: WHLR) a REIT focused on retail properties with a primary focus on grocery-anchored centers. Mr. Sweet earned an undergraduate degree from St. John Fisher College and an MBA from Rochester Institute of Technology. He is well-qualified to serve on our board due to his extensive public company, real property, management and investment background.