About Us
Twelve Seas Investment Company
Twelve Seas Investment Company (TWLV) is a NASDAQ listed “special purpose acquisition company” that IPO'd in June 2018. The Company was formed with the purpose of effecting a merger with a private operating company. We are led by an experienced management team with decades of private equity and M&A experience across Europe, North America, and Asia. We have raised a total of $207 million through the IPO and can raise additional capital as required to effect the merger.
Our Team
Neil Richardson
Chairman
Mr. Neil Richardson, our Chairman, has 25 years of private equity investment experience. Mr. Richardson began his career with Bain & Company from 1980 to 1986. From 1986 to 1994, Mr. Richardson was responsible for UK mergers and acquisitions with First Boston. From 1994 to 2004, Mr. Richardson helped to establish the European arm of Kohlberg Kravis Roberts where he was a General Partner and helped develop the European private equity industry. From 2004 to 2012, Mr. Richardson was a Founding Partner of Lion Capital, a leading global equity firm specializing in consumer investments. Since January 2012, Mr. Richardson has been the Chairman of North Sea Capital, an independent family office involved in private equity and other investments.
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Dimitri Elkin
CEO
Mr. Dimitri Elkin, our Chief Executive Officer, has over 20 years of private equity experience. Mr. Elkin began his investment career in 1996 with Lehman Brothers, as an associate in the Asset Backed Securities Department. From 1998 to 2003, Mr. Elkin served as an investment executive at Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co., heading its activities in the former Soviet Union and Eastern Europe. Subsequently, Mr. Elkin served as a General Partner of UFG Private Equity, a regional buyout firm based in Moscow. Since April 2013, Mr. Elkin has been a Founding Partner of Twelve Seas Limited. He holds a degree in mathematics from Moscow State University, and an MBA from Harvard Business School.
Stephen A. Vogel
President
Mr. Vogel, our President, has over 40 years of operating and private equity experience.
Mr. Vogel was Executive Chairman of Forum Merger Corp., a SPAC that completed its IPO in April 2017 and then successfully merged with ConvergeOne (Nasdaq: CVON) in February 2018.
Mr. Vogel began his career as President, CEO and Co-Founder of Synergy Gas Corp., a retail propane distribution company. During his 25-year tenure, Mr. Vogel grew Synergy to more than 250,000 customers, 2,700 employees and more than $300 million in annual revenue. Synergy Gas Corp. completed over 50 acquisitions. After selling Synergy, Mr. Vogel co-founded EntreCapital Partners, a private equity firm. Mr. Vogel was also a venture partner at EnerTech Capital Partners, an energy focused venture capital firm, and an operating partner at Tri-Artisan Capital Partners, LLC, an investment bank. In parallel, Mr. Vogel has served as General Partner of Vogel Partners, LLP, a private investment firm, since 1996.
Bryant B. Edwards
COO
Mr. Edwards, our Chief Operating Officer, has over 35 years of experience in capital markets, corporate finance and M&A transactions. He retired in 2016 from Latham & Watkins, a premier global law firm, after a lengthy legal career advising a wide range of companies, private equity firm and investment firms around the world. Mr. Edwards has extensive experience from Europe to East Asia, both from practicing law as well as from his senior management roles in building Latham & Watkins' legal practice in Europe (2000 to 2008), the Middle East (2008 to 2012) and then East Asia (from 2012 to 2016). Mr. Edwards has been active in international financial organizations including serving as Chair of the European High Yield Association (EHYA) (from 2004 to 2008), helping to establish the Gulf Bond & Sukuk Association (GBSA) and serving on its Steering Committee and as Chair of its Regulatory Committee (from 2008 to 2012), and serving as Vice-Chair of the Credit Markets Committee of the Asia Securities & Financial Markets Committee, ASIFMA (from 2012 to 2016).
Stephen N. Cannon
CFO
Mr. Cannon, our Chief Financial Officer, has over 25 years of investment banking, mergers & acquisition and private equity experience, including management roles with multiple prior SPACs. Twelve Seas’ IPO in June 2018 was the fourth successful SPAC he has completed an IPO with on Nasdaq, and fifth SPAC overall. Prior to Twelves Seas, he successfully IPO’ed, and still serves as CFO and director for, CM Seven Star Acquisition Corp. From June 2014 until July 2016, he served as CEO, CFO and a director of DT Asia Acquisition, a SPAC which consummated its business combination with China Direct Lending Corp. From 2007 until 2010, Mr. Cannon was a co-founder, CFO and a director of Hambrecht Asia Acquisition Corp., a SPAC which consummated its business combination with SGOCO Ltd.
Mr. Cannon spent a considerable part of his career working for leading investment banking firms such as Salomon Brothers, Donaldson Lufkin & Jenrette, and ABN-Amro Securities, executing a breadth of corporate finance and private equity transactions. He also contributed in building specialized firms such as WR Hambrecht, launching and heading up its China investment banking business, as well as RedBridge Group, heading up its Chinese-Arabian cross-border investments, and Ackrell & Co, focused on cross-border transactions with Silicon Valley growth companies.
Gregory A. Stoupnitzky
Independent Director
Mr. Stoupnitzky, our independent director, has had a distinguished career in investment banking, private equity and corporate activities in various international markets. He began his career in investment banking at Bear Stearns (1986 to 1996), and subsequently with Morgan Stanley (1998 to 2008) where he served as Managing Director of Global Investment Banking in New York, London and Moscow, as well as co-head of emerging capital markets (2002 to 2005) and a member of the firm’s Capital Commitment Committee (2006 to 2008). In the interim, from 1994 to 1996, Mr. Stoupnitzky was a partner in the private equity firm Imag Gmbh, focused on the region comprising Russia and the Commonwealth of Independent States. Positions with other securities firms included BCP securities (2010-2011), Renaissance Capital (2011-2014) and, most recently, Barclay Investments LLC (2017-). In addition, Mr. Stoupnitzky served as CEO and Executive Director of Azonto Petroleum Limited (ASX: APY) (now known as Calima Energy Limited), a gas-to-power developer in West Africa, where he led the company’s transformation efforts (2014-2015). He is the Senior Independent Director and a member of the Audit and Nominating Committees for Eland Oil & Gas Plc. (AIM: ELA) which he joined in January 2016.
Suneel G. Kaji
Independent Director
Mr. Kaji serves as an independent director of our company and possess significant mid-cap buyout, growth equity and special situations investment experience as well as knowledge of the capital markets.
Mr. Kaji started his career in M&A and Leveraged Finance with Salomon Brothers in 1991 and before moving to the principal investment business at Goldman Sachs in 1995. Starting in 1996, Mr. Kaji served in DLJ Merchant Banking Partners as Vice President-Buyouts based out of New York, Hong Kong, and London. In 2003, Mr. Kaji moved to a special situations focus as a Managing Director at the GEM-Kinderhook Funds in New York, focused on structured minority equity and hybrid credit transactions in the US, as well as opportunistic pursuits in China, the Middle East North Africa region, and India. From 2008 to June 2014, Mr. Kaji had been a Managing Director and Senior Investment Manager-Private Investments at TRG Management (an affiliate of the Rohatyn Group) where he managed non-real estate private investment activity across Asia, including cross-border investments with the US and Australia. Mr. Kaji was responsible for origination, evaluation, and structuring of private equity and distressed situations across diverse industries such as natural resource services, chemicals, logistics, and consumer services. Mr. Kaji also sat on the boards of two joint venture real estate and infrastructure funds in Asia. Since June 2014, Mr. Kaji has served as a Managing Director of Accordion Partners LLC, a private equity consultancy with three offices globally, where he established and led the firm’s investment affiliate, Accordion Capital (established in 2014), that co-invests with the firm’s consultancy clientele and caters to Sovereign Wealth Funds, family office, and endowment clientele.