Software Council of Southern California

Moderator: Charles Tigerman, Mindlin and Tigerman

About the Panel

Jim Rigby, Managing Director, The Financial Valuation Group
Mr. Rigby CPA/ABV, ASA is a Managing Director with The Financial Valuation Group in Los Angeles, California. He is primarily involved in the areas of software and high tech companies, intellectual property, and international valuations. His experience includes engagements for litigation, tax, and for mergers and acquisitions. Mr. Rigby has also worked as Director of MIS for an international organization and has designed multiple database driven professional association web sites. Mr. Rigby has written or edited numerous articles and professional education courses for the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants and other professional organizations. He was co-editor of the AICPA's newsletter the CPA Expert and at present is a contributing author to that publication. He is also the financial and economic strategies columnist for the Software Business Magazine. In addition, he is a faculty member for the American Society of Appraiser's professional certification programs.

Davis Blaine, The Mentor Group
Davis Blaine, Chairman of The Mentor Group, has extensive experience with the accounting, tax, and financial aspects of business valuations and acquisitions. Nationally recognized, he has frequently lectured and written on technical valuation issues. Mr. Blaine has counseled many clients on buying or selling their business. In addition, he has prepared companies for public and private investment, strategic partnership, and joint ventures. He has initiated and completed many corporate transactions, such as management buyouts, acquisitions and mergers, restructurings, partial spin-offs, joint ventures, bridge financings, private placements, and venture fundings. Investment banking services provided by Mr. Blaine involved business and asset appraisals (including fairness and solvency opinions); structuring the price, terms and levels of participation; finding investment partners, corporate buyers, and debt sources; and, effecting strategies for growth, exit, and minimizing taxes.

Nevin Sanli, Sanli Pastore & Hill, Inc.
Nevin Sanli is President and co-founder of Sanli Pastore & Hill, Inc.
(SP&H), a premier provider of business valuations and valuation consulting services. Mr. Sanli's practice emphasizes business valuations for highly scrutinized situations, such as fairness and solvency opinions, litigation support, and expert witness testimony. Nevin Sanli has testified over 60 times in trial and over 200 times in deposition. Every year, SP&H performs over 200 valuations of middle market to larger companies, including public entities. The industry sectors we cover include information technology companies where many intangible assets and other intellectual property must be valued.

Moderator, Charles Tigerman, Mindlin and Tigerman
Charles S. Tigerman is an attorney in private practice. He is a partner of the firm of Mindlin and Tigerman, which has offices in Los Angeles, California. Currently his practice emphasizes representation of computer software developers, eBusiness, and on-line service centers, in the many aspects of their business; representing users in negotiation of contracts for acquisition of computer software packages and software development efforts, as well as facilities management and various other out-sourcing arrangements; corporate strategies (merger and acquisition, key employee compensation) for high tech companies; multimedia publishing and partnering and distribution. Mr. Tigerman holds a B.A. in Economics (with honors) from the University of Missouri, and a J.D. from St. Louis University. Mr. Tigerman has been practicing law in California since 1970 and during that time has worked extensively in the areas of corporate law, taxation, and general business law.