LEADERSHIP
Alan Stoga
Founder and President
Alan Stoga founded Zemi in 1996. He counsels top management on strategy and leadership positioning, and advises on macro-risk assessments. He is also Senior Adviser at Kissinger Associates, the international consulting firm chaired by Dr. Henry Kissinger.
Alan serves on the boards of several non-profits that are engaged with business and social issues in the Americas and globally. He is vice chairman of the Americas Society, executive chairman of Sweden’s Tällberg Foundation, and non-executive chairman of the Tinker Foundation.
Alan published FLYP, an award-winning pioneer in online journalism. Earlier in his career, he founded a private equity firm; was managing director of Kissinger Associates; was an executive of the First National Bank of Chicago (now part of JPMorgan Chase); and an official at the U.S. Treasury.
He has an M.A. in International Relations from Yale and a B.A. from Michigan State University.
Daniel Wilson
Managing Director
Daniel leads Zemi´s investor relations and crisis communication practices, and has developed leadership positioning for many clients. His clients are based primarily in Mexico, Colombia, Brazil, and Peru.
With his experience as a senior finance executive and his strategic communications expertise, Daniel has helped clients succeed in many areas: carry out IPOs and international equity placements; develop investor relations programs de novo; position new leadership teams; manage crisis communication in foreign markets; integrate multi-country mergers & acquisitions; and rebuild market/investor confidence following restructurings and bankruptcy events.
Prior to Zemi, he headed investment strategy for a private equity firm focused on mid-market companies in Brazil and Mexico. He was a senior manager at First Chicago (now part of JPMorgan Chase), in areas including emerging markets bond trading, debt restructurings and debt-equity swaps, and Latin American country risk management.
Daniel has an M.A. in International Relations from Yale and a B.A. from the University of Chicago. He is a member of the National Investor Relations Institute (NIRI) and the United States-Mexico Chamber of Commerce.
PRACTICES
Investor Relations
Our investor relations services win over critical financial audiences outside the client’s home market.
Business Strategy Consulting
Zemi’s business consulting helps leaders make long-term business decisions strategically, including enterprise-changing M&A, leadership succession, and geographical expansion.
Leadership positioning
By effectively positioning and defining the profile of board-level leadership and senior management, Zemi builds confidence in the company’s leadership to help advance larger goals.
Crisis Management
Our crisis communication practice will protect a key asset – management credibility – in the face of sudden adversity.
CLIENTS
SUCCESS STORIES
Launch international IPO successfully
Zemi assisted Mexican airport operator OMA launch its IPO on the NASDAQ and Mexican Stock Exchange.
Zemi Solution
We worked intensively with the CEO, CFO, bankers, and attorneys to define core messages, shape presentations, and prepare for the global road show over a 4-month period. We created a full suite of communication materials to launch at the end of the quiet period.
We also trained the IR team, making them fully prepared for meeting the challenges of being a public company, and instituted a practice of continuous improvement in IR activities, disclosure policies, and materials.
Results
The IPO was 18 times oversubscribed. In the first six months the OMAB share price increased more than 50% from the IPO level. The stock was included in the benchmark Mexican IPC index, and coverage was established by all major brokerage houses.
Implement an integrated program to aid a national champion go global
The controlling shareholders of Bavaria, Colombia’s largest brewer, decided to internationalize the company to be protect and build enterprise value in a consolidating global industry. They needed to win over audiences in the new markets and subsidiaries, create a single company culture, and get internal buy-in for a radical remake of company brands and operations.
Zemi Solution
Working closely with the shareholders and a new management team, Zemi created an integrated communications program to support the transformation of the company, including investor relations, corporate communications, internal communications, crisis management, and leadership positioning.
The program facilitated Bavaria’s acquisition and integration of brewers in four countries and first eurobond offering. It also stimulated international interest in the stock at a time when few investors were willing to travel to Colombia.
Results
Market cap rose by 480% in 3-1/2 years. Bavaria eventually agreed to merge with SABMiller in a US$7.8 billion all stock transaction that ratified the creation of shareholder value.
Create a new image to rebuild company and management credibility
Zemi worked with the new CEO of Intentia, Europe’s second largest ERP software company, to build support for a turn-around strategy, after an overly aggressive international expansion by the company’s founder and long-time CEO.
Zemi Solution
We designed and executed a new communications approach for both internal and external audiences that conveyed the commitment of the new leadership to move the company in a new direction and meet credible financial and operating targets.
By persuading the market of the new strategy and meeting announced goals, Intentia’s share price rebounded, and renewed access to bank credit financed new product launches. Management boosted internal morale even while downsizing staff.
Results
Intentia’s share price increased 150% in 25 months and banks extended credit lines on better terms. Ultimately, the company secured its market position through a merger with Lawson Software of the U.S. Today, it is an integral part of Infor.
Break through to new audiences to support international expansion
Grupo Energía de Bogotá, the Colombian electricity and natural gas transport company, needed to reach a growing audience of international investors after tapping the 144A bond market. A new CEO launched an ambitious international expansion program that greatly diversified EEB’s business and created the need for ongoing access to the capital markets.
Zemi Solution
Working with the CEO and CFO, Zemi designed a multi-year program for improving communication practices including: needs assessment and prioritization; bilingual communication; redesign of financial reporting; strategy presentations; website overhaul; and initiation of conference calls.
Results
EEB became one of the more liquid stocks on the Colombian Stock Exchange, and from 2011-13 raised US$ 1.8 billion in long term debt and US$ 400 million in additional equity.
Enable a state enterprise to preserve bond market access
PEMEX, Mexico’s state-owned oil and gas company, engaged Zemi to create and launch an investor relations department that would meet international standards for quality and transparency. The company needed to improve their relations with the bond market and reach new industry audiences outside Mexico to implement their business plan. The program also needed to harmonize with Pemex’s unique legal and governance framework.
Zemi Solution
Working with the CFO, we converted the company from public sector accounting to GAAP financial disclosure, developed PEMEX’s first-ever quarterly conference calls and a new suite of investor materials, and designed disclosure procedures that worked with the company’s legal and governance constraints.
We also broadened financial markets’ understanding of the company’s strengths by involving operating management in investor events and expanding insight into operating initiatives.
Results
PEMEX preserved its place as the best Mexican name in the bond market, even while increasing its borrowing program and facing major financial and operational challenges.