Zukin Partners Launches Zukin Certification Services to Support High Quality SPACs

Jim Zukin, pioneering provider of fairness and solvency opinions, introduces the Z-SPAC Readiness Certification Service, bringing IPO-style readiness to the SPAC market

Zukin Partners, LLC, the financial advisory arm of the Zukin Family Office, today launched Zukin Certification Services (ZCS). The firm's core product—the Z-SPAC Readiness Certification—is designed for SPACs seeking an independent assessment that they have met the essential readiness criteria to operate as a public company.

"Leave it to Jim Zukin, the grandfather of fairness and solvency opinions, to enter the SPAC market with a new and much-needed professional services solution to respond to issues raised about target-company readiness to assume the burdens and duties of entering the public market," says Doug Ellenoff, partner at Ellenoff Grossman & Schole, LLP.

"Until today, there has been no external validation of the quality of a SPAC's preparation, no certification of readiness, but we endeavor to change that," says Jim Zukin, ZCS Chairman and CEO. "We believe our service will become a market standard, eventually provided by others, that helps transform how SPACs are viewed in the marketplace."

"I have such confidence in the quality of everything Jim does that as part of our D&O insurance program for SPACs we plan to charge significantly lower premiums for SPACs with a Z-SPAC Readiness Certification than we will for SPACs without one," said Joe Taussig, founder of Taussig Capital Re.

"Readiness has often been viewed as a secondary priority," Zukin says. "We are here to place readiness on the third rail of the De-SPAC process. I expect SPAC readiness certification to become a core market service in 2022, as this IPO-alternative market develops its own self-regulatory standards. The Z-SPAC Readiness Certification will allow high-quality SPAC sponsors to differentiate themselves from uncertified SPACs in an increasingly competitive marketplace where sponsors will also benefit from the protection it offers them and the warm reception they will receive from D&O providers because they can rely on the certification."

ZCS employs proprietary rapid-sequencing techniques—first developed to simultaneously resolve issues encountered in financial restructurings—to identify gaps among the 30 components of readiness and to highlight "red-flag" issues that have plagued other SPACs, so they can identify and avoid them before the business combination.

"Our role is laser-focused on oversight and on serving high-quality SPACs during their readiness preparation," Zukin says. "When we issue our certification, we fully stand behind our assessment of their readiness."

ZCS has assembled a world-class team of leaders in the financial community who share Zukin's focus and ethos, including:

• Matt McGuire, former Executive Director at the World Bank
• Rajit Malhotra, former McKinsey Managing Partner in the Los Angeles region
• Tim Maness, CPA, Chief Accountant at Zukin Certification Services
• Ari Schottenstein, Partner at Zukin Partners
• Joe Chang, former Houlihan Lokey investment banker
• Jacob Salk, former Houlihan Lokey investment banker
• Thomas Waldman, former Managing Director, Legal at The Gores Group

The team is rounded out by other experts in finance, accounting, corporate governance, public company compliance, and the SPAC/De-SPAC process.

About Zukin Certification Services

Zukin Certification Services was founded by Jim Zukin, a pioneer in the creation and implementation of financial opinions for fair market value, fairness, and solvency as a co-founder of Houlihan Lokey Howard & Zukin ((now Houlihan Lokey, NYSE:HLI). ZCS will advise SPAC Boards of Directors, and their Audit Committees, by evaluating their readiness to emerge from the De-SPAC process while also providing them training materials in financial literacy and corporate governance. The ZCS Certification is not intended to provide a recommendation or judgment on the merits or the pricing of a particular SPAC transaction. For more information, please visit www.z-spac.com.

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