GSI Commerce, which eBay Inc. (Nasdaq: EBAY) bought for $2,4 billion back in 2011, leverages digital media to grow e-commerce, says Reuben Hendell, the chief strategy officer of GSI Commerce and chief executive of its global agency services business. Hendell will be the keynote speaker at ACG New York’s Third Annual Digital Media & Technology M&A Conference at the Time Life Building in midtown Manhattan on Thurs. March 21. The fireside chat with Hendell will be conducted by Mary Kathleen Flynn, the editor-in-chief of Mergers & Acquisitions.

At GSI Commerce, an eBay Inc. company, Mr. Hendell oversees the company’s strategic consulting group and its services unit, which includes True Action and Silverlign. He joined GSI in 2010 from MRM Worldwide, the digital arm of Interpublic Group of Cos.' McCann Worldgroup and one of the world's top five digital marketing agencies, where he served as CEO since 2004. Prior to MRM, he was an executive vice president at Digitas for 10 years, where he was a key contributor to that company's growth.

Among the topics to be discussed, Hendell will outline GSI Commerce’s acquisition strategy, which includes the purchase of five companies before being bought itself by eBay. Mergers & Acquisitions awarded eBay the M&A Mid-Market Award for Strategic Buyer of the Year for 2011 in part due to its purchase of GSI Commerce. For more on eBay’s strategy, read “The Buyside: eBay's Top Dealmaker Outlines M&A Strategy.”

The conference will focus on current M&A trends, deal structures, valuation strategies, hot-company and hot-technology identification, and traditional media survival strategies.

“This sector of the overall middle market for M&A continues to see constant and exciting innovation in products, content, and programming,” says Tanya Marvin-Horowitz, managing director, Allegiance Capital Corporation, and event chair. “This translates into an exciting but sometimes unpredictable mergers and acquisitions environment with unique deal structures and company valuation metrics.”

After the talk with Hendell, a panel of industry experts will follow, moderated by Lloyd Rothenberg, a partner at Loeb & Loeb, LLC. Panelists include Ron Shah, vice president, Stripes Group; Paul Cianciolo, vice president, FirstMark Capital; Jeffrey Gross, vice president, Allegiance Capital Corporation; and Melissa Stepanis, managing director, Silicon Valley Bank.

Technology