We continue our series following a British founder's journey to scale and access capital with an expert panel sharing their experiences of buying and selling technology companies.

We are delighted to hear from Ben Orthlieb, (VP & Head of Corporate Development, LinkedIn) Ed Miller (co-founder & CEO, Scape Technologies recently acquired by Facebook) and Sarah Cole (Senior Associate, Taylor Wessing covering international corporate projects).

Ben Orthlieb is the VP & Head of Corporate Development for LinkedIn with a mission to help companies and people grow intelligently. Management Consulting and Investment banking background. He is an active Angel Investor and Scout for Emergence Capital. Ben has worked in four countries, on three continents.

Ed Miller co-founded Scape Technologies in 2016 as a virtual reality and interactive imagery specialist with a mission to design mapping and location technology for machines allowing them to understand where they are and what's around them, using a camera. Facebook acquired Scape in 2020 and Ed moved in to their product team in London to help them build out the future of 3D maps. He will talk first-hand to what it is like to steer a company through the acquisition process on the sell side with a large US buyer and provide insight on tips on what went well as well as any potential pitfalls that might be avoided along the way.

Sarah Cole is a Senior Associate at Taylor Wessing, an international law firm specializing in technology and life sciences. She is usually based in the firm's Silicon Valley office but is currently on secondment to HQ in London until later this month. Sarah advises US based companies with their international corporate projects – M&A, venture and strategic investments, and international expansion as well as UK companies looking to the US for each of these.

We will discuss:

What does LinkedIn look for in a potential acquisition
How have relationships between buy and sell side started and grown
What's the process? When do lawyers get involved? Dos and Don'ts for founders
What happens afterwards?

Please share your questions in advance, or we will invite Q&A during the event.

Exit to US Buyers: Perspectives from Facebook, LinkedIn & Taylor Wessing