DEF 14A of Aldel Financial II Inc.
Filed Nov 4, 20250001104659-25-105795
Continuing Class II Directors
Continuing Class II Directors Stuart Kovensky has been a director of the Company since October 21, 2024. Mr. Kovensky is an experienced C-Suite executive, investor and board member with over 25 years of experience in investment management, business development, fund-raising and corporate governance. Since 2023, Mr. Kovensky has served as the Managing Member of Cogent Advisory LLC, a firm he founded and where he focuses on providing corporate advisory and director services. Between January 2006 and December 2022, Mr. Kovensky was the Co-CEO, CIO and member of the board of directors of Onex Credit Partners, a firm that he co-founded in 2006 and was subsequently sold to Onex Corp. Onex Credit Partners is a multi-strategy investor in both public and private non-investment grade credit markets with assets under management in excess of $25 billion. In his role at Onex Credit, Stuart shared responsibility for all aspects of the firms’ operations with a focus on investment management and marketing as well as business development, in which capacity he spearheaded key areas of strategic expansion that helped the firm grow significantly, both organically and through strategic acquisitions. Prior to co-founding Onex Credit Partners, Mr. Kovensky was a Portfolio Manager and Co-Head of the opportunistic credit strategy at John A. Levin and Co. from 2001 – 2005. From 1995 – 2000 he was a Partner and Head of Research at Murray Capital Management. Mr. Kovensky began his career at Chase Manhattan Bank in 1989 where he gained experience in High Yield Finance, Structured Finance and International Trade Finance. Mr. Kovensky recent board experience includes The Guitar Center, Multi-Tech Holdings, Artera Services, At Home Cayman, Inc and CWT Travel Services. He is also an advisory board member of meetperry, inc. Meltem Demirors has been a director of the Company since October 21, 2024. Since 2024, Ms. Demirors has served as the Managing Partner of Crucible Capital, an investment firm she founded which focuses on the intersection of cryptocurrencies, physical infrastructure, and commodities markets. From 2018 to 2023, Ms. Demirors served as Chief Strategy Officer at CoinShares, a publicly listed European investment company specialising in digital assets, where she oversaw investments to provide institutional investors with thematic, risk-managed exposure to the emerging crypto asset ecosystem and served as managing director of the firm’s US operations. From 2015 until 2018, Ms. Demirors led the Development team at Digital Currency Group, one of the largest digital asset investment firms in the world. Previously, Ms. Demirors was a strategy consultant in Deloitte’s Oil & Gas practice. She is a frequent contributor to broadcast and print media and is a Program Fellow at the Oxford Saïd Business School where she has been overseeing the Blockchain Strategy Programme since 2017. Ms. Demirors holds a BA in Mathematical Economics from Rice University, and an MBA from the MIT Sloan School of Management. We believe that Ms. Demiror is qualified to serve on our board of directors due to her experience in public companies, financial markets and management skills.
Continuing Class III Directors
Continuing Class III Directors Jonathan S. Marshall has been a director of the Company since October 21, 2024. Since June 2018, Mr. Marshall has served as the Executive Director of the Race Team Alliance (RTA), a 501(c)(6) organization that represents the collective interests of the race teams that compete in the NASCAR Cup Series. As Executive Director, he works closely with the leadership of the member race teams with a mandate to advance their collective interests in the sport. He has served in that role since 2018. Prior to the RTA, from November 2013 to April 2018, Mr. Marshall was the Chief Operating Officer and General Counsel of the World Surf League (“WSL”) having joined the WSL as its General Counsel before being promoted to COO. In addition to his legal background, Mr. Marshall has a wide range of experience in the fields of media distribution, financing, licensing and sales, mergers and acquisitions and corporate transactions. Prior to joining WSL, from January 2011 to October 2013, Mr. Marshall was SVP, Business Development & Strategy at USA TODAY Sports Media Group, where he oversaw the operations for USA TODAY High School Sports, sports digital properties and sports analytics. Prior to that, Mr. Marshall was President of Television at Westwood One. He began his professional career with the law firm, Shearman & Sterling before moving to work in the entertainment practice at Loeb & Loeb, LLP. Mr. Marshall has been a member of the California State Bar since 1988 and is a graduate of the Tulane Law School (J.D.) and the A.B. Freeman School of Business at Tulane University (B.A.). We believe Mr. Marshall is qualified to serve on our board of directors based on his extensive management expertise and legal experience. Robert I. Kauffman has served a director of the Company since July 2024. Mr. Kauffman has been the Chairman of the board of directors and the Company’s Chief Executive Officer since August 2024. Mr. Kauffman was a co-founder, principal and member of the board of directors of Fortress Investment Group LLC from its founding in 1998 until 2012. During his tenure at the firm, Mr. Kauffman served as a member of Fortress’s management committee and was responsible for the management of Fortress’s European private equity investment operations. While at Fortress Mr. Kauffman was primarily focused on financial services, real estate, distressed debt restructurings, and other asset based businesses. During his career, he has been involved in a wide variety of investment activities, including private fund raising, initial public offerings, primary and secondary public share offerings in multiple jurisdictions, take private transactions, as well as billions of dollars of bank and capital market debt financings and securitizations. Prior to co-founding Fortress, Mr. Kauffman served as a managing director at UBS, from 1997 to 1998 in its Principal Finance area. Prior to that he was a principal at BlackRock Financial Management Inc., from 1993 to 1997 playing a key role in raising and investing their first Private Equity Fund, BlackRock Asset Investors. Previously, Mr. Kauffman worked at Lehman Brothers from 1986 to 1993 primarily focused on the mortgage and securitization markets both in the US and Europe. Since his departure from Fortress in 2012, Mr. Kauffman has brought his extensive business experience to a variety of private and public investments, including the IPO of Aldel Financial Inc. and its successful merger with Hagerty Inc (HGTY), the largest specialty insurer of collector cars. Mr. Kauffman serves on the board of directors of Hagerty Inc, Chairman of the Board of Global Net Lease Realty, a publicly traded REIT, and an advisory board member of McLaren Racing LTD., a leading UK based Formula1 racing team. Mr. Kauffman is currently the chairman of the Race Team Alliance, an association of NASCAR Cup Series teams; and the owner of RK Motors, a leading restorer and reseller of classic cars. Mr. Kauffman is also an investor and advisory board member of Off The Chain Capital, a cryptocurrency focused hedge fund. Mr. Kauffman earned a degree in Business Administration from Northeastern University in 1986.
Executive Officer and Director Compensation and Other Interests
Executive Officer and Director Compensation and Other Interests None of our directors or executive officers have received any cash compensation for services rendered to the Company. Until consummation of an initial business combination, the Company will pay our Sponsor an aggregate fee of $20,000 per month for office space and secretarial and administrative services. However, this arrangement is solely for the benefit of the Company and is not intended to provide any of our directors or executive officers with compensation in lieu of a salary. On July 19, 2024, our Sponsor paid $25,000, or approximately $0.004 per share, to cover certain expenses on our behalf in consideration of 5,750,000 Class B ordinary shares, which we refer to as the founder shares. On August 13, 2024, the Sponsor transferred 690,000 founder shares to our officers, directors, senior advisor, and FG Merchant Partner LP, resulting in the Sponsor holding 5,060,000 founder shares. On September 25, 2024, the Sponsor purchased an additional 410,714 founder shares for $0.004 per share, resulting in our initial shareholders holding an aggregate of 6,160,714 founder shares (5,470,714 of which are held by the Sponsor). Our audit committee reviews on a quarterly basis all payments that were made by us to our Sponsor, any director or executive officer or their respective affiliates. Other than quarterly audit committee review of such reimbursements, we do not expect to have any additional controls in place governing our reimbursement payments to our directors and executive officers for their out-of-pocket expenses incurred in connection with our activities or on our behalf in connection with identifying and consummating an initial business combination. After the completion of our initial business combination, directors and executive officers who remain with us may be paid consulting or management fees from the combined company. All of these fees will be described, to the extent then known, in the proxy solicitation materials or tender offer materials furnished to our shareholders in connection with a proposed business combination. We have not established any limit on the amount of such fees that may be paid by the combined company to our directors or executive officers. It is unlikely the amount of such compensation will be known at the time of the proposed business combination, because the directors of the post-transaction business will be responsible for determining executive officer and director compensation. Any compensation to be paid to our executive officers will be determined, or recommended to the board of directors for determination, either by a compensation committee constituted solely by independent directors or by a majority of the independent directors on our board of directors. We do not intend to take any action to ensure that our directors or executive officers maintain their positions with us after the consummation of our initial business combination, although it is possible that some or all of our directors and executive officers may negotiate employment or consulting arrangements to remain with us after our initial business combination. The existence or terms of any such employment or consulting arrangements to retain their positions with us may influence our management’s motivation in identifying or selecting a target business, but we do not believe that the ability of our management to remain with us after the consummation of our initial business combination will be a determining factor in our decision to proceed with any potential business combination. We are not party to any agreements with our directors or executive officers that provide for benefits upon termination of employment. In the event an initial business combination is consummated, we expect the combined company to develop an executive compensation program that is designed to align compensation with the combined company’s business objectives and the creation of shareholder value, while enabling the combined company to attract, motivate and retain individuals who contribute to the long-term success of the combined company. We anticipate that decisions regarding executive compensation would reflect our belief that the executive compensation program must be competitive in order to attract and retain executive officers of the combined company.