How We Help Companies Accelerate Their Success
Accelerator Strategies Inc. counsels company leadership on proven strategies to present the right positioning to the 'Street'. We work with enterprises well before they approach investment banks to explore an IPO and assist them in navigating the road to going public, including ensuring that internal reporting, operations and management are coordinated to cross the IPO finish line together and earn optimal valuations.
Post IPO, we advise management on specific strategies, and work with them to implement tactical plans, to retain public market support for their companies. For public and private companies alike, we provide M & A advisory services: from supporting management in negotiating and structuring acquisitions or mergers to leading due diligence and pre/post closing integration teams and processes.
Accelerator Strategies Inc. only accepts a consulting engagement to work with the company's leadership where we believe that shareholder value can be significantly accelerated through the application of our proven strategy since a significant component of our compensation is success-based. In other words, we join management, directors and shareholders by having 'skin in the game'. This compensation approach, in addition to direct C-suite experience earned communicating with the Street, differentiates us from many retained advisors, including most investor relations firms.
George Horhota, Principal
George founded Accelerator Strategies Inc. to share his public and private company C-suite and start-up leadership experience. He is a Senior Industry Advisor to the European Bank for Reconstruction & Development’s TurnAround Management Program.
He was the Chief Financial Officer of Canadian TSX-listed ACC TelEnterprises Ltd., a tenacious telecom competitor to incumbent telephone companies and Vice-President Corporate Development, N.A. of its NASDAQ-listed parent ACC Corp.
Small cap ACC Tel (revenues of $165 million), stumbled shortly after its IPO, seeing its share price plumet to almost one-quarter of the issue price. George was then recruited from the Royal Bank of Canada by ACC's new and dynamic CEO. They worked together to successfully reposition the company in the market, restore its credibility and improve its share performance.
After George deployed his value accelerating strategy, ACC Tel won the confidence of previously skeptical equity analysts to issue 'strong buy' reports & upgraded target prices, attracted new institutional investors & increased trading volumes, resulting in the stock appreciating from $5.50 to $21.50 within seven months after he became ACC's CFO (ACC earned the position as top 10 performing TSX small cap stocks for 1996 before being taken private). George also attracted a top tier Canadian bank, committing $20 million to a new $100 million (U.S.) ACC Corp. syndicated credit facility.
ACC Tel, controlled by NASDAQ-traded parent ACC Corp., was taken private by its parent for $21.50 per share; both were subsequently acquired by Teleport Communications for U.S. $1 billion; in turn Teleport was purchased by AT&T Corp.
George is also co-founder & major shareholder of SuiteWorks Inc., a world leader in creating new collaborative work environments that support mobile professionals and their employers' BCP “people recovery” programs. He has served as President, Cannect Networks (telecom CLEC which attracted $168 million in capital). Cannect filed a Preliminary Prospectus with the Ontario Securities Commission. George was also President of the Canadian Business Telecommunications Alliance; Vice-President of BCE Emergis; and Senior Manager of the Royal Bank (for nearly a decade), where he led Corporate Banking’s $10 billion telecom, media, IT, publishing & entertainment lending portfolio and previously its Communications Policies & Strategic Opportunities group.
Public Company Board Experience
WiLAN Inc. (2004 - 2006)
Founded in 1992, WiLAN is a leading technology innovation & licensing company. Its portfolio of inventions (represented by 1,100 issued & pending patents) applies to a wide range of consumer electronics & communications products.
Member - Board of Directors, Audit Committee & Compensation Committee
Chair - Compensation Committee
Private Company Board Experience
Mercatus Technologies Inc. (current) – leader in proprietary intelligent retail solutions
CCR Solutions Inc. (current) – North American audio visual staging & event solutions
Canadian Cloud Computing Inc. (2 yrs) - scalable computing & storage
Cannect Networks Inc. (2 yrs) - Competitive Local Exchange Carrier - lead investors: Kohlberg, Kravis & Roberts and Nortel Networks