Sheryl Cefali

Sheryl Cefali

Managing Director

Sherry Cefali is a managing director in the Transaction Opinions practice. She is also a member of the firm’s Fairness and Solvency Opinion Senior Review Committee. Sherry has over 30 years of experience of advising companies and boards, including rendering fairness opinions and solvency opinions and determining valuations of companies and securities.

Some of Sherry’s noteworthy engagements include rendering the following opinions:

  • Bath & Body Works (formerly L Brands) (NYSE: BBWI): rendered a solvency opinion to the board in connection with its spin-off of Victoria’s Secret (NYSE: VSCO) and share repurchase
  • Grindr: rendered a fairness opinion to the special committee of (SPAC) Tiga Acquisition Corp. in connection with its merger with Grindr
  • Mileway: rendered a fairness opinion in a GP led secondary recapitalization transaction to certain Blackstone funds acquiring the Mileway business, consisting of over 1,700 logistics assets across 10 European countries, for approximately $24 billion
  • Chiasma,Inc. (NASDAQ: CHMA): rendered a fairness opinion to the board in connect with its sale to Amryt Pharma (NASDAQ: AMYT)
  • LAACO, Ltd. (PINX: LAACZ): rendered a fairness opinion to the board in connection with the sale of the company for approximately $1.7 billion, which held 59 self storage assets, to the public REIT CubeSmart (NYSE: CUBE)
  • Match Group (NASDAQ: MTCH): rendered a solvency opinion to the board in connection with its separation from IAC/InterActiveCorp and cash distribution to Match Group shareholders
  • BioMed Realty: rendered a fairness opinion to certain Blackstone funds acquiring an interest in BioMed Realty in connection with a $14.6 billion recapitalization
  • NN, Inc. (NASDAQ: NNBR): rendered a fairness opinion to the board in connection with the sale of NN, Inc.'s life sciences division to American Securities LLC
  • Zest Finance, Inc.: rendered a fairness opinion and ran a Go-Shop process in connection with Insight Partners $15 million Series E round investment
  • Neon Therapeutics, Inc. (Nasdaq: NTGN): rendered a fairness opinion to the board in connection with the sale to BioNTech (Nasdaq: BNTX)
  • Yum! Brands (NYSE: YUM): rendered solvency opinions to the board of directors in connection with a $6.2 billion share redemption and the spin-off of Yum! China (NYSE: YUMC)
  • Mattress Firm: rendered a solvency opinion in connection with a leveraged dividend payment
  • Atrium European Real Estate (VIE: ATRS) rendered a solvency opinion in connection with a special dividend distribution transaction
  • Darden Restaurants (NYSE: DRI): rendered a solvency opinion to the board of directors in connection with the spin-off of Four Corners Property Trust (NYSE: FCPT)
  • Invitation Homes (NYSE: INVH): served as financial advisor to Invitation Homes in connection with their conversion to a REIT and IPO
  • Paramount Group (NYSE: PGRE): rendered a relative fairness opinion on behalf of the investors in the real estate partnerships in connection with the roll-up of its real estate partnerships and management company into a REIT prior to its IPO
  • Cobalt Capital Partners: rendered a relative fairness opinion to the boards of directors in connection with sale of three industrial REITs and its management company to Colony Financial (NYSE: CLNY)
  • Cogentix Medical (NASDAQ: CGNT): rendered a fairness opinion to the board of directors in connection with its sale to Laborie Medical Technologies
  • Xtant Medical Holdings (NYSE: XTNT): rendered a fairness opinion to the special strategic committee of the board of directors in connection with a capital raise and debt conversion transaction
  • Spirit Realty (NYSE: SRC): rendered a solvency opinion in connection with its spin-off of Spirit MTA REIT (NYSE: SMTA)
  • Fhipo (BMV:FHIPO 14): rendered a fairness opinion in connection with the internalization of its external advisor and management company in exchange for newly issued shares of common stock in FHipo
  • IAC/InterActiveCorp (NASDAQ: IACI): rendered a solvency opinion to the board in connection with its spin-off of Vimeo (NASDAQ: VMEO)
  • Black Creek Industrial REIT IV: rendered a fairness opinion to the special committee of the board in connection with the purchase of interests in two industrial partnerships from Industrial Property Trust

Sherry co-authored the article “REIT Roll-up Transactions: How Much is Your Platform Worth” (GlobeSt.com) and the article “Management Company Values in REIT Roll-ups” (Real Estate Forum). Sherry has also authored articles related to fairness opinions and various corporate finance topics that have appeared in publications, including Mergers & Acquisitions Journal, Directorship, Los Angeles Business Journal, Business Law Today and California Lawyer.

Sherry received her MBA, with honors, from the University of Southern California and her BA in political science, cum laude, from the University of California at Santa Barbara. She holds the FINRA Series 7 and 63 licenses.

Sherry serves as a director on the board of the RF Industries (NASDAQ: RFIL), chairs the compensation committee and the governance and nominating committee and is a member of the audit committee. She is also a member of the National Association of Corporate Directors and Women Corporate Directors.


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Corporate Finance and Restructuring

M&A advisory, restructuring and insolvency, debt advisory, strategic alternatives, transaction diligence and independent financial opinions.

Fairness and Solvency Opinions

Duff & Phelps Opinions is a global leader in Fairness Opinions and Special Committee Advisory, ranking #1 for total number of fairness opinions in the U.S., EMEA (Europe, the Middle East and Africa), Australia and Globally in 2023 according to LSEG (FKA Refinitiv).

Fairness Opinions

#1 ranked provider of fairness opinions for boards of directors and special committees.


Solvency Opinions

Duff & Phelps Opinions practice is a globally recognized leader in solvency opinions. Since 2005, we have rendered more than 2,585 fairness and solvency opinions for transactions with an aggregate deal value of over $8 trillion.

ESOP and ERISA Advisory

Kroll's Corporate Finance ESOP/ERISA practice is a leading corporate finance and valuation advisor to companies and ERISA fiduciaries.