Overview
Attorneys in Foley Hoag's Private Equity Transactions Group are counsellors to our private equity clients in their operations and significant transactions. In that role, we provide representation across the full spectrum of private equity matters. We emphasize lean, efficient and responsive teams headed by seasoned senior practitioners who remain fully involved in transactions and client relationships. Our attorneys listen carefully to clients and always strive to understand fully their businesses and objectives. Their collective experience is applied to assist clients in attaining these objectives and to achieve superior results.
We know what are market terms and understand when to seek improvements of offered terms. The firm's private equity attorneys are skilled deal makers and practical, effective negotiators - tough when necessary, but always focused on the best outcome for our clients.
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As a full service law firm, we are able, as needed, to involve experts from our tax, employment, intellectual property and other practice groups to address material issues for our clients and facilitate a transaction.
Our private equity transaction services include:
- Buyouts, Add-On Acquisitions and Minority and Growth Investments for Private Equity Sponsors. We represent private equity sponsors in the full range of these investment activities. Members of our Mergers & Acquisitions and Capital Markets Practice Groups contribute their vast experience to the investment process.
- Going Private Transactions. Our private equity attorneys have significant experience in going private transactions and have for years assisted clients in addressing the difficult and unique issues that arise when a private equity sponsor acquires a public company.
- Company Sales by Private Equity Clients. We regularly assist private equity clients in sale of their investment positions, whether in private sales of securities or entire portfolio companies or in public market sales of minority holdings. We recognize that a good investment requires an excellent exit to create the necessary liquidity and financial returns in a well-structured transaction.
- Company Sales to Private Equity Purchasers. Our attorneys have long assisted our clients in sales of their businesses to private equity purchasers. Our work for private equity sponsors provides us insights in the objectives and approach of these purchasers which assist our selling clients to understand the process and improve the outcome of their transactions.
- Coinvestments. We assist our institutional investor clients in their participation in coinvestments with private equity sponsors. These matters raise complex economic and governance issues different from the issues they face in direct fund investment and at times involve delicate negotiations with private equity sponsors.
- Representation of Managements in Buyouts. The Private Equity Transactions Group regularly counsels management teams concerning the complex issues raised by buyouts. We apply our experience with buyout transactions in assisting our management clients to achieve practical favorable outcomes that reflect their interests in the buyout transaction. Our work covers the full range of ownership, employment, compensation, tax and securities issues that face management in this context.
- Rollovers by Selling Owners. Selling owners, particularly those in management or with large stakes in the target business, are often asked to roll over part of their stakes in the target business. Our work assists these owners, who likely have never participated in a similar transaction, to understand and address the complex structural, governance, economic and tax issues that relate to the rollover of their equity.
- Debt Financing and Leverage. Private equity transactions often involve material debt financing and leverage. Our debt financing lawyers ably assist clients in negotiating and documenting the relevant complex documentation and work with our private equity lawyers to position the debt financing within the capitalization of the transaction.
- Specialty Due Diligence. We are often called upon to provide specialty due diligence services from our other practice groups in connection with private equity transactions where we are not primary deal counsel. A particular strength of our Private Equity Transactions Group is the ability to provide patent and other intellectual property due diligence support.
- Recapitalizations, Restructurings and Reorganizations. We have particular experience in transactions executed as recapitalizations, restructurings and reorganizations. Our private equity lawyers have structured, negotiated and documented complex multi-tier recapitalizations where the complexity was driven by the business objectives of our clients.
