Mergers & Acquisitions

Areas of Concentration

Middle market M&A and Private Equity
Local, Regional, U.S. and International transactions
Strategic alliances
Divestitures

Transactional experience and expertise rivaling that of Wall Street law firms, but with keener personal service and more cost-effective rates: That’s why established companies—from foreign-based multinationals to privately owned local businesses—rely on the professionally recognized and highly rated AP&S Mergers & Acquisitions Group to help them accomplish their strategic objectives, whether growth by acquisitions and strategic alliances or divestitures to restructure their business.

Our M&A team are recognized in Chambers USA America’s Leading Lawyers for Business and given Martindale-Hubbell’s highest rating. Our core strength is the timely and efficient completion of middle market deals. While our practice is primarily focused on the U.S. market, our transactions invariably have international and cross-border dimensions. Our clients include foreigh-based multinationals, U.S. public companies, private equity firms, family-owned businesses and entrepreneurs. We also represent target-company management teams negotiating their employment and equity stakes in private equity deals. We are passionately committed to working in partnership with our clients to help them achieve their strategic goals.

Deals completed by our team include asset sales, stock sales and mergers, leveraged buyouts, management buyouts, leveraged recapitalizations, going public by "reverse merger," joint ventures and strategic alliances. On the "sell side", we have significant experience in the "private auction" setting; and foreign direct investment in the U.S. accounts for a significant part of our "buy side" practice.

Our Mergers & Acquisitions team is supported by other lawyers in the firm who provide specialized expertise in related practice areas such as tax, real estate, environmental and labor and employment.

Representative Matters

(a) International Transactions

$600 million acquisition by a $3 billion U.K.-based multinational of a worldwide chemical manufacturer which expanded our client’s product range and made it a global player in the printed circuit-board fabrication industry
$250 million acquisition of the U.S., European and Asian electronics businesses of a NYSE-listed company.
Acquisition by a $2 billion Netherlands-based multinational of the assets of a Connecticut software-development company.
Strategic alliance with a group of five companies in the U.S., Thailand and Israel, increasing our client’s vertical integration and access to state-of-the-art international manufacturing facilities.
Sale of the stock of an Australia-based equipment manufacturer to a U.S. publicly traded strategic buyer.
$400 million sale of a Rhode Island-based software development firm to a French-based, publicly traded multinational
sale of a Swedish company and its U.S. subsidiary to a U.S.-based, publicly traded strategic buyer.
sale by a Dublin-based company of one of its U.S. subsidiaries in a management buy-out.

(b) U.S. Transactions

$50 million acquisition of an Ohio-based chemical manufacturing company's assets in a multi-step transaction.
$30 million acquisition of a Minnesota manufacturer of hydraulic shears, structured to qualify as a tax-free reverse triangular merger and as a "pooling of interests" for accounting purposes.
$27 million acquisition of stock of a Georgia-based manufacturer
$33 million disposition by a NYSE-listed manufacturer of "discontinued operations" consisting of manufacturing plants in Pennsylvania, Iowa, Texas, Georgia and Illinois.
$165 million sale of a U.S., China and Mexico-based manufacturer to a Providence-based private equity firm.
Creation of a joint venture combining the Northeast-based precious-metals operations of two U.S. entities with a mechanism resulting in 100 percent acquisition by one of the investors.
$42 million sale of a privately-held holding company with operating subsidiaries in Illinois and Utah to the private equity affiliate of an international mutual funds group.

$40 million sale of Rhode Island jewelry manufacturer
Acquisition of the assets of a Rhode Island-based manufacturer for $13 million.
Acquisition of a publicly traded Rhode Island community bank by a regional bank holding company
$60 million acquisition of the stock of a New Hampshire-based electronics products company.
$110 million reorganization designed to solve a dispute among the three shareholder groups of a Massachusetts manufacturing company.
Acquisition of a Massachusetts-based public manufacturing company for $45 million.
$80 million sale of the stock of a New England-based manufacturing and distribution company.
$18 million sale of Rhode Island waste hauling business to a Fortune 500 waste management company.
$12 million sale of Rhode Island electronics company to diversified conglomerate.

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