Mergers & Acquisitions
Barton’s M&A team has had tremendous success handling the full gamut of mergers and acquisitions, including acquisitions of private equity-backed companies, mergers-of-equals, consolidations, tender offers, leveraged buyouts, spinoffs, and the sale/purchase of assets. We assist our clients in implementing the strategic vision they have for the future of their companies, whether they be young entrepreneurs or seasoned executives. We advise and guide our clients through all stages of corporate transactions, from negotiations, structuring, and documentation to governance, closing, and integration.
At Barton, we approach everything with a business-first mindset. We know that our clients value business savvy solutions and we provide these with as much efficiency and practicality as possible. We take the time to understand the ins and outs of our clients’ businesses in order to better understand our clients’ goals which, in turn, allows us to maximize potential merger and acquisition opportunities to these ends.
Joint Ventures
For those clients interested in collaborating with other companies to achieve their business goals, Barton lends a comprehensive level of skill and experience. Our attorneys understand that joint ventures are a valuable and often profitable tool for growth and expansion into different segments of the market. We oversee joint ventures in their various forms, whether it be strategic alliances, limited liability companies, commercial contracts, or entity joint ventures.
We are active at every stage of a joint venture collaboration, ensuring that all structuring, drafting, and implementing goes smoothly and providing practical solutions when challenges do arise. Our attorneys combine years of business experience along with knowledge of our clients’ industries in order to minimize risk and stabilize what can oftentimes, if not well-crafted and soundly structured, be precarious arrangements.
Partnerships
Barton’s Business Transaction team understands that non-contentious, professional partnerships can mutually benefit both sides in a matter by paving the way to new markets and combining resources to help meet shared business interests. Barton attorneys have experience in arranging both conventional and more creative partnership structures, whether they be in the form of limited liability partnerships, strategic alliances, or joint ventures. Our services are tailored to fit the specific needs of our clients and their businesses—we oversee the drafting of partnership agreements, new office openings, regulatory issues, and restructurings. Not only do we provide clients with sophisticated counsel regarding their partnership ventures, but we do so with a business savvy eye towards minimizing risk and maximizing profits for our clients.
Foreign Investments
For those planning to expand their businesses across borders, whether by acquiring a new business overseas, opening a new cross-border facility, or engaging in an international joint venture, the global business and legal landscapes can be tricky to navigate and full of risk. Barton’s attorneys help to take the uncertainty and guesswork out of foreign investment by providing insight from first-hand experience operating within these international spheres.
Our attorneys have handled matters spanning across North America, Asia, and Europe that have included mergers and acquisitions, private equity, venture capital, and related transactions. The Barton foreign investment team is attuned to the business operations and protocols in these parts of the world and is thus optimally positioned to advise clients on international regulations, compliance, tax structures, and due diligence.
Please also see our publication Expanding Your Business into the United States: A Legal Guide.
Licensing
Barton has assisted with licensing matters for a wide variety of entities, including banks, mortgage lenders, healthcare IT companies, premium consumer products companies, and private equity portfolio companies. Our attorneys remain up-to-date and knowledgeable regarding state and federal laws governing both our clients who are licensors and those who are licensees.
Our attorneys have helped secure licenses for a wide variety of assets such as patented technology, software, trademarks, artificial intelligence platforms, usage rights, and databases. We provide counsel to clients during the entirety of the license arrangement process with the intention of helping our clients seize new opportunities for business growth while simultaneously mitigating relevant risk factors.
Private and Public Financing
Barton’s private and public financing team has extensive experience in financing companies across borders, industries, and asset classes alike. With clients hailing from all over Europe, Asia, and the Americas, our attorneys understand the nuances involved in complex, cross-border financing transactions. Barton has advised private equity and hedge funds, banks, individual investors, and other investment vehicles on the raising of capital through IPOs, mezzanine financings, PIPE offerings, and private placements.
Public and Private Securities Offerings and Compliance
Barton attorneys are highly accomplished in representing issuers, investors, and underwriters in a multitude of public and private securities matters. Our clients range from middle-market entities to large public corporations. Regardless of company size, Barton is committed to providing our clients with the individual focus and attentiveness they need to realize their strategic business vision. This can include:
- Entity formation and designing capital structure
- Private placement offering of equity and debt, including convertible and mezzanine debt
- Venture capital and private equity fund formations and offerings
- Counsel regarding public offerings and reporting requirements
- Structuring of offshore investment vehicles
Clients also request our Securities Regulatory team to advise in the following areas:
- Membership applications
- Registration issues
- Floor trading violations
- Examinations, investigations, and enforcement proceedings
- Procedures, policies, and programs
- Written supervisory procedures
- Anti-money laundering procedures
- Continuing education programs
- Business continuity/disaster recovery plans
Because the securities industry is so highly regulated, it is common for a securities firm or an issuer to inadvertently fail to observe some of the applicable rules and regulations. The day-to-day reality of non-compliance has become increasingly risky due to the pressure put upon regulators to extract heavy penalties (typically in the form of monetary fines) for even the slightest infractions committed by a securities firm or its employees.
Our attorneys realize that individuals employed in the securities industry want to focus on their business and not waste precious resources dealing with extraneous regulatory matters. We provide our clients with proactive advice and counseling on best practices and procedures so that interactions with regulators are minimal.