Firms reported 22 big deals to Law Week in our Q3 2023 survey, exceeding the number of deals reported last quarter and below the number of deals reported in the first quarter of 2023.
Last year, firms also reported 22 deals to Law Week in the third quarter. Following a stronger first quarter, early 2023 has shown a slow in growth predicted by various organizations. The Congressional Budget Office, which provides nonpartisan analysis for the U.S. Congress, predicted an initial slowdown in 2023 with a 0.9% increase in real gross domestic product. CBO also predicted accelerated growth after 2023 as “monetary policy eases.”
The following deals were submitted to Law Week by the firms who worked on them. Deal notes and details were edited for clarity, length and style.
Acquisition
CONFIDENTIAL
Holland & Hart LLP
Client: Bow River Capital 2022 Software Growth Equity
Team: Chris Balch, partner and firm chair; Paige Coriden, of counsel; James Crowe, partner; Ashley Kennedy, associate; John Ludlum, partner; Peter Perla, partner; Lindsay Silber, partner; Trent Timmons, associate
Notes: Holland & Hart represented Bow River Capital Software Growth Equity in its majority recapitalization of Fresnel Software Corporation (doing business as Vitruvi), a geospatial-based construction management software platform. Vitruvi’s cloud solutions help asset owners, engineering, procurement and construction firms, general contractors and sub-contractors to plan, manage, control, govern and report from the field to staff in real-time on a single platform. The investment from SGE will help enable Vitruvi to accelerate growth and scale globally.
CONFIDENTIAL
KO Law Firm
Client: Woodridge Software
Team: John Gaddis, partner; Ryan Sykora, attorney; Michael Wysolmerski, attorney; Krystal Rushton, paralegal
Other parties: RCG Global Services represented by DLA Piper
Notes: KO client Woodridge Software, a fintech-focused software development firm, was acquired by RCG Global Services, a global digital transformation services provider. KO Law Firm represented Woodridge in the acquisition. Woodridge helps financial institutions create revenue-generating products and services by building software and secure banking systems. The acquisition expands RCG’s delivery team in the U.S. and strengthens its existing capabilities in strategy, design, development and operations for the financial services industry.
CONFIDENTIAL
Perkins Coie LLP
Client: Chelsea Green US Bidco LLC
Team: John Schoppert, associate; Sara Schroeder, associate; Raul Beke, associate; Jackie Wilcox, counsel; George Yates, partner; Chas Taylor, associate
Other parties: Artemis Fine Arts, Inc. represented by Greenberg Traurig LLP
Notes: Perkins Coie represented Chelsea Green US Bidco LLC in its strategic purchase of Artemis Fine Arts, Inc.
CONFIDENTIAL
Fortis Law Partners LLC
Client: Aspen Seating, LLC
Team: Julie Herzog, partner; Connor Slivocka, associate; Kaitlyn Dehmer, associate; Dustin Rickett, senior associate
$19,000,000
Fortis Law Partners LLC
Client: Confidential
Team: Julian Izbiky, partner; Andrew Comer, partner; Dustin Rickett, senior associate; Kaitlyn Dehmer, associate; Christine Lamb, partner; Elizabeth Hartsel, partner
Disposition
$192,000,000
Perkins Coie LLP
Client: Simms Fishing Products, LLC
Team: Nate Ford, partner; Peter Kinsella, partner; Eric Ashcroft, counsel; Blake Schell, associate; Christopher Phares, associate; Jennifer Huseby, associate; Tomer Vandsburger, associate
Other parties: Vista Outdoor, Inc. represented by Reed Smith
Notes: Perkins Coie represented Simms Fishing Products in its acquisition by Vista Outdoor, Inc. Vista Outdoor paid a gross purchase price of $192.5 million. Vista Outdoor expects the transaction to be accretive to earnings, excluding transaction costs, transition costs and inventory step-up, in fiscal year 2024.
CONFIDENTIAL
Holland & Knight LLP
Client: Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society
Team: Seth Belzley, partner; Francesco Salpietro, associate; Brandon Palacio, associate; Phillip Schreiber, partner; Daniel Barsky, partner; Jonathan Blum, partner
Other parties: Informa Markets represented by Blank Rome LLP
Notes: London-based Informa Markets creates platforms for industries and specialist markets to trade and grow by providing marketplace participants around the globe with opportunities to do business through face-to-face exhibitions, targeted digital services and actionable data solutions. The HIMSS Global Health Conference & Exhibition is a healthcare technology event that brings together the global health ecosystem to network and learn. Through this partnership, Informa Markets will take on the management of the HIMSS Global Health Conference & Exhibition and HIMSS will continue to oversee content development and programming. The partnership will bring together the scale, expertise and resources of Informa Markets with the thought leadership that HIMSS has established in the health tech community.
CONFIDENTIAL
Perkins Coie LLP
Client: SightLine Applications, Inc.
Team: Peter Kinsella, partner; John Schoppert, associate; Christopher Phares, counsel; Michael Dawes, associate; Justin Gonzales, partner; Kristi Lee, associate; Lisa McGimpsey, partner
Other parties: Artemis Capital Partners Management Co., LLC
Notes: Perkins Coie represented Sightline Applications, Inc. in its sale of business to Artemis Capital Partners Management Co., LLC.
Equity finance
CONFIDENTIAL
Holland & Hart LLP
Client: Confluence Spirits, Inc.
Team: Chris Balch, partner and firm chair; Nate Davis, of counsel; Benjamin Gibbons, of counsel; Tyson Horrocks, partner; John Ludlum, partner; Sarah Lederman, paralegal; Linda Concannon, paralegal
Notes: Holland & Hart represented Confluence Spirits, a Colorado-based, self-sourced producer of craft whiskey, in its Series A financing. With this round of funding, Confluence Spirits plans to secure a 10,000-square-foot production warehouse in Englewood, Colorado, that will eventually include a tasting room. The funding is also expected to help cover operating expenses as Confluence Spirits will be engaged in production for three years before releasing its aged products into the market. This deal closed June 8.
$13,000,000
KO Law Firm
Client: GOODLES
Team: Jennifer Rosenthal, partner; Samantha Pjesky, attorney; Caitlyn Knudson, paralegal
Other parties: The round was led by L Catterton and included existing institutional investors: Springdale, Third Craft Partners, Willow Growth, Alumni Ventures, GingerBread Capital, IMG-Endeavor, Cosmic VC and Electric Feel Ventures
Notes: GOODLES’s founding team includes CEO Jen Zeszut, Paul Earle, Molly Michet, Deb Luster and award-winning actress, producer and philanthropist Gal Gadot. KO client GOODLES, a noodle brand known for its line of boxed mac and cheese and pasta, recently closed a $13 million Series A funding round only 20 months after launching. The funding will be used to appoint three new C-Suite executives and increase U.S. production capacity to meet the surging consumer demand for its products. This deal closed May 4 and was announced Sept. 13.
$3,500,000
KO Law Firm
Client: The Regis Company
Team: John Gaddis, partner; John Kyed, attorney; Krystal Rushton, paralegal
Other parties: Access Venture Partners led the round with participation from Firebrand Ventures, FirstMile Ventures and Management Concepts
Notes: KO Law Firm client The Regis Company, a developer of learning solutions, recently announced a successful $3.5 million seed funding round. KO Law Firm represented Regis in the financing. The funding validates the expected growth associated with practice-based learning through simulations. The funding will be used to continue building out the company’s sales and market team. The round was announced in conjunction with the release of SimGate, the AI-powered simulation platform for enterprise learning. This deal closed May 9 and was fully subscribed on July 19.
$3,300,000
KO Law Firm
Client: Pomp, a Denver beauty-tech startup
Team: Kevin Gibson, partner; Elizabeth Ho, attorney; Krystal Rushton, paralegal
Other parties: The round was co-led by Long Journey Ventures and Cassius and included angel investors Casey Winters and Kevin Kwok
Notes: KO client Pomp, a beauty-tech startup aiming to bring personalized skin care from licensed estheticians to the masses, closed a $3.3 million seed II round. The funding will be used to grow Pomp Professional, the company’s business-to-business software as a service offering that allows estheticians to consult with clients virtually, and to bring more skin care professionals to the platform. Pomp’s initial closing was March 27 and the financing was announced July 5.
$3,500,000
KO Law Firm
Client: Guest House
Team: Jennifer Rosenthal, partner; Ryan Sykora, attorney
Other parties: Break Trail Ventures led the raise with participation from Douglas Elliman, Sweater Ventures, Denver Angels, Caruso Ventures, Range Ventures and other existing investors
Notes: KO client Guest House, which provides tech-enabled home staging to help realtors and homeowners, recently closed a $3.5 million equity raise. “We’ve proven that the tech-enabled model and platform we’ve built is really delivering value to customers and the unit economics are delivering huge ROI to the business and our investors,” said Alex Ryden, founder and CEO of Guest House to Colorado Inno. “[We decided] this is a great time to raise more capital, go deeper in current markets and look at accelerating into future markets to help more people, more homeowners [and] more realtors sell homes faster for more money by making staging accessible to everyone.” The funding will be used to automate more of the staging process and to continue investing in the startup’s technology. Guest House’s initial closing was Nov. 22, 2022, and the financing was announced on June 27.
$3,700,000
KO Law Firm
Client: Renoster
Team: Ben Oelsner, partner; Logan DeSouza, attorney; Niki Schwab, attorney; Sara Shelly, paralegal
Other parties: The round was led by investors Better Ventures and Climactic and also included funding from Seraphim Space, Possible Ventures, Cerulean Ventures, Techstars and Vanagon Ventures, as well as angel investors
Notes: KO client Renoster, a technology company dedicated to developing software and data platforms for the carbon markets, recently announced it has closed a $3.7 million seed round. The funding will be used to advance climate solutions with next-generation carbon market transparency, including a global project database, price and quality tools and more.
$25,000,000
Perkins Coie LLP
Client: Knightscope, Inc.
Team: Ned Prusse, partner; Jonathan Schulman, partner
Other parties: H.C. Wainwright & Co. represented by Ellenoff Grossman & Schole LLP
Notes: Perkins Coie represented Knightscope, Inc. in its $25 million at-the-market offering.
$30,000,000
Perkins Coie LLP
Client: Confidential
Team: Nate Ford, partner; Kelly Payne, counsel; Hannah Schuppner, associate
Other parties: Confidential
Notes: Perkins Coie represented a confidential private equity client and its portfolio company in connection with a $30 million growth in equity financing.
Debt finance
$51,000,000
Holland & Hart LLP
Client: American Battery Technology Company
Team: Amy Bowler, partner; Timothy Crisp, partner; Leah Neumann, associate; Lori Argall, paralegal; Fritz Battcher, partner; Andrew Folkerth, partner
Notes: Holland & Hart advised American Battery Technology Company concerning the sale to an institutional investor of up to $51 million of a new series of senior secured convertible notes.
$1,250,000,000
Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher LLP
Client: The Williams Companies, Inc.
Team: Robyn Zolman, partner; Nick Linke, associate; Sarah Ediger, associate
Other parties: CIBC Capital Markets, MUFG, RBC Capital Markets and TD Securities served as representatives of the underwriters and Weil, Gotschal & Manges represented the underwriters
Notes: Gibson Dunn represented Williams in connection with its public offering of $350 million aggregate principal amount of 5.4% senior notes due 2026 and $900 million aggregate principal amount of 5.3% senior notes due 2028.
$575,000,000
Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher LLP
Client: Advanced Energy Industries, Inc.
Team: Robyn Zolman, partner and transaction lead; Stewart McDowell, partner; Darius Mehraban, partner; Adam Lapidus, of counsel; Sarah Ediger, associate; Alexis Levine, associate
Other parties: Davis Polk & Wardwell represented the initial purchasers who have not been publicly disclosed
Notes: Gibson Dunn represented Advanced Energy Industries in connection with its issuance of $575 million aggregate principal amount of 2.5% convertible senior notes due 2028 and related bond hedge and warrant transactions.
$2,000,000,000
Perkins Coie LLP
Client: Molson Coors Beverage Company
Team: Ned Prusse, partner; Jonathan Schulman, partner; Rebekkah Emerson, associate
Other parties: BofA Securities, Inc.; Citigroup Global Markets Inc.; Goldman Sachs & Co. LLC; J.P. Morgan Securities LLC; and RBC Capital Markets, LLC
Notes: Perkins Coie represented Molson Coors Beverage Company in the upsize of its commercial paper program to $2 billion.
Other
CONFIDENTIAL
Holland & Hart LLP
Client: Recurring Capital Management Company, LLC
Team: Ryan Nichols, partner; Adam Cohen, partner; Zachary Metzger, associate; Rachel Supiro, associate; Linda Concannon, paralegal; Benjamin Gibbons, of counsel; Sarah Lederman, paralegal; Denise Rahme, associate
Notes: Holland & Hart advised Recurring Capital Partners, an investment manager specializing in debt financing for software as a service and other recurring revenue model technology-driven companies, on the launch of Recurring Capital Fund IV, L.P. The Fund, which completed its initial closing on capital commitments on Sept.1, will focus primarily on strategic investments in business-to-business SaaS companies, in the U.S., the U.K. and Canada.
CONFIDENTIAL
Perkins Coie LLP
Client: Gold Medal Pools, LLC
Team: Jessica Batzell, partner; Blake Schell, counsel; Peter Kinsella, partner; John Schoppert, associate; Jonathan Forgang, partner; Daniel Sito, counsel; Anna Peckjian, associate; Nic Schmidt, associate
Other parties: TENEX Capital Management
Notes: Perkins Coie represented Gold Medal Pools, LLC, a portfolio company of The Cynosure Group, in its sale to TENEX Capital Management.
Est. $3,000,000,000 value
Perkins Coie LLP
Client: Trimble, Inc.
Team: Peter Kinsella, partner; Sarah Konz, senior counsel; Sean Belding, associate; Jennifer Huseby, associate
Other parties: AGCO represented by Simpson Thacher & Bartlett LLP
Notes: Under the terms of the joint venture, Trimble will contribute its precision agriculture business Trimble Ag excluding certain Global Navigation Satellite System, or GNSS, and guidance technologies and AGCO will contribute its JCA Technologies business, which develops autonomous software for agricultural machines, implement controls and electronic system components. Trimble expects approximately $3 billion in value from the transaction from pre-tax cash proceeds, Trimble’s 15% stake in the joint venture and the related commercial agreements.
$5,300,000
Fortis Law Partners
Client: Confidential
Team: Julian Izbiky, partner
Notes: Fortis Law Partners assisted a confidential client with a $5.3 million asset sale.
Undisclosed settlement amount
Fortis Law Partners
Client: Pierre Raygot and Christophe Raygot
Team: Henry Baskerville, partner; David Olsky, partner; Charlie Carlin, senior associate; Leni Plimpton, senior associate
Notes: Pierre Raygot and Christophe Raygot invested $500,000 in a company that purported to lease real estate. Company owners Scott Pack and Rudy Saenz were actually running one of the largest illegal grows in Colorado history. Scott Pack’s father Michael Pack allegedly conspired with his son to defraud Pierre Raygot and Christophe Raygot. Pierre Raygot testified in the criminal prosecution of Scott Pack and both clients were awarded restitution following Scott Pack’s conviction. Fortis Law Partners advised Pierre Raygot and Christophe Raygot on the criminal investigation and were lead litigation counsel in the litigation against Scott Pack, Michael Pack, Saenz and their affiliated companies. Fortis Law Partners obtained summary judgment against Scott Pack, settled with Saenz and represented Pierre Raygot and Christophe Raygot at trial against Michael Pack and the remaining defendants. After six days of a jury trial in August, Fortis Law Partners obtained a favorable settlement. The damages sought were $1.5 million, plus trebling as allowed by statute, interest, fees and costs.
$300,000 plus post-judgment interest
Fortis Law Partners
Client: C. Wesley Woodcock
Team: David Olsky, partner
Other parties: people
Notes: C. Wesley Woodcock is a retired pilot and U.S. Air Force veteran who was swindled out of most of his retirement savings by Dan Rudden and the Financial Visions Ponzi scheme. On behalf of Woodcock, Fortis Law Partners filed a statement of claim in the FINRA arbitration forum against his broker-dealer and the registered representative for his account (respectively, NTB Financial Corporation and George McCaffrey). Following a seven-day arbitration, Fortis Law Partners obtained an award of $300,000, which is a little more than the principal Woodcock invested through NTB Financial. Just before the arbitration, NTB Financial closed its operations and Fortis Law Partners have represented Woodcock in collections actions as well. The amended arbitration award was issued on March 1. Judgment was entered on Woodcock’s motion to confirm on April 13. On Sept. 29, Fortis Law Partners entered a settlement with NTB Financial regarding collections on the award.