Firms reported 20 big deals to Law Week in our Q2 2023 survey, trailing the number of deals reported in the first quarter of 2023.
Last year, firms reported 19 deals to Law Week in Q2. 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.
Acquisitions
$100,000,000
Holland & Hart LLP
Client: Marnell Gaming, LLC
Team: Jim Newman, partner; David Garcia, retired partner; Michael Crisostomo, law clerk; Elif Gabb, associate; Charles Mao, associate; Catherine Crane, of counsel; Dora Lane, partner; Megan Fogarty, of counsel; Ben Gibbons, of counsel; Bryce Alstead, partner; Matthew Hippler, partner; Douglas Flowers, partner; Chris Gunlikson, partner; Lindsay Silber, partner; John Ludlum, partner; Adam Cohen, partner; Cory Talbot, partner; Lori Argall, paralegal
Other parties: Century Casinos, Inc. represented by Faegre Drinker Biddle & Reath LLP
Notes: Holland & Hart represented long-standing client Marnell Gaming, LLC, a hotel/casino owner/operator and provider of consulting, project management and development for hotel and gaming properties, in the sale of its Nugget Casino Resort operations to Century Casinos, Inc., for approximately $100 million. This transaction follows Holland & Hart’s representation of Marnell in its prior agreement with Century Casinos to sell 50% of Smooth Bourbon and 100% of Nugget to Century Casinos, which closed in April 2022. Smooth Bourbon owns the land and building on which the Nugget is located. Following this acquisition, Smooth Bourbon will be a consolidated subsidiary of Century Casinos.
$59,000,000
Holland & Hart LLP
Client: VKGS LLC
Team: Amos Barclay, partner; Brandon Carr-Montano, associate; Denise Rahme, associate; Lindsay Silber, partner; Todd Criger, partner; Peter Perla, partner; Trent Timmons, associate; Lori Argall, paralegal; Stu Knight, associate; Mark Wiletsky, partner; Ben Gibbons, of counsel
Other parties: Everi Holdings Inc.
Notes: Holland & Hart represented VKGS LLC, or Video King, a privately-owned provider of integrated electronic bingo gaming tablets, video gaming content, instant win games and systems, in its sale to Everi Holdings Inc., a provider of land-based and digital casino gaming content and products, financial technology and player loyalty solution, for approximately $59 million. The acquisition, which included the majority of Video King’s assets, is expected to provide Everi with complementary assets and an established customer base to enable additional growth in its games segment. Currently licensed in approximately 60 jurisdictions, Video King is expected to expand the addressable market for Everi’s player-popular digital gaming content.
Confidential
Sherman & Howard L.L.C.
Client: BluSky Restoration Contractors LLC
Team: Bill Peffer, member; Alex Thomas, associate; Vince Luparell; associate
Other parties: Apex Business Consulting, Inc.
Notes: Represented private equity-backed strategic buyer in equity acquisition of target Mammoth Restoration, Inc., in a deal that involved a pre-closing F-Reorganization, rollover equity and rep and warranty insurance.
Confidential
Perkins Coie LLP
Client: Lee Equity Partners, LLC
Team: Jessica Batzell, partner; Nate Ford, partner; Blake Schell, counsel; Sara Schroeder, associate
Other parties: Coastwood Senior Housing Partners; Integral Senior Living Management; Discovery Senior Living
Notes: Represented Lee Equity Partners in an acquisition of Integral Senior Living for $40 million pursuant to a securities purchase agreement.
Confidential
Perkins Coie LLP
Client: Bertram Capital
Team: Nate Ford, partner; Peter Kinsella, partner; Jennifer Huseby, associate; Nic Schmidt, associate; Brandon Thompson, associate
Other parties: Reveal Cellular Camera
Notes: Represented Bertram Capital Management in the acquisition of Reveal Cameras by Tactacam.
Confidential
Perkins Coie LLP
Client: Bertram Capital
Team: Nate Ford, partner; Blake Schell, counsel; Tomer Vandsburger, counsel; Daniel Sito, counsel; Anna Peckjian, associate; Jennifer Huseby, associate; Ann Balzer, associate; Angie Burcham, associate
Other parties: The Vinyl Outlet
Notes: Represented Bertram Capital Management in its acquisition of The Vinyl Outlet, a direct-to-consumer provider and installer of vinyl fencing.
Confidential
KO Law Firm
Client: Eplexity
Team: Jennifer Rosenthal, partner; Melissa Mellen, of counsel; Logan DeSouza, attorney
Other parties: CloudHesive
Notes: KO client Eplexity, an Amazon Premier Consulting Partner, was recently acquired by CloudHesive, a fellow Amazon Premier Partner. According to a press release, the combination created one of the leading “pure play” AWS partners in the U.S. and Latin America, with deep Amazon Connect and application modernization expertise and a focus on helping customers get the most from their cloud investments. Eplexity CEO John Clendennen said, “Joining forces with CloudHesive allows us to merge their cutting-edge technologies and service solutions with our Managed and Application Modernization Services. This powerful combination will provide unique, customized solutions for customers looking to modernize or transition to AWS environments.”
Disposition
$4,000,000
Moye White LLP
Client: Confidential
Team: Matt Dillman, partner; Georginne Dudash, partner
Notes: Moye White represented the seller of an industrial park in Tempe, Arizona.
$55,000,000
Holland & Knight LLP
Client: Franchise Equity Partners
Team: Stephen Dietrich, partner; Keith Sambur, partner; Lacey Croy, associate; Blake Hooper, associate; Ross Tuminello, associate; Kyle Gaughan, associate; Josh Pelfrey, associate; Jordan Horowitz, associate
Other parties: Parks Automotive Group represented by Womble Bond Dickinson (US) LLP
Notes: Holland & Knight represented Franchise Equity Partners in its capital investment of approximately $55 million in a newly formed joint venture with Parks Automotive Group. The agreement gives Parks Automotive Group access to Franchise Equity Partner’s automotive and financial expertise and makes Franchise Equity Partners a minority partner. This transaction is the second minority investment by Franchise Equity Partners in the automotive retail space.
Equity finance
$17,000,000
Holland & Hart LLP
Client: True Anomaly
Team: Sue Oakes, partner; Nate Davis, of counsel; Ben Gibbons, of counsel; Lori Argall, paralegal
Notes: Holland & Hart represented True Anomaly, a space security, stability and sustainability company, in its $17 million Series A financing led by Eclipse, a U.S. venture capital firm, in partnership with Riot Ventures, Champion Hill Ventures, Space.VC and Narya. True Anomaly has come out of stealth mode and raised $30 million in funding to date.
$3,700,000
KO Law Firm
Client: Pluto Biosciences
Team: Kevin Gibson, partner; John Kyed, attorney; Brad Schoenfeld, partner; Sara Shelly, corporate paralegal
Other parties: The round was led by Silverton Partners, an active and long-standing venture capital investor in Texas
Notes: KO client Pluto Biosciences, a life sciences software-as-a-service, or SaaS, platform, recently announced the closing of a $3.7 million seed round. The investment will expand Pluto’s web-based, computational biology platform that allows researchers to analyze and visualize biological data. “Pluto is breaking down the obstacles that have traditionally prevented the widespread use of computational biology, including the need for compute infrastructure and black box ‘pipelines’, and empowering scientists to play an active role in their scientific discoveries,” said Rani Powers, CEO and founder of Pluto Biosciences in the company’s press release.
$500,000,000
Perkins Coie LLP
Client: Amcor plc
Team: Jason Day, partner; Jonathan Schulman, partner; Benjamin Dale, associate
Notes: Represented Amcor plc and its subsidiaries in the issuance of $500 million 5.625% senior notes due 2033.
$4,000,000
KO Law Firm
Client: bitewell
Team: Jennifer Rosenthal, partner; Samantha Pjesky, attorney; Caitlyn Knudson, corporate paralegal
Other parties: The round was led by Lake Nona Sports & Health Tech Fund and Refinery Ventures. Other participants in the round included Trybe Ventures, Mudita Venture Partners, Harvest Ridge Capital, BDMI and others.
Notes: KO client bitewell, a corporate food health benefits provider, recently announced the oversubscribed closing of its $4 million seed round led by Lake Nona Sports & Health Tech Fund and Refinery Ventures. The investment will enable bitewell to expand its team, fund research and build more advanced technology and data infrastructure. “This is the start of an accelerated growth path to spread foodhealth benefits across the country,” said bitewell co-founder and CEO Samantha Citro Alexander in a press release. “We took our time carefully choosing partners who believe wholeheartedly that the future of health is food, just like we do.”
Debt finance
$87,500,000
Holland & Knight LLP
Client: Private investment fund
Team: Steve Carey, partner; Ned Nakles, associate; Katelyn Madar, associate
Other parties: Borrower (private investment fund)
Notes: Represented private investment fund, as lender, in connection with the closing of an $87.5 million upper-tier mezzanine financing secured by the borrower’s non-controlling partnership interests in a joint venture whose primary asset was a luxury condominium tower recently completed.
$300,000,000
Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher LLP
Client: Jabil Inc.
Team: Robyn Zolman, partner; Nicholas Linke, associate; Sarah Ediger, associate
Other parties: Cahill Gordon & Reindel LLP represented J.P. Morgan Securities LLC, Mizuho Securities USA LLC and U.S. Bancorp Investments, Inc. who served as representatives of several underwriters for the transaction.
Notes: Gibson Dunn represented Jabil in connection with its issuance of $300 million of 5.450% senior notes due 2029 in a registered offering.
Other
Confidential
Holland & Hart LLP
Client: NextFoods
Team: Chuck Cotter, partner; Sue Oakes, partner; Brandon Carr-Montano, associate; Aisha May, associate; Ben Gibbons, of counsel; Peter Perla, partner; Trent Timmons, associate; Candace Alai, venture analyst
Notes: Holland & Hart represented NextFoods, a functional food and beverage company, in the merger of GoodBelly and Cheribundi. GoodBelly makes products addressing gut health and intestinal balance, digestive wellbeing and immunity support, and Cheribundi manufactures natural sports nutrition products, specializing in natural tart cherry juice. Emil Capital Partners is the largest investor in the combined entity.
$21,270,000
Holland & Hart LLP
Client: Comrit Investments I, LP
Team: Amos Barclay, partner; Andrew Leddy, associate
Notes: Holland & Hart represented Comrit Investments I, LP in six tender offers for shares of non-traded REITs. These offers resulted in the aggregate purchase by Comrit of approximately $21.27 million in common equity of various non-traded REITs.
Confidential
Sherman & Howard L.L.C.
Client: Brooke’s Bed & Biscuit
Team: Bill Peffer, member; Evy Duek, associate
Other parties: Destination Pet
Notes: Represented the founder in an asset sale to private equity-backed strategic buyer Destination Pet and negotiated a new lease between the buyer and the seller-affiliated landlord.
$20,000,000
KO Law Firm
Client: Stio
Team: Kevin Gibson, partner; Charles Ciaccio, partner; Elizabeth Ho, attorney; Krystal Rushton, corporate paralegal
Other parties: The round was led by LAGO Innovation Fund
Notes: KO client Stio, the outdoor lifestyle and technical apparel leader, recently announced it has raised $20 million in growth capital. The investment will support new retail locations, future product category development and a diversified, omnichannel approach. “Expanding our reach and entering into new categories is a direct outcome of listening to our customers. … Our mission to create apparel and accessories, designed and developed in Jackson Hole, has now resonated from the mountains to main street, and we are incredibly excited to partner with the great team at LAGO Innovation Fund to help further propel our growth,” said Stephen Sullivan, founder and CEO of Stio, in the company’s press release.
Confidential
Perkins Coie LLP
Client: Bertram Capital
Team: Nate Ford, partner; Jonathan Schulman, partner; Jason Day, partner; Christopher Wassman, associate
Other parties: Solo Brands, Inc.; B of A Securities, Jefferies represented by Latham & Watkins LLP (Solo Brands); Ropes & Gray (underwriters)
Notes: Represented entities affiliated with Bertram Capital as the selling stockholders of 7,122,442 shares of Class A common stock of Solo Brands, Inc. in a secondary underwritten public offering. Concurrently with the closing of the underwritten public offering.