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Practices: Private Equity

Success in the private equity marketplace means getting the deal done. It takes knowledge and understanding of the entrepreneurial objectives on both sides of the table – knowing how to help private equity and venture capital investors and mezzanine lenders achieve the financial returns and management control that they want, while ensuring that growing companies get the funds and flexibility they need.

Ungaretti & Harris is one of the leading middle market private equity law firms nationwide. Our lawyers connect people, money and investment needs. If you are a private equity fund, a venture capital fund, a commercial bank investment group, or a family-owned investment firm, we will work with you as strategic business advisors, helping you assess risk, structure transactions, manage assets and realize maximum benefit from your portfolio. If you are a growing company in industries as specialized as automation software and medical devices – or as fundamental as building materials and office supplies – we’ll bring you together with the right funding source and negotiate optimum payment, liability, tax and management terms.

Middle Market Dominance

The foundation of our private equity effectiveness lies in focusing on the middle market: transactions valued at between $10 million and $1 billion. We are the most active middle market transactional law firm in Chicago, and over half of our corporate work involves private equity investments. That takes strengths that no other firm surpasses:

A group of 25 corporate lawyers who have facilitated hundreds of transactions on behalf of both venture and private equity investors, and portfolio companies.
An ability to staff deals with far fewer lawyers than other firms use, without bureaucracy and with single-office concentration of all necessary resources for maximum efficiency.
An extensive network of contacts that excels at creating introductions and deal flows for clients.
A practical business feel for what works best with each client, backed by an absolute commitment to quality and cost-effectiveness.

Client Leadership

Whether you are a private equity or mezzanine debt firm, a family-owned investment firm, or an emerging, entrepreneurial company that needs the capital to continue expanding, you should know that we represent the top companies in the middle market:

Investment funds that are dealmakers working with some of the largest investment banks in the world.
Private equity firms with specialized portfolios of healthcare, manufacturing and distribution companies.
Numerous early stage companies throughout their financial lifecycles, from initial venture financing to subsequent successful sale to larger companies that can further their growth.
The venture investment arm of one of the world’s largest telecommunications companies.

Business Approach

Assessing the investment or financing needs of clients and guiding them to create the most appropriate business arrangement are what we do best. Once the parties are brought together, our goal is to make sure everyone understands the details and ramifications of the financing agreement. Venture and private equity investors generally have very specific time and financial targets for the investment return they want, and when these targets involve the desire to exercise control or oversight of the investment we document and structure the appropriate arrangements.

Your deal will be closed on the basis of mutual understanding between the businesses on both sides of the table. In each transaction our clients get an evaluation of the risks and rewards, advice on which concerns are most important, and a deal completed to their maximum advantage. That means no wasting time on obscure technical points or taking outrageous bargaining positions.

Extensive Network

Private equity investing starts with the right relationships. Our networking ability is very extensive and we can often help you take the first dealmaking step, whether you’re looking for funding or for investment opportunities. Bringing parties together in this way doesn’t take the place of investment bankers, but it doesn’t involve fees or commissions, either. If you are among the 10,000 private equity, corporate, or financial institution members of the Association for Corporate Growth, you may already know of our leadership role in that networking organization. And having some of the largest investment banks in Chicago as clients makes us an even more effective facilitator of deal funding.

Transactional Diversity

You can rely on our experience to guide you through the complete private equity investment lifecycle, including multiple rounds of investments and portfolio acquisitions, and exit strategies that include recapitalizations, IPOs or private sales. Reflecting the firmwide resources necessary to handle tax, regulatory and other issues and to help clients achieve their financial and investment goals, there is a growing list of transactions in which we have:

Represented investors in the purchase of target company convertible notes, preferred stock, capital stock and other financial assets.
Guided a medical device manufacturer through a $157 million recapitalization.
Helped a private equity firm that focuses on healthcare company investments make acquisitions valued at nearly $350 million in North America and Europe.
Coordinated eight banks, five law firms, three accounting firms, a financial services company and an investment bank in a transaction that created one of the largest privately held, ESOP-owned companies in the United States.
Counseled the venture capital arm of a global telecom corporation in acquiring the stock of biotechnology, software and network solutions companies.
Acted on behalf of a leading national provider of insulation products and services in a $300 million recapitalization, then facilitated the company’s acquisition by a private equity client.

Value Added

Law firms that try to be everything for all clients often lack the focus to excel at any one thing. If your focus is the private equity middle market, you should know that Ungaretti & Harris excels at making your kind of deals successful. No matter what your investment or funding need, we have the transactional experience to meet it. You’ll get the quality, innovation, connections and experience you expect from a leading private equity law firm – without the high cost, overstaffing and deal-breaking squabbles that often come with other, larger firms. In other words, you’ll get value-added service.