John has more than 30 years of experience counseling clients on mergers and acquisitions, private equity transactions, equity financings and general corporate matters. His practice primarily involves representing corporate issuers and private equity investors.

John has worked with clients across a wide range of activities, including acquisitions and divestitures, contested transactions, proxy contests, portfolio investing, equity and mezzanine debt financings, and other commercial arrangements.

He currently represents issuers and private equity investors in the technology and retail and consumer products sectors, and has represented clients in the energy and financial services sectors in a broad range of domestic and cross-border a transactions and in bankruptcy-related mergers and acquisitions.

Relevant Experience

• Private Equity Transactions. Represents numerous private equity firms in acquisitions ranging from full company purchases to significant minority positions to “going private” acquisitions of publicly traded entities; portfolio add-on acquisitions; financings; mezzanine investments; dispositions and exit transactions (including public offerings and exercises of registration rights and drag-along/tag-along sale rights).
• Securities/Capital Markets. Represents issuers and investors in private placements and offerings of equity and preferred equity securities and equity derivatives, including issuances and purchases of significant minority positions with attendant minority shareholder rights.
• Strategic Acquirors. Regularly represents issuers in the technology and retail and consumer products industry segments in strategic acquisitions domestically and internationally.

• Energy Transactions. Played a lead role in more than a dozen domestic electric and/or gas utility company mergers; two acquisitions by European utility companies of integrated US electric utility companies; the acquisition and disposition of significant gas production, distribution and pipeline assets; the acquisition and disposition of oil exploration and development companies; and the acquisition and disposition of numerous independent power generation assets across the United States and Latin America.
• Contested Transactions. Represents boards of directors of targets and acquirers in contested transactions, including unsolicited tender offers and proxy contests; negotiated two-step tender/merger transactions; going private transactions; and prepackaged bankruptcy transactions.
• Financial Services M&A. Represented banks, savings and loans and financial services companies (including broker/dealer and insurance companies) in more than a dozen mergers, acquisition transactions and disposition transactions (including contested transactions and acquisitions of domestic commercial banks by foreign banks).
• Latin America. Represented acquirers in more than two dozen private equity investment transactions throughout Latin America; European energy companies in numerous energy asset acquisitions in Central and South America; and a US energy company in the disposition of more than $2 billion in energy assets located throughout Latin America.
• Bankruptcy and Troubled Company M&A. Represented debtors, creditors' committees and purchasers in bankruptcy proceedings, reorganizations and significant sales of assets under Section 363 of the Bankruptcy Code and outside of bankruptcy proceedings, including airlines, insurance companies, energy companies and manufacturing and retail companies.

Bar Admissions

Education
JD, Pace University School of Law, summa cum laude, valedictorian and Articles Editor, Pace Law Review, 1986BS, Gettysburg College, 1982

• Energy Transactions. Played a lead role in numerous energy industry transactions, including more than a dozen domestic electric and/or gas utility company mergers; two acquisitions by European utility companies of integrated U.S. electric utility companies; the acquisition and disposition of significant gas production, distribution and pipeline assets; the acquisition and disposition of oil exploration and development companies; and the acquisition and disposition of numerous independent power generation assets across the U.S. and Latin America.
• Contested Transactions. Represented boards of directors of targets and acquirers in contested transactions, including unsolicited tender offers and proxy contests; negotiated two-step tender/merger transactions; going private transactions; and prepackaged bankruptcy transactions.
• Financial Services M&A. Played a significant role in representing federal- and state-chartered banks, savings and loans and financial services companies (including broker/dealer and insurance companies) in more than a dozen mergers, acquisition transactions and disposition transactions (including contested transactions and acquisitions of domestic commercial banks by foreign banks).
• Latin America. Represented acquirers in more than two dozen private equity investment transactions throughout Latin America; represented European energy companies in numerous energy asset acquisitions (including electricity-generating assets, electric and gas distribution assets, and gas and oil exploration and distribution assets) in Central and South America; and represented a major U.S. energy company in the disposition of more than $2 billion in energy assets located throughout Latin America.
• Bankruptcy and Troubled Company M&A. Represented debtors, creditors' committees and purchasers in bankruptcy proceedings, reorganizations and significant sales of assets under Section 363 of the Bankruptcy Code and outside of bankruptcy proceedings, including airlines, insurance companies, energy companies and manufacturing and retail companies.
• Financings. Represented the issuer in the NASDAQ 2005 IPO of the Year; represented numerous banks and private equity sponsors and issuers in mezzanine debt, preferred equity and common equity financings; and represented venture capital investors in numerous preferred stock and common equity capital infusions.

• Trustee, Board of Trustees Audit and Finance Committees, Pace University
  2006–present
• Trustee, Board of Trustees, currently Trustee Emeritus, Gettysburg College
  2006-2014
• Member, American Bar Association, Business Law Section, New York State Bar Association

• Listed for International Corporate/M&A, Legal 500 Latin America, 2012
• Selected as a Super Lawyer for Corporate/M&A, New York Super Lawyers magazine, 2014-2016. A description of the selection methodology can be found on Super Lawyers’ webpage.
• Distinguished Service Award, Pace University School of Law, 2005

• Judgment Call: Cleaning up, The Deal Pipeline, Co-author, March 1, 2013