Practice Areas
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Mergers & Acquisitions

Because mergers, acquisitions, and divestitures involve specialties ranging from taxation and antitrust to employment and environmental law, Gray Plant Mooty takes a team-based approach to our work with you. Our Mergers & Acquisitions team has experience with hundreds of transactions, from modest amounts to over $1 billion in value. Many of these involve both domestic and international companies, including foreign-based buyers or sellers. Regardless of the size of the transaction or the company, Gray Plant Mooty clients benefit from our depth and breadth of experience.

Mergers, acquisitions, and divestitures involve many areas of law, such as tax, antitrust, employee benefits, environmental, employment, finance, securities, and secured transactions. Gray Plant Mooty applies a team-based, multi-disciplinary approach, which brings to each transaction a core group of legal professionals with the appropriate expertise. By augmenting our expertise with sound business judgment and strategic negotiation skills, we effectively guide our clients through complex transactions. We also pride ourselves on staffing M&A matters efficiently and effectively, bringing you the best value in legal advice for M&A transactions.

If you are selling a business, we work with you to plan, negotiate a price, analyze tax consequences, and structure the sale advantageously. If you are buying a business, our attorneys help you identify opportunities, steer clear of problems, and comply with government regulations. If you are facing a hostile takeover attempt, we use creative defense mechanisms to help you achieve your goals.

Industries represented in GPM’s recent M&A transactions include:

  • agribusiness
  • home care services
  • alternative energy
  • hospitality and restaurants
  • automobile repair
  • infrastructure
  • automotive
  • manufacturing
  • electrical products
  • marketing services
  • employment services
  • medical products
  • environmental consulting
  • not-for-profit
  • ESOP
  • radio stations
  • franchise
  • remote control and monitoring
  • furniture
  • software
  • health care
  • telecommunications
  • high tech measurement
  • travel
 
  • waste disposal

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Deal Highlights

ABRA, Inc.

Gray Plant Mooty represented this Minneapolis-based owner and franchisor of auto body and glass repair centers in an acquisition transaction involving an East Coast private equity firm. Gray Plant Mooty’s representation included advising ABRA on all aspects of the transaction, negotiating and structuring the acquisition documents, preparing disclosure documents, and responding to the buyer’s due diligence investigation. Members of the existing ABRA executive team will continue to manage ABRA under the new ownership structure.

National American University

National American University (NAU) hired Gray Plant Mooty to assist in a proposed merger of NAU with a publicly held, special purpose acquisition company (SPAC). This complex transaction—involving not only a merger but also a going-public transaction—began in earnest in 2008. The deal required approvals from numerous agencies, including the U.S. Department of Education, the Higher Learning Commission, and various education and regulatory bodies. It also required a 70 percent affirmative vote from SPAC shareholders. In addition to these negotiations, Gray Plant Mooty’s Mergers & Acquisitions and Securities & Corporate Governance teams assisted NAU in preparing all required public company filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including a 400 page proxy statement and a 250 page Form 8-K. Through these efforts, both the merger and conversion to public company status were successfully completed on schedule.