McDermott Will & Schulte, a global law firm

Capital is the lifeblood of a company’s operations. McDermott Will & Schulte’s capital markets and public companies lawyers have extensive experience advising clients—including issuers and underwriters—with raising capital in the public markets. We also provide counsel on the rules and regulations that accompany operating as a public company.

Clients appreciate our ability to see beyond the current need and bring a strategic approach to capital requirements. We have demonstrated success utilizing the full range of instruments, from traditional equity raises such as initial public offerings (IPOs), follow-on offerings and at-the-market offerings, to private placements. We also have considerable experience with special-purpose acquisition vehicles (SPACs) and real estate investment trusts (REITs).

For debt offerings, we’ve done it all. We have a successful track record helping clients with their registered and unregistered debt offerings, including investment grade, high yield and convertible notes offerings. In addition, given our deep understanding of the compliance requirements of various governing agencies and regulatory bodies—particularly the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), NYSE and NASDAQ—clients regularly rely on our professional judgment, practical advice and counsel regarding difficult disclosure and SEC compliance issues.

Our lawyers deliver a complete service offering to address our clients’ full range of capital market needs and governance compliance requirements. We pride ourselves on staying abreast of market trends, delivering pragmatic solutions proactively in support of capital needs and governance requirements, providing sage counsel to quickly resolve compliance issues without disruption to business operations.

Public Companies

We act as primary outside securities counsel to numerous public companies across a variety of industries, advising on day-to-day issues and when special situations arise. This arrangement frees clients to focus on achieving their business objectives while satisfying obligations and commitments to regulators, security holders, employees, ratings agencies, the media and the public. We represent public companies of all sizes, including a number of Fortune 500 corporations.

Reporting and Compliance

Our public companies team acts as a trusted advisor on a wide variety of reporting needs. Our legal advice covers all SEC regulatory and compliance requirements, including forms 10-K, 20-F, 40-F, 10-Q, 8-K and 6-K, proxy statement disclosures and contests, SEC shareholder proposals and proxy advisory firms and their policies, and Regulations FD and G. Our lawyers also counsel clients on informal corporate disclosures covering press releases, website postings and communications with analysts and investors.

Corporate Responsibility and Governance

The responsibilities of directors and officers have grown substantially in recent years, as the US Congress, the SEC and other regulators have imposed new rules that carry increased potential for liability. We are sensitive to the current corporate environment and have extensive experience guiding our clients through these regulatory regimes. Our governance and responsibility services include a broad range of advice on compliance, guidelines, suggested best practices, and analyses of policies and procedures.

Executive Compensation and Other Employee Benefits

We provide sophisticated advice on all aspects of executive compensation. We regularly advise on SEC disclosure regarding management compensation and represent clients before the Internal Revenue Service on executive compensation matters. Our services include planning and preparing clients for change in control protection, director pay, executive employment and severance agreements, equity-based compensation, executive fringe benefits, incentive compensation, multinational compensation, nonqualified deferred compensation, and rabbi trusts and other funding vehicles. In particular, we are experienced at identifying and helping to resolve financial accounting and tax issues, including compliance with the $1 million tax limitation on deductibility set forth in Section 162(m) of the Internal Revenue Code (IRC) and the deferral of compensation under 409A of the IRC.

Mergers and Acquisitions

Numerous securities rules come into play when public companies are acquired or a company’s securities are issued as consideration in an acquisition. Our capital markets and public companies team works seamlessly with our corporate transactions and tax practices to provide the critical guidance on the securities questions and needs of clients, from creating a new equity structure as the result of a spin-off to the filing requirements associated with a subsidiary IPO.

Special Purpose Acquisition Companies

We have built a reputation for representing an increasing number of SPAC sponsors and underwriters. We are adept at structuring SPACs, completing the IPO and advising the company through its business combination transactions. We have advised clients on SPAC IPOs totaling more than $1.5 billion, including executing the largest IPO SPAC on behalf of an issuer. Combined with our skilled mergers and acquisitions team, we have closed nearly $4 billion in business combination transactions, including some of the highest-profile SPAC deals in recent memory.

REITs

Our lawyers have extensive experience advising on REIT transactions, including the formation of umbrella partnership real estate investment trust (UPREIT) structures. We have taken many REITs public and are well versed on the issues facing public and private REITs. We have also represented underwriters in securities offerings by REITs.

Lo Studio è uno dei principali attori in Italia e nel mondo nella consulenza legale in ambito societario e in operazioni di M&A (acquisizioni mediante acquisto di azioni o di asset, operazioni di fusione, trasferimento di azienda e scissione), sia svolta per conto di società multinazionali coinvolte in operazioni cross-border, sia per piccole e medie imprese.

Attraverso il coinvolgimento dei nostri professionisti specializzati in diritto societario, fiscale e antitrust siamo in grado di fornire assistenza legale interdisciplinare anche quando le operazioni di M&A richiedono la definizione di complesse strutture societarie quali ad esempio la predisposizione di un finanziamento per l’acquisizione, la valutazione dei profili fiscali dell’operazione, nonché l’analisi delle implicazioni antitrust e regolamentari. Lo Studio assiste clienti italiani ed internazionali nelle operazioni che prevedono offerte pubbliche d’acquisto, sia ostili che amichevoli, compresa la gestione dei rapporti con le autorità di vigilanza e con tutti gli altri soggetti interessati. Assistiamo i nostri clienti nella gestione di tutte le fasi dell’operazione, a partire dalla lettera di intenti e dalle operazioni di due diligence legale e fiscale fino alla negoziazione e redazione degli accordi definitivi, all’assistenza al closing ed alle attività successive al closing.

Inoltre, il nostro team fornisce assistenza su tutti gli aspetti del diritto societario e commerciale, tra cui: la redazione e negoziazione di contratti commerciali e joint venture, la costituzione di società, la compliancesocietaria, il supporto nella progettazione e nella gestione di sistemi di governo societario (corporate governance), operazioni di finanziamento societario anche a livello infragruppo, sviluppo di modelli organizzativi delle società ai sensi della legge 231/2001.

Nel fornire i nostri servizi combiniamo le specifiche competenze legali con la conoscenza dei settori merceologici in cui operano i nostri clienti. La nostra esperienza ci permette di adattare le soluzioni legali alle necessità dei clienti, con particolare attenzione al contenimento dei costi, all’efficienza e al rispetto della tempistica, in modo tale da fornire un servizio di consulenza legale sofisticato e pragmatico.

When financial distress threatens business operations, decisive action is required. Our business restructuring lawyers help stabilize struggling companies and maximize stakeholder returns. We deliver clear, actionable guidance to turn complex insolvency challenges into opportunities for recovery and strategic growth – or acquisition.

For companies facing insolvency, our business restructuring lawyers guide you through the legal process to restructure liabilities and engineer effective rescue packages. By stabilizing your financial foundation, we help you preserve enterprise value and position your business for long-term profitability.

Navigating cross-border insolvency requires seamless global counsel. We apply our deep knowledge of business restructuring law, including US Chapters 11 and 15, European Insolvency Regulation, and the UNCITRAL model law. Our international reach ensures we are well positioned to protect your assets and enforce your claims across multiple jurisdictions, minimizing disruption to your global operations.

Distressed markets also create unique opportunities for creditors and investors. Our business restructuring services help creditors achieve enhanced financial recoveries on their investments. For strategic buyers, we identify and execute the acquisition of troubled assets, driving immediate ROI and expanding your market share at favorable valuations.

Tax considerations shape how your business structures transactions, financings, and international investments. Our lawyers advise you on global tax compliance and design tax strategies that support growth, help mitigate financial exposure, and strengthen your business operations across jurisdictions.

Our tax lawyers represent financial institutions, investors, and businesses – including more than half of the Fortune 100. Working across the US, Europe, and other major markets, we align tax strategy with your global business strategy while helping you anticipate regulatory and controversy risk.

Tax strategy is most effective when integrated early into decision-making. Our tax lawyers advise you on federal, state, local, and international tax laws that affect your transactions, investments, financings, restructurings, and cross-border operations. We also help you evaluate the tax implications of evolving business models, supply chains, and operating structures as your business expands internationally.

Our tax law practice includes advising on transfer pricing planning, advance pricing agreements, and cross-border tax controversies. We handle sophisticated transfer pricing disputes worldwide and engage with taxing authorities and organizations involved in international tax policy and enforcement – including the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), the Internal Revenue Service (IRS), and tax authorities throughout Europe and globally.

Tax disputes can affect enterprise value. Our team includes former IRS administrators, Department of Justice (DOJ) Tax Division lawyers, Tax Court clerks, and legislative advisors who understand how tax policy is developed, interpreted, and enforced. This experience strengthens our ability to advocate before taxing authorities and guide you through examinations, administrative appeals, and litigation before trial courts, appellate courts, and the US Supreme Court.

Technology, information and intellectual property assets form the core of the modern economy. Whether technology is a company’s primary focus or an essential tool in providing better products and services, it plays an important role in virtually every business.

Our technology and commercial transactions team includes lawyers with deep experience representing technology companies and their customers at every point in the business lifecycle. We provide counsel on purchase, supply, development, licensing, distribution, joint venture, reseller, and other agreements and contracts.

Our lawyers advise startups, Fortune 50 technology companies, and national and multinational enterprises operating in a wide range of industries, including aviation, banking and finance, defense, energy, entertainment, life sciences, natural resources, real estate, technology and telecommunications. We have structured, negotiated and closed billions of dollars of technology transactions for clients across North America, Europe, the Asia-Pacific region, Latin America and Africa.

Our lawyers are deeply skilled at advising clients on a wide variety of technology-related matters and issues involved with the acquisition and licensing of technology and IP assets, including cloud computing, outsourcing of technology and business processes, data privacy, distribution agreements, wireless and wireline telecommunications, technology development and related maintenance and services, e-commerce, electronic payment systems, Internet-of-things, mobile app development, social media, content delivery, contract manufacturing, open source and other software issues, consulting services agreements, and contract manufacturing. Our lawyers also advise clients on transition services as well as the technology and intellectual property issues relating to the acquisition or divestiture of businesses.

A number of our partners have been recognized as leading practitioners by publications and ratings agencies such as Chambers Global, Chambers USA, Chambers Europe, The Best Lawyers in America, The Legal 500, The Legal 500 EMEA, The Legal 500 Deutschland, JUVE Handbuch Wirtschaftskanzleien, BTI Consulting Group, Lawdragon and The Black Book of Outsourcing.

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Our areas of focus

• Technology Development
  We regularly advise a broad range of clients—from entrepreneurs to national utilities and multinational corporations—on technology development issues, including the negotiation of joint technology development arrangements and related commercial and regulatory issues. We provide counsel on the acquisition and licensing of emerging IP and other assets, technology transfers, product development and manufacturing agreements, patent prosecution and portfolio strategies, open-source software development and hardware acquisitions.
• Technology Licensing and Procurement
  We regularly represent businesses involved in the licensing and procurement of technology and intellectual property assets. Our lawyers have significant experience in cloud computing, software as a service (SaaS), platform as a service (PaaS) and infrastructure as a service (IaaS), software licensing, content licensing, technology implementation, maintenance and support, e-commerce issues, hosting and hardware acquisition.
• Joint Ventures and Strategic Alliances
  For many businesses, it makes sense to join forces with allied companies to achieve shared goals. It does not, however, always make sense to merge with or acquire another enterprise in order to formalize such cooperative efforts. We have helped numerous companies negotiate effective joint ventures and strategic alliances in technologies such as industrial processes, cloud computing, data centers, medical and health care services and products, and telecommunications. We work with clients to assess the strength of their assets and conduct due diligence reviews of partners to determine the most effective framework for pursuing mutual objectives. Recent client engagements have involved a joint venture to develop flash storage for computers and the development of cloud computing-based medical image management solutions.
• Manufacturing, Supply and Distribution Agreements
  We regularly negotiate a broad range of agreements on behalf of OEMs, developers, manufacturers, contract manufacturers, suppliers, distributors, resellers, energy companies and utilities, and logistics enterprises across the United States, in international markets, and across industries such as information technology, biotechnology and advanced fabrication. Our lawyers negotiate integrated supply management, supply chain and distribution agreements that ensure compliance with federal and state laws and regulations, and address issues such as technology licensing, electronic contracting, signatures and records, product marketing and promotion, use of online tools and search engines, and advertising and sweepstakes.
• E-Commerce
  We advise clients on the full spectrum of legal, commercial and regulatory issues that arise in the context of e-commerce. This includes advising on electronic contracting, EULAs, terms of use, marketing, data privacy and protection, cybersecurity, compliance, technology transfers, electronic payments, social media issues, business method patents, and trademarks.
• Internet of Things
  The “old” internet is being surpassed by the “internet of things”: technologies embedded in and connecting the everyday objects that people use at work, at home, in the car—even while asleep. Our lawyers advise clients on the myriad legal and commercial issues that arise from the development, deployment, licensing and sale of products, processes and services relating to wearable technologies, smart buildings and cities, telemedicine and e-health, energy and automobiles, among other growth areas. We also recognize that laws and regulations surrounding data privacy, consumer protection and telecommunications have a significant effect on the production, sale and use of these technologies.
• Health Information Technology
  We advise clients on the full range of legal and compliance issues relating to the acquisition, implementation, use and management of health information technology (HIT), including the computer software and hardware that deals with the retrieval, sharing and use of health care information for decision making, regulatory reporting and communication among providers, insurers and patients. We counsel clients on matters involving electronic health records (EHRs), health information exchange (HIEs) and protected health information (PHI). We routinely advise physicians, hospitals, health systems, practice management companies, EHR vendors and medical billing companies on compliance with HIPAA, state breach notification laws, Medicare and Medicaid EHR Incentive Program requirements, and the False Claims Act, Anti-Kickback Statute, and other federal and state healthcare regulatory laws.
• Cloud
  New technologies, emerging business models and an increasingly mobile workforce have made cloud computing the IT option of choice for many businesses and organizations. We have represented numerous providers, corporate customers and investors on all sides of technology transactions and agreements involving cloud computing, Software as a Service (SaaS), Platform as a Service (Paas), Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS), hosted arrangements, web services and application outsourcing. We help domestic and multinational clients identify and address potential issues such as data security, protection and privacy, while determining the value of services in terms of increased revenues, reduced costs and more efficient operations. We regularly draw on our firm’s experience in technology intellectual property, finance, corporate transactions, regulatory and compliance, and other key areas of law to negotiate transactions and develop enforceable terms of service, service level, subscription, and other agreements.