Overview
Capital is the lifeblood of a company’s operations. McDermott’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.
Related Capabilities
- 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
McDermott has 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
McDermott 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.
