Departments

Business and Transactions

The corporate attorneys at Ballard Spahr work with clients of all sizes and stages of maturity to negotiate, structure, and complete transactions that improve competitive position, add value, and sustain growth.

We provide practical advice to businesses on the best legal framework for operations, investments, regulatory compliance, and special initiatives. From entity formation, capital raising, and regulatory compliance to sophisticated mergers, acquisitions, and other liquidity events, our business and transactions legal work spans corporate life cycles and industries. Our attorneys' industry perspective, knowledge of regulatory regimes and agencies, and legal skill enable them to identify and address issues before they become obstacles.

Our clients range from innovative start-ups and funds to Fortune 100 companies—and many have been with us since their beginnings. We work with them as strategic partners—taking the time to learn the intricacies of their businesses and understand their short- and long-term goals, position in the marketplace, and tolerance for risk. Then we guide them to the most effective execution of business initiatives within the legal and regulatory parameters of their financial and investment activities. In this era of rapid technological advances, we pay close attention to security concerns and advise on safeguarding information and compliance with ever-changing regulatory requirements.

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Experience 

Mergers and Acquisitions/Private Equity

  • We represented E.I. DuPont de Nemours & Company in many M&A transactions, including the $70 million acquisition of the outstanding stock of Coastal Training Technologies Corporation, a leading global producer and marketer of cutting-edge training programs.
  • We represented Giant Industries, Inc., a publicly traded refiner and marketer of petroleum products, in transactions including its acquisition by Western Refining, Inc., a publicly traded company in the same industry. The $1.3 billion transaction was complicated by a number of significant events, including two refinery fires, a transaction restructure, and a threatened injunction by the Federal Trade Commission.

Securities

  • We counsel more than 30 public companies in periodic reporting with the SEC and in day-to-day securities disclosure matters.
  • We have represented Exelon Corporation and several of its predecessor and subsidiary companies for more than 35 years. We have handled more than $8 billion in public and private debt and preferred securities offerings, significant restructuring, and a substantial increase to more than $6 billion in the company's revolving credit facilities. We also handled the securitization of $5 billion of PECO's stranded costs, which at the time was the largest U.S. asset securitization. Our attorneys established commercial paper programs, negotiated derivative transactions, and developed a process for SEC compliance for all of Exelon's reporting companies.