Private Equity Law
Early-Stage Strategic Planning:
We are often called upon to work for entrepreneurs and management teams during the critical period of organization and formation. Prior to your opening day, we can help you with your business plan, providing comments and revisions with a focus on investor expectations. In addition, we can frequently help you understand various financing options (see Private Equity, below), discussing the advantages and disadvantages of each.
Our attorneys have served as counsel to:
- Energy Transfer Partners, LP (NYSE:ETP)
- Quality Inn Hotels (NYSE:QHH)
- Uniroyal Engineered Products
- Mariah Fuels
- Digital One Media
- Petron Pacific
- Backchannelmedia, Inc.
Private Equity Financing:
The attorneys at Robbins Equitas have extensive experience with private equity and debt financing transactions. These fall into several categories:
- Cradle Equity: Also known as bootstrap funding. This describes the type of financing in which the founders themselves, their families, and friends provide initial capital;
- Private equity: Also known as "angel investors," these third-party accredited investors provide financing in exchange for equity or senior or subordinated debt;
- Venture capital: These are professional investors, funds, and institutional investors who provide capital;
- Public offerings: This entails the selling of shares to the general public, including non-accredited investors. It does not necessarily entail a listing on a major exchange.
Our role is to help you select the most intelligent option for your company, to structure the transaction, and then to draft the documents that will make the investment possible. For angel investors, venture capital firms, and other professional investors, the operative required document is typically a private placement memorandum (PPM). Depending upon your venture, there are often other mission-critical documents.
As needed, we can also refer you to accountants, auditors, actuaries, and other professionals whose seals of approval may be necessary to persuade investors in some circumstances. Our experience representing financing sources (e.g., angel investors, venture capitalists, investment bankers, banks, and other lenders) helps us to understand their concerns and needs in structuring and negotiating investments.
Debt Financing:
When it is a viable option, we also can assist you with creatively utilizing commercial bank loans and asset-based loans. Commercial banks are an option for some smaller ventures, and often large ones, if their business is largely asset-based.
Compliance:
Robbins Equitas will help you comply with the "alphabet soup" of legislation and regulation that applies to certain investment transaction. This includes state Blue-Sky laws, SEC regulation, federal securities legislation, Sarbanes-Oxley, and other challenges.
About Oliver J. Janney:
Oliver J. Janney is the director of Robbins Equitas' Private Equity practice group. He has worked on public and private equity transactions ranging from $1 million to over $500 million. Janney received his law degree from Harvard Law School in 1970 and his B.A. from Yale University in 1967. He is the former Executive Vice President, General Counsel and Corporate Secretary of Uniroyal Technology Corporation, a NASDAQ company, and was previously General Counsel of RKO General, Inc. He held his position at RKO while the company owned Frontier Airlines. Janney is a member of the New York State Bar and the Florida Bar. He also served as a Lieutenant in the United States Army Reserves.
Attorneys in the Private Equity Law Practice Group include:
To learn more about what you have read on The Florida Lawyer Website please contact Robbins Equitas and speak with our attorneys. Tampa, St. Petersburg, Clearwater and Sarasota residents can contact our attorneys at (727) 822-8696 to make an appointment with our Florida offices.
