Business and Finance

Our Practice

Snell & Wilmer’s Business and Finance Group has substantial experience in all areas of business and finance law, including:

A significant number of matters handled by the Group involve other substantive areas of law including: federal and state / local tax, intellectual property, antitrust, immigration, employee benefits, securities litigation, environmental, and labor. In such cases, we draw upon the experience and skills of Snell & Wilmer attorneys in these practice areas. The breadth of Snell & Wilmer’s legal resources, coupled with a genuine desire on the part of our lawyers to work together to benefit our clients, results in what we believe to be the highest quality and most sophisticated legal services available. This commitment to quality has earned Snell & Wilmer recognition by Corporate Board Member magazine, a national publication covering corporate governance and boardroom issues, as the top corporate law firm in Phoenix for the eighth consecutive year, according to a survey of general counsel and corporate directors.

Our Attorneys

Each of our attorneys is dedicated to providing our clients with superior legal services on a timely, effective and cost-efficient basis while maintaining the highest standards of professional integrity. As part of a full-service law firm, Snell & Wilmer’s Business and Finance Group is able to offer clients the benefit of an interdisciplinary approach to problem-solving.

A number of our attorneys are consistently voted among the Best Lawyers in America®, recognized as Super Lawyers and listed in Chambers USA: America's Leading Lawyers for Business®. Additionally, our attorneys are regular speakers and authors in numerous areas of concentration, such as emerging businesses, securities regulation, corporate governance, fund formation, venture capital, franchise and distribution law and mergers and acquisitions. We also offer seminars and management training sessions that can be customized for a specific client’s industry and needs.

Our Clients

The Business and Finance Group serves clients ranging in size from Fortune 100 companies to smaller emerging businesses in virtually every aspect of business law, and as general or special counsel to a substantial number of clients, both private and public, large and small. Our international, national, regional and local clients are as diverse as their needs. Our attorneys have provided sophisticated legal representation to biotech companies, health care and financial institutions, public utilities, homebuilders, transportation companies, restaurant and hospitality providers, athletic and fitness facilities, and others, thereby aiding them in achieving their business objectives. A cross-section of clients served by Snell & Wilmer’s Business and Finance attorneys include:

  • Arizona Public Service Company (APS)
  • ON Semiconductor
  • Holsum Bakery, Inc.
  • Matrixx Initiatives, Inc.
  • DriveTime
  • Swift Transportation Company, Inc.
  • StaffChex Inc.
  • Insight Enterprises, Inc.
  • AMERCO (holding company of U-Haul International)
  • Zila, Inc.

Our Experience

We frequently represent issuers and selling agents in structuring and negotiating private placements of debt and equity securities to comply with limited offering exemptions under federal and state securities laws, including placements with institutional investors and syndication. In addition, we regularly represent corporate clients, venture capital firms, and other institutional investors in transactions involving emerging businesses. Our Mergers and Acquisitions practice is exceptionally diverse, includes virtually every significant regulated and unregulated industry in the country, and handles transactions ranging in size from a few million dollars to several billion dollars. It is this competent, professional legal representation that gives our clients the confidence they need to succeed.

As a sampling of the breadth and depth of our experience, attorneys in the Business and Finance Group recently assisted clients with the following types of transactions:

Corporate Governance and Related Matters

  • Represented independent directors of publicly held corporation in connection with a going-private transaction
  • Represented private corporation in the restructuring of its domestic and international corporate organization to establish clear governance structure and to minimize enterprise liability

Credit Facilities

  • $60 million securities repurchase facility (securitized bonds)
  • $1.1 billion warehouse facility refinancing and recapitalization
  • $135 million private unsecured notes exchange offering

Fund Formation

  • $100 million private equity fund for investments in single-family residential real estate
  • Represented life science fund in the formation and raising of a $20 million fund

Healthcare and Insurance

  • Represented entity in the transfer of all assets and licensure of county health system to healthcare district
  • Represented seller in the divesture of contact lens divisions
  • Joint venture between hospital and healthcare provider for sleep-related independent diagnostic testing facility

International

  • Represented Philippines call center company with U.S. operations in acquisition of Philippines call center business and formation of Nicaraguan joint venture call center business
  • Represented European online tire retailer in structuring its expansion into the U.S. market

Mergers and Acquisitions

  • Represented sellers in $150 million sale of bakery to publicly held strategic purchaser
  • Represented publicly traded biotech company in sale to a private pharmaceutical company
  • Represented buyer of two luxury resort properties
  • Represented private company in its $32.5 million acquisition of a supermarket chain
  • Represented computer reseller in multiple Chapter 11 bankruptcy-related division sale transactions having aggregate value of $120 million

Venture Capital and Private Equity/Emerging Business

  • Represented pregnancy resource company in its convertible debt and Series A Convertible Preferred Stock offerings
  • Represented manufacturer of small wind turbines in multiple round of venture capital financing
  • Represented human genome sciences company in formation, multiple private placement equity financing rounds and negotiation of joint venture agreements

Other

  • Represented utility in $4 billion solar energy purchase power agreement
  • Represented public homebuilder in multiple high yield Rule 144 bond offerings aggregating $920 million
  • Handled $210 million private receivables securitization for a large private transportation company; true sale opinion delivered

External Links
Dun & Bradstreet
North American Industry Classification System
Standard Industrial Classification (SIC) Codes
Standard & Poor's Ratings U.S. Department of Commerce