Belcher, Starr & Fitzgerald LLP: Business Law Transactions

M&A, Private Equity and Joint Ventures:

A significant part of our business law practice involves counseling buyers, sellers and investors in connection with private placements, mergers and acquisitions. The following are only a few examples of our M&A and private equity work:

Negotiating and closing multi-million dollar sale of business in Caribbean

Counseling sellers of family-owned independent pharmacies to national pharmacy chain

Advising management and investors in a multi-million dollar buyout of a division of a large technology company

Representing individual investors in healthcare products and services companies

Handling corporate formation and preparation of Founders' Agreement and seed round convertible notes for custom publishing start-up

Representing the buyer of a wireless internet service provider

Increasingly companies have come to realize that their individual resources are at times insufficient for the utmost level of success in the marketplace. Under the right circumstances, a partner with complementary technologies or contracts, relevant experience, or financial resources could facilitate market penetration and increase the likelihood of success. We work with our clients to help identify initially whether the joint venture is the appropriate arrangement and, if so, to draft suitable documents to reflect accurately the unique business terms and rights and responsibilities of the parties. We enjoy crafting a joint venture arrangement because by its very nature it involves drafting a relatively complicated agreement without useful precedents, enabling us to showcase the strength of our creativity.

Contracts:

Contract review, drafting and negotiation are among the main strengths of our firm. We are often asked to identify issues in pending or existing contracts and advise our clients of their potential impact. In our contract drafting, we always strive to write concisely and clearly so that the obligations of the parties are easily understood. Our negotiation skills have been honed through experience. We have consistently proven that we can adapt our skills to the given situation and business deal so that our clients’ interests are protected and their operations are not unduly limited. Again, we are practical and we advise based on an assessment, together with our client, of the costs and business risks involved. We avoid being adversarial whenever possible and believe that potentially long-lasting, mutually beneficial relationships among the parties to a contract begin in a negotiation where each party feels treated fairly.

Lending:

We have worked on loan closings totaling hundreds of millions of dollars. Whether a commercial or residential loan, our approach to lending transactions is consistent: we are thorough, responsive and proactive. Our clients appreciate our practical and creative approach to solving issues preventing consummation of the transaction. We work very hard to ensure that the interests of our lender clients are protected to the fullest extent of the law and that the interests of our borrower clients are not unduly restricted.

Employment:

We advise our clients on general employment issues ranging from employment agreements to compensation matters to claims of wrongful termination. We work with human resource coordinators to handle employment issues as they arise in order to minimize disruption and exposure to our clients. Our advice is consistently decisive and practical in terms of the particular client’s current situation and longer-term goals.

Business Succession Planning:

An important component of our business law practice is business succession planning, and we are proactive in our transactional practice in identifying such opportunities. We work with families to plan the transition of business ownership, while minimizing tax liabilities and family acrimony. Many issues arise due to the failure to plan ahead and recognize differing interests of the family members involved. We consistently offer level-headed and objective advice, striving to preserve wealth and long term family relationships.

Business Law Transactions

David M. Belcher, Head of Business Practice

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