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What Makes a “Deal of the Year”?

BakerHostetler: Leading the Way in Mergers & Acquisitions

(l-r) Bloomberg Television Reporter, Shannon Pettypiece; BakerHostetler Partner Steven H. Goldberg; Senior Vice President - General Counsel E.W. Scripps Company, William Appleton; BakerHostetler Associate Henry C. Bodenheimer; and M&A Advisor CEO & Founder, Roger Aguinaldo

Facing a competitive bidding process, a 72-hour window in which to conduct negotiations and a strict 90-day deadline to close the deal, BakerHostetler’s Mergers and Acquisitions (M&A) Team overcame these challenges and more for The E.W. Scripps Company to complete its purchase of McGraw-Hill’s Broadcasting Group. With the $212 million transaction, Scripps became the second largest owner of independent ABC television affiliates. For its role as counsel, BakerHostetler took home the “Sector Deal of the Year (From $100 million to $1 billion)” honors in the Technology, Media and Telecom category at the 11th annual M&A Advisor Awards and was recognized as a finalist for “M&A Deal of the Year ($100 million to $1 billion),” further reinforcing our status as a go-to firm for middle-market mergers and acquisitions.

This is the second time The M&A Advisor, an industry organization for the world’s leading M&A, financing and restructuring professionals, has recognized BakerHostetler for stellar work in middle-market transactions. In 2010, we received “Middle-Market Deal of the Year (From $100 to $250 million)” for our role as lead counsel to The E.W. Scripps Company in its sale of Character Licensing, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Scripps responsible for the licensing of the Peanuts characters. The transaction also earned a finalist designation in the “Media, Entertainment or Telecom ($500 million and less)” category.

BakerHostetler’s M&A Team is a recognized leader in middle-market transactions. In 2012 and 2010, we were named a top-tier, middle market (sub $500 million) mergers and acquisitions firm by the The Legal 500. Clients praised the team for its “overall level of superior service,” and The Legal 500 noted the team’s exceptional work in advising TransDigm in its $1.265 billion acquisition of McKechnie Aerospace Holdings and in representing Enterprise GP Holdings in its $9.1 billion merger into Enterprise Product Partners. Since 2004, we have served as primary transaction counsel to TransDigm Group, Inc. and represented TransDigm in more than 20 acquisitions and dispositions, including its recent acquisition of AmSafe Global Holdings, Inc. for $750 million in 2012.

Clients speak highly of our M&A team, stating "I was the financial advisor to a special committee in a particularly difficult transaction. Working with the BakerHostetler team was the highlight of the transaction. They were skilled, professional, responsive and enjoyable to work with (a rarity these days). I would gladly recommend them," according to U.S. News— Best Lawyers® "Best Law Firms."

No stranger to large deals involving millions—and billions—of dollars, we regularly counsel clients in “bet-the-firm” transactions, such as the $4.5 billion acquisition of Encore Acquisition Company by Denbury Resources, Inc. The merger created one of the country's largest independent North American exploration and production companies, as well as one of the largest carbon dioxide-enhanced oil recovery systems across the Gulf Coast and Rocky Mountains.

In addition to counseling large organizations on multibillion dollar transactions, our corporate practice excels in representing public and private companies in complex matters. Many clients have trusted our corporate counsel for 25 years or more, relying on us for their governance and transactional needs, as well as guidance for other extraordinary events. We regularly advise companies in complicated matters involving the use of special committees, conflicts of interest at the board or executive level, exploration of strategic alternatives and competing acquisition proposals. For example, we counseled the Audit, Conflicts and Governance Committee of the general partner of Enterprise GP Holdings L.P. in the $9.1 billion merger of Enterprise GP Holdings L.P. into Enterprise Products Partners L.P.

Additional accolades earned by our M&A Team include:
 

• Recognized by Chambers USA in 2012 as having a top mergers and acquisitions practice in Florida and Ohio, and a highly regarded New York practice;
• Eight mergers and acquisitions attorneys ranked by Chambers USA in 2012;
• Featured as “a firm to watch” by The Deal magazine;
• Ranked among the top 10 U.S. law firms for merger and acquisition deals in the oil, gas and oilfield service industries by The Deal magazine.
• The Legal 500 named BakerHostetler a top national firm in Middle-Market M&A. Individual members of the M&A Group in New York, Ohio and Houston were also recognized for their practices. 

When organizations are seeking to acquire or be acquired, they trust the reliable transactional counsel at BakerHostetler, supporting clients’ business objectives nationally and internationally, in all types of transactions—inbound and outbound, public and private—in any industry.