Erin Cleary is a tax partner and a member of the firm’s Tax Department and Investment Management Group. Her practice focuses on advising private equity and corporate clients on a broad range of M&A transactions, as well as advising sponsors on the formation of U.S. and international private equity funds.
Ms. Cleary joined Debevoise in 2008. She received a J.D. magna cum laude from Rutgers School of Law-Newark in 2008, where she was a member of Order of the Coif, editor-in-chief of the Law Review and a recipient of the Alumni Senior Prize.
Ms. Cleary received her undergraduate degree with high honors from Douglass College, Rutgers University in 2002. Ms. Cleary is a member of the Bars of New York and New Jersey.
Experience:
- Transactions
- Clayton, Dubilier & Rice and TRANZACT in the $1.2 billion sale of TRANZACT to Willis Towers Watson.
- Hojeij Branded Foods in its $330 million sale to Lagardère Travel Retail.
- Clayton, Dubilier & Rice in its joint investment with Cardinal Health in naviHealth, the largest manager of post-acute benefits for health plans and a leading value-based care partner to health systems and providers.
- Solenis, a Clayton, Dubilier & Rice portfolio company, in its combination with BASF’s paper and water chemicals business.
- SunSource, a Clayton, Dubilier & Rice portfolio company, in its acquisition of Ryan Herco Flow Solutions, a distributor of hydraulic and pneumatic fluid power products in the U.S. and Canada.
- Clayton, Dubilier & Rice in its acquisition of a majority interest in American Greetings.
- Syncora Holdings in a reinsurance agreement with Assured Guaranty to reinsure approximately $13.5 billion of financial guaranty policies, representing 91% of Syncora’s outstanding insured exposures.
- Clayton, Dubilier & Rice in its acquisition of SunSource, a distributor of hydraulic and pneumatic fluid power products in the U.S. and Canada.
- Clayton, Dubilier & Rice in its $650 million acquisition of Capco, FIS’s management consulting business.
- Verizon Communications in its $3.1 billion acquisition of Straight Path Communications, a leading wireless spectrum holder.
- Clayton, Dubilier & Rice and Brand Energy and Infrastructure Services in the merger of Brand Energy and Safway Group, forming the leading global industrial service business with over $5 billion in revenue.
- Carmel Partners in the formation of Carmel Partners Investment Fund VI, a $1 billion U.S. real estate fund.
- Brand Energy & Infrastructure Services in its buyout of Harsco Corporation’s 26% interest in Brand, a leading single-source provider of specialized industrial services to the worldwide energy and infrastructure sectors.
- Verizon Communications in its acquisition of Telogis, a provider of Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) technology and services, specifically in the connected vehicle and mobile enterprise management sectors.
- Clayton, Dubilier & Rice in its $415 million acquisition of High Ridge Brands, the largest North American consolidation platform focused on acquiring orphaned personal care brands, from Brynwood Partners.
- Verizon Communications in its $1.8 billion acquisition of XO Communications’ fiber-optic network business.
- Hussmann, a Clayton, Dubilier & Rice portfolio company, in its $1.5 billion sale to Panasonic.
- Kelso & Company in its acquisition of Risk Strategies Company, a national insurance and benefits brokerage and risk management firm, from Kohlberg & Company.
- Verizon Communications in the $10.54 billion sale of its local wireline operations in California, Florida and Texas to Frontier Communications.
- Kelso & Company in its acquisition with Estancia Capital Management of American Beacon.
- TIAA-CREF in its $6.25 billion acquisition of Nuveen Investments.
- Clayton, Dubilier & Rice in its $1.8 billion acquisition of Ashland Water Technologies.
- Clayton, Dubilier & Rice in its acquisitions of Brand Energy and Harsco Infrastructure in a combined transaction valued at $2.5 billion.
- Verizon Communications in its $49 billion bond offering, the largest ever corporate bond issue, as well as over $10 billion in additional debt financing to finance, in part, Verizon’s acquisition of Vodafone Group Plc’s 45% indirect ownership interest in Verizon Wireless.
- FLAG Capital Management in its acquisition of Squadron Capital, a Hong Kong-based private equity investment firm.
- Kelso & Company, as a member of an investor group, in the $3.3 billion acquisition of energy pipeline and infrastructure assets from Kinder Morgan Energy Partners.
- Clayton, Dubilier & Rice in its $1.05 billion acquisition of a majority ownership stake in Wilsonart International Holdings, the decorative surfaces unit of Illinois Tool Works.
- Kelso & Company in its co-investment in Venari Resources, a U.S. deepwater oil-and-gas exploration company.
- Clayton, Dubilier & Rice in its acquisition of a 60% stake in Hussmann International, a leading global manufacturer of refrigerated display merchandizing equipment and refrigeration systems for the retail food industry, from Ingersoll Rand.
- LivingSocial in its acquisition of Ticket Monster, the leading social commerce website in South Korea.
- Reynolds Group in its $4.5 billion acquisition of Graham Packaging Company.
- General Electric in the repurchase of Vivendi’s stock of NBC Universal for approximately $5.8 billion along with advice to NBC Universal on certain corporate matters related to the formation of the NBC Universal – Comcast joint venture valued at $37.5 billion.
- Syncora Holdings and its subsidiary, Syncora Guarantee, in the subsidiary’s comprehensive $6 billion restructuring relating to its transactions with various financial institutions that were counterparties to its credit default swaps and holders of residential mortgage-backed securities that it guaranteed.
- Verizon Communications in the $8.6 billion spin-off and merger of its wireline businesses in 14 states to Frontier Communications Corporation.
- Private Equity Funds
- The Carlyle Group in the formation of Carlyle Europe Partners IV, a €3.75 billion Europe buyout fund.
- The Carlyle Group in the formation of Carlyle Europe Technology Partners III, a €656 million Europe growth capital/technology fund.
- Carmel Partners in the formation of Carmel Partners Investment Fund V, a $1.025 billion U.S. real estate fund.
- The Carlyle Group in the formation of Carlyle Sub-Saharan Africa Fund, a $698 million Sub-Saharan Africa fund.
- Oaktree Capital Management in the formation of Oaktree Real Estate Opportunities Fund VI, a $2.7 billion global real estate fund.
- The Carlyle Group in the formation of Carlyle Cardinal Ireland Fund, a €300 million Ireland-focused growth capital fund.
- The Carlyle Group in the formation of Carlyle Peru Fund, a $308 million Peru buyout/venture fund.
- Oaktree Capital Management in the formation of Oaktree Opportunities Fund IX, a $5.1 billion global distressed debt fund.
Education:
- Rutgers School of Law – Newark, 2008, J.D.
Bar Admissions:
- New Jersey
- New York
Cost
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