Gerald Thomas

As chair of McGuireWoods’ Tax & Employee Benefits Department, Gerald V. Thomas focuses his practice on complex transactional tax matters. He offers significant experience with mergers and acquisitions, restructurings and reorganizations, private equity funds, joint ventures, real estate investment trusts (REITs), financing transactions, and corporate and partnership tax planning.

Gerald frequently represents independent sponsors and private equity funds in M&A deals and has extensive experience in structuring such deals in a tax efficient manner. Gerald also has represented numerous REITs in public offerings, joint ventures, and mergers and acquisitions totaling billions of dollars.

Prior to joining McGuireWoods, Gerald was a lead transactional tax partner at two Atlanta-based law firms with national and international connections. He also was a tax principal in the Atlanta office of a “Big 4” accounting firm.

An active member of his community, Gerald co-chairs and co-founded Soul Visions Educational Foundation Inc. which awards college scholarships to high school students, and serves on the board of Cool Girls, Inc., a non-profit organization dedicated to the self-empowerment of girls.

EXPERIENCE :

• Representation of LLR Partners, a middle market private equity firm, in its acquisition of all of the equity interests of Learn-It Systems, an educational services company.
• Representation of LLR Partners, a middle market private equity firm, in its $30 million investment in Schweiger Dermatology Group.
• Representation of Sheridan Capital Partners, a private equity firm, in its majority recapitalization of Smile Doctors, largest orthodontic dental support organization with
• Representation of O2Cool, a leading designer, manufacturer and distributor of personal consumer products, in its acquisition of Zing Anything, an innovative hydration brand.
• Representation of the Special Committee of Griffin-American Healthcare REIT II Inc. in its $4 billion merger transaction with NorthStar Realty Corp.
• Representation of Dominion Energy (NYSE: D), one of the largest energy and utility companies in the U.S., in a registered offering of $650 million of 2015 Series B 3.90% Senior Notes due 2025.
• Representation of Park Sterling Corp. (NASDAQ: PSTB), a Charlotte, NC-based community bank, in its $691 million merger with South State Corp., a Columbia, SC-based bank holding company.
• Representation of a leading food service and support services company in its $350 million acquisition of a majority of the stock of a food and dining management services company.
• Representation of one of the largest providers of Outpatient Surgery in the U.S. in its reorganization of a California-based surgical center.

Education :

• New York University, LLM, Taxation, 1998
• New York University School of Law, JD, Graduate Editor, Tax Law Review, 1997
• New York University Leonard N. Stern School of Business, BS, magna cum laude, 1994

Admissions :

• Georgia
• New York

Affiliations :

• Member, Editorial Advisory Board, Tax, Law360, 2018 – present
• Chair, Real Estate Investment Trust committee, ABA Section of Real Property, Trust and Estate Law
• Member, Taxation Section, American Bar Association
• Member, National Association of Real Estate Investment Trusts (NAREIT)