Stanley Blackburn

W. Stanley Blackburn joined the firm in 1976 and was admitted to partnership in 1982. Mr. Blackburn practices in the areas of corporate, corporate finance, and international law. He concentrates his practice on the representation of clients in U.S. and international mergers and acquisitions, joint ventures, strategic alliances, issuances of debt and equity securities, and other business transactions. He also frequently advises clients on issues relating to non-transactional matters, including corporate governance, legal compliance, and shareholder rights. His experience includes:

• Represented publicly-held and private companies such as AT&T (and predecessors BellSouth and Cingular Wireless), Equifax, Fidelity National Information Services (Certegy), Georgia-Pacific, Interface, Landmark Communications (The Weather Channel), Lockheed-Martin, Estate of Martin Luther King, Jr., and Zodiac S.A. in connection with a wide variety of domestic and international acquisition, disposition, consortium, strategic alliance and joint venture matters, with values ranging as high as €18 billion.
• Advised clients such as ING, BellSouth, Equifax, Fidelity National, and Interface on various corporate finance and investment matters, involving private and public offerings of debt and equity securities.
• Advised three NYSE companies and one NASDAQ company in connection with recent corporate governance matters, including efforts to comply with the Sarbanes-Oxley Act and other corporate governance reform initiatives.
• Mr. Blackburn is recognized in the 2019 and the 14 years immediately preceding editions of The Best Lawyers in America® for Corporate Law and Mergers & Acquisitions Law. He is also listed in the 2018 and the nine years immediately preceding editions of Chambers USA: America’s Leading Lawyers for Business for Corporate/Mergers & Acquisitions. Mr. Blackburn is recognized as a Georgia “Super Lawyer” by Super Lawyers magazine in the areas of Securities & Corporate Finance and Business/Corporate in 2009, in Mergers & Acquisitions in 2018 and the nine years immediately preceding, and as a Top 100 Georgia “Super Lawyer” in 2013. Mr. Blackburn was named as a top “Dealmaker” of 2008 by the Atlanta Business Chronicle. In 2013, 2014, 2015, and 2016, Mr. Blackburn was recognized by International Who’s Who of Business Lawyers for Mergers & Acquisitions.
• In 2011, The Boys and Girls Clubs of America honored Mr. Blackburn with the National Service to Youth Award for his volunteer service as a board member and officer of Boys and Girls Clubs of Metro Atlanta, Inc.

Experience:

• Represented AT&T in connection with an exchange transaction with Verizon Wireless in which Verizon transferred cellular licenses, network facilities, subscribers, and other assets in Vermont, New York and Washington to AT&T in exchange for similar assets in Kentucky, cash and other consideration.
• The firm served as lead counsel for BellSouth in the purchase of the interests of Vodafone and RWE in the parties’ E-Plus German wireless joint venture and the related creation of a strategic joint venture with Royal KPN, N.V., a Dutch telecommunications company, in transaction initially valued at €18.7 billion. The firm subsequently assisted BellSouth in connection with the conversion of its joint venture interests into a minority interest in publicly-held KPN and the sale of that interest.
• Represented Equifax, Inc., one of the United States’ largest credit reporting agencies, in its $1.4 billion acquisition of publicly held TALX corporation for a combination of stock and cash. The transaction was structured as a tax-free reorganization with a unique share buy back structure to prevent share dilution.
• Represented a global telecommunications company in its multibillion dollar acquisition of wireless spectrum from a Northern telecommunications company.
• Representing one of the largest U.S. forest products manufacturers in the sale of two if its Southeast pulp operations for $610 million.
• Represented Zodiac Aerospace in its acquisition of C&D Aerospace, an aircraft interiors manufacturer with operations in the United States, Canada, France, Brazil, and Mexico.
• Represented a global telecommunications company in the sale of its interactive network that is the backbone for certain blackberry devices to one of the world’s leading private investment firms.
• Represented Landmark Communications Inc. in the sale of its weather-related businesses, including The Weather Channel and weather.com, to a consortium comprised of NBC Universal, Bain Capital and The Blackstone Group (amount not disclosed). The Weather Channel was the third largest U.S. cable network, and weather.com was the U.S.’s leading weather website.
• Represented Certegy Inc., a major publicly held credit card and check verification company, in its $4.5 billion merger with Fidelity National Information Services Inc. and related special dividend to shareholders. The firm also advised the company on issues regarding executive compensation and employee benefits matters relating to the merger.
• Represented the State of South Carolina in connection with the execution of a historic bi-state agreement with the State of Georgia providing for the two states jointly to develop a new ocean marine terminal on the Savannah River in Jasper County, South Carolina. The agreement provides for the creation, pursuant to a Congressionally-approved interstate compact, of a new entity to develop, own and operate the terminal. The initial phase of this Project is expected to cost up to U.S. $5 billion.

Education:

• University of Virginia School of Law, J.D. (1976)Order of the Coif, Notes Editor of Virginia Law Review
• Auburn University, B.S., Economics (1973) high honors

Admissions:

• Georgia (1976)