William J. Conti concentrates his practice in the areas of mergers and acquisitions, corporate and federal securities law, finance, and general business and transactional matters. Bill serves as lead acquisition counsel for several of the largest corporations in the world and investment funds in both domestic and international transactions.
He has extensive international mergers and acquisitions experience and has served as lead counsel in more than 40 cross-border transactions. He has represented clients as lead securities counsel in initial public offerings, private placements, going-private transactions, proxy contests and in connection with tender offers, as well as in general compliance matters.
His finance experience arises primarily in connection with the financing of acquisitions, for which he also acts as lead acquisition counsel. Since 1994, Bill has served as head of the firm’s Washington, D.C., office business practice, which includes administrative responsibility for and coordination of the securities, corporate, finance, mergers and acquisitions, and other practices in the D.C. office and with the firm’s 10 other offices.
Experience :
- Served as lead corporate and acquisitions counsel for a Fortune 100 corporation in numerous national and multinational acquisitions and private equity investments in the life sciences and other industries. Efforts included structuring and negotiating acquisitions; negotiating letters of intent and term sheets; negotiating and preparing all transactional documentation, including acquisition agreements, employment consulting agreements and noncompetition agreements; and coordinating legal, corporate, tax and employee benefit and labor diligence.
- Served as lead corporate and securities counsel for a New York Stock Exchange (NYSE)-listed REIT in a major public reorganization (aggregate value of more than $1 billion). Efforts included representing approximately 20 affiliated publicly held partnerships in connection with the preparation of proxy material seeking an approval of reorganization, obtaining SEC clearance for a proxy material and special meeting approving the transaction, and addressing fiduciary issues arising under corporate law.
- Served as lead corporate counsel in the representation of a German-owned holding company in a redemption of preferred stock from the seller of the client’s U.S. subsidiary. Efforts included reviewing and analyzing the acquisition agreement pursuant to which preferred stock was issued and governing terms of redemption were established, coordinating the tax analysis and structuring with tax counsel, and documenting the redemption.
- Serving as lead securities and corporate counsel in the representation of a publicly held provider of cable television programming. Efforts include advising on all aspects of federal securities law compliance and preparing periodic reports and proxy material, general corporate and business representation, and analyzing for a possible sale or reorganization.
- Serves as the designated opinion reviewer responsible for ensuring compliance with the firm-wide legal opinion policy.
- Serves as the firm-wide designated securities reviewing partner responsible for performing “cold reviews” of all offering materials for designated securities offerings pursuant to firm policy.
Education :
- J.D., Georgetown University Law Center, 1978
- B.A., Georgetown University, 1975,cum laude
Admissions :
- U.S. Court of Federal Claims, 1982
- U.S. District Court, District of Columbia, 1979
- District of Columbia
Cost
Rate : $$$