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Overview

Corporate Transactions Lawyers Providing Sophisticated Legal Counsel for Complex Business Matters

With 45+ dedicated corporate transactions attorneys, Calfee’s Corporate and Finance practice group is one of the largest and most prolific in Ohio, handling a significant number of complex and sophisticated business and financial transactions for clients across the country and globally.

Calfee’s Corporate Transactions Attorneys: What We Do

Calfee's corporate transactions lawyers advise businesses on mergers and acquisitions, securities offerings, commercial lending, public finance, and corporate governance matters. Our team handles 60-75 M&A transactions annually and has represented clients in more than 230 public and Rule 144A offerings since 1981.

Our practice encompasses:

  • Mergers and Acquisitions (M&A): Representing private equity firms, public companies, and privately held businesses in buy-side and sell-side transactions
  • Capital Markets: Counseling issuers and underwriters in public offerings, private placements, and SEC compliance
  • Commercial Lending: Structuring domestic and international financings for financial institutions and borrowers
  • Public Finance: Serving as bond counsel, underwriter's counsel, and issuer's counsel for governmental borrowings
  • Corporate Governance: Providing SEC reporting, compliance, and governance advice to public and private companies

Mergers, Acquisitions, and Divestitures

Calfee's boasts a robust M&A practice, completing 60-75 merger and acquisition transactions annually for private equity clients, strategic buyers, and privately held and publicly traded companies. Our corporate transactions lawyers represent financial and strategic buyers, sellers, and investment banks across diverse industries.

Our M&A practice is distinguished by:

  • Active representation of private equity firms in platform acquisitions and add-on transactions
  • Counsel to NYSE and NASDAQ-listed companies in strategic acquisitions and divestitures
  • Deep relationships with investment banking firms that drive deal flow
  • Experience with complex transaction structures, including ESOPs, cross-border acquisitions, and representations and warranties insurance

Capital Markets and Securities

Calfee has represented issuers and underwriters in more than 230 public and Rule 144A offerings since 1981. Our corporate transactions team provides comprehensive capital markets services, including:

  • Public Offerings: IPOs, follow-on offerings, and debt issuances for NYSE and NASDAQ-listed companies
  • Private Placements: Rule 144A offerings and Regulation D transactions
  • SEC Compliance: Periodic reporting, proxy statements, and disclosure obligations
  • Corporate Governance: Board advisory services, stockholder matters, and executive compensation

Commercial Lending

Calfee’s Commercial Lending practice represents clients in all aspects of domestic and international transactions, financings, and debt structures, counseling financial institutions and borrowers by:

  • Analyzing, structuring, documenting, and negotiating all aspects of finance in private, public, syndicated, international, and governmental settings.
  • Assisting companies in developing and structuring the commercial aspects of domestic and international business relationships, such as development projects, sales, distribution arrangements, and multinational ventures.

We are among those select firms with an independent practice dedicated solely to commercial business and finance, setting high standards of excellence for other commercial lending practices.

Public Finance Transactions

Calfee's Public Finance team handles the full spectrum of governmental borrowings, from municipal bonds to complex public-private partnership structures. Our attorneys have served as:

  • Bond Counsel: Providing tax and securities law opinions for governmental issuers
  • Underwriter's Counsel: Representing investment banks in municipal securities offerings
  • Disclosure Counsel: Drafting official statements and ensuring compliance with SEC Rule 15c2-12
  • Issuer's Counsel: Advising governmental entities on financing structures
  • Borrower's Counsel: Representing private entities in conduit financings

Our public finance practice encompasses economic development incentives, tax increment financing (TIF), and public-private partnership (P3) transactions for projects including urban redevelopment, student housing, sports facilities, and healthcare infrastructure.

Corporate Governance, SEC Reporting, and Compliance

Calfee provides corporate governance and SEC compliance services to companies, including NYSE and NASDAQ-listed issuers. Our corporate transactions attorneys advise on a range of matters, including:

  • Board composition and structure
  • Stockholder meetings and proxy contests
  • SEC periodic reporting (Forms 10-K, 10-Q, 8-K)
  • Insider trading policies and Section 16 compliance
  • Sarbanes-Oxley Act and Dodd-Frank Act requirements
  • ESG disclosure and sustainability reporting

Services Our Corporate Transactions Attorneys Provide 

Whether your business is a new venture navigating the early stages of formation, organization, and capital raising, or an established enterprise undertaking complex contract negotiations, corporate succession planning, a significant merger, acquisition, or divestiture, or a complex commercial or public finance transaction, we will guide you through the inevitable and unexpected legal hurdles to achieve your organization's objectives. 

Combining technical and legal expertise with business insights and sound judgment cultivated over years of corporate counseling, Calfee attorneys provide superior, customized service in a timely and cost-effective manner in the following areas of concentration: 

  • Business Restructuring and Insolvency: Representing creditors and debtors in workout negotiations and bankruptcy proceedings
  • Capital Raising: Structuring public and private securities offerings
  • Commercial Finance and Banking: Counseling financial institutions and borrowers on domestic and international financings
  • Contractual Arrangements: Drafting and negotiating commercial agreements
  • Corporate Governance and Compliance: Advising on board matters and regulatory obligations
  • Employment-Related Matters: Addressing workforce issues in transactions
  • Executive Compensation: Designing equity and incentive plans
  • Mergers, Acquisitions, and Joint Ventures: Representing buyers, sellers, and investors in M&A transactions
  • Public Finance Transactions: Serving as bond counsel, underwriter's counsel, disclosure counsel, issuer's counsel, and borrower's counsel
  • Risk Management: Identifying and mitigating legal and business risks
  • Succession Planning: Structuring ownership transitions for family businesses
  • Tax: Coordinating with tax counsel on transaction structures

Differentiators

Calfee Corporate and Finance attorneys are committed to fostering deep and long-standing relationships with our clients. This requires understanding our clients' overall business goals and their specific goals for each transaction and matter we handle. We invest our time developing in-depth knowledge of the industries in which our clients operate to better understand their complex legal and business issues and provide more insightful, practical advice.

Finally, in conducting client feedback interviews, we have learned that beyond experience and expertise, Calfee clients value our high level of responsiveness and collaboration (both internal and with our clients), our understanding of clients' risk tolerance levels, and our desire to customize communications to match our clients' unique preferences.

Noteworthy

Chambers USA Leading Law Firm Rankings 

For more than a decade, Calfee has been recognized as a Leading Law Firm for Corporate/M&A by Chambers USA, most recently in Band 1 in Ohio: North and Band 2 in Ohio: South and Central and in Band 2 in Banking & Finance in Ohio (2026).

Clients provided feedback to Chambers USA researchers, "Calfee consistently generates exceptional outcomes for their clients. They are extremely responsive and meet tight deadlines. Their lawyers represent the client's best interests while also conducting themselves in a collegial and professional manner. They offer exceptional service levels. The firm has done an excellent job with some of our most difficult transactions and brings a business sensibility while protecting and mitigating our risk."

Best Lawyers® “Best Law Firms” Rankings

Calfee was selected for inclusion in the 2026 "Best Law Firms" rankings in the following areas:

  • Banking and Finance Law (National Tier 2, Regional Tier 1 Cleveland)
  • Closely Held Companies and Family Businesses Law (Regional Tier 1 Cleveland)
  • Commercial Finance Law (Regional Tier 1 Cleveland)
  • Corporate Compliance Law (Regional Tier 2 Cleveland, Regional Tier 1 Cincinnati)
  • Corporate Governance Law (Regional Tier 2 Cleveland)
  • Corporate Law (National Tier 1, Regional Tier 1 Cleveland, Regional Tier 1 Columbus, Regional Tier 1 Cincinnati)
  • Financial Services Regulation Law (Regional Tier 2 Cincinnati)
  • International Mergers and Acquisitions (Regional Tier 2 Cleveland)
  • Leveraged Buyouts and Private Equity Law (National Tier 2, Regional Tier 1 Cleveland, Regional Tier 1 Cincinnati)
  • Mergers & Acquisitions Law (National Tier 1, Regional Tier 1 Cleveland, Regional Tier 1 Columbus, Regional Tier 1 Cincinnati) 
  • Public Finance Law (National Tier 3, Regional Tier 1 Cleveland)
  • Securities / Capital Markets Law (National Tier 2, Regional Tier 1 Cleveland, Regional Tier 1 Cincinnati)
  • Securities Regulation (National Tier 1, Regional Tier 1 Cleveland, Regional Tier 1 Cincinnati)
  • Tax Law (Regional Tier 1 Cleveland)

IFLR1000 (United States), Guide to the World's Leading Financial and Corporate Law Firms and Lawyers

Calfee was selected for inclusion in IFLR1000 – Guide to the World's Leading Financial and Corporate Law Firms in 2025:

  • Banking: USA Notable; Ohio Tier 1
  • Capital Markets: Ohio Active
  • M&A: Ohio Tier 2
  • Restructuring & Insolvency: Ohio Tier 2

IFLR1000 researchers quoted a Calfee client describing Calfee's Banking Group in the following way: "Everything they did seemed a level above all my prior dealings with other law firms."

Professionals

Professionals

Melissa C. Anderson
Compliance Operations & Risk Consultant
Laura E. Burg
Compliance Operations & Risk Consultant
Arthur C. Hall III
Firm Administrative Partner; Partner-in-Charge, Cleveland
Michael B. Hurley
Vice Chair, Corporate and Finance
John J. McGuire
Co-Chair, Corporate and Finance
Eric  Myers
Compliance Operations and Risk Consultant

Experience

Experience

Our Corporate and Finance attorneys work collaboratively with their colleagues across Calfee’s 30+ practice areas to ensure that transactions and other client matters are handled efficiently and by the attorney with the necessary experience and skills. We regularly collaborate with attorneys in other practice areas on client matters to provide efficient and well-informed legal counsel and services.

Representative Matters

  • Exclusive counsel to a B2B-focused private equity firm in connection with the acquisition of the equity of a leading technology-enabled, specialty distributor of elastomer components. The transaction represented a new platform acquisition for the client that gave them the opportunity to, among other things, implement a buy-and-build strategy for the acquired company to allow it to augment its current product offering and broaden its distribution facility footprint. Calfee was exclusive counsel in negotiating all aspects of the transaction for the client.
  • Served as counsel to an American manufacturer of food products in its March 2020 public offering of $500 million of 2.375% Notes due 2030 and $300 million of 3.550% Notes due 2050.
  • Exclusive U.S. counsel to an American multinational manufacturing company specializing in sealants, coatings, and building materials in connection with the acquisition of the shares of capital stock of a leading manufacturer of trenchless pipe rehabilitation equipment. This matter allowed the client to acquire a leader in the inflow and infiltration market that will result in channel synergies for certain subsidiaries of the client. Calfee was exclusive U.S. counsel in negotiating all aspects of the transaction for the client and also oversaw the client's Quebec counsel to ensure that the peculiarities of Quebec law were adequately addressed in the acquisition.
  • Counsel to a global packaging supplier and its equity holders in connection with the sale of its membership interests to an affiliate of a packaging company known for its food and bubble wrap brands. An employee stock ownership plan (ESOP) owned approximately 67% of the equity of the client (the ESOP trustee retained separate counsel during the transaction). In addition, prior to the closing, an “F” reorganization was conducted, which required a separate vote to approve the transaction from the nearly 1,000 ESOP participants. The client also operates in numerous foreign jurisdictions and has a significant number of overseas employees, which required input from various foreign counsels (for both the buyer and the sellers). The transaction involved the use of representations and warranties insurance that resulted in a “no seller indemnity” transaction. Calfee was responsible for negotiating all U.S. aspects of the transaction for the client and its equity holders, as well as overseeing foreign counsel in the UK, France, Belgium, Thailand, and India that assisted in various aspects of the transaction.
  • Exclusive counsel to an American multinational manufacturing company specializing in sealants, coatings, and building materials in connection with the acquisition of the membership interests of a leading manufacturer of edible coatings, stabilizers, and specialty ingredients. The acquisition resulted in strong synergies for the client's subsidiaries. Calfee was exclusive counsel in negotiating all aspects of the transaction for the client.
  • Calfee's client, a business continuity consulting and software company, was acquired by a platform company of a software-focused private equity firm. Our deal team served as exclusive counsel for the seller and drafted and negotiated the purchase agreement, employment agreements, restrictive covenant agreements, and various other ancillary documents agreements. This deal was unique in that the Letter of Intent (LOI) was executed in January 2020 and most of the negotiations occurred during the COVID-19 pandemic quarantine, including many “firsts” such as how to handle a change in control with a Paycheck Protection Program loan issued under the U.S. CARES Act, the impact of COVID-19 on force majeure clauses and related matters. The deal closed as the rest of the M&A world came to a halt.
  • Exclusive counsel to an American multinational manufacturing company specializing in sealants, coatings, and building materials in connection with the acquisition of a manufacturer of joint sealants for commercial construction, and a business that markets and sells said products. This acquisition strengthened the client's commercial sealants and waterproofing business position as a global market leader. Calfee was exclusive counsel in negotiating all aspects of the transaction for the client.

Doing Business in Ohio

Doing Business in Ohio

With offices spanning the state of Ohio and deep connections in the state’s capital, Calfee’s Corporate and Finance attorneys regularly assist clients who are starting, relocating, or expanding business operations in the state. Calfee attorneys are experienced in helping clients understand and participate in Ohio’s state loan and grant programs, state tax credits, and other state programs such as JobsOhio. 

Calfee attorneys have developed a Guide to Doing Business in Ohio, which details important information for business owners and executives operating in Ohio or considering moving or starting a business enterprise in the state. If you would like to receive a copy of the Guide, please contact your Calfee attorney or one of our Practice Contacts.

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What Is Next?

Calfee's Corporate and Finance practice "draws from an impressive statewide team with a strong track record across a broad range of corporate and transactional matters. Areas of excellence include M&A, securities offerings, and private equity and venture capital fund formation...financing corporate transactions, capital markets work, bankruptcy and workout matters and counseling on regulatory compliance."

Chambers USA

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