Mergers & Acquisitions

Brian advises both public and private companies on mergers, asset and stock acquisitions and sales, consolidations, reorganizations, recapitalizations, and similar transactions. He has counseled both buyers and sellers in M&A transactions spanning numerous industries, including agriculture, manufacturing, technology, banking, consumer goods, and service industries. Brian has extensive experience assisting companies that are acquiring assets in distressed situations such as bankruptcy Section 363 sales, and he works closely with our restructuring and workout group in such transactions.

Recent Transactions

Represented Mid-Continent Paper and Distributing Company, Inc. in the sale of its assets to Imperial Bag & Paper Co. LLC

Represented J.P. Murray Company, Inc. d/b/a Murray Company in the sale of its assets to Estes Partners, LLC

Represented Retirement Plan Services, LLC in the sale of its assets to Epic Advisors, Inc.

Represented Atlas Roofing Corporation in its acquisition of Versa-Tech, Inc.

Represented the owner of Ed’s Drilling and Blasting Company and Conerco, Inc. in connection with their sale to a new owner

Represented APC Integrated Services Group, a vehicle service contracts consumer marketing firm, in connection with investment by Southfield Capital

Represented a network of companies engaged in the business of providing shipping software systems, solutions, equipment and services in the sale of their business in a roll-up transaction to a private equity buyer

Represented a technology services organization headquartered in St. Louis, Missouri with a network of offices across the Midwest in the acquisition of the assets of strategic competitors in Colorado and Kansas

Represented a publicly traded Fortune 500 company in its divestiture of a manufacturing division of the company

Represented a publicly-traded Fortune 500 company in the sale of its subsidiary manufacturer of wire partitions, machine perimeter guarding, storage lockers and other similar products, primarily for industrial use

Represented a publicly-traded Fortune 500 company in the acquisition of a contract manufacturer of fabricated tube and pipe assemblies for the aerospace, power generation, ship and submarine building and high-tech industries

Case Studies

Recapitalization

Brian recently represented G.H. Tool & Mold, Inc. (G.H. Tool) in connection with its majority recapitalization with Tooling Technology Holdings LLC (Tooling Tech), a portfolio company of GenNx360 Capital Partners (GenNx360). The deal closed in October 2015. Founded in 1983 and headquartered in Washington, Missouri, G.H. Tool manufactures tooling and molds for tier-one suppliers and original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) across various end-markets, including automotive, aerospace and defense, outdoor products, and energy. Brian and his team assisted with evaluating offers and negotiated the equity interest purchase agreement and related documents over the course of several months. Said Gerry Hellebusch, founder and CEO of G.H. Tool, "Brian Bouquet and the Lewis Rice team vigorously represented our interests as seller while at the same time not losing sight of my goals to provide for our employees, customers, and suppliers going forward. We valued his advice and counsel throughout the entire transaction."

Challenging Conditions

Representing a publicly traded consumer products company, Brian was presented with the challenge of representing the seller of a commercial equipment company with declining sales and operating losses. Brian and his team were able to negotiate a favorable asset sale agreement and close the sale despite continued deterioration in the financial performance of the target.

Brian D. Bouquet, Member