Choate Announced as Finalist for M&A Advisor "M&A Deal of the Year" Award

Choate announced today that the firm has been named a finalist of the 14th Annual M&A Advisor Awards in three categories, including M&A Deal of the Year ($500 million - $1 billion) and two Sector Deal of the Year categories.  The annual M&A Advisor Awards “celebrate the creativity, perseverance and ingenuity of the industry’s professionals,” and winners will be announced at a gala event on November 17, 2015 in New York City.

Choate was named a finalist for its representation of Windjammer Capital Investors in their sale of portfolio company Protective Industries, Inc. (Caplugs) to Berwind Corporation in April 2015.  The deal, which was Windjammer’s largest transaction ever, represented the capstone on Windjammer’s initial acquisition of Caplugs in May 2011. Choate not only led the May 2011 acquisition, but also handled four separate add-on acquisitions for Windjammer and Caplugs between 2011 and 2015 before working with the companies to craft and direct a sale process that delivered significant value to Windjammer, its limited partners, and Caplugs’ management team.  During Windjammer’s ownership, Caplugs’ revenues and EBITDA more than doubled as a result of both organic and M&A initiatives.

Choate’s nearly 20-lawyer deal team was led by partners Louis Marett (tax), Arthur Meyers (benefits) and Bob Buchanan (antitrust).

Choate is widely regarded as a “go-to” national firm for middle-market M&A transactions in the $10 million to $1 billion range, and is ranked nationally as a Tier 1 firm in Middle-Market M&A by The 2015 Legal 500.  Choate is also ranked by the 2015 edition of Chambers USA as one of the leading practices for Corporate/M&A and Private Equity Buyouts.  Earlier this year, Choate was a finalist in The M&A Advisor International M&A Awards in both the “Cross Border M&A Deal of the Year” ($500 million - $1B) and the “Financial Services Deal of the Year” categories for its representation of Numeric Investors, which was acquired by Man Group in September 2014.

Last year, Choate won The M&A Advisor’s “Restructuring Deal of the Year” ($50 million - $100 million) for representing Salus Capital Partners, LLC in the restructuring and sale of National Envelope.  The firm also won the “Financial Services Deal of the Year” (over $200 million) for representing Century Capital Partners in the sale of its portfolio company Digital Risk to MphasiS.

The M&A Advisor Awards are considered a benchmark for dealmaking excellence, recognizing leading dealmakers, firms, and transactions.  The awards are judged by an independent committee of M&A industry business leaders and are respected as a top honor in the industry.  The M&A Advisor was founded in 1998 to offer insights and intelligence on M&A activities.