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Inside the Booming Private Equity Market: Experts Share Experiences at IFA Legal Symposium
Private equity investors eager to purchase franchise operations have brought a new dimension to franchising in the past few years and have the potential to keep franchising invigorated in the future. A panel discussion at the International Franchise Association's Legal Symposium in May explored the motivations of sellers and buyers in private equity deals and the role that legal counsel plays in getting deals done.
'We did not have to sell, but we chose to,' said Dina Dwyer-Owens, CEO and Board Chair of The Dwyer Group (Waco, TX), whose experience selling to The Riverside Company, a private equity firm in San Francisco, was the reference for much of the panel discussion. The Dwyer Group owns 10 franchising businesses with about 800 franchises in the United States and 275 in 15 other countries. It was a public company at the time of the sale, but was in many ways still a classic family-owned and family-run operation, with 66% of the shares held by family members.
In early 2001, the Dwyer Group's Board of Directors decided to solicit strategic investors or buyers, and it met with representatives from about 25 firms. 'We felt that the company's value was not being reflected in our stock price, which was stuck at $4.25/share in a thinly traded stock,' said Dwyer-Owens. 'Family members were seeking liquidity.'
Major Differences In UK, U.S. Copyright Laws
This article highlights how copyright law in the United Kingdom differs from U.S. copyright law, and points out differences that may be crucial to entertainment and media businesses familiar with U.S law that are interested in operating in the United Kingdom or under UK law. The article also briefly addresses contrasts in UK and U.S. trademark law.
Strategy vs. Tactics: Two Sides of a Difficult Coin
With each successive large-scale cyber attack, it is slowly becoming clear that ransomware attacks are targeting the critical infrastructure of the most powerful country on the planet. Understanding the strategy, and tactics of our opponents, as well as the strategy and the tactics we implement as a response are vital to victory.
The Article 8 Opt In
The Article 8 opt-in election adds an additional layer of complexity to the already labyrinthine rules governing perfection of security interests under the UCC. A lender that is unaware of the nuances created by the opt in (may find its security interest vulnerable to being primed by another party that has taken steps to perfect in a superior manner under the circumstances.
Removing Restrictive Covenants In New York
In Rockwell v. Despart, the New York Supreme Court, Third Department, recently revisited a recurring question: When may a landowner seek judicial removal of a covenant restricting use of her land?