About Jeffrey R. Patt

Jeffrey Patt represents entrepreneurs, high-growth companies and the investors who invest in these companies. Jeff regularly handles complex and strategic financial M&A transactions and recapitalizations, serves as board and special committee counsel in going-private and related-party transactions, and represents management teams and executives in change in control transactions.

A pragmatic approach to complex deals

Jeff represents a wide range of clients in a variety of corporate matters, including public and private capital transactions, mergers and acquisitions, joint ventures and corporate governance matters. He has been recognized by The Legal 500 US and Chambers USA for his middle-market M&A practice for the past several years and, more recently, by Chambers USA for his work with startups and emerging companies. According to Chambers USA, clients say Jeff "finds pragmatic solutions to complex problems and convinces the other side that is the right approach." Clients rely on Jeff's candor and efficient problem-solving.

Jeff regularly speaks on a range of topics, including corporate governance and structuring considerations, stockholders' agreements, appraisal rights and remedies, and incenting and retaining management and key employees. Jeff has served as a judge for the Loyola Family Business Center's annual Illinois Family Business of the Year awards. He also has served as a member of the advisory board to the Chicago office of an international bank.

Since 2006, Jeff has been an adjunct professor at Chicago-Kent College of Law, teaching a mergers and acquisitions class as part of the LLM program in International and Comparative Law. Additionally, Jeff serves on the alumni board for The Chicago-Kent Law Review, and Jeff's contributions to his alma mater were recognized with a Distinguished Service Award in 2018. Jeff is the co-author of a book on stockholders' agreements.

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"Jeffrey provides clear and concise means of understanding complex deal dynamics and best negotiation tactics to reduce legal risks." "Jeffrey is extremely knowledgeable on how to negotiate a deal."

Chambers USA 2023
(USA Nationwide, Startups & Emerging Companies) survey response

Practice Focus

  • Entrepreneurs, including high-growth companies and family-owned businesses
  • Mergers and acquisitions
  • Capital raising, including venture capital and mezzanine financings
  • Corporate governance
  • Management representations

Representative Experience

  • Entrepreneurial ventures - companies
  • A SaaS company focused on master data governance solutions in a sale to a private equity-backed company.
  • A SaaS company focused on corporate education and training in a sale to a venture-backed Belgian company.
  • A SaaS company focused on cloud-related services in the sale of its Microsoft business to a portfolio company of a private equity firm.
  • A SaaS company focused on sales enablement in several rounds of venture capital and subordinated debt financings, acquisitions on both the US and UK and ongoing corporate and IP matters.
  • A provider of data and analytics solutions for health care organizations in a sale to a private equity-backed company.
  • Entrepreneurial ventures - investors
  • The venture capital arm of a publicly traded energy company in more than 50 venture capital investments relating to clean technology and related solutions.
  • An investment fund focused on health care in more than a dozen venture investments, ranging from seed capital to late-stage.
  • The venture capital arm of an international consumer product company in several early-stage venture investments.
  • An investment fund focused on pharma and biologic investments in more than a dozen crossover and cornerstone investments.
  • A venture capital fund focused on early-stage investments in insurance-related technology and software.
  • Mergers and acquisitions
  • A publicly traded financial services company, in a variety of matters, including several acquisitions of broker-dealers and clearing operations and public and private capital transactions.
  • A wealth management firm in an acquisition and a control transaction with a private equity-backed financial services firm.
  • An operator of recovery centers in its sale to a publicly traded health care services company for $350 million.
  • A private equity fund in the acquisition of an industrial company for $40 million and subsequent sale of the same business for $120 million; the acquisitions of a food production business, an owner-operated home health care business and a shipping logistics business; the sale of a play area manufacturer; and ongoing financing and corporate work for each of these businesses.
  • A private equity sponsor and its portfolio companies in more than 20 transactions, including the acquisition of a company publicly traded in Canada, a $4 billion going-private transaction, the sale of six K-12 schools to a public company for $575 million, the sale of a specialty insurance company to a publicly traded company for approximately $100 million, the sale of a data center to a publicly traded REIT for approximately $175 million, and several for-profit education and education services transactions.
  • Management and founder engagements
  • The management of an operator of hospitals in the sale of the company from a private equity firm to a combination of a publicly traded REIT and another private equity firm for a total value of about $1.75 billion.
  • The founder and 18 percent equity holder, along with management, of a packaging and distribution company in a $1.4 billion sale to a private equity fund.
  • The management of a logistics company in the sale of the company by one private equity firm to another for a value of approximately $700 million.
  • The management of a leading provider of marine transportation services for the offshore petroleum exploration industry in the company’s emergence from bankruptcy.
  • The management of a health system optimization services company in the sale of the company from one private equity firm to another for a value of approximately $130 million.
  • Board and special committee engagements
  • The special committee of the board of directors of a publicly traded financial services company in a sale to a private equity fund for approximately $6.3 billion.
  • The special committee of the board of directors of a publicly traded hotel operator in a sale transaction valued at approximately $1.3 billion.
  • The independent directors of an operator of senior care facilities in connection with a related party transaction that arose during a sale to a private equity fund.
  • The special committee of the board of directors of a publicly traded retailer in a stock-for-stock merger with a publicly traded related party.
  • The board of directors of a venture-backed managed security services provider in a sale to a publicly traded Japanese communications company for approximately $225 million.

Presentations and Events