Ropes & Gray LLP
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co-head of the Mergers & Acquisitions group for North America and Co-Managing partner of the Boston office; Head of the Retail & Consumer Brands industry group
Partner, Global Co-head of Real Estate Investments and Transactions Group
Kate Withers is a trusted advisor to clients on their most complex corporate transactions and a partner in Ropes & Gray’s global private equity transactions group based in New York and Los Angeles. Kate advises private equity investors and their portfolio companies on structured corporate transactions in the software, digital infrastructure, consumer, technology, health care, life sciences and financial services sectors. Kate’s broad transactional experience—spanning private equity, strategic M&A, special situations, growth and venture capital transactions—and commercial focus on structuring and executing sophisticated corporate transactions to achieve her client’s business objectives enable her to represent clients on their most complex and bespoke corporate transactions, including: Technology-focused carve-out transactions; Domestic and cross-border mergers & acquisitions; Technology-focused joint ventures; Leveraged buyouts; Pharma and music royalty sales and purchases; Distressed acquisitions and special situations; Restructurings and recapitalizations; and Preferred equity and convertible debt investments. In recent years, Kate’s private equity clients have included GI Partners, TPG, KKR & Co., Lindsay Goldberg, HPS Investment Partners, Vista Equity Partners, Crosspoint Capital, and West Coast middle market funds. Kate also has extensive experience representing strategic acquirers across industries on M&A transactions, including Facebook (now Meta), Abcam, Tencent Holdings, The National Geographic Society, Peloton Interactive, Bonobos, BBVA, Humana, Cisco, American Airlines, Allergan, J&J and numerous biotechnology companies on M&A matters. Kate’s passion for advising clients on technology acquisitions and her deep understanding of financial services, software, data and life sciences businesses have their roots in her prior work as a quantitative data analyst in the financial services and health care industries, including at Bank of America, the World Bank, and for an interdisciplinary team of physician and economics researchers at the Wharton School of Business. Prior to attending law school, Kate studied economics as a Fulbright Scholar at the London School of Economics and was a research assistant to George Akerlof (2001 Nobel Laureate in Economics) at the Brookings Institution. Kate has been recognized as a 2022 Top Woman in Dealmaking by The Deal, by The Legal 500—the world’s largest legal referral guide—for her work in “Technology Transactions,” and by Super Lawyers as a Rising Star in M&A in the New York Metro Area. For more information, please visit https://www.ropesgray.com/en/people/w/kate-withers
Morri Weinberg is a partner in the asset management group and co-head of the firm’s private funds practice. He works with private fund sponsors in connection with fundraising, organizational/governance, regulatory and compliance related matters. He also represents institutional investors in connection with their private fund-related investments on a primary, secondary and co-investment basis. Morri's experience also includes transactions involving investment management firms, including joint ventures, spin-offs and acquisitions.
Partner, Member of the Policy CommitteeRandy, who is a member of Ropes & Gray’s governing Policy Committee and former head of the firm’s business and securities litigation practice group, focuses on securities litigation, corporate governance matters, deal-related litigation, contentious insolvency litigation, securities enforcement matters, D&O insurance coverage, and other complex commercial disputes. Called “an engaged, passionate advocate of superior creativity” by Chambers USA, Randy has considerable experience in both the courtroom and the boardroom from his successful representations of corporations, financial services companies, private equity clients, hedge funds and individual officers and directors in corporate and securities disputes across the country. Randy has also conducted numerous internal investigations for clients involving highly sensitive matters, successfully defended against investigations and threatened actions by the SEC, DOJ and other government agencies, and guided companies through grand jury investigations to avoid criminal prosecution.
He has advised many of the firm’s private equity clients and their portfolio companies in numerous capacities, such as analyzing litigation risk in proposed transactions, representing them in court post-acquisition, and in bankruptcy-related litigation. In addition, Richard actively participates in the data, privacy & cybersecurity group, helping clients respond to incidents and defending them in any related proceedings. Richard’s experience in this area includes defending TJX and Target in class action lawsuits brought by financial institutions in the wake of two of the largest data breaches in U.S. history.