Our Private Capital Markets practice is comprised of attorneys who bring a broad range of transactional skills and experience. Our practice encompasses the complete spectrum of industries present in both the domestic and global economy, and includes clients involved in the manufacturing, retail, financial services, e-commerce, biotechnology, healthcare, technology, computer and defense industries.

We have effected both domestic transactions involving institutional investors as well as complex multi-national transactions. We structure, negotiate, and close mergers, acquisitions, divestitures, leveraged buy-outs, venture capital transactions, franchising arrangements, private placements, reorganizations and recapitalizations, and other transactions. When a client seeks to finance a transaction through a bank, insurance company or other institution, our attorneys bring significant experience in commercial and corporate finance.

Institutional Private Placements. Dykema has extensive experience in the institutional private placement market and has represented a multitude of institutional investors including banks and insurance companies in connection with their investments in both debt and equity in public and private companies. Because of our extensive experience with a wide variety of regulated industries, we are able to provide a team of attorneys with not only the requisite finance expertise, but also the regulatory insight needed to bring complex financings to a successful conclusion. We have experience in both domestic and cross-border transactions and with traditional institutional private placements involving private companies as well as PIPE transactions.

Equipment Leasing. Dykema has represented clients on both sides of equipment leasing transactions. Our objective is to enable our clients to exploit the tax advantages to leasing as well as market opportunities for favorable financing leases. In some cases, leasing is a significant component of a structured financing transaction (such as a sale and leaseback of manufacturing facilities). Leasing covers a broad spectrum of transactions in a way that allows the various components of economic risk and reward to be allocated in different ways. By understanding our client’s immediate and long-term business objectives, we are able to help identify a structure that strikes an appropriate balance among costs, risks and opportunities. Dykema serves as counsel to the Equipment Leasing Association and our strong relationships in the leasing community allow us to keep abreast of market trends and current legal issues.

Leveraged Leasing. Dykema also has extensive experience in serving as local counsel in connection with substantial leveraged lease transactions. Our involvement in these transactions has extended to negotiation and drafting of ground leases, ground subleases, leasehold mortgages and related documents; coordination of surveys and title insurance overages (including coinsurance, reinsurance and negotiations of special endorsements); advising on various requirements of local law, including issues related to “transacting business”, trust powers, local and state UCC filings, recording and perfection of security interests, environmental matters, governmental inducements (such as tax abatements and incentives for employee training), and state tax advice.

REITS. Dykema has represented numerous financial institutions in a number of financial transactions involving REITS. Many of these transactions often involve multiple properties located in multiple states and countries. In addition, the firm represents two REITS nationwide with combined assets in excess of $3,000,000,000 and acts as special counsel to a number of other REITS.

Synthetic Leasing. A synthetic lease is an off-balance sheet financing technique that is frequently used by large, credit-worthy organizations. Synthetic leases are subject to strict FASB and SEC guidelines. If structured appropriately, a synthetic lease is considered an operating lease for financial accounting purposes and, as a result, neither the property leased nor the associated liabilities are shown on the user’s balance sheet. However, the user generally retains all of the tax benefits as if the property was owned.

We not only have extensive experience working as counsel to numerous synthetic lease transactions, but also are uniquely credentialed as they have significant experience in real estate consulting where synthetic leases are used as a creative financing tool.