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Ellen focuses her practice on advising public and private investors, corporations and financial institutions on mergers and acquisitions, leveraged buyouts, control and minority equity investments, corporate governance and other general corporate matters, including transactions involving companies in distressed and special situations. With substantial experience in all facets of private equity, M&A and special situations, she brings a deep understanding and commercial approach to her practice and leads clients across industries through complex transactions.
Prior to joining Ropes & Gray, Ellen served as vice president and counsel of transactions at a global asset management company. In that role, she provided legal counsel on direct lending, preferred equity investments, restructurings and reorganizations and securities law.
Experience
- Represented an ad hoc group of second lien lenders of Yak Access, LLC, a provider of temporary roadways to remote construction sites, in connection with its out-of-court recapitalization and exchange transaction, which eliminated over $500 million of debt. As part of the recapitalization, holders of second lien term loans received a significant primary equity stake as well as various series of preferred stock in the recapitalized Yak.
- Representing FB Debt Financing Guarantor, LLC and certain of its subsidiaries (Forma Brands), a builder of top beauty brands including Morphe®, Morphe 2®, Jaclyn Cosmetics®, and Born Dreamer®, in their Chapter 11 cases to address approximately $870 million of funded indebtedness, facilitate a going-concern 363 sale transaction for substantially all assets, and resolve numerous complex licensing and potential litigation issues.
- Advised a leading global asset manager in a $6.7 billion Chapter 11 bankruptcy of an international satellite company.*
- Counseled a leading global asset manager in an out-of-court debt exchange and subsequent global refinancing involving a leading national medical group.*
- Advised a leading global asset manager in an out-of-court debt exchange involving an independent distributor and global provider of supply chain solutions for the commercial aerospace industry.*
- Advised a leading global asset manager in an equity and bond investment in an electric vehicle automaker and automotive technology company.*
- Represented Blackstone and Change Healthcare Holdings, Inc. in the creation with McKesson Corporation of a new healthcare health care information technology company, combining substantially all of Change Healthcare’s business and the majority of McKesson Technology Solutions business.
- Represented Welsh, Carson, Anderson & Stowe in connection with $600 million joint venture with Humana, Inc. to develop in primary care centers.
- Represented Advent International in its acquisition of Aimbridge Hospitality and the follow-on merger of Aimbridge Hospitality and Interstate Hotels & Resorts, both independent third-party hotel operators.
- Represented Aretex Capital Partners in its acquisition of U.S. ETF index provider Alerian.
- Advised Elliott Management Corporation in respect of its investments in EFH/EFIH (TXU) and its consortium bid for the majority interest in Oncor, the Dallas-area regulated electric utility.
- Advised Sixth Street Partners in connection with the bankrupt restructuring of Neiman Marcus Group.
- Represented Sixth Street Partners in its approximately $1.27 billion purchase of Credit Suisse’s distressed credit portfolio consisting of over 270 instruments across asset types and geographies relating to approximately 170 companies.
- Represented New Mountain Capital in its acquisition of Aceto’s chemicals business in a sale pursuant to Section 363 of the Bankruptcy Code.
- Represented Goldman, Sachs & Co. in a number of structured equity investments in the telecommunications, data center and real estate industries.
- Advised a private equity firm in multiple joint ventures with various management groups/asset managers to provide capital to fund various lines of business relating to finance, including small ticket revolving loans, mid-size commercial loans, and liquidity for tech company executives.
- Advised Thunderbird Resources Equity, Inc. in its $250m acquisition of a minority interest in a regasification facility in Mississippi.
*Prior to joining Ropes & Gray