Phil Cooper is a Partner in Locke Lord Bissell & Liddell’s Corporate Department, focusing his practice on general corporate counseling, mergers and acquisitions, joint ventures, and commercial financings.
Mr. Cooper advises both publicly and privately held companies in a wide variety of industries, including financial services, insurance, staffing, and technology, among others. Mr. Cooper assists businesses in structuring, negotiating and completing mergers, acquisitions, divestitures and joint ventures, as well as in matters relating to commercial contracts and corporate governance. Mr. Cooper often represents clients in obtaining operating capital, whether it be in the form of debt financing from commercial lenders or equity financing from private equity groups or venture capitalists. In addition, Mr. Cooper has significant experience representing providers of capital, assisting clients in structuring and documenting loans and equity investments.
Mr. Cooper has a Martindale-Hubbell AV Peer Review Rating, the highest available rating for legal ability and ethical standards.
Representative Transactions:
- Represented Taylor, Bean & Whitaker Mortgage Corp. in connection with its acquisitions of mortgage companies in Alabama and Texas, and in connection with a series of debt financings.
- Represented Beecher Carlson Holdings, Inc. in connection with a series of acquisitions in the insurance brokerage industry, and in connection with its secured term loan, acquisition and working capital credit facilities led by NewStar Financial, Inc.
- Represented Hire Dynamics, LLC in connection with its formation, its initial capital raise, its acquisitions of Source One Staffing, LLC and Strategic Staffing Corp., its Hire Accountability joint venture and its working capital credit facility from BB&T.
- Represented IntercontinentalExchange, Inc. in connection with its $500 million syndicated senior credit facilities led by Wachovia Bank, N.A. and Bank of America, N.A.
- Represented AGL Resources, Inc. in connection with its $1 billion syndicated credit facility led by SunTrust Bank and Wachovia Bank, N.A.
- Represented Legacy Benefits Corporation in connection with its sale of 50% of its equity interests in Legacy Benefits, LLC to Mofet U.S. Holdings, Inc.
- Represented Monsanto Company in connection with its $1.4 billion acquisition of the international seed business of Cargill Hybrid Seeds and its joint ventures Doctors’ Choice, LLC and Mallard Rice, LLC.
- Duke University School of Law, J.D., 1993, with High Honors, Articles Editor, Duke Law Journal
- Tulane University, B.A., 1990, cum laude, Phi Beta Kappa
- American Bar Association
- American-Israel Chamber of Commerce
- Association for Corporate Growth
- Atlanta Bar Association
- Georgia Bar Association