John P. Edwards

John Edwards focuses on mergers and acquisitions, corporate governance and other corporate and securities matters.

Mr. Edwards represents acquirers, sellers and targets in a wide variety of transactions, including public and private mergers, acquisitions, dispositions (including auctions), joint ventures, shareholder activism and other corporate matters.

Significant U.S. and cross-border transactions include the representation of:

• Brookfield Asset Management Reinsurance Partners Ltd. in its $5.1 billion acquisition of American National Group, Inc.;
• Core Specialty Insurance Holdings, Inc., in its merger with Lancer Insurance Company, following which the combined business had over $1.1 billion in equity capital;
• Black Diamond in its acquisition, with Investindustrial, of Hexion Inc.’s phenolic specialty resin, hexamine and European-based forest products resins business for $425 million;
• Ball Corporation in its $225 million divestiture of its Chinese beverage can and end manufacturing business;
• AutoNation, Inc. in:
  • its pending acquisition of RepairSmith for $190 million; and
  • its acquisition of CIG Financial for $85 million;
• Kemper Corporation in its sale of its accident and health insurance business to Medical Mutual of Ohio for $90 million;
• Dürr AG, a major German mechanical and plant engineering firm, in its acquisition of MEGTEC/Universal for $130 million;
• Bakelite Synthetics in its acquisition of Georgia-Pacific’s chemicals business;
• The Middleby Corporation in:
  • its acquisition of Zhuhai Guangdong China-based United Foodservice Equipment Group;
  • its acquisition of Standex International Corporation’s Cooking Solutions Group;
  • its acquisition of M-TEK Corporation; and
  • its acquisition of L2F Inc.;
• TreeHouse Foods, Inc., in its cooperation agreement with activist investor JANA Partners LLC.

Mr. Edwards also helps provide training to junior associates at the firm.