News Article

Bucking the Trend: Womble Carlyle Corporate Team Makes Deals Happen in Tough Market

2009 was a tough year for Atlanta’s business community. But there are positive signs in the market—signs that business leaders are ignoring the naysayers, putting aside their own apprehensions and making good things happen for their companies.

For example, Womble Carlyle attorney John F. “Sandy” Smith’s Atlanta-based Corporate Team recently completed a public offering, two debt financings, four acquisitions and a tender offer. These deals have helped the firm’s clients strengthen their positions in the market and set the stage for continued growth in 2010

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Public Offering Caps Busy, Growing Year for Transcend Services, Inc., and Womble Carlyle

 

ATLANTA—A team of Womble Carlyle attorneys, led by John F. “Sandy” Smith, has successfully completed a nearly $43 million public stock offering for Transcend Services, Inc., an Atlanta-based company. Womble Carlyle attorneys Travis T. Townsend, Jr., Eric K. Glidewell and T. Clark Fitzgerald III also worked on the complex offering.

 

The stock offering caps a busy year in which Smith’s team assisted Transcend Services with three acquisitions as well as debt financing.

 

Transcend Services sold 1,725,000 shares of common stock and selling stockholders sold an additional 828,000 shares, all at a public price of $16.75 per share. The stock sale raised net proceeds of $27.2 million for the company. That money will be used to pay off a term loan, implement its growth strategy of acquiring and integrating other medical transcription companies and provide working capital. Lazard Capital Markets LLC acted as the investment banker for the offering, and William Blair & Company acted as the co-lead manager.

 

“In a market where other offerings were being pulled, Transcend Services’ offering went forward,” Smith said. “Right before the Christmas holiday is a difficult time to get the attention and interest of investors, yet the company still was able to get a good price for its common stock.”

 

Earlier in 2009, Transcend Services purchased DeVenture Global Partners, Transcription Relief Services, LLC and Medical Dictation Services, Inc. in separate deals totaling more than $27 million. The Womble Carlyle team, including the aforementioned attorneys as well as Bernard H. Coleman, Jr., Lisa A. Thieler, Emily X. Costarides and Leandre R. Anthony, handled all three acquisitions and the financing.

 

Transcend Services provides medical document transcription and editing services. The company currently serves more than 250 hospitals, clinics and health systems nationwide, and has been ranked the best in its class for customer satisfaction in industry surveys.

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Womble Carlyle Completes Major Acquisition Deal For Private Equity Client

ATLANTA—The year 2009 was a difficult one economically for Atlanta and the U.S. as a whole. But as the new year begins, there are signs of optimism that the city’s economy is taking a turn for the positive.

Case in point: A Womble Carlyle team led by attorney John F. "Sandy" Smith just closed several deals in December, including a major deal for Navigation Capital Partners. The private equity firm has acquired an audio-visual sales and design company for an undisclosed price. The complex transaction was financed through both senior and mezzanine loan facilities, further evidence of less restrictive borrowing markets. The acquisition had a follow-on financing with Peachtree Equity Partners as well.

See full article: Womble Carlyle Completes Major Acquisition Deal For Private Equity Client



Womble Carlyle - Innovators at Law

Womble Carlyle is a full-service business law firm with a focus on innovative solutions to client needs. The firm supports the Association of Corporate Counsel in the ACC Value Challenge, which seeks to better align legal services with the needs of corporate clients.

The firm is located in the Southeast and mid-Atlantic regions, and serves clients nationally and globally, with more than 500 attorneys in eleven offices: Atlanta, GA; Greenville, SC; Charlotte, Greensboro, Raleigh, Research Triangle Park, and Winston-Salem, NC; Washington, DC; Tysons Corner, VA; Baltimore, MD; and Wilmington, DE. American Lawyer magazine lists Womble Carlyle as one of its 100 leading firms in the country.

In the community, the firm is the first law firm to receive the Thurgood Marshall College Fund Corporate Leadership Award as well as the Employer Support of the Guard and Reserve Freedom Award.