Industries: Technology & Telecommunications

Corporate & Finance

Our Corporate and Finance Practice attorneys serve as business strategists, assisting with formulating and refining business models, identifying and securing financing, developing and acquiring technology infrastructure, and planning and implementing distribution systems. We understand the perspectives of emerging companies and their investors. From concept to exit, we structure complex financings and make introductions that result in successful ventures and alliances.
From the start, we provide guidance in the early stages of launching a new business. We recognize the critical decisions that need to be made, and we believe strongly that effective planning is fundamental to the success of any business enterprise. We help new businesses through these initial decisions and offer guidance on entity selection and formation, protection of the name, identity, products and services, executive compensation, and employee attraction and retention. We work with clients to ensure that the initial formation and organization of the business is sound, and help to secure the initial capitalization needed to launch the venture. Our extensive experience with early stage ventures helps us to ensure that all of the important bases are covered whether it be drafting distribution agreements, establishing employment arrangements, or negotiating governance provisions.

It takes time, capital and relationships to successfully establish and grow a business, and McGuireWoods has years of experience working with emerging companies to help foster that process. We have developed strong ties to many sources of capital and technology players throughout the business community. Because of these relationships, we are able to link new businesses with potential sources of funding, uncover synergies, foster strategic alliances, and help negotiate and structure the deals. We understand investment deals from a company’s and investor’s perspective, regularly representing both. Our knowledge of the investment marketplace helps us get deals done efficiently. Whether clients are seeking traditional financing, bridge loans, outside investment, growth through acquisition or alliances, our experience and involvement spans every stage of the growth cycle.

Maintaining relationships is critical to the success of any business enterprise. We assist companies with maintaining and strengthening their relationships with employees, vendors, venture capitalists and strategic investors, professional service providers and shareholders. We help clients prepare for board meetings, craft shareholder communications, and establish corporate governance policies. Clients rely on us on a day-to-day basis to navigate their corporate and investment governance documents. Having worked with companies at nearly every stage in a business life cycle, we understand what is critical at each point, and how decisions and choices impact the future governance of an enterprise.

A company’s intellectual capital – its people, products, services, and technology – is its most valuable possession, and it is our job to help clients protect it. We prepare and negotiate a variety of contractual protections to safeguard technology assets, such as non-competes, confidentiality, and work-for-hire agreements. We assist clients with evaluating intellectual property in the context of acquisitions and dispositions, and we prepare and prosecute IP claims. Our market focus and years of experience give us in-depth understanding of the intellectual property issues prevalent in the technology sector.

When it is time to execute an exit strategy – whether it’s creating a public market for a business, merging, acquiring, or selling a company outright– we are here to help. Our attorneys assist clients with evaluating and creating liquidity and exit options from the beginning. We are experienced with sophisticated transactions involving stock and asset purchases, spin-offs, roll-ups, reorganizations, and public financing. Throughout the lifecycle of an emerging company, we recognize that the exit strategy can be just as important as growth, and we work to manage that understanding.