Hannah Frank, Pittsburgh ‘M&A Lawyer of the Year,’ Joins McGuireWoods, Enhancing Firm’s Formidable Deal Practice

January 15, 2015

Highly regarded corporate lawyer Hannah T. Frank has joined McGuireWoods’ mergers and acquisitions practice as a partner in the firm’s Pittsburgh office. She brings more than 18 years of experience representing companies in the Pittsburgh market in a wide variety of corporate and securities matters.

Frank has represented public and private companies in mergers and acquisitions, divestitures, joint ventures and financing transactions. She also has represented public companies in equity and debt offerings, tender offers, complex recapitalizations, exchange offers and consent solicitations and has advised corporate secretaries, general counsel and boards of directors on corporate governance matters.

According to Brian Parker, managing partner of the firm’s Pittsburgh office, Frank’s reputation as a top dealmaker precedes her.

“We know Hannah and her work and have tremendous respect for what she’s accomplished,” Parker said. “This is an important addition for us, enhancing our ability to serve our local, national and international clients worldwide.”

Frank joins McGuireWoods from the Pittsburgh office of Buchanan Ingersoll & Rooney. The Best Lawyers in America recognized her as the Pittsburgh Mergers and Acquisition Law “Lawyer of the Year” for 2014, an honor afforded to only one lawyer per city in each practice area.

“Hannah brings invaluable experience advising clients, particularly public companies, in complex M&A and other transactions,” said Scott Westwood, Pittsburgh-based chairman of McGuireWoods’ mergers and acquisitions practice. “We are delighted to welcome her to our team.”

Frank’s recent experience includes representing a Pennsylvania-based 3-D printing firm in a variety of matters, including its follow-on public stock offering that closed in 2013. She also assisted a Fortune 200 financial institution in 2010 public offering of $450 million of preferred stock and $750 million in senior notes, and in establishing a private $20 billion bank note program. Her mergers and acquisitions experience includes representing a major rail industry manufacturer in multiple acquisitions of U.S., Canadian and European assets and companies totaling more than $600 million.

Her arrival adds even more muscle to a McGuireWoods practice acclaimed recently by respected, independent authorities for excellence in meeting the needs of its corporate clients. Seven of the firm’s lawyers are ranked in the Corporate/M&A category by Chambers USA in its 2014 guide. McGuireWoods also is ranked among the top 20 law firms in the 2015 Client Service A-Team rankings published by Boston-based BTI Consulting Group. The rankings are based on unprompted responses from leading legal decision makers at large organizations with revenue of $1 billion or more.

McGuireWoods’ mergers and acquisitions team closed multiple multibillion deals in 2014. The firm advised Griffin-American Healthcare REIT II in its $4 billion acquisition by NorthStar Realty, represented Harris Teeter in a $2.5 billion merger with a wholly-owned subsidiary of The Kroger Co., and advised Tesoro Logistics in its $2.5 billion acquisition of QEP Field Services.

“McGuireWoods’ mergers and acquisitions and securities teams have world class reputations,” Frank said. “I know my clients will benefit from such a strong platform, and that my practice will thrive working with such an outstanding group of lawyers. I look forward to contributing to the firm in every way I can.”

Frank received her bachelor’s degree from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in 1988 and her law degree from the University of Pittsburgh School of Law in 1996. She began her law practice at Reed Smith in 1996 and became a partner there in 2004. She joined Buchanan Ingersoll’s corporate practice in 2011. Prior to law school, Frank served as assistant press secretary to U.S. Sen. Arlen Specter of Pennsylvania.