Craig D. Samuel

Craig Samuel focuses his practice on mergers and acquisitions, private equity, joint ventures, corporate finance, and complex real estate transactions. He assists clients with middle-market transactions, including strategic acquisitions, cross-border investments, and corporate restructurings. Craig represents a diverse client base, including private equity funds, national franchisors, family offices, real estate investors, middle-market business owners, and lenders.

Craig’s work includes representing sell-side business owners and buy-side private equity funds in M&A transactions; representing equity partners in commercial real estate joint ventures; advising lenders and borrowers in acquisition, construction, and mezzanine loan financings and restructurings; and negotiating commercial real estate purchases, leases, land swaps, and development agreements. He also counsels venture-backed startups on fund formation and Series A financings and serves as outside corporate counsel to several private equity-backed portfolio companies.

Outside his practice, Craig is an avid traveler with his family and an accomplished skier, having been a member of the U.S. Ski Team Olympic Development Program.
 

• Assisted clients in a variety of mergers and acquisitions across multiple industries, including a $200 million sale of a biotech portfolio company, the $75 million sale and recapitalization of a national car wash chain, and the $20 million sale of a spirits distiller.
• Represent private equity funds in acquisitions, exits, and reorganizations of portfolio companies, including the acquisition of veterinary specialty hospitals and related real estate totaling more than $40 million.
• Structured and negotiated $200 million transatlantic joint venture between global airport ground service providers 
• Represent a national premium preschool and daycare franchisor in more than $35 million in nationwide acquisitions.
• Managed the acquisition and consolidation of nine security and facilities management companies and the subsequent $100 million and roll-up to a global security firm through a combination of stock and asset purchases, including underlying real estate.
• Represent private equity in physician practice roll-ups avoiding corporate practice of medicine issues, as well as licensing novel medical technology to acquired practices. 
• Led the $100 million sale of more than 40 oil change franchises to a corporate franchisor.
• Represent a private equity fund in more than $250 million in commercial real estate development joint ventures and equity placements.
• Advise private equity clients on portfolio company investments, acquisitions, and divestitures totaling more than $50 million.