Joshua N. Korff, P.C.

Kirkland & Ellis advised the underwriters on the initial public offering of KinderCare Learning Companies, Inc. (NYSE: KLC). The nation’s largest private provider of early childhood education by center capacity priced its IPO at $24 per share on October 8, 2024, and shares began trading on October 9, 2024. The IPO included 24 million shares of common stock, and underwriters have a 30-day option to purchase an additional 3.6 million shares. The underwriters, led by Goldman Sachs & Co. LLC and Morgan Stanley, included Barclays, J.P. Morgan, UBS Investment Bank, Baird, BMO Capital Markets, Deutsche Bank Securities, Macquarie Capital, Loop Capital Markets, Ramirez & Co., Inc. and R. Seelaus & Co., LLC. KinderCare intends to use the net proceeds that it receives from the offering to repay amounts outstanding under its existing indebtedness and pay expenses. Read the transaction press release The Kirkland team included capital markets lawyers Joshua Korff, Michael Kim and Allison Bell.

Oct 10

1 min

Kirkland & Ellis is advising Vericast Corp. on the sale of its digital and print marketing businesses to R.R. Donnelley & Sons Company. The transaction was announced on March 18, 2023. RRD is buying the Vericast Digital Marketing & Technology business, which consists of a sophisticated set of digital marketing solutions that includes display advertising, contextual targeting, connected TV, dynamic mobile, digital out of home, social media marketing, email marketing, local search and zero-party data capture. RRD is also buying Vericast’s print marketing business, including shared mail and free-standing inserts, as well as digital and print coupon clearing business. The transaction is expected to close in the second quarter of 2024 subject to regulatory approval and other customary conditions. Read the transaction press release The Kirkland team is being led by corporate partners Ravi Agarwal, David Feirstein and Michael Amalfe and associate Inhae Song; debt finance partners Melissa Hutson and Yuli Wang and capital markets partners Joshua Korff and Jennifer Lee.

Mar 18

1 min

Kirkland & Ellis acted as the U.S. legal counsel to certain affiliates of Bain Capital on the proposed $3.16 billion take-private of Chindata Group Holdings Limited (NASDAQ: CD), a leading carrier-neutral hyperscale data center solution provider in Asia-Pacific emerging markets. Certain affiliates of Bain Capital, together with a number of existing and new investors, will acquire all of the outstanding shares of the Company at $4.30 per ordinary share or $8.60 per ADS. The transaction was signed on August 11, 2023. Read Bain Capital’s press release The Kirkland team was led by transnational partners Gary Li, Sarkis Jebejian, Pierre-Luc Arsenault and Min Lu. The team also included debt finance partner Jacqueline Zheng; capital markets partners Joshua Korff, Michael Kim, Ann Becchina and Louis Rabinowitz; tax partner Mike Carew; litigation partners Matthew Solum and Paul Quinn; and government and internal investigations partners Cori Lable and Yue Qiu.

Aug 14

1 min

Kirkland & Ellis advised Merit Financial Advisors, a portfolio company of HGGC, on a capital partnership with Neuberger Berman Capital Solutions. Merit is a hybrid, SEC-Registered Investment Adviser based in Atlanta, GA, that maintains 40 offices throughout the U.S. As of September 30, 2023, Merit managed $8.96 billion in client assets. Read the transaction press release The Kirkland team was led by corporate partners Travis Nelson, Rodin Hai-Jew, Cameron Leishman and Michael Cline; debt finance partners Sonali Jindal and Aditi Iyer; capital markets partners Joshua Korff and Ben Richards; and tax partner Kevin Coenen.

Nov 1

1 min

Kirkland & Ellis advised Bain Capital-backed Varsity Brands, a leader in team sports, athletics and spirit, on the sale of Varsity Brands by Bain Capital to KKR. As the new majority owner of Varsity Brands, KKR will support the company as it continues to grow its business. The Varsity Brands platform offers an extensive range of high-quality, customized solutions, services and experiences that support school and team sports, athletics and spirit programs, reaching over eight million athletes and students annually. Read the transaction press release The Kirkland team was led by corporate partners Matthew O’Brien, Laura Steinke and Valentine Bleicher; capital markets partners Joshua Korff and Michael Kim; debt finance partners Maureen Dixon and Patrick Loughery; and tax partners Mike Carew and Polina Liberman.

Aug 26

1 min