Ryan D. Thomas

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Ryan Thomas is the chair of the firm’s Private Equity Team and co-chair of the Healthcare Private Equity Team. As mergers and acquisitions (M&A) and securities counsel to numerous national companies and private equity firms, Ryan Thomas has closed over $60 billion in M&A transactions, and approximately $80 billion in overall transactions, including both the largest domestic LBO, and the largest private equity-backed IPO at the time. Ryan’s practice focuses on public and private companies within the healthcare, media, retail, government services, life sciences and technology industries, among others. Ryan also advises management, boards and special committees on shareholder activism, corporate governance and public company disclosure matters.

Ryan’s practice involves:

  • Mergers & Acquisitions and Private Equity – Advising public and private companies and private equity firms on a broad range of strategic and private equity transaction structures, including mergers, tender offers, going private and leveraged buyout transactions and other recapitalizations. Ryan represents several private equity firms and their platform companies in their M&A and financing activities. Ryan focuses on middle market M&A transactions in amounts between $25 million and $500 million or greater. Ryan’s healthcare transactional experience spans a broad spectrum of the healthcare industry, including extensive experience in HIT, physician management, dermatology, behavioral, managed care, specialty pharmacy and life sciences spaces, among others.
  • Growth Equity and Securities Transactions – Advising issuers, strategic investors and national and regional growth equity firms in private placements of equity and debt securities, including multiple individual growth equity transactions exceeding $50 million. Ryan also has extensive experience in initial and secondary public offerings, strategic-led private placements and a broad range of public securities transactions.
  • International Transactions – Advising on complex, international and multi-jurisdictional transactions, including targets and buyers based in North America, South America, Europe, Asia and Australia.
  • Corporate Governance and Public Company Disclosures – Advising on general corporate and governance matters, including board advisement, fiduciary duties, corporate governance “best practices,” takeover defense, proxy fights and activist shareholders, securities law compliance and public company disclosure.
  • Joint Ventures, Licensing and Commercial Transactions – Advising on joint ventures and other complex commercial and licensing transactions on behalf of media, technology and healthcare companies, among others.

Ryan has been recognized by various leading outlets, such as Chambers USA and The M&A Advisor, for his work in the M&A and private equity space. In 2021 alone, The M&A Advisor named two of Ryan’s deals as finalists in eight categories for the 2021 M&A Advisor Awards. Over the past few years, several transactions have been named as finalists in multiple categories including:

Ryan is active in the leadership of the ABA’s M&A and Business Law Committees, serving as editor of the Deal Points publication and the executive editor for M&A content of Business Law Today. He has been extensively quoted and published on M&A matters and high profile deals in leading national media such as The Wall Street Journal Pro Private Equity, The Business Lawyer, The Corporate Board, Executive Counsel, Marketwatch.com, Los Angeles Times, TheStreet.com, GlobeSt.com, Associate Press, Bloomberg News and others.

Memberships

Association for Corporate Growth, Tennessee Chapter — Board Member

American Health Law Association (AHLA)

American Bar Association — Business Law and M&A Committees

  • Business Law Today — Executive Editor, M&A (2017)
  • Deal Points — Editor (2016-2018)