David Brown is a partner in the Corporate Department of Latham & Watkins’ Washington, D.C. office and global Co-chair of the firm’s Private Equity Practice Group. Mr. Brown’s practice focuses on mergers and acquisitions and private equity transactions, and he regularly represents private equity sponsors and public and private companies in a broad range of industries on complex M&A transactions, including public mergers, leveraged acquisitions, divestitures of divisions and product lines, going-private transactions, tender offers, proxy contests and other strategic acquisitions, investments and divestitures.
Mr. Brown's representative clients include:
The Carlyle Group
Platinum Equity, LLC
Catterton Partners
Pharmaceutical Product Development, LLC
HCR ManorCare
Booz Allen Hamilton
Mr. Brown is highlighted as “Up and Coming” in Chambers USA 2014-2015 and recommended in The Legal 500 US 2014-2015 as a top private equity lawyer. In 2013, Mr. Brown was one of five private equity lawyers profiled by Law360 in the publication’s “Rising Stars” feature, highlighting top lawyers across the country under the age of 40. He was also a winner of the M&A Advisor 2012 “40 Under 40 — Central M&A Advisor Recognition Awards.”
Mr. Brown's recent, publicly disclosed M&A transactions include representation of:
The Carlyle Group in its US$4.15 billion acquisition from Johnson & Johnson of Ortho-Clinical Diagnostics, a global provider of solutions for screening and confirming diseases
The Carlyle Group in its US$1.93 billion acquisition of ADT Korea from Tyco
Platinum Equity in its US$1.1 billion acquisition of Volvo Rents, the North American construction equipment rental business of Volvo Group
The Carlyle Group in its US$1.39 billion sale of ARINC Incorporated, a provider of commercial aviation communications and information processing solutions, to Rockwell Collins
Pharmaceutical Product Development in its acquisition of Acurian, a leading full-service provider of clinical trial patient enrollment and retention solutions for the life sciences industry
Platinum Equity in its US$1.24 billion acquisition of BWAY Parent Company, a leading manufacturer of general line rigid containers, from Madison Dearborn Partners, and BWAY's subsequent add-on acquisition of Ropak Packinging from UK-based LINPAC Group
ARINC Incorporated in ARINC’s US$154 million sale of its defense systems engineering and support division to Booz Allen Hamilton
The Carlyle Group in its US$350 million preferred stock investment in Genesee & Wyoming, the largest U.S. short-line railroad operator, in connection with G&W’s US$1.4 billion acquisition of rival, RailAmerica
Catterton Partners in its acquisition and combination of Farley’s & Sathers and Ferrara Pan Candy Company to form leading general line candy manufacturer, Ferrara Candy Company
The Carlyle Group and Hellman & Friedman in their US$3.9 billion public to private acquisition of Pharmaceutical Product Development, Inc., a leading global contract research organization providing drug discovery, development and lifecycle management services
Platinum Equity in its sale of The San Diego Union-Tribune newspaper company
Platinum Equity in its acquisition of NESCO, a provider of fleet equipment rental, sales and services for the North American electrical transmission and distribution market
The Carlyle Group and its portfolio company, HCR ManorCare, Inc., in HCR’s restructuring and divestiture of a US$6.1 billion real estate portfolio
Platinum Equity in its US$777 million public to private acquisition of American Commercial Lines Inc., a marine transportation and service company
Platinum Equity in its acquisition of a recreational and fishing boat business sold by Genmar Holdings in a 363 sale, and the subsequent add-on acquisition of Brunswick Corporation’s Triton Boats
A consortium led by Birch Hill Equity Partners in its acquisition of Shred-It International, a provider of on-site document destruction and record retention services
The Carlyle Group in the US$3.53 billion terminated sale of JMC Steel Group, the largest North American manufacturer of steel tubing, to Russian steel producer NLMK, and in The Carlyle Group’s subsequent sale of its majority ownership stake in JMC to another stockholder
The Carlyle Group in its sale of US transformer maker Kuhlman Electric Corp. to ABB
Booz Allen Hamilton in the US$2.54 billion sale of its government consulting business to The Carlyle Group, and the spin-off of Booz Allen’s commercial consulting business to its partners
The Carlyle Group in its acquisition of ARINC Incorporated, an aviation communications company
The Carlyle Group in its US$1.5 billion acquisition of Goodyear’s Engineered Rubber Products Division
Host Hotels & Resorts in its US$4.23 billion acquisition of 35 hotels from Starwood Hotels & Resorts, including through the merger of Starwood’s former paired-share REIT
The Carlyle Group in its acquisition of John Maneely Company, a manufacturer of steel pipe and tubular products, and the subsequent add-on acquisition of Atlas Tube
Koch Industries in numerous transactions, including its US$4.4 billion acquisition of INVISTA, DuPont’s former Textiles & Interiors division, and the US$300 million sale of its asphalt products division
First Washington in the US$2.7 billion sale by First Washington and CalPERS of 101 shopping centers to a joint venture formed by Macquarie Countrywide Trust and Regency Centers Corporation
Arch Wireless in the merger of Arch Wireless and fellow wireless paging company, Metrocall Holdings, to form USAMobility
