M&A, Corporate Attorney Chris Manderson Joins Ervin Cohen & Jessup

Corporate transactional attorney Chris Manderson has joined the Business, Corporate and Tax Department at Ervin Cohen & Jessup LLP.

Chris, who joins as Partner, specializes in mergers and acquisitions, venture capital, debt and equity financing, and advising public and private company boards and executives in corporate governance and fiduciary matters.

Over more than two decades in practice, Manderson has led negotiations on behalf of a number of California’s top companies in private equity, technology, venture capital, restructuring, banking, fashion and apparel, action sports and food manufacturing, among others. Prominent clients have included Morgan Stanley & Co., Dole Food Company, Marwit Capital, Saleen Automotive, Inc., Oakley, Inc., Mossimo, Inc., Rock & Republic Enterprises, Inc. and Amgen Inc.

Chris also advises public and private companies and their boards in all aspects of corporate governance, securities, finance and transactional matters. He has advised companies and boards in public and private securities offerings, going private transactions, hostile takeovers and in proxy contests.

In addition to mainstream transactions, Chris handles distressed and restructuring transactions.  In the wake of the 2009 Financial Crisis, he reorganized companies preserving over $2 billion in NOL tax assets in chapter 11 bankruptcy cases, including Real Industry, Inc. (formerly Fremont General Corporation, a subprime mortgage lender with NOLs over $900 million) and Triad Guaranty, Inc. (formerly an insurance holding company with NOLs over $1.1 billion).

Chris said the firm’s stellar reputation and their aligning approaches to client service provides great incentive to join the firm.

“It’s exciting to be part of the growth of ECJ’s Corporate practice,” said Manderson. “The firm’s culture is appealing, and I really appreciate the philosophy of comprehensive client coverage from start to finish.”

“We’re a one-stop shop for business clients, and the breadth of Chris’ transactional work, coupled with his significant experience in M&A and tax matters, makes him a great fit for our firm,” said Barry J. MacNaughton, co-managing partner of Ervin Cohen & Jessup.

Chris recently helmed the sale of the cloud-based identity and access management and SSO platform Bitium Inc. to Google Inc.  He has also represented Los Angeles area technology venture capital investors and VC-backed companies such as Miso Robotics, Inc. and Nurocor, Inc.

Chris began his career as a transactional lawyer representing public companies, private equity funds, boards and executives in M&A and finance transactions at Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP and Paul Hastings LLP.  He also served as Executive Vice President & General Counsel at Real Industry, Inc., where he guided the company through a $525 million acquisition of an aluminum recycling business serving the automotive industry, and subsequent NASDAQ listing.