Bruce A. Gutenplan

Bruce is a partner in the Corporate Department and a member of the Mergers & Acquisitions, Private Equity and Communications & Technology Groups. He has extensive experience advising public and private companies, private equity funds and hedge funds in a broad range of mergers and acquisitions and corporate finance transactions.

Experience

Bruce represents clients in domestic and cross-border transactions ranging from middle-market buy-outs and recapitalizations to larger strategic acquisitions and joint ventures. Bruce also represents private investment funds in connection with their growth capital and other private equity investments.

Bruce's corporate representations in M&A transactions include:

• NorthStar Realty Finance Corp. in its $4.2 billion acquisition of Griffin-American Healthcare REIT II, Inc., which was named M&A Advisor's "Healthcare and Life Sciences Deal of the Year Award (Over $500 million)" in 2015;
• ExteNet Systems Investors in the $1 billion recapitalization of ExteNet by Digital Bridge Holdings and Stonepeak Infrastructure Partners;
• NorthStar Asset Management Group Inc. in its joint venture with American Healthcare Investors LLC;
• TowerCo in its $670 million acquisition of communications towers from Sprint Nextel and its $1.48 billion sale to SBA Communications;
• SpectraSite Communications in its $11.3 billion merger with American Tower;
• Universal American Corp. in its $227 million acquisition of APS Healthcare;
• Quellos Group in the $1.7 billion sale of its fund of funds business to BlackRock;
• IWO in its $427 million sale to Sprint Nextel;
• Cell C (Pty) Limited in a $430 million asset sale transaction in South Africa;
• Millicom International Cellular in asset sale transactions in Colombia, Ghana, Tanzania and the Democratic Republic of the Congo; and
  
• The Chubb Corporation in the sale of its reinsurance business to Harbour Point Limited and of its Personal Lines Brokerage business to Hub International.

Bruce's representation of private equity and hedge fund clients include Apollo Global Management, Harbinger Capital Partners, Newport Global Advisors, NRDC Equity Partners and Soros Fund Management. Specific transactions include:

• Soros Fund Management in its private equity investments in Atlantica Hotels International, Digicel Asian Holdings Pte. Limited, Hyperoptic, Quattro Telecomunicações (Brazil), TowerCo, Extenet Systems and Helios Towers Africa;
• NRDC Equity Partners in its acquisition of the iconic Canadian retailer Hudson's Bay Company and HBC's consolidation with Lord & Taylor and Fortunoff;
• Newport Global Advisors in connection with its investments in True Temper Sports, Merisant and Amtrol; and
• Harbinger Capital Partners in its acquisition of Salton.

In addition to his M&A and private equity practice, Bruce has handled a number of significant restructurings, including the representation of SpectraSite Communications in its $2 billion chapter 11 restructuring, and creditor groups or investors in the restructurings of AirGate, Alamosa, American Cellular, Amtrol, iPCS, IWO, Merisant, Ntelos, StallionOilfield Services and True Temper.

For the last three years, Bruce has been recognized by The Legal 500 for his work in media, technology and telecoms.

In 1990, Bruce relocated to London to launch the firm's office there. For two years, he handled a variety of cross-border transactions for U.S. and European clients before returning to practice in New York.

At Columbia Law School, Bruce served as an editor of the Columbia Journal of Law and Social Problems and was a Harlan Fiske Stone Scholar.

Practices

• Corporate
• Communications & Technology
• Mergers & Acquisitions
• Private Equity Transactions
  

Education

• J.D., Columbia Law School, 1985
• B.A., Duke University, 1981
  magna cum laude

Bar Admissions

• New York

See Library Tab for articles, publications and presentations by Bruce Gutenplan