Ben Richards

Kirkland & Ellis advised Vista Equity Partners and its portfolio company Jamf Holding Corp. on the secondary offering of approximately $163 million of common stock by Vista and the concurrent repurchase by Jamf of $36.5 million of its common stock from Vista. Jamf is the standard in Apple Enterprise Management and its cloud software platform is the only vertically focused Apple infrastructure and security platform of scale in the world. The offering priced on May 13, 2024 at $18.25 per share. Jamf, which was the largest IPO in Minnesota history, currently trades on Nasdaq under the ticker symbol “JAMF.” Read Jamf’s press release The Kirkland team was led by capital markets partners Alex Schwartz and Ben Richards, with support from partners Bob Goedert and Bob Hayward.

May 15

1 min

Kirkland & Ellis advised Allegion plc (NYSE: ALLE), a leading global provider of security products and solutions, on its registered offering of $400 million of 5.600% senior notes due 2034 by its subsidiary, Allegion US Holding Company Inc. Read Allegion’s press release The Kirkland team was led by capital markets partners Bob Hayward, Alex Schwartz and Ben Richards.

May 30

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 Whirlpool Corporation on its underwritten concurrent public offerings, as well as a concurrent cross-border PIPE investment. In the concurrent public offerings, Whirlpool issued (i) 7,898,550 shares of common stock at a public offering price of $69.00 per share and (ii) $575 million of depositary shares, each representing a 1/20th interest in a share of newly issued 8.50% Series A Mandatory Convertible Preferred Stock at a public offering price of $50.00 per depositary share. Whirlpool also negotiated a private placement with a strategic Chinese investor, pursuant to which Whirlpool will issue 434,782 shares of common stock at a price of $69.00 per share. The public offerings were upsized from the original announcement, and the underwriters have already exercised their greenshoe option in both public offerings. Whirlpool intends to use the net proceeds from the offerings to repay a portion of the amounts outstanding under its revolving credit facility and for general corporate purposes, including strategic investments in vertical integration and automation. The Kirkland team included capital markets lawyers Bob Hayward, Michael Keeley, Ben Richards, Parker Davis, Lauren Au and Jeremy Duvall.

Mar 2

1 min

Kirkland & Ellis led the $24.25 billion underwritten concurrent public offerings by The Boeing Company (NYSE: BA), one of the world’s major aerospace firms and a leading manufacturer of commercial airplanes and defense, space and security systems. In the concurrent offerings that closed last week, Boeing issued 129,375,000 shares of common stock at a public offering price of $143.00 per share and $5.75 billion of depositary shares, each representing a 1/20th interest in a share of newly issued 6.00% Series A Mandatory Convertible Preferred Stock at a public offering price of $50.00 per depositary share. The offerings were upsized from the original announcement, and the underwriters have already exercised their over-allotment option in both offerings. Boeing intends to use the net proceeds from the offerings for general corporate purposes, which may include, among other things, repayment of debt, additions to working capital, capital expenditures and funding and investments in the company's subsidiaries. This is the largest follow-on equity offering in history and the second record-breaking securities offering Kirkland has led for Boeing. In May 2020, Kirkland led Boeing’s sale of $25 billion of bonds – the largest non-M&A bond offering of all time. Read the transaction press release The Kirkland team included capital markets lawyers Bob Hayward, Michael Keeley and Ben Richards.

Nov 4

1 min