Akerman LLP, a top 100 U.S. law firm serving clients across the Americas, today announced it has represented Comvest Partners in a portfolio acquisition of Tennessee-based discount retailer Old Time Pottery by Comvest Investment Partners Fund IV. The deal, which closed on October 2, provides the client with access to a retail network of 33 stores in 11 states throughout the Southeast and Midwest, thereby expanding its reach in the home décor sector.
Partners Nate Balint, Jed Freeland and Carl Roston, co-chair of the Mergers & Acquisitions and Private Equity Practice Group, led the Akerman team representing Comvest Partners. Other Akerman lawyers significantly involved in the transaction included William Arnhols, chair of the Banking, Lending & Structured Finance Practice Group, and partner Sue Zabloudil with the Real Estate Practice Group. Partners Peter Salomon, chair of the Employee Benefits Practice Group, and William Sullivan with the Tax Practice Group also contributed to the transaction, along with associates Sarah Farhadian and Jesse Nichols with the Real Estate Practice Group, plus associates Angela Ramey and Julia Seider with the Corporate Practice Group.
Within the last year, Akerman has represented Comvest Partners in several other noteworthy transactions, including a merger of equals' transaction, in which the client merged its portfolio company, Pipeline Cynergy Holdings, with Priority Payment Systems.
About Akerman LLP
Akerman LLP is a leading transactions and trial law firm known for its core strengths in middle market M&A, within the financial services and real estate industries, and for a diverse Latin America practice. With more than 600 lawyers and government affairs professionals and a network of 20 offices, it is ranked among the top 100 law firms in the United States by The National Law Journal NLJ 350 (2014). Akerman also is ranked among the top 50 law firms for diversity in The American Lawyer's Diversity Scorecard (2014).
Akerman is recognized by U.S. News - Best Lawyers as a leading U.S. law firm for corporate, M&A, private equity, securities/capital markets and securities regulation law. In addition, Akerman's Corporate Practice Group is recognized by The Legal 500 within the National Firms - Middle Market category and ranks first by Chambers USA for corporate/M&A in Florida. Akerman's Corporate Practice Group advises public and private companies, including private equity funds, on mergers and acquisitions, securities offerings, financings and other transactional matters, with a strong focus on the middle market.
More information can be found at akerman.com or twitter.com/akerman_law.
About Comvest Partners
Comvest Partners, with $1.3 billion of assets under management, provides flexible financing solutions to lower middle-market companies through its equity and debt funds, often meeting time-critical and complex funding requirements. Since 2000, Comvest Partners has invested more than $1.9 billion of capital in over 130 public and private companies. For more information, please visit www.comvest.com.