Christopher DeLise is a corporate and securities law attorney cross-trained in business and finance, whose practice focuses on serving the legal needs of hedge funds, private equity funds and other private investment funds (“PIFs”), as well as public and private companies.
PIFs.
Throughout his professional career, Mr. DeLise has been involved in virtually every aspect of managing and advising PIFs. Mr. DeLise has served as a Principal/Partner, as well as outside and in-house General Counsel, at several private equity funds and hedge funds. Mr. DeLise currently represents domestic and off-shore hedge funds, private equity funds, real estate private equity funds, and other PIFs in connection with: (i) fund formation and governance matters (representing GPs and LPs in his practice), including formation of Sharia-compliant funds and counseling Sharia-compliant funds with respect to their operations and investments; (ii) private placements, securities offerings and investor/LP relations in North America, South America, Europe, the Middle East and Asia; (iii) preparing registrations and filings for investment advisers, broker-dealers and CPOs; (iv) design and implementation of compliance programs and conducting training seminars for registered and unregistered entities and persons; (v) assisting PIFs with the structuring and development of investment programs and trading strategies, including those involving shells, SPACs, PIPEs, reverse mergers, and activist investing; (vi) mergers and acquisitions of registered and unregistered PIFs, broker-dealers and investment advisers; (vii) negotiation, structuring and drafting all types of financing and investment documents for PIFs, including those involving equity lines, convertible instruments, preferred stock and hybrids; (viii) assisting PIFs with the identification, sourcing and vetting of investment opportunities globally; (ix) working with PIFs to monitor and manage their portfolio investments/companies; (x) working with finance, bankruptcy and work-out specialists to assist PIFs with clean-up and restructuring of their portfolio; and (xi) assisting litigation specialists in representing PIFs before the SEC, CFTC, FINRA and SROs.
Public Companies.
Mr. DeLise has served as outside General Counsel, as well as in-house Senior Counsel, to several public companies, including a $7 billion global professional services firm where he oversaw all mergers, acquisitions, divestitures and securities legal work.
Mr. DeLise currently represents micro-cap, mid-cap and Fortune 500 public corporations in connection with: (i) formation, governance, board and committee matters; (ii) 1933 Act and 1934 Act filings and reports, including IPOs, follow-on offerings, proxy statements and responding to SEC comments, inquiries and investigations on behalf of clients; (iii) design and implementation of compliance programs, including those involving SOX matters; (iv) domestic and cross-border mergers, acquisitions, divestitures, spin-offs, hostile takeovers and defenses thereto, tender offers, joint ventures and other strategic transactions; (v) technology licensing and development, ASP, MSA and SOW agreements, as well as other technology-oriented agreements and transactions; and (vi) financings, including public offerings of debt and equity, PIPEs, SPACs and private placements.
Private Companies.
Mr. DeLise has also served as outside and in-house General Counsel to a wide variety of private companies, ranging from start-up businesses to global technology companies.
Mr. DeLise currently represents emerging growth companies, domestic middle market businesses, and multinational private corporations in connection with: (i) formation and governance matters; (ii) domestic and cross-border mergers, acquisitions, divestitures, spin-offs, LBOs/MBOs, joint ventures and other strategic transactions; (iii) technology licensing and development, ASP, MSA and SOW agreements, as well as other technology-oriented agreements and transactions; (iv) financings, including private placements, reverse mergers into public shells, PIPEs, refinancings and work-outs, and financings involving angel investors, venture capital funds, private equity funds and senior credit and mezzanine financiers; and (v) change in control matters, including shareholder agreements, buy-back arrangements and succession planning for closely held and family businesses.
In recognition of providing outstanding M&A and transactional legal services to clients, Mr. DeLise was named to the 2008 BTI Transactional All-Star Team. This honor is given by the BTI Consulting Group based on the results of its annual survey of Fortune 1000 companies. Mr. DeLise was one of only 86 attorneys in the US and 10 attorneys in Chicago named to the 2008 Team.