Kelly Waters
Partner
Overview
Kelly Dunn Waters is a corporate attorney in Holland & Knight's Jacksonville office. Ms. Waters represents public and private companies, investors, investment funds and advisors, and other clients in a broad range of corporate and transactional matters.
With more than a decade of experience, Ms. Waters advises clients on mergers and acquisitions (M&A), joint ventures, investments, capital raises, divestitures and restructurings. Her experience includes counseling clients in buy-side and sell-side M&A transactions, as well as representing investors and investment managers in real estate joint venture transactions.
Ms. Waters also serves as outside general counsel to clients, advising on corporate governance, commercial matters and other day-to-day legal needs. She works closely with clients to understand their businesses, strategic objectives and areas of concern, allowing her to provide practical counsel tailored to their legal and business needs.
In addition, Ms. Waters advises public companies on federal securities law compliance and reporting requirements and counsels clients in connection with private offerings.
Prior to joining Holland & Knight, Ms. Waters was an attorney at a full-service Am Law 100 firm in its Jacksonville office.
Representative Experience
- Counseled clients in more than $1.3 billion in buy-side and sell-side mergers and acquisitions (M&A) transactions across various industries, including real estate, construction, manufacturing, transportation, medical technology and financial institutions
- Represented a public company in a $360 million divestiture of its real estate business segment
- Represented a public company in a tax-free spin-off transaction
- Represented a manufacturer of construction materials in a $625 million recapitalization transaction
- Represented an architecture firm in a $185 million sale transaction to a private equity buyer
- Represented a medical device company in a $97 million cross-border merger transaction
- Represented a manufacturer of construction materials in a $90 million multi-facility acquisition
- Represented a private equity-backed industrial services company in various acquisitions
- Represented a publicly traded automotive testing company in a $30 million cross-border acquisition
- Represented a credit union in multiple credit union merger transactions
- Represented a gas station and convenience store chain in a $50 million strategic acquisition
- Represented a youth sports facility in a sale transaction to a private equity buyer
- Represented investors and investment managers in more than $1.2 billion in real estate joint venture transactions
- Counseled public companies on U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission compliance and disclosure requirements
- Assisted companies with a variety of corporate matters throughout their life cycles, including entity formation, structuring, capitalization, private offerings, contract negotiations, executive employment matters and nonprofit engagement
Credentials
- Florida State University College of Law, J.D.
- Florida State University, B.S., Finance and Business Management
- Florida
- The Best Lawyers in America guide, Corporate Law, Mergers and Acquisitions Law, Real Estate Law, 2027
- The Best Lawyers in America guide, Ones to Watch, Mergers and Acquisitions Law, Corporate Law, Real Estate Law, 2025, 2026; Ones to Watch, Securities Regulation, 2026
- Rising Star, Florida Super Lawyers magazine, Business & Corporate, Securities & Corporate Finance, Real Estate, 2017-2018, 2020, 2023-2026