Overview
Kent McCready has a diverse business transactional practice, with an emphasis on mergers and acquisitions, joint ventures, and general corporate and commercial matters.
Kent has extensive experience structuring, negotiating and documenting the purchase and sale of businesses that are engaged in a variety of industries, including health care, telecommunications, media, energy, financial and heavy manufacturing. He represents clients ranging from public companies in connection with their purchases and sales of business divisions to companies owned by the second or third generation of family members. Kent regularly represents sellers and buyers engaged in an auction process.
He also has broad experience representing companies as outside general counsel in a wide range of general business and contractual matters, including with respect to equity and option issuances, governance issues, shareholder and operating agreements, employment and noncompetition agreements, and commercial contracts.
Kent also has extensive experience representing lenders and borrowers in commercial loan transactions.
His joint venture experience includes creating operating-company joint ventures between public companies; organizing joint ventures to acquire businesses; and representing investors in newly organized business entities. Kent has worked extensively with both corporations and limited liability companies.
Kent also has experience in the private placement of securities, as well as the use of North Carolina fairness hearings in connection with the issuance of securities as consideration for acquisitions.
Experience
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Represented a global health care provider in connection with the acquisition of outpatient medical clinics throughout the United States and in connection with the structuring and documentation of multiple joint ventures with physician investors to operate clinics.
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Represented a global telecommunications company in connection with various acquisitions and dispositions, including acquisitions of two proprietary software companies and the disposition of a division that manufacturers specialty wire products, which also involved the negotiation of a long-term supply agreement, a subordinated credit facility and transition services agreements.
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Represented a credit card company in connection with its ongoing purchases of medical receivables from various medical services providers, its asset-based revolving credit facility and its ongoing regulatory compliance.
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Represented a privately held manufacturing company in connection with its purchase and relocation of two manufacturing businesses from a public company, including a long-term supply agreement with the seller.
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Represented second- and third-generation family groups in connection with the sale of newspaper companies and related media properties, including newspapers in the cities of Raleigh, North Carolina; Chattanooga, Tennessee; Maui, Hawaii; and Durham, North Carolina.
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Represented a global health care provider in connection with its joint venture with two regional hospital organizations and the joint venture’s simultaneous acquisition of 12 outpatient medical clinics from three affiliated sellers.
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Represented a second-generation janitorial and packaging supply company in connection with its merger sale to a public company.
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Represented a diversified business services company in its disposition of a contract compliance auditing business to a private equity group, including negotiating the management co-invest and rollover equity documentation.
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Represented a public energy company in connection with the organization of a joint venture to purchase an interest in a company owning waste-to-energy facilities.
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Represented a public energy company in connection with its sale of a coal-fired generating facility.
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Represented a privately held company in connection with the purchase of a consumer products business and associated brands from a global consumer products company.
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Represented a public company in connection with its bid for the purchase of a telecommunications company out of bankruptcy.
Accolades
Honors & Recognitions
- Chambers USA, corporate/M&A, 2020-23
- The Best Lawyers in America, corporate, mergers and acquisitions, 2006-26
- North Carolina Super Lawyers, mergers and acquisitions, 2012-15
- Business North Carolina, Legal Elite, business law, 2008
- Martindale-Hubbell, AV® Preeminent™ Peer Review Rated
News & Events
News
Education
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, J.D., with high honors, 1984, Order of the Coif; Editor-in-Chief, North Carolina Law Review, 1983-84
University of Delaware, B.A., 1980
Bar Admissions
- North Carolina
