Drawing on his extensive business experience as a certified public accountant before having attended law school, Howard Berkower makes his clients’ goals his top priority, and specifically tailors a desired result for each individual client, including private companies, public companies, private equity funds, buyout funds, venture capital funds, hedge funds, mezzanine funds, public and private companies, financial institutions and institutional investors. Howard thrives on getting into the legal and business “details” and is as comfortable with analyzing anti-dilution calculations, market valuations and financial accounting concepts as he is negotiating “market-outs” and indemnification provisions.
Howard provides his clients with a full range of corporate transactional legal services from the initial planning stages, negotiation and drafting of the legal documents to deal conclusion keyed to the organization’s strategic and financial goals. He structures, negotiates, executes and implements private equity and venture capital investments, mergers and acquisitions, capital raising activities, including public offerings and private placements, fund formation, and loan and debt financings. Recent transactions have included venture capital investments ranging in size from $5 million to $25 million, the sale of portfolio companies for over $100 million, and the formation of private equity funds.
Well versed in the concomitant areas of corporate governance and securities regulations, Howard assists public companies, executive officers, and hedge funds in complying with ongoing periodic reporting obligations under the federal securities laws. He also advises boards of directors, board committees and senior management regarding corporate governance, fiduciary duty obligations and securities matters.
With the implementation of Dodd-Frank and the additional requirements attendant to its passage, Howard has been able to assist his investment adviser and other financial institution clients in navigating the often complex registration requirements and other requirements triggered by this controversial legislation.
Howard is a frequent public speaker on corporate-securities matters, including appearing on Bloomberg Television Network addressing the meaning of material adverse change provisions in public merger agreements. He has authored articles published in several leading magazines and has been quoted in newspapers on cutting-edge developments in corporate and securities matters, such as custody issues of registered investment advisers and the new investment adviser registration requirements including the reporting requirements of exempt investment advisers.
