Cooley Bolsters Private Equity and M&A Capabilities With Addition of Five-Partner Team in Denver

Denver – February 21, 2023 –Sonny Allison, Kester Spindler, Danielle Fortier, Amelia Davis and Jeffrey Beuche have joined Cooley’s Denver office as partners in the firm’s private equity and mergers & acquisitions practices. Arriving from Perkins Coie, the group strengthens Cooley’s existing capabilities representing private equity sponsors and strategic parties as they drive high-growth platforms. 

“We are delighted to welcome this team to the Cooley platform and look forward to working together to provide our private equity clients and their portfolio companies access to Cooley’s full array of high-growth offerings, market insight and sponsor-focused services as we help them drive growth and maximize the value of their investments,” said Sonya Erickson, global chair of Cooley’s business department. “They are a highly respected group of private equity and M&A lawyers whose deep experience across key service lines will help propel our clients forward.”  

Allison, Spindler, Fortier and Davis focus their practices on private equity matters, primarily representing middle-market private equity sponsors and their portfolio companies across an array of industries and high-profile sectors – including technology, software, fintech, infrastructure, industrials, food and beverage, telecommunications, life sciences, healthcare and more. Beuche focuses his practice on M&A, with particular experience representing serial acquirers within the technology, software and life sciences verticals. Together, this team brings decades of experience representing clients across the full spectrum of private equity- and M&A-related matters, aligning perfectly with Cooley’s core capabilities.

 “Nearly 30 years ago, Cooley became one of the first law firms to serve the thriving and talent-rich growth company ecosystem in Colorado, and since then, has established itself as the leading venture capital, technology, M&A and capital markets practice in the region,” said Mike Platt, partner in charge of the firm’s Denver office. “With the addition of our new partners, we have become the dominant transactional practice in Colorado, advising on the most transformative high-growth transactions in the region and beyond.”  

“Our clients are increasingly interfacing with all areas of the M&A, private equity and financing playbook during their life cycles,” said Jamie Leigh, co-chair of Cooley’s M&A practice. “The addition of this talented team has strengthened Cooley’s ability to support our clients’ continued growth, particularly within the tech market and industries in which our platform thrives.”

With 1,600+ M&A and private equity transactions valued at more than $765 billion since 2018, Cooley’s world-class mergers & acquisitions and private equity practices span a range of industries, from tech, software, life sciences and healthcare to consumer, education, aerospace and defense, media and more. Cooley also represents private equity funds, management groups, consortiums, family offices, lenders and portfolio companies in the full spectrum of private equity transactions – including buyouts, minority investments, growth equity investments, take-private, spinoff and roll-up deals, leveraged recapitalizations, secondary equity transactions, capital market transactions, royalty purchases and other similar transactions. 

Bloomberg recognized Cooley among the most active firms in 2022, with a #1 ranking for global private equity M&A (up to $500 million) by deal count and deal volume and a #2 ranking for global- and US-announced deals by M&A deal count.

About Cooley LLP

Clients partner with Cooley on transformative deals, complex IP and regulatory matters, and high-stakes litigation, where innovation meets the law. 

Cooley has 1,400 lawyers across 18 offices in the United States, Asia and Europe, and a total workforce of more than 3,000.

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