William Greason

Partner

Practice Description

William Greason’s practice is largely devoted to the representation of public and private companies in a wide range of corporate and securities matters. Mr. Greason focuses on U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) registered offerings of debt and equity securities, the private placement and resale of securities in accordance with Regulation D, Rule 144A and Regulation S, corporate reorganizations, tender offers, acquisitions and divestitures (both stock and asset) and structured financings for U.S. and international clients in various industries, including telecommunications, technology, insurance, pharmaceuticals, software, consumer products and biotechnology. Mr. Greason also advises clients on joint ventures and shareholder agreements, reorganizations and various regulatory matters under the U.S. securities laws, including periodic corporate filings, Sarbanes-Oxley compliance, Section 16 issues, proxy filings and Rule 144.

Mr. Greason has also represented originators, brokers, international investment banks and investors in connection with structuring, negotiating and executing transactions involving life insurance policies in connection with life settlement and viatical transactions, arbitrage transactions involving life insurance policies and premium finance plans. He served as managing partner of Chadbourne & Parke in London from 1998 until his return to New York in 2004.

Representative Matters

• Represented a family-owned global consumer products company in connection with an internal restructuring of its U.S. operations.
• Represented a German corporation in connection with a restructuring of its U.S. operations and a related acquisition financing.
• Represented a leading international stock exchange in connection with the financing of the acquisition of a U.S. business.
• Represented a publicly-traded Spanish corporation in the acquisition of a controlling interest in a chain of Panamanian casinos.
• Represented an insurance company in a restructuring of debt to equity.
• Represented Golden Telecom, Inc., a Russian-based CLEC (completive local exchange carrier), in the $4.2 billion acquisition of Golden Telecom by VimpelCom, a leading cellular operator in the CIS, through a tender offer and merger.
• Represented NPS Pharmaceuticals, Inc. in a series of transactions designed to restructure its balance sheet, including a private placement of convertible debt, the sale by a wholly owned special purpose vehicle of Class B Notes backed by the royalty payments from a single drug in a Rule 144A offering, and a tender offer for NPS' outstanding convertible debt.
• Represented an international group of investors in the formation of a private equity fund in conjunction with the acquisition of a software company.
• Represented a sponsor of a life settlement pool and a life insurance policy premium finance plan. 
• Represented the company in negotiating the purchase of stock owned by dissident shareholders. 
• Represented the originator in the securitization of royalty payments based on a single drug which was financed by a Rule 144A offering. 
• Represented Golden Telecom, Inc. in its acquisition of Corbina Telecom, Sovintel and Comincom.  
• Represented Vimpelcom in the first SEC registered offering of securities by a Russian company and its listing on the New York Stock Exchange. 
• Represented Jazztel plc, a Spanish-based CLEC, in its initial public offering (IPO), three high-yield debt offerings and syndicated loans in addition to the group’s financial restructuring.

Publications