Chris Rasmussen is senior counsel in the Business Law Department of Foley & Lardner LLP, as well as a member of the firm’s Sports Industry Team.
Mr. Rasmussen represents clients in corporate and transactional matters throughout all stages of the corporate life cycle, with a practice focused on mergers and acquisitions, securities, finance, corporate governance (including tax-exempt not-for-profit organizations), and general commercial transactions. He is also experienced in real estate and public finance transactions. He represents clients across a range of industries, including sports and entertainment, financial services, insurance, and manufacturing.
Representative sports and entertainment matters include:
- Representing Guggenheim Baseball Management, the group headed by Mark Walter, Earvin “Magic” Johnson and Stan Kasten, the former president of the Atlanta Braves and Washington Nationals, among others, in the acquisition of the Los Angeles Dodgers, the largest transaction ever for a professional sports franchise
- Representing the Ricketts family in its acquisition of a controlling interest in the Chicago Cubs and Wrigley Field and a related ownership interest in a regional sports network, all through a complex leveraged partnership structure, the single largest transaction ever for a North American sports franchise
- Representing the investment group led by Chuck Greenberg and Nolan Ryan in its acquisition of the Texas Rangers, a complex transaction that culminated in the purchase of the club through a Chapter 11 bankruptcy auction
- Representing Chicago 2016 in its efforts to secure real estate use agreements for Chicago’s bid to host the 2016 Olympic and Paralympic Games
- Representing MLB and NFL clubs in a variety of day-to-day legal matters, including matters relating to financing, consulting arrangements, general corporate matters, league compliance, and the negotiation of various commercial agreements, including sponsorship/marketing agreements
- Serving as outside general counsel to the Windy City Rollers (a member league of the Women’s Flat Track Derby Association), including advising the league on internal restructuring, general strategic counseling, and a variety of commercial transactions
- Counseling numerous artists and producers in the fields of music, theater, animation, radio broadcasting, and fashion design on a variety of legal matters, including corporate formation and governance, licensing, distribution, and the negotiation of a variety of commercial transactions
Other representative transactions include:
- Representing public and private buyers and sellers in mergers, acquisitions, and joint ventures in a variety of industries
- Representing portfolio companies and investors in various private equity offerings
- Representing issuers in connection with various securities offerings, including non-public offerings under Rule 144A
- Representing both borrowers and lenders in secured and unsecured credit transactions in a variety of industries
Mr. Rasmussen is a member of the Sports Lawyers Association, the Business Law and Sports & Entertainment Law Sections of the ABA, the Illinois State Bar Association, and the Chicago Bar Association. He is admitted to practice in Illinois.
Before joining the firm, Mr. Rasmussen was a judicial intern to the Honorable David F. Hamilton, who at the time was U.S. District Judge for the Southern District of Indiana (Judge Hamilton now serves on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit).
Mr. Rasmussen earned his law degree from the Indiana University Maurer School of Law in Bloomington (magna cum laude, Order of the Coif), where he was articles editor for the Indiana Law Journal and competed in the Philip C. Jessup International Law Moot Court Competition. He earned his undergraduate degree (Honors College, summa cum laude) and an M.B.A. from the University of Southern Mississippi.
Before attending law school, Mr. Rasmussen worked for several years as a professional musician, arranger, and music teacher, and he spent two years as a stage performer with the Broadway, London, and United States touring productions of Blast!, a Tony- and Emmy-award-winning musical theater show. He remains active as a percussionist with the Northshore Concert Band in Evanston, Illinois.