Foley & Lardner LLP

Ronald S. Eppen

Partner

Ronald Eppen is a partner with Foley & Lardner LLP, and is a member of the firm’s Private Equity & Venture Capital Practice and the Life Sciences and Emerging Technologies Industry Teams. His global practice focuses on domestic and international business transactions, including equity financings for corporate, venture capital and private equity clients; research and development collaborations and corporate partnering transactions; strategic investments; restructurings; mergers and acquisitions; and other exit transactions.

Mr. Eppen’s background includes acting as general outside counsel for an array of private and venture backed companies in the life sciences and technology fields, as well as U.S., European, and Asian venture and private equity firms who invest in such companies. He also regularly acts as U.S. counsel for Canadian technology, telecommunications and life sciences companies.

Mr. Eppen also has significant experience in the acquisition of, investment in and disposition of independent power projects.

He has been Peer Review Rated in Martindale-Hubbell's peer review rating system.

He earned his law degree from Columbia University School of Law (J.D., 1993), where he was a Harlan Fiske Stone Scholar. Mr. Eppen is a graduate of Brandeis University (B.A., cum laude, 1989).

Mr. Eppen is admitted to practice in Massachusetts.

Representative Experience

Life Sciences:

  • Represented Seahorse BioSciences, Inc., a Billerica, MA based maker of cellular analytical labware, in its acquisitions of Bio Processors Corp. (Wimington, MA) and Innovative Microplate (Chicopee, MA), in its most recent equity financing rounds and a recent venture debt financing, in-licensing transactions, and in the organization and expansion of its Shanghai subsidiary.
  • Represented Edgemont Pharmaceuticals, a specialty pharma company, in its Series A and Series B financing rounds.
  • Represented a Massachusetts life sciences tools company in the sale of its life science tools division to Dionex Corp.
  • Represented U.S.-based clinical trial services company in the organization and building of businesses and strategic partnerships in China, Saudi Arabia and other emerging markets.

Technology:

  • Represented social media monitoring platform Radian 6 Technologies Inc., (based in Halifax, NS) in its April 2011 acquisition by Salesforce.com, the largest acquisition by Salesforce.com to date.
  • Represented Century Capital Management in the sale of its portfolio company eReinsure (web based reinsurance platform) to Fortegra Financial.
  • Represented Century Capital Management in the sale of its records technology portfolio company iArchives, Inc. to Ancestry.com.
  • Represented Century Capital Management in its portfolio investment in Torrent Technologies, Inc., a flood insurance software and service provider.
  • Represented venture backed water filtration and carbonation technology company in its venture financings and in several product development and other strategic transactions with major appliance and beverage manufacturers.

Other Private Equity:

  • Represented Capvis (Swiss PE firm) and its portfolio company, Lista International (a Massachusetts based workspace solutions company), in the sale of Lista International to Stanley Black and Decker.
  • Represented selling private equity firms in the sale of MegaStar Media, the largest multi-plex movie theater chain in Vietnam, to CJ CGV, a Seoul-based theater developer and operator.
  • Represented a New York City based asset management firm in its private equity investment in Vanguard Hotels Inc., a Singapore based developer and operator of business class hotels in Southeast Asia.
  • Represented Century Capital Management in the sale of its portfolio company Asset Allocation & Management, LLC (a Chicago based insurance asset management firm) to affiliates of Stone Point Capital.
  • Represented Capvis in its leveraged acquisition and related management buyout of Lista International.

Recent Speaking Engagements and Publications

  • "Post-Recession Exit Strategies for Life Sciences Companies: Achieving in the Market Resurgence," moderator, Foley’s Life Sciences Conference, Cambridge, Massachusetts (May 10, 2011).
  • "Medical Devices: What’s Hot and What’s Not," Health Law360 (December 3, 2009).
  • Faculty member and coursebook co-author for Patent Resources Group's "Patent Counsel's Vital Role in and Guide to Important Corporate Transactions," most recently at in Albuquerque, NM (October 2008).
  • "Session 2: Financing Your Cross Border Transaction," speaker, New England-Canada Business Council's 9th Annual Technology Conference, Boston, Massachusetts (April 17, 2008).
  • "Venture Funding Environment has Many Feeling Down," Mass High Tech (June 10, 2002).

Related