Evan Stone’s crossover practice combines areas of critical value to acquisitive clients: thoughtful and effective representation of investment advisers on capital raising and fund management matters, together with deep, strategic transactional experience. His tactical yet practical approach, including negotiation and managing risk, supports clients on a range of complex corporate, securities, and regulatory matters. Evan represents hedge funds, private equity funds, venture capital funds, family offices, RIAs, and public and private corporations, with the client representatives he works with invariably being the organization’s key leaders and/or board of directors. Evan is also a member of the firm’s Fund Formation & Investment Management Practice and serves as Dallas office chair for corporate law.
Prior to joining the firm, Evan held key positions with leading firms in the areas of investment management and control transactions, enabling him to bring a broad perspective to client engagements:
- Lee & Stone LLP, a boutique law firm focused specifically on representing private fund investment advisers and family offices on launch, capital raising, transactional, and regulatory matters. Among other things, Evan crafted innovative seeding and partnership arrangements between managers and investors (including family offices), designed customized regulatory compliance programs, and guided clients through a variety of ongoing activities, including control and minority investments. The firm acquired Lee & Stone LLP, which Evan co-founded, in 2013.
- Newcastle Capital Management LP, a prominent Dallas-based control and activist investment manager where Evan served as general counsel. Evan oversaw and guided the advisor and its affiliated investment funds and companies on all legal matters, including control transactions, proxy contests, financings, corporate governance matters, ‘34 Act filings, fund formation, and marketing.
- Skadden Arps, a New York-based international law firm, where Evan represented leading private equity funds and Fortune 500 companies on mergers and acquisitions (including strategic combinations and take private transactions) and securities matters.
- Evan also worked at Merrill Lynch & Co., where he advised public companies, private equity funds, and venture capital funds on equity and debt financings, as well as mergers and acquisitions. He has also served as a director of public companies and a member of key committees.
Representative Experience
Investment Management
- Structured and launched hedge funds, including equity long short, credit, global macro and StatArb. Structured and launched private equity funds, including general buyout, sector focused, and real estate.
- Structured and launched search vehicles and investment club structures.
- Structured and launched special purpose investment partnerships for a range of assets.
- Structured a variety of family office seeding arrangements with leading family offices (representing investment managers as well as family offices).
- Structured and launched commodity pools, including energy, electricity, and precious metals. Designed and implemented regulatory compliance programs and policies for leading institutional investment managers.
- Spearheaded outsourced regulatory compliance oversight on retained basis for leading institutional investment managers.
- Spearheaded regulatory exam representation for investment managers.
- Structured and drafted customized investment management and marketing arrangements.
- Structured “upper tier” arrangements between investment advisor principals.
Mergers and Acquisitions/Control Transactions
- Represented private equity managers on control transactions (buy side and sell side) in various industries, including manufacturing, technology and internet, media, restaurants, oil and gas, recreational products, and apparel.
- Represented hedge fund managers on reportable affiliate stakes in public companies. Represented fund managers on activist strategies.
- Represented public companies on acquisition, sale and divestiture, and recapitalization transactions through a variety of structures.
- Represented public companies on activist defense engagements. Represented special committees on company sale and conflict transactions.
- Represented investment managers and operators on joint ventures, complex shareholder/partnership arrangements, and equity incentive arrangements in connection with acquisition transactions. Represented investors on less traditional going-private structures, including recapitalizations and reverse splits.
Other Securities and Governance
- Represented public companies on range of SEC filing and general disclosure matters, Sarbanes-Oxley issues, and other public securities and governance matters.
- Represented investment vehicles and operating companies on Reg D offerings.
- Represented investors on structuring and execution of public and private investment opportunities across asset classes.
- Represented institutional and high net worth investors allocating to pooled vehicles, e.g., private equity, hedge funds, and venture capital.
- Significant experience on Section 13 and Section 16 matters applicable to investment managers and public company affiliates.
- Significant experience with boards of directors (public and private) on corporate governance matters.
Awards and Recognition
- Dallas Business Journal’s Top Dealmakers in North Texas (March 2017)
Affiliations
- Member, State Bar of Texas
- Member, State Bar of New York
Community Involvement
- Jewish Federation of Greater Dallas
- Former chairman, Lawyers Division
- Former board member (2012-2014)
- Former officer, Cardozo Society
- Vice president, board of directors, Community Homes for Adult Endowment Foundation (CHAEF)
- Vice president, board of directors, Museum of Geometric and MADI Art
- Board member, Vogel Alcove
- Board member, Dallas Jewish Community Foundation
SEC Proposes Amendments to 13(d) and 13(g) Reporting Requirements – Accelerates Filing Deadlines and Addresses Group Formation Activity
On February 10, 2022, the SEC announced proposed rule amendments to beneficial ownership reporting requirements under Sections 13(d) and 13(g) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934.
Panel Discussion: How to Attract Institutional Capital to your Private Fund
Please join us at Foley & Lardner’s Dallas office, on the evening of Monday, February 24th, for a panel discussion entitled ‘How to Attract US Institutional Capital to your Private Fund.'
Stone Discusses Use of Data Analytics to Improve Business Performance, Enrich Customer Relationships
Partner Evan Stone was quoted in a <EM>Hedgeweek</EM> article, “Orchestrating data analytics to enhance the investor experience,” about how data analytics techniques can be used to personalize client experiences for investment managers.
SEC Announces Upcoming Roundtable on the Proxy Process
On July 20, 2018, the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (the “SEC”) announced that it intends to host a roundtable in the fall 2018 to hear from market participants regarding the SEC’s rules governing the proxy process.