Michael A. Okaty

Michael (Mike) A. Okaty is a partner and business lawyer who focuses on a wide variety of corporate transactions, governance, and counseling. He serves as an advisor and trustee to high-net-worth individuals and families. Mike is founder and former chair of the firm’s Senior Living Industry Team, former vice chair of the firm’s Industry Teams Department and formerly the managing partner for the Orlando office. Mike is presently co-chair of the firm’s Transactions Practice and a former member of the firm’s Management Committee.

Mike has experience in a wide variety of corporate law matters, including corporate formation, corporate operations and governance, contract drafting, review and negotiation, mergers and acquisitions, and capital raising and finance transactions for both public and private companies and lenders.

Representative Transactions

General Corporate

• Represented Fortress Information Security LLC, an Orlando, Florida-based cybersecurity company specializing in protecting the supply chains of defense and utility organizations in its venture capital raise, which included the structuring, negotiation and closing of the transaction
• Represented BlackCloak, LLC in their conversion to a Delaware c-corp and sale of preferred stock to DataTribe II, LLC as part of its Series Seed Preferred Offering. BlackCloak, Inc., uses enterprise grade solutions and its own proprietary technology to offer cybersecurity and privacy protection to high net worth individuals, families and executives
• Represented Stellar Sign and Design, LLC in its sale to Poblocki Sign Company Southeast, LLC, an affiliate of Poblocki Holdings, LLC
• Represented OneBlood, Inc., in its merger with the Community Blood Center of the Carolinas, Inc.
• Represented Lacerta in its Series A Preferred Offering to Sarepta
• Represented Halifax Media Holdings LLC in its sale to Gatehouse Media
• Structured the three-way merger of Florida's largest blood banks, which resulted in the second-largest blood bank in the nation (second only to the American Red Cross). The new organization is now known as OneBlood Inc.
• Represented Halifax Media Holdings LLC in the acquisition of The New York Times Company's Regional Media Group. This was a challenging transaction in which the team faced a complex purchase of 16 different newspaper businesses in six states. The financing structure included five loans from four lenders and a sale-leaseback. With this transaction, Halifax doubled their media holdings.
• Advised LSQ Funding Group and Viewpost Holdings in private placements of debt and equity
• Advised LSQ Funding Group in sale to Lovell Minnick Partners
• Advised LSQ Funding Group in debt offering from Ares Capital Corporation

Senior Living

• Represented JEA Senior Living, LLC
• Represented Starling
• Represented Westminster
• Represented Venue Capital
• Represented Revera Health System in the sale of 47 nursing homes to Health Care REIT Inc. (HCN) with a deal value of $1.3 billion
• Counsel to Revera Health Systems in its acquisition and recapitalization of Sunrise Senior Living, the leading operator of assisted living facilities in the US with operation in Canada and the UK as well. The transaction entailed a 3 part merger, leveraged acquisition and joint venture with Health Care REIT (NYSE) involving sellers KKR, Beecken Petty and O'Keefe, Health Care REIT as minority investor and Key Bank as senior lender. Revera is the leading operator of senior living facilities in Canada and is owned by the Public Sector Pension Investment Board of Canada, a Canadian Crown Corporation.
• Counsel for the acquisition and related financings of Sentio Healthcare Properties’ entire portfolio.
• Represented FKP Property Group as the purchaser of multiple senior living facilities in four states with respect to acquisition, financing and licensing matters related to the transaction
• Counseled a foreign company, FKP Property Group, in acquiring U.S.-regulated health care facilities in multiple states from Principal Senior Living Group
• Counsel to Bourne Financial Group

Thought Leadership

• Panelist, “M&A trends:  What lies ahead with current uncertainties,” HLB Audit – Tax – Advisory Conference 2022 (July 6-9, 2022)
• Panelist, “Expert Insights for CFOs: The Election’s Impact on the Economy, Capital Markets, M&A and Taxes,” Florida Institute of CFOs (December 1, 2020)
• Quoted, “A Good Hill to Try On,” Seniors Housing Business (March 5, 2020)
• Author, “The Legal Aspects of Investing in Senior Housing,” American Bar Association, Probate & Property Vol. 33, (May-June 2019)
• Panelist, “Financing Senior Housing Properties,” 2018 July Substantive Call, The ABA Section of Real Property, Trust & Estate Law (July 17, 2018)
• Co-author, “Consider This Before Jumping into the Seniors Housing Market,” National Real Estate Investor (January 9, 2017)
• Co-author, “What Does It Take to be a Winner in the Senior Housing Market?” Multi-housing News (November 22, 2016)
• Co-author, “How Hotel Developers Can Break Into Senior Housing,” HOTELS (October 25, 2016)
• Co-author, “Asset Protection: Creating Operating Agreements to Assure Continuity,” Journal of Physician-Owned Real Estate (2016)
• Panelist, Healthcare Panel, BDO Mid-Year Accounting and Tax Update, Orlando, Florida (June 8, 2016)
• Contributing author, Post-Acute Care Handbook: Regulatory, Risk, and Compliance Issues, published by the American Health Lawyers Association (2015) 
• “The (Not-So) Hidden Risks of RIDEA Investment Structures,” Health Care Law Today (May 19, 2014)
• Co-author, "Nursing Facility Transparency and Congress," Health Law 360 (November 11, 2008)

Recognition

• Selected as a 2023 "Business Organizations (including LLCs and Partnerships) Lawyer of the Year" by Best Lawyers.
• Chambers USA: America's Leading Lawyers for Business in the practice area of Corporate/M&A & Private Equity (2021-2022)
• Selected by his peers for inclusion in The Best Lawyers in America® in the fields of:
  • Business Organizations (including LLCs and Partnerships) (2015 - 2023)
  • Corporate Law (2010 - 2023)
• Florida Super Lawyers–Rising Stars® (2009, 2011 - 2014)
• Orlando Business Journal’s "40 under 40" (2008 and 2011)
• "Florida Trend Legal Elite Up & Comer" by Florida Trend magazine where only 42 attorneys in Florida and six in Orlando were selected for this honor (July 2004)

Education

Mike is a 2000 graduate of the New York University School of Law, where he was the article and note editor for the Journal of Legislation and Public Policy. He received his Master of Laws degree (LL.M.) in tax law from the New York University School of Law in 2004. He received bachelor's degrees in both accounting and finance, magna cum laude, from the University of Central Florida.

Community Engagement

Mike is and has been active in various community organizations, including the University of Central Florida, WMFE Radio, the Maitland Art & History Association, the Orlando Chapter of the Association for Corporate Growth (ACG), the Brevard Zoo, the OneBlood Foundation and a graduate of Leadership Orlando, Class 65. He is presently on the board of directors for the New York University Alumni Association and previously served as a Trustee of the University of Central Florida. Mike is currently a member of the Senior Living Management degree Advisory Board.

Admissions and Professional Memberships

Mike is admitted to practice in the state courts of Florida, New York, California, and before the U.S. Tax Court. He is chair of the American Bar Association’s Senior Housing and Assisted Living group.