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Peter Park

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Peter Park is a partner in the Corporate Practice Group in the firm's Los Angeles office.

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The past few years have seen dramatic shifts for mergers and acquisitions involving automotive dealerships. It has been estimated that approximately 3% of dealerships undergo a change of ownership in an average year. In the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic, however, deal flow in this sector nearly came to a complete halt due to the nationwide lockdown and a lack of demand. By early 2021, the industry had effectively made a full recovery in spite of supply chain and inventory challenges and M&A activity in this space rebounded accordingly, with a record 383 transactions completed in 2021, and an estimated 374 transactions completed in 2022. Despite larger U.S. economy macroeconomic headwinds and leveling consumer demand, buy/sell activity in the auto dealer sector is expected to remain robust in 2023 and beyond as several prominent acquirors continue to deploy their capital and more sellers coming to market due to a variety of reasons, including estate planning and general uncertainties about the larger economy.…

Continue Reading The Art of the Dealership: A Legal Road Map for Buying and Selling Automotive Dealerships

As anyone who has been through a corporate sale process can tell you, there is no such thing as a “standard” M&A transaction.  Every deal is different and presents a unique set of challenges.  This is especially true of transactions involving lead generation companies, which can be very different than businesses in other industries.  Amongst other differences, companies in this space utilize a wide variety of customized commercial arrangements and are subject to numerous industry-specific regulatory requirements that buyers need to be aware of before making an investment in this space.  In this article, we highlight the top 10 issues that buyer should diligence when considering acquiring a lead generation company.  Sellers in this space should focus on eliminating any issues in these areas as well to make them a more attractive acquisition target.
Continue Reading Top 10 Diligence Issues in Lead Generation Mergers and Acquisitions

The Main Street Lending Program, intended to provide credit support to small and medium sized businesses, became operational on July 6, 2020.[i] It includes many borrower-favorable economic terms, including a 5-year term, a low interest rate (capped at LIBOR + 3%), an interest payment deferral of 1 year and a principal payment deferral of 2 years, and a generally borrower-friendly amortization schedule.[ii] However, the Main Street Lending Program possesses certain characteristics that could negatively affect an acquisition, sale or other strategic transaction.

Since making its initial announcement in March of 2020, the Federal Reserve has released a series of documents and Frequently Asked Questions (“FAQs”) to shape and clarify the program details.  This article discusses several Main Street Loan requirements (around affiliation, dealing with other debt, compensation, dividends/distributions and employee and payroll retention) that require special attention if an M&A transaction of a privately-held company is being conducted or may be on the foreseeable horizon. This article also recommends some basic execution strategies since different approaches to M&A due diligence review and transaction structuring are necessary if the acquiror, the target/seller or both have applied for or received a Main Street Loan.
Continue Reading Some Strings Attached: Main Street Lending Program And Private Company M&A

The $600 billion Main Street Loan program has been highly anticipated to provide financial support in the form of loans to small and medium-sized U.S. businesses affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. The Federal Reserve Bank of Boston that is administering the Main Street Loan program has released term sheets and various other program documents for the three types of loans, “New,” “Priority” and “Expanded,” as well as over 70 pages of Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs). As a result, the contours of the Main Street Loan program are now substantially settled[1] as the Fed announced publicly on Monday, July 6, that the Main Street Lending Program is now fully operational and ready to purchase participations in eligible loans that are submitted to the program by registered lenders (Eligible Lenders).
Continue Reading Interplay of Main Street Lending Program Documents (the Rights and Role of the Main Street SPV)