Whole Foods Market Inc. rewarded Paul Denis for defending the high-end grocer in its seemingly endless antitrust battle by tapping his firm, Dechert LLP, for legal advice on a $425 million equity investment by Leonard Green & Partners LP. Dechert partners Thomas Friedmann and David Schulman in Washington handled the corporate work on the deal, which was announced Nov. 5, along with Ian Hartman in Philadelphia, while Michael Rufkahr in Washington did the tax work.
Dechert's Denis, Jeffrey Brennan, James Fishkin, and Paul Friedman
served as antitrust counsel to Whole Foods on its $671 million
acquisition of rival Wild Oats Markets Inc. last year. The Federal
Trade Commission sued to block the transaction and, despite losing in
U.S. District Court, has persisted in trying to upend the deal even
after it closed in August 2007.
Whole Foods used Kathy Elsesser, Tim Ingrassia and David Friedland of Goldman, Sachs & Co. for advice on the Leonard Green investment. The buyout firm used a team from Latham & Watkins LLP in New York led by Howard Sobel, Dennis Lamont and Greg Rodgers.
Sobel has represented the Los Angeles PE shop for about a dozen years
and knew several of Leonard Green's people when they worked for
Donaldson, Lufkin & Jenrette Inc. Two of the firm's three managing
partners and four of its five partners worked for DLJ at some point.
Earlier this year, Sobel represented FTD Group Inc., a Green portfolio
company, on the flower purveyor's $800 million sale to United Online Inc.
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