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Larry P. Laubach

Chair, Corporate Practice Group

: Philadelphia
One Liberty Place
1650 Market Street
Suite 2800
Philadelphia, PA 19103
P: (215) 665-4666
TF: (800) 523-2900
F: (215) 701-2346

Larry P. Laubach

Recent News:
Fifty-four Cozen O’Connor Attorneys Named 2018 Pennsylvania Super Lawyers and Rising Stars
Super Lawyers has named 54 Cozen O'Connor attorneys to its 2018 Pennsylvania Super Lawyers and Rising Stars lists.
More

Larry focuses his practice on mergers and acquisitions and general corporate and securities matters for public and private companies in a wide variety of industries. He serves as chair of the Corporate Law Practice Group and also serves as vice chair of the firm's Business Law Department.

Larry has extensive experience in acquisition transactions, including mergers involving public and private companies, stock acquisitions and divestitures, and asset purchases and sales. He also has significant experience in venture capital and other minority investments, private placements, limited partner investments in private funds, senior and mezzanine financings, corporate governance matters, and general corporate and contractual matters. He represents large and middle market companies, strategic and financial buyers and sellers, and family office and other institutional investors.

Larry is active in bar associations. He is a member of the Title 15 Taskforce of the Business Law Section of the Pennsylvania Bar Association, which recommends changes to the corporation, partnership, and related laws of Pennsylvania. Larry has also lectured to several groups on mergers and acquisitions.

Larry earned his Bachelor of Arts in accounting from Franklin & Marshall College, magna cum laude, in 1977, where he was a member of Phi Beta Kappa. He earned his law degree from the University of Pennsylvania, magna cum laude, in 1980, where he was an editor of the Penn Law Review and a member of the Order of the Coif.

Experience

Handled the sale of firm client John Middleton, Inc., a Philadelphia-area cigar and pipe tobacco manufacturer whose brands included “Black & Mild” and “Prince Albert,” to Altria Group, Inc. for $2.9 billion, in one of the largest transactions ever handled by a Philadelphia law firm.

Represented Sony Corporation of America in its acquisition of Micronics, Inc., a developer of near patient point of care devices for disease diagnosis and treatment monitoring.

Represented Sony Corporation of America in its acquisition of iCyt Mission Technology, Inc., a leading producer of high-performance cell sorters used for stem cell and disease research.

Represented Utz Quality Foods in its acquisition of the potato chip business of Zappe Endeavors. Founded in 1921, Utz is the largest privately held potato chip brand in the country and the number one regional snack food brand in the Mid-Atlantic region, with more than 2,500 employees. Zappe, which was founded in Louisiana in 1985, primarily produced kettle-cooked potato chips under the nationally distributed brand "Dirty Potato Chips" and the regional brands Zappe's and California Chips. Zappe's plants were located in Louisiana, Pennsylvania, and California.

Represented Utz Quality Foods, Inc. in its purchase of the intellectual property (including the “Bachman” and “Jax” brands), distribution rights and certain other assets of The Bachman Company, a manufacturer of pretzels and cheese curls.

Represented Sony Corporation of America in its purchase of the U.S. CD and DVD replication distribution operations of Entertainment Distribution Company for $26 million.

Represented Hospital Service Association of Northeastern Pennsylvania d/b/a Blue Cross of Northeastern Pennsylvania (BCNEPA) in its acquisition by merger by Highmark Inc. As part of the transaction, BCNEPA contributed $90 million to two charitable organizations and Highmark is obligated under certain circumstances to contribute another $10 million in the future. This transaction was the first transaction in nearly 20 years in which two Pennsylvania Blue Cross/Blue Shield licensees had successfully combined.

Represented the owners of Pyramid LLC (formerly known as Petroleum Products Corporation) and certain affiliates in their sale of the ownership interests of those entities to Penn Products Terminals, LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of ArcLight Capital Partners. Pyramid, a midstream oil company, owned and operated a network of 12 storage terminal facilities in Pennsylvania, totaling approximately nine million barrels of storage capacity. ArcLight is a leading private equity firm focused on North American energy infrastructure assets.

Represented cigar manufacturer Drew Estate LLC and its affiliates in their sale to Swisher International, Inc., a manufacturer of mass market cigars. The sale included all of Drew Estate’s premium cigar brands, including ACID and Liga Privada, and the largest cigar factory in Nicaragua.

Represented Sony Creative Software, Inc. in the sale of a majority of its products to MAGIX Software GmbH.

Represented Utz Quality Foods, LLC, the largest privately held snack food company in the United States, in connection with its acquisition of Alabama-based public snack food company Golden Enterprises, Inc. for $146 million. The acquisition was financed through an investment in Utz by private equity firm Metropoulos & Co. Cozen O'Connor represented Utz in that investment by Metropoulos, which was the largest initial private equity transaction for U.S. snack food company since 2013. The complex and multi-faceted transaction drew on the experience of Cozen O'Connor's corporate, tax, intellectual property, employee benefits, labor and employment, antitrust, and securities attorneys.

Represented Pilot Air Freight Corp., a private air freight logistics, package forwarding, and delivery company, in connection with the sale of a controlling interest in the company to ATL Partners and British Columbia Investment Management Corp. The transaction required a complex reorganization of Pilot and its subsidiaries and drew on the experience of the firm's corporate, employee benefits, real estate, intellectual property, tax, and aviation regulatory attorneys.

Represented Sony Electronics Inc. in connection with the corporate, tax, and certain benefits aspects of its acquisition of Crispin Corporation, which develops master control automation and asset management solution for broadcasters, cable operators, and other television and media operations.

Represented Utz Quality Foods, LLC in its acquisition of Inventure Foods, Inc. in a deal valued at $165 million. The transaction was completed via a cash tender offer for all outstanding shares of Inventure Foods common stock, followed by a merger of a wholly owned subsidiary of Utz into Inventure Foods pursuant to Section 251(h) of the Delaware General Corporation Law. Inventure Foods will operate as a wholly-owned subsidiary of Utz. Inventure Foods manufactures and sells salted snacks under the brands Boulder Canyon®, TGI Fridays™, Nathan’s Famous®, Vidalia Brands®, Poore Brothers®, Tato Skins®, and Bob’s Texas Style® and has manufacturing facilities in Arizona and Indiana. This complex and multi-faceted transaction drew on the experience of Cozen O’Connor’s corporate, tax, labor and employment, benefits, litigation, intellectual property, real estate, and environmental attorneys.

Represented Ezaki Glico Co., Ltd., a publicly traded Japanese food company doing business across 30 countries, in its purchase of TCHO Ventures, Inc., a San Francisco-based fair trade chocolate manufacturer. The acquisition was Ezaki Glico’s first acquisition of a United States company. The transaction drew on the experience of the firm's corporate, tax, intellectual property, labor & employment, and employee benefits & executive compensation attorneys.

News

Fifty-four Cozen O’Connor Attorneys Named 2018 Pennsylvania Super Lawyers and Rising Stars

June 12, 2018

Super Lawyers has named 54 Cozen O'Connor attorneys to its 2018 Pennsylvania Super Lawyers and Rising Stars lists.

Cozen O’Connor Advises Utz Quality Foods, LLC in its Acquisition of Inventure Foods, Inc.

February 14, 2018

Cozen O’Connor represented Utz Quality Foods, LLC in its acquisition of Inventure Foods, Inc. for approximately $165 million.

Utz Quality Foods Acquires Inventure Foods

December 15, 2017

Hanover, PA-based Utz Quality Foods completed its acquisition of Inventure Foods in a deal valued at $165 million. Larry Laubach, chair of Cozen O'Connor's Corporate Practice Group, assisted Utz in the transaction.

100 Cozen O’Connor Lawyers Named to the Best Lawyers in America

August 23, 2017

Lawyers were selected for inclusion in the 2018 edition based on a rigorous peer-review that has been developed and defined for more than 30 years.

Cozen O’Connor Earns Client Recognition in 2017 Chambers USA Rankings

May 26, 2017

Chambers USA recognized 47 Cozen O’Connor lawyers as leaders in their respective fields; 14 attorneys were recognized nationally and 11 were ranked in the top band.

Potato Chip Giant Utz Quality Foods To Buy Golden Enterprises for $135M

July 21, 2016

Cozen O’Connor attorneys represent Pennsylvania-based Utz Quality Foods Inc. in its recently announced $135 million acquisition of Golden Enterprises Inc.

Cozen O’Connor Earns Client Recognition in 2016 Chambers USA Rankings

May 27, 2016

Chambers USA recognized 41 Cozen O’Connor lawyers as leaders in their respective fields; 12 attorneys were recognized nationally and 11 were ranked in the top band.

Cozen O’Connor Earns Client Recognition in 2015 Chambers USA Rankings

July 06, 2015

Chambers USA recognized 37 Cozen O’Connor lawyers as leaders in their respective fields; 12 attorneys were recognized nationally and 10 were ranked in the top band.

Cozen O’Connor Earns Client Recognition in 2014 Chambers USA Rankings

May 30, 2014

Chambers USA recognized 29 Cozen O’Connor lawyers as leaders in their respective fields; six attorneys were recognized nationally and eight were ranked in the top band. Stanley Sher was named a “Senior Statesman” in the “Transportation: Shipping: Regulatory (outside New York)” industry, for the pivotal role Sher plays in the firm’s continued success in the transportation industry.

Cozen O’Connor Earns Client Recognition in 2013 Chambers USA Rankings

May 26, 2013

PHILADELPHIA – May 26, 2013 – Chambers USA has recognized 29 Cozen O’Connor lawyers as leaders in their fields; five attorneys were recognized nationally and five were ranked in the top band.

Six Cozen O’Connor Members Named to SmartCEO’s 2012 Legal Elite List

December 18, 2012

Michael J. Heller, Larry P. Laubach, Steven N. Haas, Jeffrey A. Leonard, Herman C. Fala and Jeffrey G. Weil were named to the Philadelphia SmartCEO’s 2012 list of Legal Elite.

Cozen O’Connor Attorneys Named 2009 Pennsylvania Super Lawyers By Law & Politics

May 28, 2009

Cozen O’Connor is proud to announce that 52 attorneys from the firm’s Philadelphia and West Conshohocken offices have been named 2009 Pennsylvania Super Lawyers by Law & Politics, and will appear in the June 2009 issues of Philadelphia magazine and Pennsylvania Super Lawyers.

Winter 2013 [Business Law Observer]

January 01, 2013

Fall 2011 [Business Law Observer]

October 01, 2011

Fall 2011 - Business Law Observer - We welcome your inquiries on these topics and any other questions you may have, and trust that we can provide you with the counsel you need to steer clear of the impediments to successfully running your business.

Spring 2009 [Business Law Observer]

May 01, 2009

Spring 2009 - Business Law Observer - The Spring edition addresses many issues raised by the unprecedented economic troubles. Our articles touch upon banking relations, the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009, opportunities for businesses and non-profits created by the Act, and other important topics. While merger activity has slowed considerably,
nevertheless, as our economy recovers, we offer a primer on compliance with FTC rules as merger transactions increase.

Big Changes Coming for LLCs, LPs and GPs	Philadelphia, PA	03/07/2017
The 2014 ACC Annual Meeting	New Orleans, LA	10/28/2014
ACG 2013 M&A East Conference	Philadelphia, PA	10/08/2013
The New Paradigm for Buying and Selling Companies	Harrisburg, PA	11/10/2011