Christopher J. Babcock
Partner
Christopher (Chris) Babcock is a partner in Foley & Lardner LLP’s Dallas office, focusing on public and private mergers and acquisitions, private equity, corporate governance, and securities matters. He is a member of the firm’s Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) Practice and Foley’s national recruiting committee, and previously served on its private equity leadership team.
Chris represents private equity funds, public companies, privately held companies, and nonprofits in mergers and acquisitions, portfolio company management, and a broad range of corporate governance and capital market matters such as tender offers, public exchange offers, advising special committees, advising on disclosure requirements, stakeholder communications, and activist campaigns. He concentrates on complicated transactions, helping clients to think creatively and navigate their most significant challenges and other transformational matters.
Chris has co-authored numerous articles relevant to mergers and acquisitions and corporate governance matters published by the Delaware Business Court Insider, the Harvard Law School Forum on Corporate Governance and Financial Regulation, Law360, and others, and serves as the outside editor for Thompson Reuters O’Connor’s book on the Texas Business Organizations Code. He has been invited to speak at numerous events, including meetings of the Technology Special Interest group of Financial Executives International, the Dallas Bar M&A Section, and the Choice, Governance & Acquisition of Entities conference.
Prior to law school, Chris served as an instructor-qualified airborne intelligence officer in the U.S. Air Force, earning the rank of captain.
Representative Experience
Private Equity
- Represented Rosewood Private Investments in the acquisition, sale, growth, and management of a number of portfolio companies, including INW Manufacturing (cumulating in a sale to Cornell Capital), Novaria (cumulating in a sale to an affiliate of KKR) and others.
- Represented Strait Lane Capital Partners in numerous sales and acquisitions of a number of its portfolio companies, including its sale of Griswold LLC to Rogers Corporation.
- Represented Riata Capital Group in connection with the acquisition of multiple practices in connection with formation and growth of an optometry platform company.
- Represented Star Dental Partners in multiple acquisitions of dentist practices.
- Represented Highlander Capital Partners in connection with series of follow-on acquisitions to grow, and divestitures from, an auto products portfolio company.
- Represented LKCM Headwater in acquisition of TestEquity, a value-added distributor of test and measurement equipment and MRO tools and supplies for laboratories and electronics manufacturing, and a manufacturer of environmental chambers, and in sale of Heads Up Technologies, an aerospace manufacturing company.
Corporate Governance
- Represented Stryker Corporation in connection with governance and internal restricting matters concerning various subsidiaries.
- Represented conflicts committee of general partner of Alon USA Partners, LP, in connection with controlling limited partner taking the master limited partnership private.
- Represented FUNimation in connection with equity compensation and related issues raised in connection with its acquisition by Sony Pictures Television.
- Represented certain director/shareholders of Good Times Restaurants Inc. in dispute about composition of board.
Other
- Represented Evans Enterprises in its sale to Integrated Power Services.
- Represented Sachs Capital in connection with take-private acquisition of RMG Networks Holding Corporation and related bridge financing.
- Represented 1st Global, Inc., including its registered investment advisor and broker-dealer subsidiaries, in its acquisition by Blucora, Inc.
- Represented Stryve Foods in connection with its de-SPAC transaction and subsequent matters.
Awards and Recognition
- Stand-out Lawyer, Thomson Reuters (2025)
- Super Lawyers® – Texas Rising Stars (2018-2022)
- Texas Lawyer’s Texas Legal Excellence Awards – On the Rise Award (2021)
Affiliations
- Past chair, Dallas Bar Association – Mergers & Acquisitions Section (2017-2019)
Community Involvement
- Member, Baylor University’s Honors College Advisory Council
Christopher Babcock on Texas Business Code Change - 'Will make Texas a significantly more attractive jurisdiction'
Foley Advises Cordatus Capital in Partnership with Red Dot Buildings
