Ronald Eppen is a partner and private equity and venture capital lawyer with Foley & Lardner LLP. His global practice focuses on domestic and international business transactions, including equity financings for corporate, venture capital and private equity clients; research and development collaborations and corporate partnering transactions; strategic investments; restructurings; mergers and acquisitions; and other exit transactions. Ronald is a member of the firm’s Private Equity & Venture Capital Practice and the Cannabis, Health Care, Life Sciences and Technology Industry Teams.
Ronald’s background includes acting as general outside counsel for an array of private and venture backed companies in the life sciences, technology, and financial services fields, as well as U.S., European, and Asian venture and private equity firms who invest in such companies. He also regularly acts as U.S. counsel for Canadian technology, fintech, and life sciences companies.
Ronald also has significant experience in project finance.
Representative Experience
Life Sciences
- Represented major Swiss pharmaceutical company in its exclusive license of Phase III drug candidate from a U.S. biotech.
- Represented Seahorse BioSciences, Inc., a Billerica, MA based maker of cellular analytical labware, from inception through its $235 million acquisition by Agilent in November, 2015.
- Represented Edgemont Pharmaceuticals, a specialty pharma company, in its Series A and Series B financing rounds, as well as numerous clinical trial and pharma supply agreements, a Paragraph IV challenge, and other matters.
- Represented H2 Medical Technologies, an early stage medical device company developing improved IV catheter dressing technology, in all aspects from organization through its initial seed funding.
- Represented a Massachusetts life sciences tools company in the sale of its life science tools division to Dionex Corp.
- Represented U.S.-based clinical trial services company in the organization and building of businesses and strategic partnerships in China, Israel, Saudi Arabia, and other emerging markets.
- Represented management team in management buyout of pharmaceutical distribution business from a private equity firm.
Technology
- Represented social media monitoring platform Radian 6 Technologies Inc., (based in Halifax, NS) in its April 2011 acquisition by Salesforce.
- Represented predecessor to Century Equity Partners in the sale of its portfolio company eReinsure (web based reinsurance platform) to Fortegra Financial.
- Represented predecessor to Century Equity Partners in the sale of its records technology portfolio company iArchives, Inc. to Ancestry.
- Represented predecessor to Century Equity Partners in its portfolio investment in Torrent Technologies, Inc., a flood insurance software and service provider, and in the sale of Torrent to Marsh & McLeman.
- Represented venture backed water filtration and carbonation technology company in its venture financings and in several product development and other strategic transactions with major appliance and beverage manufacturers, as well as joint venture with a European developer of beverage capsule technology.
Other Private Equity
- Represented Century Equity Partners in its recent portfolio acquisitions of McBee Associates (healthcare industry focused managerial and financial consulting) and Direct Path (benefits compliance and advisory and related technologies for Fortune 1000 employers).
- Represented Social Security Advocates for the Disabled, a century Equity Partners portfolio company focused on disability benefit claims representation, in its acquisition by The Advocator Group, a subsidiary of Brown & Brown.
- Represented Direct Path in its acquisition of benefits plan management business from High Roads, Inc.
- Represented Capvis (Swiss PE firm) and its portfolio company, Lista International (a Massachusetts based workspace solutions company), in the sale of Lista International to Stanley Black and Decker.
- Represented selling private equity firms in the sale of MegaStar Media, the largest multi-plex movie theater chain in Vietnam, to CJ CGV, a Seoul-based theater developer and operator.
- Represented a New York City based asset management firm in its private equity investment in Vanguard Hotels Inc., a Singapore based developer and operator of business class hotels in Southeast Asia.
- Represented predecessor to Century Equity Partners in the sale of its portfolio company Asset Allocation & Management, LLC (a Chicago based insurance asset management firm) to affiliates of Stone Point Capital.
- Represented Capvis in its original leveraged acquisition and related management buyout of Lista International.
Awards and Recognition
- Peer Review Rated in Martindale-Hubbell’s peer review rating system.
- Named to the 2022 “Northeast Trailblazers” list by The American Lawyer.
Presentations and Publications
- “Post-Recession Exit Strategies for Life Sciences Companies: Achieving in the Market Resurgence,” moderator, Foley’s Life Sciences Conference, Cambridge, Massachusetts (May 10, 2011).
- “Medical Devices: What’s Hot and What’s Not,” Health Law360 (December 3, 2009).
- Faculty member and coursebook co-author for Patent Resources Group’s “Patent Counsel’s Vital Role in and Guide to Important Corporate Transactions,” most recently at in Albuquerque, NM (October 2008).
- “Session 2: Financing Your Cross Border Transaction,” speaker, New England-Canada Business Council’s 9th Annual Technology Conference, Boston, Massachusetts (April 17, 2008).
- “Venture Funding Environment has Many Feeling Down,” Mass High Tech (June 10, 2002).