Josh Lerner is a partner in the Executive Compensation + Benefits Group based in the New York office of Morrison Foerster.

Josh advises clients on all matters involving the compensation of senior executives, including employment, change in control, equity compensation, and severance arrangements.

He counsels public and private companies on executive compensation issues in a range of corporate transactions, restructurings, and financings. He has experience designing, drafting, and negotiating employment agreements and administering equity incentive plans and awards. He also works regularly with public companies on compensation-related disclosures and corporate governance matters, including Securities Exchange Act of 1934 reports. 

Josh earned his J.D. from Columbia Law School where he was a senior articles editor of the Columbia Business Law Review.

Representative Matters

• Snow Software, a technology intelligence platform, on its acquisition by Flexera Software, a data-oriented SaaS solution company.

• U.S. Silica Holdings, a global industrial minerals and logistics leader, in its $1.85 billion sale to entities affiliated with Apollo Global Management.

• Rivian Automotive in the formation of an equally controlled and owned joint venture with Volkswagen Group to create next generation software-defined vehicle (SDV) platforms to be used in both companies’ future electric vehicles.

• Palladium Equity Partners, in the $695 million sale of its majority interest in Trachte, a leading provider of highly engineered protection and control buildings with mission critical applications, to nVent Electric plc, a leading global provider of electrical connection and protection solutions.

• The rock band KISS and its co-founders Gene Simmons and Paul Stanley in the sale of substantially all rights related to KISS to Pophouse Entertainment.

• McGrath RentCorp, leading provider of temporary and permanent space solutions, in its $3.8 billion acquisition by WillScot Mobile Mini Holdings Corp., a leader in innovative temporary space solutions.

• Astellas Pharma in its acquisition of Propella Therapeutics, a biopharmaceutical company that combines medicinal chemistry with lymphatic targeting to create new oncology drugs.

• SoftBank in connection with its $375 million acquisition of Berkshire Grey, a robotic automation company that went public via a SPAC merger in 2021.

• Grant Thornton, one of America’s largest audit, tax, and advisory firms, in the sale of its Public Sector Advisory practice to Guidehouse, a portfolio company of Veritas Capital and leading global provider of consulting services to the public sector and commercial markets.

• MTY Food Group, a leading franchisor in the North American restaurant industry, in its $200 million acquisition of BBQ Holdings, a franchisor and operator of fast casual dining.

• Odevo AB, a Swedish company and a portfolio company of private equity client Fidelio Capital, in connection with its acquisition of KW Property Management & Consulting, LLC, a Florida-based company that provides property management services to homeowner associations, condominium boards, cooperative boards and townhome communities. 

• Tinicum and its portfolio company TSL Engineered Products in the sale of Advantek, a leading provider of highly engineered carrier tape and associated protective packaging products, to Cornell Capital.