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MoFo Advises Mountaingate on Strategic Investment in Ignite Visibility

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Morrison Foerster advised Mountaingate Capital in connection with its strategic investment in Ignite Visibility, a premier digital marketing agency with proven success supporting enterprises of all sizes to drive tangible business results through a broad range of services including website search engine optimization, paid media execution, social media marketing, email marketing, and more.



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Morrison Foerster advised Mountaingate Capital in connection with its strategic investment in Ignite Visibility, a premier digital marketing agency with proven success supporting enterprises of all sizes to drive tangible business results through a broad range of services including website search engine optimization, paid media execution, social media marketing, email marketing, and more.Mountaingate is a Denver-based private equity firm investing in the marketing services, business services, specialty distribution, and specialty manufacturing sectors. It specializes in building and empowering companies with strong growth potential and engaged leadership teams, and its focus on organic growth coupled with its proven customer-centric buy-and-build approach and shared equity ownership with management creates more value for the end customer, while forging stronger, more collaborative, and more successful partnerships with management teams. Mountaingate’s investment in Ignite will accelerate growth organically as well as through selective strategic acquisitions to better serve its clients.The MoFo team advising Mountaingate was led by Denver corporate partner Tyler Sewell, together with San Francisco associate Daigo Takahashi and Denver associate Hardin Cox. The wider team included Washington, D.C. employment + labor partner Michael Schulman, New York executive compensation partner Joshua Lerner, New York tax partner Dave Sturgeon, Boston technology transactions partner Matt Karlyn, and Boston privacy + data security partner Julie O’Neill.Read more in Mountaingate’s <a href="https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20230207005972/en/Ignite-Visibility-Takes-on-Equity-Investment-to-Fund-Growth" target="_blank">press release</a>.

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Tyler Sewell is a corporate partner in the firm’s Denver and Washington, D.C. offices and serves as Lead of the M&A Practice Group. He focuses his practice on advising clients on a broad range of corporate matters, with an emphasis on M&A and private equity transactions.Tyler has significant experience representing businesses and private equity funds (and their portfolio companies) in a broad range of corporate matters, including acquisitions, leveraged buyouts, joint ventures, growth equity investments, and divestitures. Clients rely on him for both his sophisticated legal counseling as well as his sharp business acumen.Tyler advises clients in all aspects of their investment activity across a wide variety of industry sectors, including aerospace, defense and government contracting; business services; technology (semiconductors, software, and Internet); consumer products; e-commerce; healthcare; industrials; and transportation.Prior to attending law school, he served as a surface warfare officer on the USS Russell and the USS Dwight D. Eisenhower.<h4>Representative Experience</h4><ul><li>Alpha Omega Integration, which specializes in digital modernization, AI, and cybersecurity,</li><ul><li>in its acquisition of SeKON Enterprise, which provides Federal health IT systems professional services advisory</li><li>in its acquisition of Macro Solutions, an IT and management consulting firm</li></ul><li>Astroscale U.S. in its acquisition of assets of Effective Space Solutions R&D</li><li>Aurotech in its partnership with OpenGate Capital</li><li>B&A, a leading information technology systems integrator, in its investment from DFW Capital Partners.</li><li>Babel Street in its acquisition of certain assets of Dunami</li><li>Betterer Foods in its sale of RightRice to The Planting Hope Company</li><li>The Building People in its acquisition of InfoNarus</li><li>California Cryobank in its acquisition of Donor Egg Bank</li><li>CBRE Group in its acquisition of Tax Credit Group</li><li>Continental Mapping Consultants in its acquisition by Bluestone Investment Partners</li><li>Cydecor, Inc., which delivers mission-enabling technology solutions to national security and defense agencies, in its acquisition of Artel, provider of network solutions to the U.S. Government</li><li>Definitive Logic in its acquisition of Digital Mobilizations</li><li>Dynamo Technologies in its acquisition of Victory Solutions</li><li>Envision Healthcare Corporation (NYSE: EVHC), its operating subsidiaries and affiliates in multiple transactions, including the acquisitions of Guardian Healthcare Group; Life Line Ambulance Service; Phoenix Physicians; Emergency Medical Associates of New Jersey; Scottsdale Emergency Associates; Questcare Medical Services; and Emergency Physicians Medical Group</li><li>eTelligent Group in strategic investment from IMB Partners</li><li>Excellere Partners in its investment in Concord Technologies</li><li>Grant Thornton in the sale of its Public Sector Advisory practice to Guidehouse, a portfolio company of Veritas Capital</li><li>Intelligent Software Solutions in acquisition of Xpect Software</li><li>iovation in its acquisition by TransUnion</li><li>iPharma in its acquisition by Kindeva</li><li>KRG Capital Partners in multiple transactions, including, its acquisition of F.A. Richard & Co.; its sale of Avizent to Abry; and its sale of Tronair to Levine Leichtman</li><li>LinQuest, a portfolio company of Madison Dearborn, in its acquisitions of Capability Analysis & Measurement Organization, LLC (CAMO) and Hellebore Consulting Group</li><li>Markon Solutions, a government consulting firm backed by Sterling Investment Partners,</li><ul><li>in its acquisition of Advanced Systems Engineering Corp., a small business that provides services in management, systems engineering, finance, cybersecurity and software development</li><li>in its acquisition of JY Systems, which provides engineering and integration service for DoD</li><li>in its acquisition of Leverage Information Technologies LLC (LIT), a software engineering and data science consultancy</li><li>in its acquisition of PLEX Solutions and PLEX Cyber</li><li>in its acquisition of Millenium Corporation</li></ul><li>McKesson Corporation in its acquisitions of Vantage Oncology LLC and Biologics, Inc.</li><li>Minerva Engineering in its acquisition by ManTech International</li><li>Mountaingate Capital in multiple transactions, including its investments in platform companies Rep Data and Ignite Visibility, as well as Ignite Visibility's acquisitions of EverConnect, Outliant, and Rallio.</li><li>Novaria Group in its acquisition of Fitz Manufacturing Industries</li><li>onsemi in its acquisition of GT Advanced Technologies</li><li>REPKON USA Holdings Inc., a technology leader in the aerospace and defense market, in its definitive agreement for the acquisition of McCormick Stevenson Corporation.</li><li>RH in its acquisition of Waterworks</li><li>Sedgwick Claim Services, a portfolio company of Carlyle, in its acquisition of Managed Care Advisors</li><li>ShowingTime in its sale to Zillow Group</li><li>Sigma Defense Systems, a portfolio company of Sagewind Capital and a leading provider to DoD,</li><ul><li>in its acquisition of Juno Technologies, which specializes in delivering IT engineering, systems integration, software development, and technical support to the DoD</li><li>in its acquisition of the business of Sub U Systems</li></ul><li>SoftBank Corporation in multiple transactions, including its acquisition of a controlling interest in Brightstar Corp. and its sale of its controlling stake in Finnish gaming company Supercell Oy to Tencent Holdings</li><li>Splunk, Inc. in its acquisition of Caspida, Inc.</li><li>Sweetwood Smoke & Co., maker of FATTY Smoked Meat Sticks, in its sale to Conagra Brands (NYSE: CAG), one of North America's leading branded food companies.</li><li>Telesis in its partnership with Belcan</li><li>Tomkins Ltd. in multiple transactions, including its acquisition of Du-Tex; its divestiture of Dexter Axle to Sterling Partners; and its sale of Aquatic US Holdings to Sterling Partners</li><li>Unilever in its acquisition of Dollar Shave Club</li><li>VariQ in its sale to Capgemi</li><li>Washington Harbour Partners</li><ul><li>in its over $60 million strategic growth investment in Raft LLC</li><li>in its strategic growth investments in Trusted Space, LLC</li><li>in its acquisition of Outpost Mission Services (formerly known as Radome Services)</li><li>in acquisitions by its portfolio company SIXGEN, a full-spectrum provider of cyber products, operations, and solutions, of Secure Enterprise Engineering, Inc. and Boldend.</li></ul><li>Westfire, Inc. in its sale to Tyco SimplexGrinnell</li><li>Yahoo! in multiple transactions, including its acquisition of Brightroll</li><li>zipLogix in its acquisition by Lone Wolf Real Estate Technologies</li></ul>

Tyler Sewell

Partner

Michael Schulman is a partner in the firm’s Global Employment and Labor Group and co-head of the firm’s Washington, D.C. Litigation Department.Michael regularly advises clients in connection with important workforce-related matters, including hiring and negotiating employment agreements for senior executives, sensitive executive separations, internal workplace investigations, employment claims and disputes, and employment issues arising in the context of mergers, acquisitions, bankruptcies and other corporate transactions. Michael is known for using a pragmatic, efficient, and results-oriented approach, focused on achieving his clients’ desired business outcomes.Michael regularly guides clients through complex workforce issues, including, for instance allegations of workplace misconduct; restrictive covenant drafting, enforcement, and strategic evaluation; worker classification and wage-and-hour compliance practices; and the unique issues that arise in a unionized workplace. Michael’s experience covers a broad range of employment and labor laws at the federal, state, and local level, including Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, Section 1981 of the Civil Rights Act of 1866, the Americans with Disabilities Act, the Age Discrimination in Employment Act, the National Labor Relations Act, the Fair Labor Standards Act, the Fair Credit Reporting Act, the Uniformed Services Employment and Reemployment Rights Act, the Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act, the Defend Trade Secrets Act, and corresponding state and local laws.Michael has unique experience addressing labor and employment matters that arise in connection with corporate transactions, particularly for private equity firms. Michael has represented clients in over 2,000 transactions, including many large-scale multinational mergers, acquisitions, and asset carve-outs. He regularly conducts acquisition-related labor and employment due diligence and advises clients on the employment and workforce integration or separation implications of mergers, acquisitions, sales, and financings.In the litigation context, Michael represents employers in U.S. federal and state court litigation, administrative agency proceedings, and arbitrations arising out of alleged labor and employment law violations. Michael defends employers against actions brought by government agencies, such as the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission and Department of Labor, as well as actions initiated by current and former employees. He also prosecutes suits against former employees and their new employers for breach of restrictive covenants.

Michael Schulman

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.<h4>Representative Matters</h4><ul><li>Snow Software, a technology intelligence platform, on its acquisition by Flexera Software, a data-oriented SaaS solution company.</li><li>U.S. Silica Holdings, a global industrial minerals and logistics leader, in its $1.85 billion sale to entities affiliated with Apollo Global Management.</li><li>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.</li><li>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.</li><li>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.</li><li>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.</li><li>Astellas Pharma in its acquisition of Propella Therapeutics, a biopharmaceutical company that combines medicinal chemistry with lymphatic targeting to create new oncology drugs.</li><li>SoftBank in connection with its $375 million acquisition of Berkshire Grey, a robotic automation company that went public via a SPAC merger in 2021.</li></ul><ul><li>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.</li><li>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.</li><li>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. </li><li>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.</li></ul>

Joshua Lerner

David Sturgeon is a partner in Morrison Foerster’s Federal Tax practice.Dave advises clients on a broad range of complex business transactions, including domestic and cross-border mergers and acquisitions, joint ventures, spin-offs and other divestitures, as well as financings, refinancings, restructurings and other business transactions.He earned his J.D. from the University of Chicago Law School, where he was a member of the Chicago Journal of International Law, and received his Master of Laws in taxation from New York University School of Law.Prior to joining Morrison Foerster, Dave was an associate at a law firm in New York, where he represented public companies, financial institutions, private equity clients and other sponsor entities across industries in an extensive range of business transactions.

Dave Sturgeon

Matt Karlyn has 25 years of experience in working with companies in the healthcare, pharmaceutical, medical device, and technology industries on a wide range of commercial life sciences, licensing, and technology transactions. His clients range from Fortune 100 companies to start-ups, and he regularly advises companies on matters involving IP commercialization, complex collaboration transactions, licensing initiatives, subscription-based economics, and business transactions related to the procurement, development, commercialization, and use of technology and life sciences products. He has also worked with a number of clients on corporate transactions including mergers and acquisitions, as well as private equity and venture capital financing.Matt is ranked Band 1 by Chambers USA for Intellectual Property: Licensing in Massachusetts. Clients in Chambers describe Matt as: “accessible and engaged, and he is really focused on getting the right answer for us."<h4>Life Sciences</h4>Life sciences clients, including pharmaceutical, medical device, and healthcare companies, rely on Matt for his breadth of knowledge in licensing, collaboration, and commercialization strategies across a wide range of transactions designed to strengthen operations and maximize value. Matt’s clients come from sectors across the global economy and include emerging companies, privately held companies, and many of the world’s biggest brands.Matt has broad experience with commercial transactions and agreements in the life sciences space, including:<ul><li>Intellectual property and technology licenses</li><li>Collaboration and development transactions</li><li>Commercialization agreements</li><li>Supply and manufacturing transactions</li></ul><h4>Technology</h4>Matt regularly advises on the use of technology in business, pricing strategies, and market terms across a wide variety of technology transactions that benefit clients both large and small. He has extensive experience negotiating a wide range of transactions, including:<ul><li>Enterprise resource planning and customer relationship management licensing and implementation transactions</li><li>Cloud-based transactions including software-as-a-services, platform-as-a-service, and infrastructure-as-a-service.</li><li>Software licensing</li><li>Supply chain and procurement deals</li></ul>Additionally, Matt has worked on many of the largest outsourcing transactions in the United States, representing numerous Fortune 100 companies on information technology, business process, finance and accounting, facilities services, and other outsourcing transactions.Matt is a frequent author and speaker on topics pertaining to drafting and negotiating commercial technology, outsourcing, and licensing transactions. He has published over 25 articles (including chapters in two books), given over 175 presentations on licensing, technology, outsourcing, and data security, and is the co-author of A Guide to IT Contracting: Checklists, Tools, and Techniques.Matt is currently co-chair of the Legal and Regulatory policy group at the Massachusetts Biotechnology Council. He served as chair of the New England Chapter of the International Association of Outsourcing Professionals, and served for five years on the board of directors of Julie’s Family Learning Program, a wellness program for mothers and children in South Boston. Matt has also been elected as a Fellow of the American Bar Foundation.

Matt Karlyn

Clients seek out Julie because of her practical advice on cutting-edge issues at the intersection of privacy and consumer protection laws. She provides clients with practical solutions to compliance challenges around a wide variety of both online and offline privacy issues, including tracking, interest-based advertising, geo-targeting and other mobile tracking, personalization, and cross-device tracking. Recognized in The Legal 500 US 2014, 2016, 2019, and 2020 and Chambers USA 2021 for her exceptional legal work, her clients praise her saying, “She is really good at giving practical, targeted advice and taking stock of what the risk profile of the client is, so that the advice is holistic.” (Chambers USA).Julie provides clients with creative and practical advice on meeting the requirements of state and federal privacy laws, including the Federal Trade Commission Act (FTC), the California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA), Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA), and the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA). She crafts guidelines and compliance programs for clients’ collection, use, and disclosure of personal information in diverse contexts and throughout the life cycle of their initiatives, such as for connected products (the Internet of Things) and mobile services. She also drafts privacy and cookies policies, online service terms of use, agreements involving online and offline advertising and marketing practices, and agreements concerning a variety of data uses. In addition, Julie helps clients assess and manage privacy risks, including in connection with mergers, acquisitions, and other strategic transactions.Julie creates compliance programs for clients’ use of a wide variety of channels for communicating with and marketing to consumers, including email, telephone, text message, and fax, both in the United States and around the world. She works with clients to develop their social media strategies and to clear their social media content. She also reviews advertising in both traditional and new media for compliance with applicable laws, including Section 5 of the FTC Act and various FTC rules and guides. In addition, she works with clients to structure, market, and implement their sweepstakes, contests, and other promotions in compliance with applicable laws.As a former FTC staff attorney, Julie regularly defends companies in investigations by the FTC and before data protection authorities around the world.<h4>Representative Experience</h4><ul><li>A company that creates online software used by schools in an FTC investigation of alleged COPPA violations.</li><li>A consumer services company investigated by the Korean data protection authority for alleged privacy violations</li><li>A manufacturer in connection with a challenge of its environmental advertising claims by the FTC </li><li>An advertising services company in an investigation of alleged privacy-related violations of the FTC Act</li><li>An online provider of entertainment services in an FTC investigation of alleged COPPA violations</li><li>A beverage company in an FTC investigation of alleged COPPA violations</li></ul>Before attending law school, Julie was a Peace Corps volunteer in The Gambia, West Africa.