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MoFo Advised Main Post Partners on the Sale of Not Your Mother’s to Henkel

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Morrison Foerster advised Main Post Partners, a leading private equity investment firm focused on partnering with high-growth...

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Morrison Foerster advised Main Post Partners, a leading private equity investment firm focused on partnering with high-growth consumer brands, and DeMert Brands on the sale of DeMert, the parent company of Not Your Mother's, to Henkel.Main Post Partners is a consumer growth equity firm focused on investing in founder-owned, high-growth consumer companies. Launched in 2010 by Rocky and Bethany Pagliarulo and based in Tampa, FL, Not Your Mother's is a high-growth, modern haircare brand dedicated to transforming everyday routines with high-performance formulas that deliver results.The MoFo team advising Main Post Partners on the transaction was led by San Francisco private equity/M&A partner Patrick Huard and Miami private equity/M&A partner Astrid Menendez-Muharram, with assistance from corporate associates Patrick Reintjes and Courtney Anne Henf. The wider team included antitrust partner Meghan Gerking, executive compensation partner Yuan Xia, tax partner Dave Sturgeon, employment and labor partner Michael Schulman, technology transactions partner Aaron Rubin and FDA partner Brigid DeCoursey Bondoc.Read <a href="https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/main-post-partners-and-founders-announce-agreement-to-sell-not-your-mothers-to-henkel-302707707.html" target="_blank">Main Post’s press release.</a>

MoFo Advised Main Post Partners on the Sale of Not Your Mother’s to Henkel

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Patrick Huard is Global Chair of the firm's Private Equity Investments + Buyouts Practice and focuses his practice on private equity M&A transactions.Patrick has significant experience representing private equity funds and their portfolio companies in a broad range of corporate matters, including public and private acquisitions, leveraged buyouts, venture and growth equity investments, and divestitures. Clients rely on him for both his sophisticated legal counseling as well as his sharp business acumen.Patrick advises private equity sponsors in all aspects of their investment activity across a wide variety of industry sectors, including software and technology, business services, consumer and retail, professional and industrial services, and ESG/impact investing. Patrick is also a member of our global Sustainability + Corporate Responsibility steering committee.Patrick is ranked for California Private Equity: Buyouts by Chambers USA 2025, as a Leading Partner for Private Equity Buyouts by Legal 500 US (2021-2025), and among Top 10 Mid Cap M&A Lawyers in North America by MergerLinks (2021-2023). Our private equity practice was also recognized as a Law360 Practice Group of the Year 2021.﻿Patrick graduated, magna cum laude, from the Georgetown University Law Center, where he was elected into the Order of the Coif and served as the Notes and Articles Editor of the Journal of Law and Policy in International Business.

Patrick Huard

Global Chair of Private Equity Practice

Astrid Menendez-Muharram is a corporate partner in the firm’s Miami office, focusing her practice on advising clients on complex domestic and cross-border transactions, with an emphasis on M&A and private equity transactions, both in the United States and Latin America. Astrid has significant experience representing businesses and private equity funds (and their portfolio companies) in a broad range of corporate matters, including strategic mergers, acquisitions, joint ventures, growth equity and venture capital investments, and divestitures.Astrid advises clients in all aspects of their investment activity across a wide variety of industry sectors, including consumer and retail; defense and government services; food and agriculture; aerospace and transportation; business services; technology; and industrials.She speaks fluent Spanish.

Astrid Menendez-Muharram

Partner

Patrick Reintjes is a corporate associate in the firm’s Denver office. Patrick represents public and private companies and private equity firms in connection with complex corporate transactions, including M&A and joint ventures. Patrick received his J.D. from the University of Texas School of Law, where he was a staff editor of the Texas Journal of Oil, Gas & Energy Law and a member of the Texas Business Law Society. He earned his B.A. from Saint Louis University. Patrick served as a judicial intern for the Honorable Alan D. Albright and the Honorable Andrew W. Austin in the United States District Court for the Western District of Texas.

Patrick Reintjes

Associate

Courtney Henf is an associate in Morrison Foerster’s San Francisco office and a member of the firm’s Transactions Department.Prior to joining MoFo, Courtney was a Summer Associate in the San Francisco office. She also was a Judicial Extern for the Honorable Andrew E. Krause, U.S.M.J., U.S. District Court, Southern District of New York.Courtney earned her J.D., magna cum laude, from the Elisabeth Haub School of Law at Pace University. While there, she served as an Articles Editor of the Pace International Law Review and a member of the Federal Judicial Honors Program. She received her B.S. in microbiology from the University of Florida.

Courtney Henf

Megan is a former trial attorney with the DOJ’s Antitrust Division. At Morrison Foerster, she is a partner in the Antitrust Group advising clients on their most complex and high-stakes competition matters. Her practice focuses on government investigations, merger reviews, strategic transactions, and civil antitrust litigation, particularly where enforcement, compliance, and global antitrust and regulatory risk intersect.Megan regularly counsels clients on antitrust risks arising from industry collaborations, trade associations, consortia, and other joint activities, drawing on her firsthand experience investigating and prosecuting cartel conduct. While at the Antitrust Division, Megan investigated and prosecuted federal antitrust violations, including international cartel matters involving price fixing, bid rigging, and market allocation. She now leverages that experience to help clients design, implement, and defend antitrust compliance programs, and she routinely delivers antitrust training for executives and employees.Megan also maintains a robust merger practice, advising clients at every stage of the merger review process. She develops transaction strategies, assesses and manages obligations under the Hart-Scott-Rodino Antitrust Improvements Act (“HSR Act”), and represents clients before antitrust authorities in the United States and abroad. Megan regularly represents third parties in agency reviews of transactions, including at trial.Her experience spans a wide range of industries, including telecommunications, media, technology and software, financial services, consumer products, aviation, higher education, manufacturing, agriculture, and life sciences. While at the Antitrust Division, Megan prosecuted the first individual ever extradited to the United States on an antitrust charge and earned the Assistant Attorney General’s Award for Distinguished Service for her work investigating and prosecuting international automotive parts cartels. She was also awarded the DOJ’s Outstanding Mentor Award by the Attorney General. Megan has been widely recognized by leading publications including Chambers, Global Competition Review, Bloomberg, The American Lawyer, and others. She has served as a non-governmental advisor to the International Competition Network (ICN) and has spoken at the ICN Cartel Workshop in Lisbon, Portugal. Megan is an editor of The Antitrust Source, the ABA’s online antitrust magazine, and is a member of Morrison Foerster’s global Sustainability + Corporate Responsibility Group. She also serves on the board of directors of the U.S. Sustainable Investment Forum (SIF).Before attending law school, Megan worked in the DOJ’s Office of Public Affairs, where she assisted the Assistant Attorney General for Antitrust with media strategy and served as a national spokesperson. She also worked as a paralegal in the Antitrust Division, supporting trial teams in criminal antitrust prosecutions.<h4>Representative Experience</h4><h5>Criminal and Civil Antitrust Investigations</h5><ul><li>Achieved non-prosecution protection for two healthcare companies in separate DOJ Antitrust Division criminal investigations; represented company witnesses at trial.</li><li>Obtained non-prosecution protection for a senior executive in criminal investigation into no-poach agreements in defense sector; executive testified at the criminal trial.</li><li>Completed a non-prosecution agreement for a senior executive in a DOJ criminal investigation into market allocation and bid rigging of generic drugs.</li><li>Regularly advises senior executives on DOJ antitrust criminal investigations involving allegations of price fixing, market and customer allocation, and bid rigging, and obtained non-prosecution protection for several individuals.</li><li>Represented a technology company in a Federal Trade Commission monopolization investigation.</li><li>Defended a private equity fund in a state AG investigation.</li><li>Represented an energy company in a criminal investigation.</li><li>Counseled a senior executive on an international criminal cartel investigation.</li><li>Obtained a non-prosecution agreement for a senior executive in a criminal investigation into conduct related to the hiring of employees.</li></ul><h5>Antitrust Merger Review</h5><ul><li>Obtained merger clearance for a telecommunications company in connection with a $20 billion acquisition, which closed in 2026.</li><li>Navigated ShowingTime Inc., a leading real estate showing management and market stats technology provider, through an extended review by the Federal Trade Commission of its $500 million vertical acquisition by Zillow Group.</li><li>Delivered merger clearances for Unity Technologies Corp. in connection with an asset carve-out acquisition from Weta Digital of certain assets, including its audiovisual effects development and management software tools, for a purchase price of $1.625 billion.</li><li>Advised and obtained merger clearances for Grant Thornton LLP in connection with the sale of its Public Sector Advisory practice to Guidehouse.</li><li>Represented Divvy, a leader in spend management, in its $2.5 billion stock and cash sale to Bill.com. </li><li>Supported NTT, a leading IT infrastructure and services company, in its $330 million cash sale of WhiteHat Security to Synopsys, Inc.</li><li>Represented Continental Building Products, a North American leader in wallboard and joint compound materials, in negotiations to secure antitrust approvals for its sale to Saint-Gobain. The transaction cleared without a second request investigation.</li><li>Assisted The Walt Disney Co. in its $71 billion acquisition of certain businesses from 21st Century Fox.</li><li>Represented Canadian aircraft manufacturer Bombardier in connection with the worldwide antitrust clearance of its sale of a controlling interest in the “C Series” line of commercial passenger jets to Airbus. The transaction cleared without any second-phase reviews.</li><li>Regularly assisting third parties in responding to DOJ and FTC outreach and Civil Investigative Demands in connection with merger reviews, and corporate clients with antitrust issues in complex transactions, including collaborations, joint ventures, acquisitions, and mergers.</li></ul><h5>Antitrust Litigation</h5><ul><li>Representing Beeline Loans in federal antitrust litigation alleging price fixing and information sharing in connection with use of Optimal Blue software.</li><li>Defending Otter Tail Corp. and its subsidiaries in federal antitrust litigation alleging price fixing and information sharing through third-party market newsletter.</li><li>Supporting Verizon Communications in federal antitrust litigation alleging antitrust violations brought by VoIP-Pal.</li><li>Defending BJMC Global in federal antitrust litigation alleging non-solicitation agreements and wage fixing in violation of antitrust laws.</li><li>Representing Glenmark Pharmaceuticals in a federal antitrust multidistrict litigation alleging price fixing and market allocation of generic drugs by manufacturers of generic drugs.</li><li>Assisting Nexstar Media Group, America’s largest local television and media company, in federal antitrust litigation alleging price fixing in television advertising.</li><li>Counseled a leading international financial institution in multiple, sprawling class action lawsuits alleging a global conspiracy by some of the world’s largest banks to manipulate the interbank offer rate (IBOR) benchmark for multiple currencies.</li></ul>

Megan E. Gerking

Yuan Xia is a partner in Morrison Foerster’s Palo Alto office. She is a member of the firm’s Executive Compensation + Benefits practice.Yuan’s practice focuses on the transactional aspects of executive compensation matters in the context of domestic and cross-border mergers, acquisitions, divestitures, public offerings and restructurings. Yuan regularly counsels public companies, private equity funds, and startup companies on the design and implementation of equity, incentive and non-qualified deferred compensation agreements, change in control, retention and severance, and executive employment agreements. Yuan also has distinct experience advising public companies on executive compensation disclosures for annual proxy statements and merger proxies, initial public offerings and Form 8–Ks. Yuan was recognized by Legal 500 US as a Rising Star in Employee Benefits, Executive Compensation and Retirement Plans (Transaction) for 2024.Prior to joining the firm, Yuan was an associate at another international law firm headquartered in New York.

Yuan Xia

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

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

Aaron is the co-chair of the Interactive + Digital Media Group and former chair of the firm’s Technology Transactions Group. He advises clients on a wide range of complex transactions involving intellectual property and technology, including structuring and negotiating strategic licensing, development, collaboration, procurement, and distribution arrangements.Aaron’s practice focuses on advising both established and emerging companies in data- and technology-intensive sectors, with a particular emphasis on AI and interactive and digital media (including social platforms, AR/VR, gaming, and streaming). He also regularly works with clients in autonomous vehicles, Healthtech, Fintech, Adtech, and broader software and consumer technology markets. His work often sits at the intersection of product, data, IP, and commercial relationships, particularly in connection with AI-driven and platform-based business models and emerging technologies.He also maintains an active practice counseling companies on branding and marketing, trademark licensing, and content-related transactions, as well as the intellectual property aspects of mergers, acquisitions, asset spinoffs, and private equity investments.He has represented leading technology companies such as OpenAI, Meta, ElevenLabs, Visa, Autodesk, General Motors, Honda, and Rivian, among others.Aaron has been recognized by numerous publications for his work on market-defining technology transactions and is currently ranked by Chambers USA for “Technology Transactions.”Aaron also serves as co-editor of Socially Aware, the firm’s award-winning newsletter and blog devoted to the law and business of social platforms, and regularly publishes on various IP and technology-related topics. He is a sought-after speaker on new and emerging areas of law and is a frequent presenter and panelist at conferences and legal services programs.In addition to his active practice, Aaron regularly provides pro bono assistance to various nonprofit and charitable organizations such as Common Sense Media and the Starlight Children’s Foundation. He is a member of the board of directors of California Lawyers for the Arts.While in law school at the University of California, Berkeley, Boalt Hall School of Law, Aaron served as executive editor of the California Law Review and was elected to the Order of the Coif. Following law school, Aaron served as a law clerk to the Honorable William H. Orrick and the Honorable Martin J. Jenkins, both United States District Judges for the Northern District of California.

Aaron P. Rubin

Brigid is a food, drug, and medical device lawyer who counsels life sciences companies on a wide range of U.S. Food & Drug Administration pre- and post-market regulatory issues.As the lead of our FDA + Healthcare Regulatory and Compliance Group, Brigid practices across the spectrum of FDA-regulated products, including medical devices, drugs, biologics, cell and gene therapies, food, cosmetics, dietary supplements, tobacco, laboratory-developed tests, in vitro diagnostics, radiation-emitting electronic products, combination products, and products that may not fit neatly into any of these categories. Accordingly, she counsels established and start-up companies in life sciences, healthcare, and consumer products on a wide range of FDA pre- and post-market regulatory issues. Brigid also frequently advises innovative product developers on threshold FDA jurisdictional questions and develops strategies for approval and marketing, while identifying and mitigating regulatory risks.In her day-to-day practice, Brigid advises on:<ul><li>product development and FDA’s pre-authorization requirements;</li><li>advertising and promotion of FDA-regulated products;</li><li>clinical trials regulation, including strategic advice for sponsors in receipt of a clinical hold;</li><li>responses to warning letters, Form 483s, import alerts, and FDA enforcement actions;</li><li>informal and formal dispute resolution for high-stakes issues;</li><li>compliance with FDA regulatory requirements such as current good manufacturing practice (GMP), quality system regulation (QSR), food safety preventive controls, adverse event reports, product recalls, radiological health issues, risk evaluation and mitigation strategies (REMS), pharmacy compounding and the new track-and-trace regulations for prescription drugs; and</li><li>technical legal questions involving the Food, Drug and Cosmetic Act (FDCA), the Public Health Service Act (PHSA), Federal Advisory Committee Act (FACA), Freedom of Information Act (FOIA), and the Administrative Procedure Act (APA).</li></ul>Brigid also has experience in the development, regulation, and procurement of medical countermeasures (MCMs) against chemical, biological, radiological, and nuclear (CBRN) threats and pandemic infectious diseases, including animal rule approvals and special incentives for the development of MCMs.Complementing her focus on FDA regulatory law, Brigid has a strong litigation background and has served as FDA counsel in product liability cases, civil litigation, international arbitration, and FDA enforcement proceedings. She particularly enjoys providing clients with advice that integrates technical, legal, and political considerations.Brigid maintains an active pro bono practice focused primarily on reproductive health and especially enjoys working with inventors who aim to improve health outcomes for mothers and infants in the peri- and post-natal period. She has represented several clients before the Social Security Administration in appealing denials of applications for disability benefits. She has also worked on several appeals in criminal cases in the District of Columbia.Brigid is a graduate of the University of Tulsa, where she earned her B.S. in biochemistry before attending law school at Stanford Law School. Prior to law school, Brigid worked as an Environmental Policy Analyst in the Office of the Secretary at the U.S. Department of Transportation. She has also worked as a benchtop scientist in a number of laboratories, including FDA’s National Center for Toxicological Research.<h4>Representative Experience</h4><ul><li>Counseled online marketplaces regarding FDA compliance and enforcement for a variety of products.</li><li>Advised development-stage companies on regulatory considerations and FDA engagement strategies related to development and launch of products based on disruptive technologies.</li><li>Advised consumer technology companies with respect to potential FDA regulation under the medical device provisions of the FDCA;</li><li>Served as FDA regulatory counsel to clients evaluating compliance issues under reporting provisions of Corporate Integrity Agreements and related negotiated resolutions of government investigations.</li><li>Helped a large, publicly traded drug company comply with the FDA’s new track-and-trace pedigree requirements for prescription drugs.</li><li>Led regulatory team on numerous initial public offerings (IPO), stock and asset purchase agreements, acquisitions, mergers, and other transactions for life science company.</li><li>Provided strategic advice, conducting regulatory assessments and negotiating key FDA-related terms in connection with due diligence for transactions and post-acquisition integration activities.</li><li>Developed policy positions related to FDA regulation of laboratory-developed tests (LDTs) for multiple clients in this space.</li><li>Represented manufacturers in matters involving regulatory letters, inquiries, advisory comment proceedings, competitor complaints and citizen petitions focused on their products and policy issues affecting their strategic priorities.</li><li>Advised on issues related to promotion of drugs and medical devices, including communication of pharmacoeconomic/healthcare economic information (HCEI), communications by medical science liaisons (MSLs).</li><li>Provided solutions-oriented advice to development-stage companies confronting FDA regulatory issues for the first time, including good clinical practices (GCP), investigator-initiated research (IIR), pre-approval communications and strategies for obtaining FDA approval.</li><li>Collaboratively advised client on FDA, ethical, and product liability issues associated with early termination of a clinical study involving an implanted medical device.</li></ul>