Perry S. Patterson

How Perry Helps Clients

Perry is a pragmatic deal lawyer and co-leader of the firm's Mergers & Acquisitions Practice Group.

In addition to public and private company mergers and acquisitions, he advises venture capital-backed startups and emerging companies. He knows how to get a deal done in a practical, cost-efficient way. He prefers helping companies in the early days of their business, when they have the opportunity to set things up correctly for an eventual exit with fewer complications and less expense. 

I enjoy demystifying legal issues for clients.

He also offers legal and general business counseling in industries including technology, life sciences, aerospace and defense, specialty metals, manufacturing, insurance, media, retail, medical device, eyewear and health care.

What Clients Can Expect

Perry is mindful that clients have a business to run, and that doing a deal is not their day job. He works to understand how their business affects legal issues and communicates simply and often (but not too often). He works to make deals predictable and calm.

Outside the Office

Perry is married to another deal lawyer, and they usually spend commuting time talking about deal issues. He also participates in a number of local and national lawyer committees that study mergers and acquisitions, because being practical is more effective when you know the landscape.

Proof Points

• Represented Hefren-Tillotson, a longstanding Western Pennsylvania investment advisory and broker dealer in its acquisition by Robert W. Baird & Co. 
• Represented Groupe SEB (Paris: SK), a worldwide name in household small appliances, in acquisition of a majority stake in StoreBound, owner of the Dash brand of Kitchenware.
• Represented Groupe SEB (Paris: SK), a worldwide name in household small appliances, in acquisition of Wilbur Curtis Co., the second largest professional coffee machine seller in the US.
• Represented Wombat Security Technologies, Inc., a privately held, venture backed Pittsburgh-based leader for phishing simulation and security awareness computer-based training, in its sale to Proofpoint, Inc. (NASDAQ: PFPT) for approximately $225 million in cash.
• Represented a European Union-based drainage ventilation products company in its carveout sale of North American and Oceanic operations.
• Represented a large Pennsylvania not-for-profit health plan in cross-state and intrastate affiliations.
• Represented a privately held architectural insulated metal panel manufacturer in its sale to an NYSE-listed metal products manufacturer for the nonresidential building industry.
• Represented an NYSE-listed specialty metals fabrication and distribution company in its acquisitions of precision machining and engineering, additive manufacturing and titanium powder manufacturing companies.
• Represented a leading provider of computer network security awareness and training solutions in its Series A and B preferred stock financings and related strategic acquisitions.
• Represented a large U.S. based managed vision care products and service company in the sale of its fashion eyewear design subsidiary to a global eyewear distributor.
• Member, Business Law Section; Committee on Legal Opinions; Subcommittees on Private Equity M&A and M&A Jurisprudence, Task Force on Legal Project Management, Carveout Transaction Deal Points Study, American Bar Association.
• Serves on the Title 15/Business Associations Committee of the Section on Business Law of the Pennsylvania Bar Association.
• Appellate clerk for the Honorable Alan M. Wilner of the Maryland Court of Appeals (1999 – 2000).
• Named to The Best Lawyers in America list consecutively since 2021 in the categories of Business Organizations (including LLCs and Partnerships) and Corporate Law. In 2024, Perry was named The Best Lawyers in America^® Business Organizations (including LLCs and Partnerships) "Lawyer of the Year" in Pittsburgh.