Jodi Simala is the Office Practice Leader for Mayer Brown's Chicago Corporate & Securities practice. She represents sellers and buyers in connection with domestic and international stock and asset acquisitions, joint ventures, divestitures, mergers, tender and exchange offers, consent solicitations, recapitalizations and reorganizations.
Jodi's general corporate and securities practice includes representation of issuers and selling securityholders in connection with public and private sales of debt and equity securities. She also counsels boards of directors and management regarding fiduciary duties, corporate governance and defensive measures, including stockholder's rights plans and other matters, and she advises public companies regarding SEC reporting, compliance and disclosure issues.
Jodi is recognized as a leading M&A lawyer in Chambers USA 2012. In November 2011, Jodi was selected by Law 360, a leading industry publication, as one of the "Top 10 Female DealMakers" in M&A. The honorees "have helped complete some of the biggest deals in the business and established themselves as leaders in their field," the publication said.
Experience
- Represented Allied Waste Industries, Inc. in its merger agreement with Republic Services, Inc., including the unsolicited offer by Waste Management, Inc. Represented Republic Services in connection with various subsequent matters, including its recent $850 million and $1.85 billion debt offerings.
- Represented Macquarie Infrastructure Partners in its acquisition of NASDAQ-listed WCA Waste Corporation.
- Represented Caesars Entertainment in connection with various matters, including its strategic alliance to develop a resort casino with Suffolk Downs and its agreement to acquire Thistledown racetrack.
- Represented Tenneco Inc. in connection with a variety of corporate transactional matters, including several acquisitions and divestitures, two global strategic alliances with other automotive parts manufacturers and joint ventures in China, Europe and India. Also represented Tenneco in various securities and financing transactions, including the refinancing of its $800 million senior credit facility and its issuance of $200 million common stock, $250 million of senior notes, $475 million senior secured notes and $500 million senior subordinated notes.
- Represented Capital One in connection with various matters, including its agreement to acquire ING Direct, the sale of assets of Hibernia Insurance and its acquisition of InsLogic Corporation.
- Represented Chemtura Corporation in various matters, including the sale of its Optical Monomers business with operations in the US, Italy, the Netherlands and France, its purchase of 46.5 percent of Baxenden Chemicals Limited and the sale of its Refined Products business, with operations in the US and Europe.
- Represented Baxter Healthcare in connection with various matters, including the sale of its generic injectibles business and its acquisition of a minority interest in Sigma International, a manufacturer of pumps, and the related long-term supply agreement and option to acquire the balance of the company.
- Represented Yum Brands!, Inc. (KFC, Taco Bell and Pizza Hut) in connection with its divestitures of Long John Silver's and A&W restaurants.
- " Represented CBOT Holdings, the parent company of the Chicago Board of Trade, in connection with Intercontinental Exchange, Inc.'s unsolicited offer to acquire CBOT Holdings in the face of CBOT Holdings' pending merger with CME Holdings, parent company of the Chicago Mercantile Exchange.
- Represented The Clearing Corporation, the then-largest independent futures clearing organization in the US, in connection with its joint venture with Eurex, the world's then-largest futures exchange, including the realignment of The Clearing Corporation's capital structure, and investment in The Clearing Corporation by Eurex and a long-term clearing services arrangement between The Clearing Corporation and Eurex.
- Represented the special committee of the Board of Directors of eLoyalty Corporation in connection with the investment by eLoyalty's two principal stockholders in Series B preferred stock of eLoyalty, and the related rights offering to all stockholders.
- Represented Teltrend Inc., a NASDAQ-listed telecommunications equipment manufacturer, in connection with its stock-for-stock merger with Westell Technologies.
Education
Boston University, 1990. BA/MA, summa cum laude, Phi Beta Kappa
Harvard Law School, JD, cum laude, 1993.
News & Publications
"Successful Partnering Between Inside and Outside Counsel," Thomson Reuters/West, 2012
"Mayer Brown partner Jodi Simala named to Law360's "Top Female Deal Makers"," Mayer Brown, 10 November 2011
"Avoiding Antitrust Risks in Public Statements and Disclosures," Thomson Reuters E Securities Regulation Law Journal, Spring 2011