Attorney Jonathan B. Vessey has joined Fredrikson & Byron as a shareholder in the Private Equity and Mergers & Acquisitions Groups. Vessey represents clients in private equity investments, mergers and acquisitions, joint ventures and corporate governance.
“Jonathan’s experience representing private equity sponsors and portfolio companies, leading acquisitions and divestitures, and structuring complex joint ventures, combined with his sharp focus on resolving issues efficiently and effectively, is invaluable to clients in successfully closing transactions,” said Sean Kearney, Co-Chair of the Private Equity Group. “He’s a consummate private equity lawyer and a great addition to Fredrikson’s private equity practice. We are excited to welcome Jonathan to our team and look forward to the added bench strength we can draw upon for our clients.”
“Joining Fredrikson & Byron’s exceptional team of deal lawyers is a natural fit for my practice and background. The firm allows me to expand on the depth of the expertise we provide our clients and to continue to deliver value and top-notch legal services across a variety of industries,” Vessey shared.
Vessey has extensive experience representing private equity firms, family offices, venture capital firms and privately held industry leaders. In his private equity practice, he represents private equity sponsors and their portfolio companies in mergers, acquisitions, dispositions and governance, and negotiates side letters for fund investors.
Vessey also has access to an extensive network in the representations and warranties insurance policy industry, which he uses to assist financial and strategic buyers in obtaining and negotiating such policies for their acquisition transactions. In 2020, he negotiated and bound in excess of 20 such policies for transactional clients.
In addition to closing multiple private equity and venture capital transactions each year, Vessey has represented family offices and pension funds in investing billions of dollars as limited partners of investment funds. He also advises clients in complex structured investment transactions, joint ventures, entity formation and purchase of non-standard securitizable assets.
Prior to practicing law in Minnesota, Vessey spent more than a decade at a prominent firm in New York. In between stints at that firm, he served as a Peace Corps volunteer, teaching English in Chad. He lived in Benin and Morocco and managed the Clinton Foundation HIV/AIDS Initiative’s pediatric anti-retroviral programs in 13 countries in West and Central Africa. He currently serves of the Board of Directors of the Alliance Francaise of Minneapolis/St. Paul, a local cultural non-profit, and acts as the organization’s legal counsel.
Fredrikson & Byron is a leading Midwest law firm working collaboratively to help businesses achieve their goals regionally, nationally and globally. With a reputation as the firm “where law and business meet,” our attorneys bring business acumen and entrepreneurial thinking to work with clients and operate as business advisors and strategic partners as well as legal counselors. The firm’s 300+ attorneys are based in Minneapolis, with offices in Bismarck, Des Moines, Fargo, Mankato, St. Paul, Saltillo, Mexico, and Shanghai, China. Learn more at fredlaw.com, LinkedIn or @FredriksonLaw.
