Paytronix Receives $65 Million Growth Equity Investment from Great Hill Partners

MBBP client Paytronix Systems, Inc. received a $65 million growth equity investment from private equity firm Great Hill Partners, the first institutional capital in the company. Paytronix is a provider of SaaS customer experience management solutions for restaurants and convenience store brands. With the investment, Paytronix hopes to redefine the guest experience through the development of …

Summary of Significant Changes under the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017

On December 22, 2017, President Trump signed into law a sweeping tax reform bill known as the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017 (“TCJA”) that introduced significant changes for individuals, corporations, and pass-through entities. In his article Summary of Significant Changes under the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017, tax attorney Joe Hunt summarizes …

C Corporations and Pass-Through Entities Under the New Tax Regime

In selecting the form of organization for a business or investment entity, the owners typically must choose from among a C corporation, an S corporation and an entity, such as a limited liability company (“LLC”), classified as a partnership for tax purposes.  A C corporation is separately taxed on its income, with the owners generally …

First Time Funds: The fundraising environment is strong; the fundraising process is hard

Raising capital for a first time private equity fund is difficult. First time fund managers often are surprised by how long it takes to secure enough capital commitments to hold a fund’s initial closing, particularly when seeking commitments from institutional investors. The good news is that first time funds have recently been in favor with …

Adviser Sanctioned for False Statements to Prospective Investors

The Securities and Exchange Commission sanctioned a private equity fund adviser and its chief executive officer for making false statements about the other investors that had committed to invest in one of the adviser’s private equity funds. As part of a settlement with the SEC, the adviser agreed to cease acting as an investment adviser …

Venture Capital Firms Defend Significant Appraisal Award on Appeal

By: Scott Bleier Originally published in the ABA's Business Law Today. In October, the Delaware Supreme Court heard oral arguments in an appeal from the Court of Chancery’s 2016 appraisal decision which awarded Polaris Venture Partners and Ad-Venture Capital Partners more than a 2.5x increase (plus interest) over the price per share paid to stockholders in connection …

Behind the Curtain: An inside look into the operations of VC firms – MBBP Venture Capital Event, November 7

Our venture capital event, Behind the Curtain: an inside look into the operations of VC firms, will be held on Tuesday, November 7 from 4:30-6pm at the Cambridge Innovation Center (CIC). Moderated by corporate attorney Mike Jabbawy, the panel will explore how the internal realities of a venture capital firm might have an impact on a technology company …

Attack of the Indirect Investor, Again

A Texas-based retirement fund that does not own any Uber securities sued Uber and its former chief executive officer Travis Kalanick for making misleading statements to investors. The retirement fund claims that it was harmed when the value of its indirect investment in Uber fell after investors learned that Uber was “operating a business far different than what investors had …

SEC Targets Broken Deal Expenses, Again

By: Josh Watson Private equity firm Platinum Equity Advisors, LLC (Platinum) improperly charged broken deal expenses to three of its private equity fund clients, according to a settlement with the Securities and Exchange Commission on September 21, 2017. The settlement requires Platinum to reimburse its clients for $1.7 million of improper charges and pay a …

OCIE Issues Risk Alert on Misleading Advertising Practices

By: Josh Watson The SEC’s Office of Compliance Inspections and Examinations (OCIE) issued a risk alert on September 14, 2017 identifying misleading advertising practices that examiners have found during examinations of registered investment advisers. The misleading practices identified in the alert are those that are widely-known to be misleading. For example: (1) Presenting performance results …