Peter Spirgel counsels businesses on taxation, shareholder issues, financial transactions (including crowdfunding and other forms of private offerings), and mergers and acquisitions. He also represents individuals in the area of federal, state, and estate tax planning. He regularly counsels privately-held companies and their principals on general business issues, capital raising, and exit strategies. His many years of experience including the representation of clients in such matters as
- Private security offerings for startup ventures including crowdfunding
- Counseling privately-held businesses
- Tax-free mergers, sales, and acquisitions
- Structuring complex estate plans to minimize tax liability
- Documenting and mediating shareholder relationships
- Advising law firms on the partnership, management, and financial issues
Representative Matters
- Represented one of India’s leading pharmaceutical companies with their first international acquisition of a private, New Jersey-based generic drug development company.
- Represented an international pharmaceutical company in a highly-competitive Section 363 auction sale process leading to the $450 million acquisition of Graceway Pharmaceuticals, LLC.
- Represented ASI—a bicycle manufacturer of such brands as Fuji, Breezer, and Phat bicycles—in its merger with Performance, Inc., the largest retailer of bicycles in the United States while simultaneously closing a new credit facility for the combined entity with Wells Fargo. The value of the transaction was in excess of $400 million.
- Represented a privately-held telecommunication equipment manufacturer in the tax-free sale of its business to a public telecommunications company and negotiated key executive positions for major shareholders of client in acquiring the company.
- Counseled numerous startups in formation, capital raising (private offerings, venture financing and debt) and shareholder agreements.
- Represented a 50 percent shareholder of a major telecommunications company in a shareholder dispute leading to the sale of the client’s interest.
- Represented the acquirer of a paper products distribution company.
- Counseled a senior executive of a public company in the termination of her restrictive covenant and startup of a new high-tech joint venture with a European company.
- Structured estate plans for successful executives that were integrated with their business holdings to take full advantage of existing tax-saving techniques.
- Served as outside general counsel to numerous substantial privately-held entities advising them on a myriad of legal issues.
- Counseled a senior executive of a major Fortune 500 company in the successful resolution of litigation with the SEC, Justice Department, and numerous class action plaintiffs.
- Counseled a law firm in the structure of their partnership.
- Represented a business in the acquisition of previously-targeted competitors to increase market penetration.
Honors & Awards
- Rated AV Preeminent by Martindale-Hubbell
- Awesome Attorney, Corporate Law, South Jersey Magazine, 2009, 2011-2017, 2020
- Selected to Best Lawyers in America in the area of closely-held companies and family businesses
- Distinguished Leaders Award Recipient, New Jersey Law Journal, 2017
- Top Attorney, SJ Magazine, 2003-2005, 2009-2017, 2019
- Named to Legal Elite list by SmartCEO Magazine, 2011
- Super Lawyer, Thompson Reuters, 2005-06
- Rated “Super Lawyer” and “Rising Star,” Thompson Reuters, 2010-2014 & 2016
News & Events
- Only Morons Pay the Estate Tax? A Philadelphia Attorney Takes a Look at Gary Cohn’s Alleged Quote, Philadelphia Business Journal (September 6, 2017).
- Your Succession Planning in the Age of Trump, Philadelphia Business Journal (January 20, 2017)
- Adding Laterals: What’s In It for a Firm’s Attorneys?, The Legal Intelligencer (February 25, 2014).
- Law Firm Leaders Optimistic About Fourth Quarter of 2013, The Legal Intelligencer (October 29, 2013)
- Managing Partner Disputes Top 40’s Methodology and Accuracy, New Jersey Law Journal (July 1, 2011)
- Firms, GCs, Starting to Talk the Talk, The Legal Intelligencer (July 13, 2009)
- Commentary: Reader Responds to Editorial About Insight on Diversity Column, The Legal Intelligencer (March 29, 2007).
- Profits Per Partner: The Bane of the Profession, Pennsylvania Law Weekly (September 2006).
- Schiavo Case Underscores Importance of Living Wills, South Jersey Magazine (March 2005).
- How Taxing is the Domestic Partnership Act?, New Jersey Law Journal (August 9, 2004).
- Mirage in the Contaminated Desert, New Jersey Law Journal (August 2, 2004).
Professional Affiliations
- Member, New Jersey Governor-elect Christopher Christie’s Treasury Department Transition Committee.
- Past Chairman of Taxation Committee and Member, Burlington County Bar Association
- Past Chairman of Taxation Committee and Member, Camden County Bar Association
- Past Executive Board Member, Southern New Jersey Chamber of Commerce
- Member, New Jersey State Bar Association
- Member, New York State Bar Association
- Member, Philadelphia Bar Association
- Past President and Member, Mount Laurel Rotary Club
- Past Board Member, Burlington County Chapter, Red Cross