JACKSONVILLE, Fla. (Feb. 7, 2025) — Smith Hulsey & Busey’s mergers and acquisitions practice enjoyed a strong 2024, closing transactions totaling $1.12 billion in value. The Jacksonville-based firm represented buyers, sellers and investors in 52 mergers, acquisitions and investment transactions and eight financings.
Shareholder Steve Moore leads the firm’s mergers and acquisitions team, which includes managing partner Dick Lewis, shareholders David Dunn, Angela Cottrell and David Roberts, and associates Max Potter and Catherine Gleason.
The team represented 31 clients in 2024 in transactions ranging from under $100,000 to $230 million. Many of the transactions were confidential, involving companies operating in more than a dozen industries, including automotive, technology, health care, insurance, construction, trucking, energy and utilities. Many of SHB's M&A attorneys have received prominent industry accolades, including Chambers, Best Lawyers®, Super Lawyers and Rising Stars.
"Closing over $1 billion in deals this year demonstrates our team's ability to execute complex transactions at scale,” Moore said. “We are blessed to represent amazing clients who have provided us with significant transactional experiences across numerous industries throughout the United States and outside its borders. We frequently work opposite leading firms from around the country. As a result, we have built a deep and experienced M&A practice group. Our clients choose us because we understand their business objectives and work hard to efficiently achieve them.”
One of SHB’s notable public deals involved assisting Florida-based Brooks Rehabilitation in a joint venture with Mayo Clinic Arizona that will result in the development of a 60-bed rehabilitation facility on Mayo’s campus in Phoenix. In 2024, the firm was also recognized for its role in the acquisition of a Florida-based insurance provider for international students.
U.S. M&A activity showed signs of recovery in 2024, which the latest S&P Global Market Intelligence report expects to accelerate in 2025 after post-pandemic stagnation and uncertainty. SHB closed $587 million in deals in 2023, $900 million in 2022 and a record $1.5 billion in 2021.
SHB's Mergers & Acquisitions team has decades of experience handling complex transactions, including joint ventures, private equity and venture capital investments, financings and strategic alliances. The firm has also represented clients in numerous cross-border transactions, including acquisitions and investments in the United Kingdom, Europe, India, Canada and Mexico.
About Smith Hulsey & Busey
Smith Hulsey & Busey is an independent, full-service business law firm based in Jacksonville, Florida. The firm has more than 35 attorneys with a broad commercial practice that includes four marquee practice areas: mergers and acquisitions, bankruptcy, complex commercial litigation and healthcare. For more information, visit smithhulsey.com and connect with the firm on LinkedIn and Facebook.
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