Michael R. Wilson

Mike Wilson serves as Co-Chair of Locke Lord’s Corporate and Transactional ‎Department and leads the Venture Capital ‎& Emerging Companies Section of the ‎Private Equity & Venture Capital Practice ‎Group.  ‎

Mike handles mergers and acquisitions, debt finance transactions, venture capital transactions and general corporate matters for private equity funds, startups, banks, insurance companies and other public and private businesses. Mike has significant private equity experience, including with small business investment companies (SBICs), representing funds and limited partners in portfolio investments, limited partner investments, fund formation and SBIC licensing.

Mike's experience ranges from traditional business transactions to highly complex, highly customized transactions, such as joint ventures, multi-phase restructurings (both internal and those involving numerous outside interests), and company startup and growth transactions balancing the interests of numerous stakeholders. He has worked with companies in a wide variety of industries, including technology, energy (including renewable energy), health care, food and beverage, consumer products, insurtech and cannabis.

Mike has substantial experience in matters involving companies that develop and manufacture technology products, ranging from consumer-facing services to business-oriented platforms, having represented buyers and sellers in acquisitions of technology companies, investors in venture capital financings and entrepreneurs in startup companies with technology products.

Mike’s experience includes the representation of:

• Prospect Partners in the investment in affiliated companies Fontanesi & Kann, an HVAC equipment and servicing company, and Architectural Building Components, an architectural material supplier
• Genesis Volatility, a pioneering crypto options analytics platform provider servicing leading financial institutions and top options exchanges, in its acquisition by Amberdata, the leading provider of digital asset data
• Rapid Genomics, a provider of mid-to high-density Next-Generation Sequencing kits and services for genotyping, in its sale to LGC, Biosearch Technologies
• VIX, Inc., the leading independent ad-supported streaming service offering video-on-demand content to millions of U.S. Hispanics and consumers throughout Latin America, in its acquisition by Univision, the largest Spanish-language content company in the United States
• Patriot Capital in a subordinated debt and equity co-investment in Naprotek, alongside Edgewater Capital and Naprotek's existing management team
• GAINSystems, Inc., a provider of advanced supply chain planning and inventory optimization solutions, in a minority growth investment from Francisco Partners
• Shadow Health, Inc., a developer of virtual simulations in nursing and health care education, in the sale of the company to Elsevier, Inc., a global leader in information and analytics
• Chicago Pacific Founders, a health care private equity firm, in its $30 million Series A investment in Tredence, Inc., a provider of analytics services and solutions
• XSELL Technologies, Inc., a technology company that provides an augmented intelligence platform, in a growth equity investment from Sageview Capital
• 1WorldSync Holdings, a leading software-as-a-service (SaaS) network, in its acquisition by Battery Ventures, a global, technology-focused investment firm
• MVC Private Equity Fund, L.P., in the sale of its portfolio company Plymouth Rock Energy, a leading retail energy provider of natural gas and electricity, to ENGIE Resources
• Prospect Partners in several transactions, including:
  • The sale of its portfolio company Owen Equipment, a specialty equipment platform providing critical infrastructure solutions to municipal, utility and commercial customers, to CenterGate Capital
  • An add-on acquisition by its portfolio company Owen Equipment of Legacy Equipment Company, a supplier of street sweepers, sewer cleaning equipment, refuse and mechanic trucks, and snow removal equipment
• Health Grid Holding Company in its sale to Allscripts Healthcare Solutions
  U.S. Gas & Electric, Inc., in its acquisition by Crius Energy Trust for a total purchase price of approximately $172.5 million
• Searchlight Capital Partners in its growth equity investment in PatientPoint Holdings, Inc. 
• Silver Oak Services Partners, LLC, a lower middle market private equity firm focused exclusively on service businesses, in its partnership with management to lead the recapitalization of Legacy Farms, LLC, a produce provider
• A patient communication application company in its sale to a publicly traded health care company
• A search fund in its preferred equity fundraising and acquisition of ADA compliance maintenance company
• An energy service company in its sale to a publicly traded energy company
• An artificial intelligence startup company in its Series A financing round
• A private equity fund in its equipment lease financings to a number of small businesses
• A renewable energy company in its internal reorganization
• A bank in its capital call credit facility to an SBIC fund
• A professional employer organization for small businesses in the sale of a portion of the company to an outside investor group
• A verified product data and image company in its sale to a strategic investor
• An insurance company in its Series A investment in an insurtech company
• A medical alert system company in its sale to a private equity fund
• A pharmaceutical company in its acquisition of a specialty pharma company
• A digital media company in its internal restructuring and investment by a publicly traded communications company
• A technology services company in an international joint venture