Kenneth E. Young

Partner New York Philadelphia

Kenneth E. Young, co-chair of Dechert's corporate and securities practice and co-head of Dechert’s private equity group, focuses his practice on mergers and acquisitions, with a particular emphasis on private equity and public company M&A, as well as working with numerous alternative asset manager firms on strategic transactions aimed at diversifying and growing their businesses. He is a trusted adviser who enables private equity sponsors and other asset managers to close complex deals, actively engaging with them to shape the market’s wider trajectory. Mr. Young’s practice straddles the convergence of current trends in the capital-facing markets and he regularly provides strategic advice to a wide array of clients, including private equity sponsors and their portfolio companies; financial institutions (such as asset management firms, business development companies and other permanent capital vehicles and specialty finance companies); investment and commercial banks; and other strategic buyers and sellers across industries, such as technology, telecom and software.

Advising private equity sponsors and their portfolio companies is also at the core of Mr. Young’s practice. Leveraging his understanding of the most current market drivers, he regularly represents clients in domestic and cross-border transactions. Throughout his career, he has counseled dozens of private equity sponsors, including Blackstone, Bruckmann, Rosser, Sherrill & Co., Centerbridge Partners, Court Square Capital Partners, KKR and One Equity Partners, among others.

Mr. Young is also a leader of the firm’s financial services M&A efforts, devoting a significant portion of his practice to advising alternative asset managers regarding efforts to diversify their businesses, including through acquisitions, as well as in the development and launch of permanent capital vehicles. Clients in this space include Bain Credit, Blackstone, Golden Tree Asset Management, KKR, JP Morgan Chase, Stifel Financial Corp., T. Rowe Price and many others.

Mr. Young advises on strategic transactions involving asset managers as well as the broader financial services industry, work which resulted in The Deal’s recognition of Dechert as “Financial Services Law Firm of the Year” in both 2020 and 2021. Mr. Young led the team advising T. Rowe Price on its US$4.2 billion acquisition of Oak Hill Advisors. Similarly, he helped lead a team in advising the senior management team of CoreVest American Finance Lender in Fortress Investment Group’s US$490 million sale of CoreVest to Redwood Trust, which was awarded “Financial Services Deal of the Year” in The Deal’s Middle Market Awards 2020. Other recent examples of Mr. Young’s work in this space include advising StoneCastle Partners on the sale of StoneCastle Asset Management’s Bank Investment Platform to ArrowMark and the sale of its insured sweep business to Webster Financial Corporation’s principle bank subsidiary, Webster Bank, N.A., as well as advising JP Morgan and affiliates on several transactions, including its acquisitions of FROSCH International Travel, Inc., one of the oldest and most successful corporate and luxury travel agencies in the U.S.; OpenInvest, a financial technology company; and Campbell Global LLC, a forest manager and timberlands investor.

Mr. Young is listed as a recommended lawyer by The Legal 500 (U.S.) 2022 for his work in M&A: large deals ($1 BN+) and private equity buyouts in the United States. In addition, Mr. Young was named a Rising Star for M&A in the IFLR1000. He has also been recognized as one of Law360’s Rising Stars of 2013, a national list of attorneys under the age of 40 whose legal accomplishments belie their age. He was one of only five lawyers recognized for his work in the Private Equity area. In 2013, Mr. Young was also named a winner of the 40 Under 40 M&A Advisor Recognition Awards, which recognizes the emerging leaders of the M&A, Financing and Turnaround industries. In 2014, Mr. Young was selected as one of The Legal Intelligencer’s 2014 Lawyers on the Fast Track, highlighting the next generation of legal leaders.

Private Equity

Court Square Capital Partners in a number of buyout and/or exit transactions, as well as advising multiple portfolio companies on add-on acquisition, disposition and dividend recapitalization transactions. Recent examples including advising:
- Ahead, LLC in connection with its sale to Centerbridge Partners and contemporaneous acquisitions of RoundTower Technologies and Kovarus.
- Conterra Networks in connection with Court Square’s initial acquisition and then sale to APG and Fiera Infrastructure.
- In connection with the acquisition of Data Blue and subsequent merger of Data Blue with its other portfolio company, Ahead, both digital transformation service providers.
- Fibertech Holdings Corporation in the US$1.9 billion merger of Fibertech, a U.S.-based provider of fiber-optic based network services, with Lightower Fiber Networks.
- GoEngineer in its acquisition of Computer Aided Technology, Inc.
- Momentum Telecom in its acquisition of Altus Technology, a provider of cloud-based unified communications solutions.
- Rocket Software in its US$2 billion sale of a majority stake in the company to Bain Capital Private Equity.
- In connection with the acquisition of Thrive, a provider of technology managed services, and in its subsequent acquisition of Edge Technology Group by Thrive.
- In connection with the strategic investment in Velosio, a provider of digital transformation services, managed service sand managed cloud subscriptions for the Microsoft Dynamics ecosystem.
KKR on various private equity transactions, including its:
- Proposed take-private acquisition of mdf commerce, a SaaS leader in digital commerce technologies, in an all-cash transaction.
- Acquisition of Industrial Physics, a manufacturer of testing and measurements instruments.
Estancia Capital Partners on numerous transactions, including advising:
- Estancia Capital Partners in connection with its £108 million cross-border minority investment in Flagstone, a UK-based fintech company.
- Estancia Capital Partners and its portfolio company R&T Deposit Solutions, a provider of tech-enabled liquidity management, deposit funding and securities-based lending programs, on a recapitalization, which includes a significant investment from GTCR.
Blackstone Tactical Opportunities on a number of transactions including:
- Diamonds Direct USA in its sale to Signet Jewelers, the world's largest retailer of diamond jewelry.
- As an investor in connection with Genstar Capital’s recapitalization of its portfolio company ConnectiveRx.
- In connection with an equity investment in BTIG, LLC, a US-based financial services firm.
Precisely, a portfolio company of Centerbridge Partners, in connection with the sale of Confirm to Dude Solutions.
Acoustic, a portfolio company of Centerbridge Partners, in the sale of Acoustic's unified enterprise payments platform to Market Pay.

Financial Services/Asset Management M&A

T. Rowe Price in its US$4.2 billion acquisition of Oak Hill Advisors, an alternative investment firm with US$53 billion of capital under management across its private, distressed, special situations, liquid, structured credit, and real asset strategies.
JP Morgan in connection with the acquisitions of FROSCH International Travel, Inc., one of the oldest and most successful corporate and luxury travel agencies in the U.S.; OpenInvest, a leading financial technology company that helps financial professionals customize and report on values-based investments; and Campbell Global, a forest management and timberland investing company.
abrdn in its acquisition of the U.S. closed-end funds sponsored by Macquarie/Delaware Investments.
AIG in its acquisition of all the outstanding equity interests of Covenant Credit Partners, LP, and alternative to credit manager with a focus on collateralized loan.
Business Development Corporation of America (BDCA), an affiliate of Benefit Street Partners L. L.C., in connection with its acquisition of a controlling interest in Siena Capital Finance LLC.
CIT Group Inc. in the formation of Strategic Credit Partners, a joint venture formed with TPG Special Situations Partners to provide senior secured financing to companies in a variety of industries throughout the United States.
Corporate Capital Trust, Inc. (NYSE:CCT) in the merger of FSIC and CCT to create the second largest publicly-traded BDC, at the time.
CoreVest American Finance Lender LLC, a leading nationwide originator and portfolio manager of business-purpose residential loans, in connection with the US$490 million sale of Corevest to Redwood Trust, Inc.
Horizon Technology Finance Corporation (NASDAQ: HRZN) in the sale of Horizon Technology Finance Management LLC, the investment adviser to Horizon Technology Finance Corporation to Monroe Capital LLC.
OHA Investment Corporation (Nasdaq: OHAI), a publicly-traded BDC managed by Oak Hill Advisors, L.P., on its sale to Portman Ridge Finance Corporation (Nasdaq: PTMN), a publicly-traded BDC managed by an affiliate of BC Partners Advisors L.P.
Stifel Financial Corp. in the formation of a substantial leveraged lending joint venture and strategic collaboration with Korea Investment & Securities Co., Ltd.
Stifel Financial Corp. in its strategic collaboration with and minority investment in LFE Capital, a growth equity firm dedicated to providing capital to women-owned and managed health and wellness businesses.
Stifel Financial Corp. in its acquisition of Eaton Partners, LLC, a global institutional placement agency, and in the subsequent launch of Twelve Degrees, a strategic collaboration with RCP Advisors focused on investing in and providing capital solutions to leading emerging and first-time alternative investment fund managers.
StoneCastle Partners in the sale of its subsidiary, StoneCastle Cash Insured Sweep, LLC (d/b/a interLINK), to Webster Financial Corporation’s principle bank subsidiary, Webster Bank, N.A.
StoneCastle Asset Management and its parent StoneCastle Partners in ArrowMark Partners’ acquisition of StoneCastle Asset Management’s Bank Investment Platform.

Alternative Asset Management Diversification/Capital Markets

Centerbridge Partners in the formation of Overland Advisors, its strategic partnership with Wells Fargo to launch a private credit platform targeting a minimum of US$5 billion of investable capital, including US$2.5 billion in equity commitments.
KKR in connection with the launch of the KKR Income Opportunity Fund (NYSE:KIO).
AB Private Credit Investors Corporation, a business development company advised by an affiliate of AllianceBernstein L.P., in connection with capital markets transactions and general corporate matters.
Corporate Capital Trust, Inc. (“CCT”), an unlisted BDC with approximately US$5 billion in total assets, as corporate counsel and in connection with its equity capital raise of approximately US$3.3 billion and subsequent listing on the NYSE.
CCT in connection with its joint venture with Conway Partners, Strategic Credit Opportunities Partners.
Corporate Capital Trust II (“CCT II”) in connection with its formation and continuous public offering of up to 275 million shares of common stock for a proposed maximum offering price of approximately US$2.6 billion.
CNL Financial Group in connection with the registration of an unlisted closed-end fund, The CNL Energy Total Return Fund, in partnership with Riverstone Holdings.
GoldenTree in connection with its role as sub-adviser to the FS Credit Income Fund, the first investment company role for Goldentree.
CCT I, CCT II, KKR Credit (US), LLC and affiliated entities in connection with their application for exemption from certain sections of the 1940 Act related to co-investment transactions.
Resource America, Inc. in connection with its formation of the Resource Credit Income Fund and in connection with its joint venture with Pearlmark Real Estate.
Stifel Venture Corp. in its investment in CM Investment Partners and CM Finance in connection with the initial public offering of CM Finance.
Stifel Financial Corp. in connection with Stifel Aviation Finance, a series of aircraft specialty finance vehicles.

2022

Convergence Picks Up Steam - Traditional Asset Managers Join the Game, 2022 Permanent & Private Capital Summit, Dechert LLP – New York, NY (May 24 – 25, 2022)

PE Heading into 2023: Watching for Pitfalls and Hunting for Opportunity, Dechert Distressed Investing Forum, Dechert LLP - New York, NY (October 27, 2022)

2021

The Evolution of Private Credit: Strategies Driving Growth and Scale, 2021 Permanent & Private Capital Summit, Dechert LLP - Virtual Conference (June 2-3, 2021)

2020

Asset Management M&A: Themes & Strategies, Permanent and Private Capital in the Time of COVID-19: Where We've Been and Where We're Going, Dechert LLP - Virtual Conference (August 20, 2020)

Private Credit Panel, NYU Stern Annual Private Equity & Venture Capital Conference - New York, NY (March 6, 2020)

2018

Challenges of Bolting on a Credit Strategy to Existing Private Equity Platform, PDI's CFOs & COOs Forum - New York, NY (June 20-21, 2018)

Beyond Traditional Private Equity Investments, NYU Stern Venture Capital & Private Equity Conference - New York, NY (March 2, 2018)

2017

3^rd Annual LPGP Connect Private Debt New York, LPGP Connect - New York, NY (May 16, 2017)
Capital Raising for Permanent Capital Vehicles 2017 – Innovation in the Face of Change, 2017 Permanent Capital Summit, Dechert LLP - New York, NY (March 08, 2017)
Diversifying a Fund Business: Implications of Managing Private Equity Funds, Hedge Funds and Other Alternative Investment Products Alongside Each Other, 18^th Annual International Conference on Private Investment Funds - London, UK (March 6, 2017)

NYU Stern Venture Capital & Private Equity Conference - New York, NY (March 3, 2017)

2016

Operational Value Creation, Harvard Business School Venture Capital & Private Equity 2016 Conference - Boston, MA (March 5, 2016)
BDC Consolidation: The Beginning of a Trend? What’s Driving M&A Activity in the BDC Space?, 2016 Permanent Capital Summit, Dechert LLP - New York, NY (January 26, 2016)

2015

Hot Topics: What Was New in Permanent Capital in 2014, and Why?, Current Trends in Permanent Capital: What Alternative Managers Need to Know Now, Dechert LLP - New York, NY (January 22, 2015)