The Week at Ropes & Gray: Transactional Activity Remains Strong; Discussing the Co-CEO Model; Counsel Vies to Head U.S. Soccer; Honoring Military Veterans through Pro Bono Service; Fighting Hunger in NYC

Weekly highlights of what’s happening at Ropes & Gray:

• This week, transactional activity remained strong across industries, with two notable PE transactions and a fund conversion:
• Leonard Green & Partners has acquired Pure Gym, the UK’s largest gym operator, from CCMP Capital Advisors. Ropes & Gray advised CCMP Capital Advisors in the transaction, marking the sixth new client for the firm’s London private equity team to have been announced since June.
• Audax Private Equity has completed an acquisition of Ecolab Inc.’s Equipment Care business. Equipment Care, headquartered in St. Paul, Minn., is a leading provider of commercial kitchen repair, maintenance services, and parts to the U.S. commercial food service industry. Ropes & Gray advised Audax Private Equity in the transaction.
• Shareholders and the Trustees of Highland Floating Rate Opportunities Fund approved a proposal to convert it from an open-end to a closed-end fund. Ropes & Gray acted as counsel to Highland Capital Management Fund Advisers and its affiliates, which advised the Highland Fund complex on the conversion.
• In recent years, an increasing number of Fortune 500 companies have adopted a co-CEO leadership model. Private investment funds partner and practice co-leader John Ayer comments on the prevalence and benefits of this leadership model within the private equity industry in a Nov. 6 article by The Wall Street Journal Private Equity Pro.
• There are more than 18.5 million military veterans in the United States, all of whom have a unique set of legal needs that require special consideration for issues related to benefits, employment, health care, housing, insurance, and education. As the United States honors its military veterans on Veterans Day, Ropes & Gray shares recent examples of pro bono work done by our attorneys on behalf of those who have served in the military.
• 1.5 million New Yorkers rely on Food Bank for food and other needed resources. To help in the fight against hunger, a group of Ropes & Gray volunteers from the firm’s New York office visited Food Bank's warehouse in the Bronx to organize and pack more than 3,200 meals for New Yorkers in need.
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