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Richard Kidd is a transactional labor and employment partner in Ropes & Gray’s employment, executive compensation, and employee benefits practice. With more than 27 years of experience, Richard is a trusted advisor to publicly traded companies, privately held companies, and private equity firms and their portfolio companies.
Richard regularly serves as lead labor and employment counsel on complex employment matters, including high-stakes domestic and cross-border corporate transactions, in-court and out-of-court restructurings and wind downs, the onboarding of management teams, reductions in force, union and collective bargaining issues in a transactional context, the enforceability of restrictive covenants, sexual harassment and workplace misconduct investigations, the mediation and settlement of pre-litigation disputes, and day-to-day workforce management and counseling.
Richard is known for his strategic, commercial and pragmatic counsel that helps clients identify and navigate risk.
Before joining Ropes & Gray, Richard was a partner and head of the labor and employment practice at another leading global law firm.
Experience
*Indicates matters completed prior to joining Ropes & Gray
Corporate Transactions and Executive Separations
- Represented Nippon Steel, one of the world’s leading steel manufacturers, in its $14.9 billion acquisition of certain assets of U.S. Steel (NYSE: X), a leading steel manufacturer
- Represented BD (NYSE: BDX) in its $4.2 billion acquisition of Edwards Lifesciences Critical Care product group (NYSE: EW), a leader in advanced hemodynamic monitoring solutions
- Represented BD (NYSE: BDX) in its $1.525 billion acquisition of Parata Systems, a developer of automation technology for pharmacies
- Represented ZeroFox and Haveli Investments, its controlling sponsor, in the divestment of its subsidiary, IDX, to Kingswood Capital Management
- Represented Commonwealth Financial Network, a wealth management firm supporting approximately 3,000 advisors managing $305 billion in assets, in its sale to LPL Financial Holdings
- Represented Vistria Group in a consortium acquisition, alongside Nautic Partners and General Atlantic, of PANTHERx Rare, a specialty pharmacy, from Centene Corporation (NYSE: CNC)
- Represented New Mountain Capital in the merger of its health tech portfolio companies, The Rawlings Group and Apixio (including Varis), and the spinout and sale of Apixio Connected Care platform to Datavant, another New Mountain Capital portfolio company
- Represented Harvest Partners in its acquisition of The Learning Experience, an operator of preschool and daycare centers, from Golden Gate Capital
- Represented Gauge Capital in its acquisition of APHIX, a provider of commercial landscaping services, from Caltius Equity Partners
- Represented Hitachi Rail in its acquisition of Clever Devices, an intelligent transportation technology provider
- Secured a favorable resolution for a prominent private equity firm and its biotech portfolio company in addressing a sophisticated expense fraud issue involving a senior executive, resulting in a separation
- Represented Wyndham Worldwide in its separation via spin-off into two separate publicly traded hospitality companies valued at approximately $11 billion, Wyndham Hotels & Resorts, Inc. and Wyndham Destinations, Inc.*
- Represented Blackstone in its acquisition of SESAC Holdings, a leading music rights organization, from Rizvi Traverse Management*
- Represented Hilcorp Alaska in its $5.6 billion acquisition of BP’s upstream and midstream business in Alaska*
- Advised a media company in the out-of-court wind-down of its U.S. operations*
- Represented Nexstar Media Group, Inc. in its separate $160 million acquisition of BestReviews and in its purchase and sale agreements with Fox Television Stations, LLC*
- Represented Trinseo in the €1.137 billion contemplated acquisition of Arkema’s PMMA business*
- Represented Blackstone Energy Partners and Sanchez Energy Corporation in the definitive purchase agreement to acquire Anadarko Petroleum Corporation’s working interest in approximately 318,000 gross operated acres in the Western Eagle Ford for approximately $2.3 billion*
- Represented Arcline Investment Management LP in the formation and operating of their first fund, Arcline Capital Partners LP, a $1.5 billion fund focused on leveraged buyouts of high-quality middle market businesses*
- Represented a multinational financial services company with respect to labor and employment issues in the sale of its banking subsidiary with operations in more than 40 countries*
- Advised a fund manager separation from a current employer to form own fund*
- Advised a global investment management firm in a separation with portfolio company CEO and COO*
Union Negotiations
- Advised a portfolio company of a global alternative assets investment firm on complex workforce and union issues during the sale process
- Advised a large university on significant union issues related to a complex acquisition to create a unified hospital system
- Represented a biomedical research center in connection with an organizing campaign
- Represented a steel company in the negotiation of a new collective bargaining agreement with the United Autoworkers*
- Represented a coal company in the negotiation of a new collective bargaining agreement with the United Steelworkers*
- Represented a baked goods company in the negotiation of agreements with the Teamsters*
- Represented New York real estate holders in negotiations with Local 6 of the New York Hotel and Motel Trades Council and 32BJ SEIU*
Class Actions, Collective Actions, and Other Complex Litigation
- Successfully represented a private equity firm in connection with an ongoing dual-track employment litigation filed in federal district court and in a FINRA arbitration involving allegations of employee raiding, tortious interference with employee contracts and customer relationships, and unfair competition
- Represented a global diversified services company in a federal employment discrimination action*
- Represented a mutual life insurance company in a federal employment class action*
Investigations
- Advised a global asset manager in connection with the mediation of allegations that the company breached the terms of an employment agreement and sexually harassed and retaliated against a former employee
- Guided a prominent private equity firm and its biotech portfolio company through sensitive negotiations with an executive regarding allegations of disability discrimination, ultimately achieving a comprehensive settlement that included a full release of claims
- Advised a national insurance company with #MeToo investigation*
- Advised a national advertising company with #MeToo investigation*
- Advised a global company with executive expense fraud investigation*