Mike McGrath has a unique and unmatched skill set at the intersection of health care, higher education, and public finance. He guides health care organizations and educational institutions on complex transactions, financings, and regulatory and corporate governance matters. At Ropes & Gray, he is a partner in our health care practice, as well as co-leader of the firm’s higher education and public finance practices.
Mike leads transformative transactions involving universities, hospitals, health systems, academic medical centers, managed care organizations, insurers, research institutes, family offices, and mission-focused nonprofits. He routinely represents clients in mergers, acquisitions, joint ventures, and affiliations that are reshaping the higher education and healthcare landscape, both regionally and nationally. His legal work includes leading M&A transactions involving both for-profit and nonprofit health plans, structuring strategic collaborations involving family offices and philanthropic organizations, and representing education-industry clients in a broad spectrum of pioneering higher education models as colleges and universities confront financial and policy-driven pressures.
Mike’s dealmaking prowess is paired with years of experience in public finance. He has served as borrower’s counsel, underwriter’s counsel, and bond counsel in connection with both public and private tax-exempt and taxable financings. He routinely wears “multiple hats” in deals, serving as both transaction and financing counsel.
Mike brings a deep understanding of the intricate regulatory frameworks of the healthcare and higher education sectors. He is well versed in state licensure and health insurance regulatory laws, complex reimbursement schemes, Medicare Advantage regulatory requirements, and federal education laws and regulations. Mike regularly advises colleges and universities, private equity sponsors, and other investors on student financial aid and accreditation-related matters.
Experience
With a practice that spans health care, higher education, and public finance, Mike has guided clients through complex deals, compliance, and financing matters across a range of sectors.
Healthcare Transactions
- Represented a private research university and its affiliated health system in establishing a standalone children’s hospital jointly with another local academic medical center partner.
- Represented a leading nonprofit health plan in its acquisition agreement with a regional healthcare provider.
- Advised a national managed care organization in its acquisition of a Medicaid long-term care business.
- Advised a private research university in the negotiation of unwinding its relationship with a global for-profit health care operator and establishing a new partnership with a local nonprofit health system.
- Counseled various health care systems and community hospitals in connection with both affiliations and mergers with other health care and academic organizations.
- Provided strategic guidance to children’s hospitals navigating collaborative ventures, including mergers and innovative partnership arrangements with health care networks.
- Counseled an academic medical center in connection with the reorganization of its clinical and academic enterprises.
- Counseled a for-profit managed care organization in connection with its acquisition of another managed care organization.
Higher Education Transactions
- Advised several colleges and universities in connection with statutory mergers and membership designations with other educational institutions.
- Represented a large private research university on the acquisition of a health sciences-focused university, through which they will establish and operate a new college of pharmacy.
- Represented a private university in a strategic transaction to become the sole member of another university, forming a novel private university system.
- Advised multiple universities and family offices in establishing novel, philanthropy-backed university campuses and research institutes.
- Advised a private equity impact fund in its strategic investment in an online college focused on education and healthcare.
Financing
- Participated in more than $10 billion in various tax-exempt and taxable bond offerings and bank direct purchases for numerous health care and university clients in Massachusetts, New York, Rhode Island, Connecticut, New Hampshire, Vermont, Maine, and California as borrower’s, bond, and underwriter’s counsel.
- Served as borrower’s counsel in connection with one of New England’s first-ever energy-as-a-service transaction.
- Served as borrower’s counsel and underwriter’s counsel in connection with multiple green bond transactions.
Regulatory and Corporate Governance
- Advised numerous nonprofit organizations with respect to various corporate governance issues.
- Served as special regulatory counsel to a national managed care organization in its acquisition of a regional health plan.
- Advised a leading pediatric hospital on regulatory aspects of its joint venture with a major university health system.
- Advised multiple colleges and universities in connection with changes stemming from the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, including the federal excise tax on net investment income, modifications to federal student loan programs, and implementation of the accountability framework.