Marcus J. Williams

Shareholder

Direct: (213) 891-5088
Mobile: (206) 229-7513
Fax: (503) 226-0079
Email: [email protected]
Offices: Salt Lake City, Los Angeles, Seattle, Portland
Bar Admissions: Utah, California, Oregon, Washington

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Marc Williams is a shareholder in Buchalter’s Corporate Practice Group, practicing in the firm’s Salt Lake, Los Angeles, Seattle, and Portland offices, where he advises companies and investors in securities matters, mergers and acquisitions, and general corporate counseling. Marc’s engagements have run the spectrum from serving as special counsel to the audit committee of one of the world’s best-known consumer products companies, to public offerings and related reporting engagements, to counseling successful family businesses and their owners. Marc has represented issuers in public offerings as large as $600 million and in private placements of more than $1 billion. The total value of Marc’s M&A engagements is rapidly approaching $20 billion.

Representative capital markets transactions include a $480 million subordinated note offering by JELD-Wen and initial public offerings including Clearwire Corporation ($600 million) and HomeStreet, Inc. ($100 million), as well as representing the Alaska Permanent Fund Corporation in the $1.2 billion IPO of American Homes 4 Rent. Marc’s M&A experience includes the $900 million sale of assets from an investment fund operated by APFC; serving as counsel to Vista Equity Partners in its $8.3 billion acquisition for Avalara, Inc., more than 20 community bank mergers; representation of a family shareholder group in promoting the recently completed $850 million sale of Altabancorp to Glacier Bancorp; a 10-year activism defense leading to the auction and $660 million sale of Pope Resources, a 160-year-old timberland owner and manager; and numerous auction processes leading to sales of both public and private companies.

Marc’s practice focuses primarily on public and mature private companies, and he has a particular expertise in banking and other financial businesses, such as registered investment advisers. He also has completed numerous corporate transactions in the manufacturing, aviation, energy/natural resources, technology, and hospitality sectors.

Marc has extensive experience advising both investors and targets in shareholder activism campaigns and unsolicited takeover proposals, including a recently completed acquisition of a publicly traded bank holding company resulting from public pressure mounted by Marc’s client, a large family group owning more than 30% of the company’s stock, as well as the successful defenses of campaigns against Pope Resources, McCormick & Schmick’s, Willamette Community Bank and BEO Bancorp. Marc has also represented issuers and merger constituents in “fairness hearings” and related securities matters before the California Department of Financial Protection and Innovation and the Oregon Division of Financial Regulation.

Marc lives with his wife and their five children near Los Angeles, where Marc is active in a variety of charitable organizations.

Mr. Williams has been named as one of “America’s Leading Lawyers for Business” in Corporate/Commercial (Washington) by Chambers USA from 2010-2019. He has been listed in Best Lawyers in America in Securities Law by Woodward/White since 2013 and has an AV Rating® from Martindale-Hubbell®. He was also a recipient of the Willard J. Wright Award for Outstanding Community Service at Davis Wright Tremaine LLP in 2010.