Overview

As a tax lawyer, Michael works with his clients, colleagues, and opposing counsel to develop and implement tax-efficient structures for his clients while also succinctly communicating advice on complicated tax issues. Michael is personable, efficient, and nimble when working with his clients to solve their complex tax issues.

Michael is the chair of Barack Ferrazzano’s Tax & Business Planning Group. Michael concentrates his national practice on a broad array of federal tax planning matters across many industries and tax entity types, including publicly traded and private corporations, all types of tax partnerships including private equity funds and joint ventures, S corporations, family offices, and high-net-worth individuals.

Michael also has extensive experience in advising publicly traded and private real estate investment trusts (REITs) on business formations, initial public offerings, mergers and acquisitions, public and private debt/equity offerings, joint ventures, and various UPREIT partnership transactions. He has also represented underwriters in numerous initial and secondary public offerings of REIT securities.

In addition to his tax transactional practice, Michael has also advised publicly traded corporations, large and small private companies, tax partnerships, and high-net-worth individuals on a wide variety of complex tax issues at the examination, appeals, and litigation stages.

Michael is a member of the Management and Finance Committees at the firm.

Credentials

Admissions

  • State of Illinois

Education

  • Loyola University Chicago School of Law, J.D., cum laude, 1996
  • University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, B.S., with honors, 1993

Experience

  • Represented Anchor Bancorp, Inc. in its sale to Old National Bancorp (Nasdaq: ONB).
  • Represented First Defiance Financial Corp. in its acquisition of United Community Financial Corp. at approx. $474.8 million.
  • Served as primary counsel to NYSE-listed industrial REIT with respect to several public offerings utilizing diverse structures, including a 12.5 million share of common stock ($65.6 million) firm commitment underwriting, various "bought deal" underwritten offerings of an aggregate of over 35.1 million shares of common stock for gross proceeds of over $450 million, continuous “at-the-market” programs offering up to 10 million shares, 12.5 million shares and 13.3 million shares of common stock, respectively, and direct stock sales of up to 5 million shares pursuant to a dividend reinvest
  • Represented Bankmanagers Corp. and its wholly owned subsidiary, Park Bank, in its sale to First Midwest Bancorp, Inc. (Nasdaq: FMBI) valued at approx. $193.8 million.
  • Represented Invesque Inc. (TSX: IVQ.U), a healthcare real estate company serving the U.S. and Canada, in its acquisition of a number of senior living properties and Commonwealth Senior Living, LLC. 
  • Represented Level One Bancorp, Inc. (Nasdaq: LEVL) and its subsidiary Level One Bank in M&A, IPO, subordinated debt, and other transactions.
  • Represented LVMH Luxury Ventures, an investment arm of LVMH Moët Hennessy Louis Vuitton SE, in its equity investment in renowned horology authority HODINKEE. 
  • Represented LVMH Luxury Ventures, an investment arm of LVMH Moët Hennessy Louis Vuitton SE, aimed at taking minority stakes in emerging, iconic brands, in its equity investment in Gabriela Hearst LLC. Launched by its founder and namesake, Gabriela Hearst, the company is a New-York based luxury ready-to-wear, leather goods, and lifestyle company.
  • Represented Moët Hennessy, a division of LVMH Moët Hennessy Louis Vuitton SE, in its partnership with Shawn Jay-Z Carter, pursuant to which Moët Hennessy acquired a 50% stake in the Champagne brand, Armand de Brignac, previously wholly-owned by Jay-Z.
  • Represented Moët Hennessy, a division of LVMH Moët Hennessy Louis Vuitton SE, in its acquisition of a minority stake & distribution partnership with WhistlePig Whiskey.
  • Represented Moët Hennessy USA in its acquisition of Woodinville Whiskey Company, LLC.
  • Represented LVMH Luxury Ventures, an investment arm of LVMH Moët Hennessy Louis Vuitton SE, in its equity investment in Aimé Leon Dore, a New York-based streetwear brand with a cult following.
  • Represented Moët Hennessy, a division of LVMH Moët Hennessy Louis Vuitton SE, in its acquisition of Joseph Phelps Vineyards, a nearly five-decade-old producer of fine wines from Napa Valley and, more recently, the Sonoma Coast. The deal included 530 acres (215 hectares) of vineyards, including 429 acres (174 hectares) in nine Napa Valley estates and 99 acres (40 hectares) in two estates around the Freestone winery on the Sonoma Coast.
  • Represented QCR Holdings, Inc. (Nasdaq: QCRH) in the divestiture of its wholly-owned subsidiary, Rockford Bank and Trust Company, to Illinois Bank & Trust, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Heartland Financial USA, Inc. (Nasdaq: HTLF).
  • Represented USAmeriBancorp, Inc. (OTC Pink: USAB), in its merger with Valley National Bancorp (NYSE: VLY).
  • Represented PGB Holdings, Inc. in its sale to RBB Bancorp valued at approx. $32.5 million.

Newsroom

News

Recognitions

  • Certified Public Accountant, Illinois, 1993
  • Member, National Association of Real Estate Investment Trusts ("NAREIT")
  • Loyola University of Chicago Law Journal
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