OverviewPeter brings strategic business vision to his work assisting emerging and established companies in corporate and finance matters, particularly in the areas of mergers and acquisitions, executive compensation, and business-succession planning. He counsels companies in a variety of sectors including technology, software, digital and traditional media, distribution, and consumer products. He also advises investors and lenders in start-ups and venture-capital transactions, tender offers, and recapitalizations.
Peter represents clients before government agencies in matters relating to public financing, licensing and procurement. In this capacity, he assisted a prominent private equity firm in the successful resolution of the largest case involving an Employee Stock Ownership Plan, brought by the Department of Labor, the IRS and private litigants.
An M.B.A. with experience in his family’s business operating one of the nation’s largest retailers of fine furniture, he is recognized by Chambers USA as one of “America’s Leading Lawyers for Business.”
Peter’s clients value his informed, level-headed counsel. As one told Chambers USA, he “impresses with his measured and eminently sensible counsel in the field of corporate governance, management buyouts, and pre-merger activity, whether hostile or uncontested.”
He speaks frequently to business and legal groups. His work and commentary have been featured in Bloomberg, the Chicago Tribune, the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, Entrepreneur, Buyouts, Private Equity Week, Corporate Financing Week, Business Finance, Corporate DealMaker, and Mergers and Acquisitions.
A past Global Chairman of The Association for Corporate Growth, Peter is currently an adjunct professor at Marquette Law School, where he teaches “Negotiating Business Transactions.” Experience
- Assisted a provider of medical-data archiving solutions developed at the Mayo Clinic in its sale to FujiFilm. The company, which was backed by a group of investors including Mayo Ventures, multiple private equity firms and the State of Wisconsin Investment Board, received significant interest from global firms. It conducted management presentations and negotiated purchase agreements with a number of parties before eventually negotiating exclusively with FujiFilm.
- Helped a global firm obtain significant state and local incentives to continue operating domestically instead of moving operations to China. The incentives played an important role in the company’s decision to invest more than $63 million in state-of-the-art improvements to an existing facility, saving hundreds of jobs.
- Worked with a major nonprofit organization dedicated to providing employment opportunities to impaired individuals. Negotiated a deal with a supplier of raw components, which were then assembled by the nonprofit and sold directly to government purchasers. Negotiations were complicated by country of origin, warranty and indemnity issues as well as just-in-time supply requirements.
- Assisted in the planning and successful implementation of a third-generation business succession. Worked to develop goals with all stakeholders and advisors to achieve the important objectives of each.
- Assisted in a negotiation with a portfolio company owned by one of the largest private equity firms. Our client had exposure in the next year of more than $2 million on a minimum guaranteed royalty licensing agreement. We were able to resolve for a payment of $75,000.
Honors & Recognitions
- “Lawyer of the Year” (Milwaukee area), Business Organizations (including LLCs and Partnerships), The Best Lawyers in America©, 2021
- The Best Lawyers in America©, Mergers and Acquisitions Law & Business Organizations (including LLCs and Partnerships), 2011-Present
- The Midwest’s Best Lawyers©, Mergers and Acquisitions Law & Business Organizations (including LLCs and Partnerships), 2021
- Leading Lawyers, Chambers USA: “Peter Coffey impresses with his measured and eminently sensible counsel in the field of corporate governance, management buyouts and pre-merger activity, whether hostile or uncontested.”
Professional Activities
- Director, The Association for Corporate Growth Wisconsin
- Past Global Chairman, The Association for Corporate Growth (www.acg.org). ACG is a global organization for professionals involved in corporate growth, corporate development, and mergers and acquisitions. ACG’s 56 chapters and over 14,000 members come from corporations, private equity, finance, and professional service firms representing Fortune 500, Fortune 1000, FTSE 100, and mid-market companies.
- Adjunct Professor, Marquette Law School, “Negotiating Business Transactions”
- Legal counsel, The Milwaukee School of Engineering and The National Speech & Forensic League
- Member, American Bar Association
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