Catherine M. Tepper practices in the area of corporate law, with a focus on mergers and acquisitions, commercial finance and capital raising. In addition to transactional matters, Ms. Tepper functions as general outside counsel to startups and high-growth companies at all stages of development.
Ms. Tepper's mergers and acquisitions representations include Fortune 500 and middle market companies, senior lenders, institutional investors and other parties in domestic and cross-border activities, including roll-ups, spin-offs, divestitures, MBOs, LBOs and reorganizations. Her practice includes both friendly and contested acquisitions, tender offers, auctions and defensive planning. She counsels boards of directors and senior management of companies on corporate governance, securities law compliance and exit strategies. Ms. Tepper spends significant time working closely with colleagues in other substantive practice areas, such as intellectual property, taxation, and labor and employment, to tailor legal advice to her clients' business objectives.
Ms. Tepper has also represented financial institutions, capital markets participants and major borrowers on all aspects of complex financing structures and financial products. Her experience includes tax-exempt bond offerings for educational institutions and municipalities. Ms. Tepper also has advised issuers, investors and credit enhancers on the securitization of commercial loans, mortgages, and trade receivables. As a research specialist at the Wharton School, Ms. Tepper investigated legal and financial issues in the primary and secondary mortgage markets.
Ms. Tepper's startup and emerging business practice focuses on coordinating the firm's resources to provide entrepreneurs and emerging businesses with legal and strategic advice from formation through expansion to maturity. She counsels start-ups and early stage clients by reviewing their business plans, guiding their choice of entity formation decisions, helping identify appropriate financing sources, and tailoring equity and debt finance structures. Additionally, Ms. Tepper provides connectivity to venture capitalists and commercial lenders.
Ms. Tepper earned her J.D. from The Dickinson School of Law of The Pennsylvania State University and graduated with honors from The University of Colorado at Boulder.
Areas of Practice
ˇ Corporate Law
ˇ Mergers and Acquisitions
ˇ Private Equity and Venture Capital
ˇ Commercial Finance
ˇ Securities Law
Representative Matters
ˇ Closed on behalf of Global Management Technologies Corporation (GMT), a workforce-management software company, the sale of its stock to a subsidiary of Verint Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRNT) for an undisclosed sum.
Professional Activities
ˇ The Real Estate Law Journal
- Contributing Editor, 2003-2005
ˇ Philadelphia Bar Association
- Business Law Section
- Small Business Committee
ˇ Pennsylvania Bar Association
- Business Law Section
Experience
ˇ Duane Morris LLP
- Associate, 2011-present
ˇ TRM Corporation
- Associate and Outside Counsel, 2004-2005
ˇ Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania
- Research Specialist, Real Estate Finance, 2003-2004
ˇ Caricaf, Inc.
- Consultant, 2002-2003
ˇ Potter, Anderson & Corroon LLP
- Associate, 2001
ˇ Morgan, Lewis & Bockius LLP
- Associate, 1999-2001
ˇ The Superior Court of Pennsylvania
- Law Clerk to the Hon. Zoran Popovich, 1998-1999