It was a banner year for partner Eric J Dale and his firm, Robinson & Cole, one of the country”™s top 200 legal firms. He and what he likes to characterize as a “powerful team of some of the smartest attorneys in the profession” facilitated significant transactions for their business clients. Among them were two for Connecticut technology clients that were especially noteworthy in Dale”™s view.
The first came early in the year for global giant Nielsen Co. in Wilton with the $950 million sale of its affiliate, Nielsen Expositions (a leading operator of large, business-to-business trade shows in the U.S.) to Onex Corp. Toronto-based Onex is one of the investment world”™s oldest and most successful private equity firms. Nielsen was the year”™s largest merger and acquisition transaction for the firm”™s business transactions practice group that Dale heads. It exemplified what he termed the group”™s solution-based expertise in successfully guiding a client through a complex financial matter.
The second was $25 million in venture capital financing to help Norwalk-based Datto Inc. continue on its path of becoming a leader in its niche business. Established only five years ago by Austin McChord, a young entrepreneur who graduated from the Rochester Institute of Technology, Datto went on to become an award-winning provider of backup, disaster recovery services and intelligent business continuity solutions, now supporting more than 5,000 partners throughout North America and Europe. The company will use its $25 million late-stage, minority investment in three major areas of growth including international expansion, new product development for wider market penetration and enhanced services for existing customers.
Dale cites two reasons why Datto stands out as a notable achievement. The first is its exponential growth, achieving an astonishing 300 percent annual growth rate for four consecutive years as well as becoming a significant job creator in the local economy. It earned the honor of being named the Fastest Growing Technology Company in Connecticut in 2013 by Marcum L.L.P. and the Connecticut Technology Council.
“The second reason is that we brought to the table General Catalyst Partners, one of the nation”™s prestigious venture capital firms, to make this financing possible, underscoring our firm”™s reputation for connecting exceptional entrepreneurial companies with top-tier investment players.”
Dale attributes his group”™s successful performance to the hard work “we have put into developing a culture as a solutions-oriented law practice,” he said. “Our first priority is to help a client get the deal done as transactions are vitally important to a company.
“The practice of transactional law today is very different than it was 10-15 years ago,” he said. “For example, when a client asks, ”˜How do I buy or invest in a business?”™, you don”™t just hand them a purchase agreement. You need to go beyond and apprise them of the issues and traps so that they can make an informed decision that might impact their company”™s future.”
Dale has spent nearly half of his 24-year career with Robinson & Cole. He has extensive experience representing large, well-established as well as early-stage public and private companies in negotiating and structuring debt and equity transactions, merger and acquisitions, partnerships relationships, joint venture and strategic alliance agreements.
One of his specialties has been working with fast-growth companies, representing a cadre of entrepreneurs as they build and manage their enterprises through capital formation, organization structure, team building and realignment.
Given this experience and expertise, it comes as no surprise that as 2013 drew to a close, Dale was elected president of Crossroads Venture Group (CVG), a professional organization with which he has long been associated and whose mission of connecting high-growth emerging companies with leading capital providers plays to one of the focused areas of his practice. CVG will celebrate its 40th anniversary during Dale”™s one-year tenure that began Jan. 1.
“I am very excited to help CVG continue its mission of stimulating economic growth by encouraging investment in high-growth companies. One of the initiatives he will lead is to identify and introduce more qualified companies to CVG”™s investment network. “Because more jobs are created by successful small businesses, the work of CVG in helping emerging companies succeed continues to play a vital role in the region”™s economy.”
As for the impact a successful startup can make on employment, look no further than Datto. In just six years, it created more than 200 jobs.
The Winners Circle profiles male and female lawyers and female entrepreneurs who have entered the arena and won.
Comments 2