Jay G. Cohen represents venture capital and private equity funds in connection with their portfolio investments, exit transactions and fund formation; lenders and borrowers of senior, subordinated, mezzanine and other hybrid debt and equity; businesses in their mergers and acquisitions activities, both domestically and internationally; corporations in their day-to-day business and financial operations; and early stage companies in their funding and expansion stages.

Mr. Cohen regularly engages in international transactions, including joint ventures, licenses/technology transfers, mergers and acquisitions and financings. He has traveled to Seoul, Korea more than 75 times from 1997 to the present, representing Korean banks, non-bank financial institutions, corporations, and governmental entities. He also counsels U.S. and foreign entities in connection with their Korean transactions. In addition, Mr. Cohen also represents private equity funds in connection with their investments in the Persian Gulf and the Middle East.

Admitted to practice in Maryland and the District of Columbia, Mr. Cohen is a 1986 graduate, with honors, of George Washington University Law School, where he was a member of the George Washington Law Review, and a magna cum laude graduate of the State University of New York at Albany.

Areas Of Practice

Corporate Law
Securities Law
Venture Capital/Private Equity Law
Mergers & Acquisitions Law

Representative Matters

Acquisition of Qatari company for private equity client, 2008
Represented Public Insight LLP in joint venture in Australia with Photon Group Limited, 2008
Represented Townsend Capital LLC in acquisition of Toronto, Canada lighting control company, 2008
Represented over 50 venture capital and private equity investments, 1987-present
Represented Atlantic Industrial, Inc., in $100 million credit facility with Wachovia Bank, 2007
Represented HydroGen Corporation in marketing and distribution arrangement with Samsung Corporation, 2007
Represented Case New Holland, manufacturing venture with Hyundai Heavy Industries, 2007
Represented Estate of Philip Merrill in Section 355 split-off, Washingtonian Magazine, 2007
Sale of Polk Holding Corp. (Parent of Polk Audio, Inc.) to Directed Electronics, Inc. for $136 million, 2006
Formation of Private Equity Fund, $60 Million, 2006
Represented Ice Cream Manufacturer (Lee's Ice Cream), Current
Sale of Hyundai Petrochemical Corp. to Consortium of LG and Honam Chemicals, US$1.6 Billion, 2003
Sale of Korea Exchange Bank to Lone Star Funds for US$1.3 Billion, 2003
Represented Hyundai Securities Co., Ltd. in Connection with Sale Negotiation with AIG, 2001-2002
Represented BioScience Contract Production Corp., developer, Maryland BioProcessing Center, 1997
Represented RH Cement (formerly Halla Cement) in issuance of $220 million increasing rate senior secured notes, $25 million increasing rate subordinated secured notes, $50 million of Korean Won denominated increasing rate senior bonds, 1999
Represented 21st Century Telecom Group, Inc. in issuance of $200 million 12-1/4% Senior Discount Notes and 50,000 Units of 13-3/4% Senior Cumulative Exchangeable Preferred Stock and Warrants to Purchase 438,870 shares of common stock, 1998
Sale of Arundel Corporation to Florida Rock
Sale of London Fog to Merrill Lynch Capital Partners

Professional Activities

American Bar Association
- M&A Market Trends Subcommittee of the Committee on Negotiated Acquisitions
- 2007 Private Target Deal Points Survey
Maryland Bar Association
Greater Baltimore Committee LEADERship Program Class of 2008

Admissions

Maryland
District of Columbia

Education

George Washington University, J.D., with honors, 1986

George Washington Law Review

State University of New York at Albany, B.A., magna cum laude, 1981

Experience

Duane Morris LLP
- Partner, 2006-present
DLA Piper US LLP, Baltimore, Maryland
- Partner, 2005- 2006
Akin Gump LLP, Washington, D.C.
- Partner, 2000-2005
Brown & Wood LLP, Washington, D.C.
- Partner, 1998-2000
Piper & Marbury, Baltimore, Maryland
- Partner, 1996-1998
- Associate, 1992-1996