Profile

Erica Opitz is a shareholder in the firm’s Atlanta office in the Corporate, Securities, and Finance practice group. Often serving as a client’s outside general counsel, Ms. Opitz assists clients with corporate governance, commercial contract, mergers and acquisitions, and privately-held securities matters.  Ms. Opitz also serves as the Atlanta office’s primary drafter of Georgia legal opinions.  

Ms. Opitz has represented clients across a variety of industries, including moving and storage, merchant services, certified public accounting, investment management, airplane battery manufacturing, building supply distribution, chiropractic, waste and recycling, chicken processing, fast food, and plastic bottle manufacturing industries. 

Ms. Opitz has significant experience representing professional organizations, including architecture, engineering and certified public accounting firms and chiropractic practices, with achieving their business goals while working within applicable state ownership requirements.

Representative Transactions

• Represent company as co-counsel in going public de-SPAC transaction valued at over $1.5 billion

• Represent borrower in negotiating credit facility committing up to $125 million in term loans from private equity lender

• Represent seller in $165 million asset sale of software development and consulting company to publicly traded company
• Represent borrower in negotiating $80 million revolving line of credit
• Represent seller in $224 million asset sale of chemical manufacturing and distribution company to private equity firm
• Represent seller in over $100 million dollar asset sale of insurance brokerage firm
• Represent sellers in multi-million dollar sale of equity interests in cold storage business
• Represent purchaser in multi-million dollar acquisition of equity interests in landfill and waste business
• Represent multiple start-up companies in Series A, Series B, Series C, Series D and Series E capital raises 
• Represent seller in multi-million dollar unit sale of investment management company to private equity firm
• Represent minority owner in renegotiation of limited liability company agreement with private equity firm
• Represent investor in negotiation of organizational documents of entity operating various restaurants
• Represent borrowers in various loan facilities secured by real estate or other assets of borrower, including revolving, construction and ABL facilities
• Represent non-profit entities in various matters, including formation, organization and reorganizations
• Represent seller in multi-million dollar stock sale of company operating 13 AT&T dealerships
• Represent purchaser in multi-million dollar purchase of chicken processing plant and business from multi-billion dollar company
• Represent purchasers of chiropractic practices
• Represent purchasers of certified public accounting practices
• Represent purchaser in asset purchase of waste and recycling broker business
• Represent over 25 different franchisees multi-million dollar asset sales of moving and storage businesses
• Represent purchaser multi-million dollar real estate purchase of cheese factory
• Represent fast food franchisee in purchase of real estate for franchise sites
• Represent clients in purchase and leasing of luxury airplanes
• Represent purchaser of wild bird specialty store franchise from franchisee
• Represent franchisee in multi-million dollar asset and real estate purchase of 12 fast food franchise units from franchisor
• Represent seller in multi-million dollar sale of employee benefits practice
• Represent seller in multiple multi-million dollar asset sales of franchisee businesses to franchisor
• Represent seller in multi-million dollar real estate purchase and sale and substitution of property as collateral under loan documents for company specializing in distributing building supplies
• Represent publicly-traded company in multi-million dollar asset purchase of United States company and stock purchase of United Kingdom company specializing in distributing airplane batteries
• Represent seller in multi-million dollar asset sale of credit card processing company

Presentations

• The New Partnership Audit Rules and Why You Need to Amend Your Operating Agreement in 2018
• Q&A session about the importance of Operating Agreements

Professional Affiliations

• Board Member, Roswell North Elementary Foundation
• Advisory Committee of Pro Bono Partnership of Atlanta
• Fellow, American Bar Foundation
• Phi Alpha Delta
• Atlanta Bar Association
• Georgia Bar Association

News

Presentations

Publications