Matthew J. Kautz is a partner in the Mergers & Acquisitions Practice and is resident in the New York office.

Mr. Kautz represents buyers and sellers in domestic and international public and private mergers and acquisitions, joint ventures, "going-private" transactions and equity co-investments. He has extensive experience representing private equity firms with respect to their acquisitions and dispositions of portfolio companies. In addition, Mr. Kautz counsels public and private corporations on general corporate matters, restructurings and corporate governance issues.

Recent transactions include the representation of:

• Metinvest, B.V., a subsidiary of privately held Ukrainian conglomerate System Capital Management, JSC, in its acquisition of United Coal Company LLC, a coal producer with significant operations and reserves located primarily in the Central Appalachian region of the United States.
• SSAB Svenskt Stål AB (SSAB) in the US$4.038 billion sale of four subsidiaries that comprised SSAB's North American tubular business to Evraz Group, S.A., one of the world’s largest vertically integrated steel and mining businesses. Mr. Kautz also previously advised SSAB on its acquisition of Canadian steel producer IPSCO Inc. for approximately US$7.7 billion.
• WellPoint, Inc., the nation's leading health benefits company with approximately 28 million medical members nationwide, in its US$6.5 billion acquisition of WellChoice, Inc., the largest health insurer in the State of New York and the parent company of Empire BlueCross BlueShield.
• Private equity firm Quad-C Management, Inc. in various transactions including:
  • The sale of the controlling interest in NuSil Technology, a manufacturer of silicone compounds for the healthcare, aerospace, defense and photonics industries.
  • The acquisition of 100 percent of the outstanding membership interests of Joerns Healthcare LLC, a maker of products for post-acute and long-term care facilities.
  • The acquisition of 100 percent of the outstanding capital stock of A. Stucki Holding Corp., a leader in designing, manufacturing and supplying engineered products and services to the international rail transportation market.
  • The sale of BI Incorporated, the leading provider of offender monitoring and prisoner reentry services to federal, state and local government agencies in the United States.
• Private equity firm Harvest Partners, Inc. in its acquisition of Associated Materials Incorporated, a leading manufacturer of vinyl siding and other exterior residential building products.
• Private Equity firm Dominus Capital, L.P., in its acquisition of Spectrum Corporation, a leading formulator, blender, packager and distributor of specialty lubricants to the outdoor power equipment, marine, recreational equipment and automotive aftermarkets.
• A consortium of institutional bondholders, including Deutsche Bank and Goldman Sachs, with respect to the Chapter 11 restructuring of Visteon Corporation, one of the world's largest suppliers of automotive parts.
• The ad hoc group of Six Flags Noteholders in its acquisition of the Six Flags amusement park business in a deal valued at about US$1.8 billion.
• Certain members of senior management of Thermadyne in connection with the completion of the equity documentation with respect to their holdings in the new parent company of Thermadyne, following the acquisition of Thermadyne by an affiliate of Irving Place Capital Partners.
• Colony Capital in connection with the restructuring of Meadowlands Limited Partnership, the entity responsible for the construction of the Meadowlands Xanadu entertainment and retail complex project, which resulted in, among other things, an affiliate of Colony Capital becoming the managing general partner of such partnership.
• NUI Corporation, a natural gas, energy commodity trading and marketing company, in its US$827 million sale to AGL Resources, one of the nation’s preeminent natural gas companies.
• Royal Ahold N.V. in its US$3.6 billion acquisition of US Foodservice and US Foodservice's subsequent acquisition of Alliant Foodservice, Inc.
• DB Capital Partners in its acquisition of Kinetics Group from Vivendi.

Bars and Courts
New York State Bar, 1999

Education
JD, University of Pennsylvania Law School, 1998
BA, Yale University, 1995

Publications
Co-author, the chapter on "Important Tools in Distressed M&A Transactions" for the book, M&A Strategies for Bankruptcy and Distressed Companies — Leading Lawyers on Asset Valuation, Deal Structure, and Risk Management, January 2009 (with John M. Reiss, Thomas E Lauria and Gerard H. Uzzi)
"Country Q&A—United States," PLC Cross-Border Private Equity Handbook, 2007/2008 (with John Reiss, Daniel M. Latham, Meredith Beuchaw, David A. Goldstein, Nicola Rosenstock, Andrew Oringer, Jeremy Naylor, Gerard H. Uzzi and Joseph H. Brazil)
Co-author, "The US M&A Market: Crowds, Competition and Cautious Optimism," The American Lawyer Guide to Global Mergers & Acquisitions, January 2006
Co-author, "Seeking Deal Certainty in Uncertain Times," The Mergers & Acquisitions Advisor, November 2001 (Mr. Kautz was the recipient of a Burton Award for Legal Achievement, honoring excellence in legal writing, for this article)

Languages
English

Citizenship
United States