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MoFo Advises Elevate on Sale to Park Cities Asset Management

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Morrison Foerster advised Elevate Credit, Inc., a leading tech-enabled provider of innovative and responsible online credit solutions for non-prime consumers, in connection with its definitive agreement to be acquired by an affiliate of Park Cities Asset Management LLC, an alternative asset manager focused on providing flexible debt solutions.

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Morrison Foerster advised Elevate Credit, Inc., a leading tech-enabled provider of innovative and responsible online credit solutions for non-prime consumers, in connection with its definitive agreement to be acquired by an affiliate of Park Cities Asset Management LLC, an alternative asset manager focused on providing flexible debt solutions. Park Cities will acquire Elevate for $1.87 per share in an all-cash transaction at an implied value of $67 million. The transaction is expected to close in the first quarter of 2023.Founded in 2014, Elevate has reinvented non-prime credit with online solutions that provide financial relief today, and help people build a brighter financial future. Elevate, along with the banks that license its technology, has originated more than $10 billion in credit to nearly three million non-prime consumers. Elevate has a long relationship with Park Cities, which brings decades of experience in consumer and commercial lending, extensive corporate finance acumen, and significant operating experience that will allow Elevate to continue to serve credit-constrained Americans.MoFo has represented Elevate throughout its complete life cycle, including advising the company on its initial public offering in 2017. Upon completion of this transaction, Elevate’s shares will no longer trade on the New York Stock Exchange, and Elevate will become a private company, which will continue to operate under the Elevate name and brand.The MoFo team advising Elevate was led by San Francisco corporate partner and global M&A co-chair Brandon C. Parris, San Francisco partner Michael O’Bryan, and Palo Alto of counsel Danli Guo, together with Palo Alto associates Katherine Suzuki and Thomas Hopkins and San Francisco visiting attorney Kazutaka Sekiyama. The wider team included New York antitrust partner Michael Miller, New York executive compensation partner Domnick Bozzetti, San Francisco tax partner Joy MacIntyre, Boston privacy and data security partner Julie O’Neill, and Austin technology transactions of counsel Lawrence Gallick.Read more about the transaction in Elevate’s <a href="https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20221116006003/en/Elevate-Acquired-Park-Cities-Asset-Management">press release</a>.

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Brandon Parris is a corporate partner and serves as co-chair of the firm's global Mergers & Acquisitions Group.Described as “an exceptional attorney with significant experience and knowledge” by a client in IFLR1000, Brandon Parris maintains an active corporate practice focused on strategic transactions, including complex public and private mergers, tender offers, acquisitions, divestitures, joint ventures and strategic investments.He represents U.S. and global clients, boards of directors, special committees, management teams and companies in a variety of industries, including technology, gaming, energy, media, consumer goods and services, life sciences, biotechnology, and financial services.Brandon also maintains a public company practice. He advises members of executive management, boards of directors, and special committees on strategic and corporate governance issues, and counsels numerous public companies on all aspects of public company issues.Brandon is regularly recognized as a leader in his field, including being named as a 2020 "Dealmaker of the Year" by The American Lawyer, a 2019 "M&A MVP" by Law360, and a 2019-2020 "Top 100 Leading Lawyer" by the Daily Journal. He has also been recognized by rankings publications including Chambers USA, IFLR100 and Legal 500, with a client describing him in Chambers USA as “excellent at identifying the critical issues within a transaction and methodically addressing and solving each one in order. He has a superior knowledge of what is 'market' on various terms and he uses this to solve problems.”Brandon formerly served as co-chair of Morrison Foerster’s Global Corporate Department of over 400 lawyers.

Brandon Parris

Global Co-Chair of M&A Practice

Mike advises on U.S. and international mergers, acquisitions, divestitures, and other strategic transactions, including “going private” and other related-party transactions. He has advised companies, boards, and special committees, as well as investment banks, in both negotiated and contested transactions. He works with clients across a variety of industries, including in the technology, software, telecommunications, agtech, consumer, and healthcare/life sciences sectors.Mike has been ranked in numerous publications including Chambers USA, The Legal 500, and Best Lawyers in America. Clients in The Legal 500 describe Mike as “a very seasoned M&A lawyer with a depth of technical expertise.” He has been recognized for M&A by Best Lawyers in America every year since 2013, and in 2021 the publication named him a “Lawyer of the Year” for M&A. He has also been recognized in Who’s Who Legal – The International Who’s Who of Mergers & Acquisitions Lawyers.Before moving to San Francisco, he worked in the firm’s Tokyo office for four years. Prior to joining Morrison & Foerster, he worked at a Japanese law firm for two years, concentrating on cross–border transactions. He serves on the board of directors of the Japan Society of Northern California.Mike is the chair of the American Bar Association’s M&A Committee, where he also served as co-editor of the Model Tender Offer Agreement, on the editorial board for the Model Public Company Merger Agreement, and as the editor of the Annual Survey of M&A Cases. He also has served on M&A advisory boards, such as the Law360 M&A editorial board and the Thomson Reuters Accelus Business Law Partner advisory board. He is also a member of our global Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) steering committee. He is the author or co-author of numerous articles and speaks regularly on M&A and related topics. He leads efforts around the firm’s annual Key M&A Trends report, recognized as a “Top Read Article” by JD Supra Readers’ Choice Awards.

Michael G. O'Bryan

Partner

Danli Guo is Of Counsel in the firm’s Palo Alto office.For over a decade, Danli has advised both strategic and private equity clients in connection with complex U.S. and cross-border transactions including mergers and acquisitions, divestitures, carve-outs, spin-offs, joint ventures, leveraged buyouts, growth equity and minority investments, PIPEs, and other matters. She also regularly advises startups and investors (including corporate venture funds) in venture financings and general corporate matters.Danli has handled matters in a broad range of industries, with a particular focus on the Technology and Life Sciences sectors. Having practiced in New York for almost a decade focusing on Private Equity M&A before moving to California, Danli has extensive experience representing private equity sponsors and sovereign wealth funds, as well as their portfolio companies throughout the life cycle on both the buy- and sell-sides.Her recent experience spans from serving as lead counsel for several Silicon Valley-based serial acquirers’ acquisition programs both in the US and across the globe, to sell-side representations of both venture-backed startups and publicly listed companies. As a seasoned M&A practitioner, she regularly assists buy-side strategic clients in developing and refreshing their M&A playbooks, including to reflect emerging market trends and address constantly evolving M&A jurisprudence. She is an active speaker and regularly features on M&A-focused panels. She speaks fluent Chinese and has significant experience advising on matters involving Chinese companies.Danli has been actively involved in pro bono efforts, including serving as outside pro bono counsel for a non-profit supporting impact investing.Danli earned her LL.B. with Honors and Distinction from Sun Yat-Sen University School of Law. She earned her J.D. from Columbia University School of Law, where she was a Harlan Fiske Stone Scholar and received the Parker School Certificate for Achievement in International & Comparative Law. While at law school, she was an editor of the Columbia Journal of Law and Social Problems and the Columbia Journal of Transnational Law.

Danli Guo

Of Counsel

Katherine Suzuki is a corporate associate in the firm's Palo Alto office.Katherine’s practice focuses on corporate and securities matters, including venture capital and private equity financings, mergers and acquisitions, and corporate governance.Prior to joining the firm as an associate, Katherine served in the United States House of Representatives as a Legislative Fellow. She also served as an Honors Program Legal Intern with the United States Securities and Exchange Commission.Katherine earned her J.D. from the University of California, Berkeley School of Law, where she earned a Certificate of Specialization in Business Law. While in law school, she served as Executive Editor for the Asian American Law Journal and participated in the New Business Practicum, which advises startups in the Bay Area.Katherine received her B.A., with distinction, from the University of California, Berkeley, where she was elected to Phi Beta Kappa.

Katherine M. Suzuki

Associate

Thomas Hopkins is an associate in the Palo Alto office of Morrison Foerster and a member of the firm’s Transactions Department. Prior to joining the firm, Thomas worked as a summer associate for Morrison Foerster.Thomas earned his J.D. from Harvard Law School, where he was the President of the Harvard Law Blockchain and FinTech Initiative, and received the Dean’s Scholar Prize for Corporations and the Section 6A Best Brief Honor for Legal Research and Writing. Thomas also holds a Bachelor’s degree in Economics from Brigham Young University, and a Master of Accountancy degree from the University of Utah.

Thomas Hopkins

Michael Miller has nearly three decades experience helping clients successfully navigate through the most complex litigation and regulatory challenges they face. He regularly represents clients in major antitrust and class action litigation, and in managing antitrust risks presented by complex transactional and other business matters, including strategy and structuring of transactions to overcome potential regulatory hurdles and achieve strategic business objectives.Mike’s practice includes all aspects of complex financial services, antitrust, privacy, and commercial litigation. He also has an active practice representing clients in merger control proceedings in the United States, Europe, and other jurisdictions as part of the multinational merger notification and review process.Mike has considerable experience representing financial services companies in investigations initiated by various antitrust regulators, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, the New York Department of Financial Services, and others. Mike has a history of representing companies before the U.S. and EU competition law regulators in the telecommunications, semiconductors, software, network services, pharmaceutical, industrial, financial services, consumer products, chemical, and technology industries.Mike maintains an active pro bono practice, regularly representing New York City public school students seeking special education and other services from the City and State. <h4 dir="ltr">Representative Experience</h4><ul><li>Glenmark Pharmaceuticals (Eastern District of Pennsylvania). Representing Glenmark in a federal antitrust multidistrict litigation alleging price fixing and market allocation of generic drugs by manufacturers of generic drugs.</li><li>In re Payment Card Interchange Fee and Merchant Discount Antitrust Litigation (Eastern District of New York). Representing a major financial institution in federal antitrust class and individual actions alleging that the payment card practices of the defendant card networks and financial institutions constitute an unreasonable restraint of trade and illegal monopolization. This is likely the largest private antitrust case ever brought.</li><li>Copperweld Wiring (Northern District of Alabama and other courts). Representing wire manufacturer in antitrust and false-advertising suit against three major copper wire competitors.</li><li>SoftBank/Sprint/T-Mobile. Represented Sprint and SoftBank before DOJ/FCC and at trial against multiple State Attorneys’ General seeking to block the T-Mobile-Sprint merger as anti-competitive. After a two-week trial, the Court dismissed the case and the merger closed successfully. </li><li>Arm Limited/Softbank. Represented SoftBank Group and Arm Limited on complex antitrust and national security issues arising from NVIDIA’s proposed acquisition of Arm from SoftBank for $65 billion.</li><li>Data Breach and Privacy Matters. Representing a variety of clients in connection with regulatory and litigation issues arising out of data breach events and general data security counseling and compliance.</li><li>FCRA Matters. Representing significant information-service provider in actions around the country alleging violations of the FCRA and related statues and in federal and state regulatory proceedings.</li><li>Southwest Gas Holdings. Obtained antitrust regulatory clearances in connection with Southwest Gas Holdings’ $2 billion acquisition of Questar Pipeline and subsequent sale of certain assets. </li><li>Programmatic Advertising. Represented digital programmatic healthcare advertising firm in lawsuit seeking to block acquisition.</li><li>Alcon Vision (Southern District of New York). Won dismissal of all antitrust claims against a contact lens manufacturer.</li><li>Dale v. T-Mobile, et al. (Northern District of Illinois). Won dismissal of antitrust lawsuit against SoftBank. </li><li>EMV Litigation (Northern District of California). Won dismissal of class action antitrust litigation arising out of the introduction of chip card standards to the US payments sector.</li><li>In re Late Fee and Over-Limit Fee Antitrust Litigation (Northern District of California). Won dismissal of class action challenging late and over-limit fees. Dismissal affirmed on appeal.</li><li>In re Dental Supply Antitrust Litigation (Eastern District of New York). Negotiated resolution of individual and class action antitrust litigation in the dental supplies industry. </li><li>Antitrust and Bank Holding Company Act Litigation (Middle District of Florida). Won dismissal of sprawling antitrust and BHCA litigation on behalf of major financial institution.</li><li>Amadeus IT Group (Southern District of New York). Won dismissal of class action litigation in the travel services industry.</li><li>Overdraft Litigation (Eastern District of Pennsylvania). Represented a major financial institution in successfully resolving class action litigation arising out of overdraft practices.</li><li>Other Merger Clearances. Has obtained merger clearances in the US and EU for clients in the financial services, telecommunications, network services, pharmaceuticals, consumer products, oil and gas, consumer products, chemical, packaging, and metals industries.</li><li>GSE FCRA Litigation (Ninth Circuit, District of Arizona). Won dismissal of FCRA litigation against a large government-sponsored enterprise in the District of Arizona.</li><li>Privacy Litigation (District of Colombia; District of Columbia Superior Court). Won motions to dismiss in two actions that alleged violations of various statutory rights to privacy stemming from customer service practices. Both dismissals affirmed on appeal.</li><li>Richbell Information Services, Inc., et al. v. Jupiter Partners LP, et al. Represented Lord Jacob Rothschild and several publicly traded English investment trusts in the New York Commercial Division in litigation arising out of disputes among shareholders. Resolved successfully for client.</li></ul>

Michael B. Miller

Domnick advises the firm’s clients on all matters relating to executive compensation, with a focus on compensation and benefits aspects of corporate transactions, including mergers, spin-offs and initial public offerings. Domnick also advises a broad range of clients on design and implementation of equity and cash-based incentive arrangements (including compensatory partnership interests), severance, change in control and executive employment agreements, non-qualified deferred compensation plans and related issues concerning tax (including sections 280G and 409A) and securities law issues. His clients range from Fortune 500 companies to emerging growth companies.Domnick also works regularly with public companies in preparing executive compensation disclosures for annual proxy statements and merger proxies, as well as advising on section 16 and other securities law and stock exchange issues relating to equity-based compensation.

Domnick Bozzetti

Co-Chair of Executive Compensation Practice

Clients seek out Julie because of her practical advice on cutting-edge issues at the intersection of privacy and consumer protection laws. She provides clients with practical solutions to compliance challenges around a wide variety of both online and offline privacy issues, including tracking, interest-based advertising, geo-targeting and other mobile tracking, personalization, and cross-device tracking. Recognized in The Legal 500 US 2014, 2016, 2019, and 2020 and Chambers USA 2021 for her exceptional legal work, her clients praise her saying, “She is really good at giving practical, targeted advice and taking stock of what the risk profile of the client is, so that the advice is holistic.” (Chambers USA 2021).Julie provides clients with creative and practical advice on meeting the requirements of state and federal privacy laws, including the Federal Trade Commission Act (FTC), the California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA), Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA), and the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA). She crafts guidelines and compliance programs for clients’ collection, use, and disclosure of personal information in diverse contexts and throughout the life cycle of their initiatives, such as for connected products (the Internet of Things) and mobile services. She also drafts privacy and cookies policies, online service terms of use, agreements involving online and offline advertising and marketing practices, and agreements concerning a variety of data uses. In addition, Julie helps clients assess and manage privacy risks, including in connection with mergers, acquisitions, and other strategic transactions.Julie creates compliance programs for clients’ use of a wide variety of channels for communicating with and marketing to consumers, including email, telephone, text message, and fax, both in the United States and around the world. She works with clients to develop their social media strategies and to clear their social media content. She also reviews advertising in both traditional and new media for compliance with applicable laws, including Section 5 of the FTC Act and various FTC rules and guides. In addition, she works with clients to structure, market, and implement their sweepstakes, contests, and other promotions in compliance with applicable laws.As a former FTC staff attorney, Julie regularly defends companies in investigations by the FTC and before data protection authorities around the world.<h4>Representative Experience</h4><ul><li>A company that creates online software used by schools in an FTC investigation of alleged COPPA violations.</li><li>A consumer services company investigated by the Korean data protection authority for alleged privacy violations</li><li>A manufacturer in connection with a challenge of its environmental advertising claims by the FTC </li><li>An advertising services company in an investigation of alleged privacy-related violations of the FTC Act</li><li>An online provider of entertainment services in an FTC investigation of alleged COPPA violations</li><li>A beverage company in an FTC investigation of alleged COPPA violations</li></ul>Before attending law school, Julie was a Peace Corps volunteer in The Gambia, West Africa.

Julie O'Neill

Lawrence Gallick is of counsel in the firm’s Austin office and a member of the Technology Transactions Group.Lawrence focuses his practice on technology transactions and licensing matters. His diverse experience includes advising on SaaS agreements, cross-licensing agreements, research and collaboration agreements, development agreements, and distribution agreements. He counsels a broad range of companies across the software, hardware, life sciences, biotech and FinTech spaces, as well as other entities including universities.He advises clients in connection with general corporate matters including contract negotiations, and leasing and technology placement agreements.Lawrence also serves as co-editor of <a href="https://www.sociallyawareblog.com/" target="_blank">Socially Aware</a>, the firm’s award-winning newsletter and blog devoted to the law and business of social media, and regularly publishes on various IP and technology-related topics.Prior to joining the firm, Lawrence was counsel at another major law firm. Before earning his law degree, Lawrence was a web consultant, project manager, and web developer in Portland, Oregon, where he managed and consulted on projects using industry methodologies and performed custom development and integration of content management systems.Lawrence was named a Super Lawyers “Rising Star” in 2015 and 2018–2022, and is licensed in both California and New York. Lawrence earned his J.D. from the University at Buffalo School of Law, where he was the electronic systems editor for the Buffalo Law Review and awarded the ABA-BNA Award for Excellence in the Study of Intellectual Property Law.