Francis Wheeler

Francis’ practice includes corporate, securities and transactional matters, including public and private offerings, mergers and acquisitions, international transactions, corporate governance, and securities law disclosure and compliance. He has represented publicly and privately held companies, as well as board committees, in a range of industries.

As a member of the Mergers and Acquisitions Committee of the American Bar Association’s Business Law Section, Fran was active on the task force that authored the ABA’s model tender offer agreement for the acquisition of a public company. He is currently an officer and director of the Colorado chapter of the National Association of Corporate Directors (NACD) and is a NACD Certified Director.

Before joining Cooley, Fran was a partner with a Denver-based AmLaw 200 firm and also practiced in New York City.

Representative Clients/Transactions

• eBay in its $1.3 billion acquisition of Gmarket in a tender offer in the United States and Korea
• Jazz Pharmaceuticals in its combination with Azur Pharma and $700 million acquisition of EUSA Pharma
• Kudelski in its $150 million acquisition of the remaining shares of its controlled subsidiary OpenTV in a going private transaction effected by tender offer
• Liberty Global in its investments in Australia-based Austar United Communications and Netherlands and Jersey-based O3b Networks
• Controlling stockholder of MarkWest Hydrocarbon in the $800 million acquisition of MarkWest Hydrocarbon by MarkWest Energy Partners
• Noodles & Company in its acquisition by private equity firm Catterton Partners
• Private investment fund in acquisition proposals and successful proxy contests for corporate control
• Rally Software Development in its $96.6 million initial public offering