Emerson W. Girardeau III
Counsel, Corporate & Financial Services
Emerson Girardeau is counsel in the Corporate & Financial Services Department. Emerson maintains a broad corporate practice and advises a wide range of clients across various industries on the execution and completion of key corporate transactions. His clients include professional sports teams and leagues, collegiate conferences, financial sponsors, family offices, portfolio companies, and their boards and management teams. His sports experience includes strategic acquisitions, team investments, contractual disputes, and serving as trusted counsel to conferences, teams, and nascent sports leagues. His broader corporate experience includes mergers and acquisitions, joint ventures, and general commercial matters. Emerson has advised on significant mergers and acquisitions including experience with industrial, manufacturing, and power generation transactions (both gas-fired and renewable). His energy practice focuses on financial and strategic acquisitions, joint ventures, commercial transactions, and project development in the energy industry. Emerson has practiced in Atlanta and Houston.
Outside of his corporate practice, Emerson is involved in a number of local service organizations and maintains an active pro bono practice. He currently serves on the City of Houston Independent Police Oversight Board and the Administrative Disciplinary Committee for the Houston Police Department. He is also Co-Captain of the Houston Chapter of the Sports Lawyers Association, a proud member of Class VII of the Houston Black Leadership Institute, and is a Leadership Council on Legal Diversity (LCLD) Fellow. Emerson maintains an active pro bono practice, with clients that include the Renewable Energy Alliance of Houston and other nonprofit and charitable organizations. Prior to relocating to Houston, Emerson served on the City of Atlanta Elected Officials Compensation Commission, was a member of the LEAD Atlanta Class of 2018, and served on the advisory board for the Harvard Debate Council Diversity Project.
Experience
His significant representations include the following matters:
Sports Matters
- Represented the Mountain West Conference in connection with its scheduling agreement for the 2024 football season.
- Represented J. Cole and Damian Mills, as part of a buyer group, in the acquisition of a majority stake in the Charlotte Hornets from Michael Jordan.
- Advised a professional football team on the negotiation of a joint venture for the construction and operation of an entertainment complex.
- Represented multiple professional golf teams on various corporate and transactional matters.
- Represented a college conference regarding a dispute concerning the exit of a member institution.
- Represented Overtime Elite in its exclusive multiyear media rights agreement with Amazon.
- Represented the Mountain West Conference regarding various corporate and compliance matters.
- Represented the Pac-12 Conference in connection with a dispute with the organizers of a college football bowl game.
- Represented a lead investor in a bid to acquire an ATP Masters 1000 and a WTA 1000 tournament.
- Represented an investor and management team on the launch of a one-on-one basketball league.
- Advised a cycling league regarding player agreements and policies for the league.
- Represented a sports technology company in various licensing matters.
- Represented an organization of professional basketball players for various commercial and transactional matters.
Corporate Matters
- Represented a platform company of a middle market private equity firm in its acquisition of several companies in Arizona, California, Florida, Hawaii, Idaho, Texas, Washington, and Wisconsin that provide flooring, cabinet, and other home solutions.
- Represented a private equity firm in its acquisition of several companies that provide revenue cycle solutions in the ambulatory surgery center industry.
- Represented an investment firm in the railcar industry on matters related to an internal corporate reorganization.
- Represented a middle market private equity firm in its acquisition of a plastic lumber solutions company serving the outdoor living market.
- Represented a financial sponsor in the acquisition of a PET recycling firm in a Section 363 bankruptcy auction.
- Represented a middle market private equity firm in its acquisition of the leading manufacturer of industrial mowers.
- Represented a global group of institutional investors in a minority investment in an independent asset manager in the United Kingdom.
Energy Matters
- Represented Caliche in its acquisition of Central Valley Gas Storage, L.L.C.
- Represented Available Power in its strategic partnership to develop battery energy storage systems with Linxon.
- Represented Energy Spectrum in the sale of Coastal Caverns, Caliche Development Partners’ energy storage platform.
- Represented a private equity backed independent power producer in the acquisition of equity interests in ten solar photovoltaic electric generating projects.
- Represented an independent power producer in a majority investment in five landfill gas-to-energy projects.
- Represented a university in the planned installation and operation of a fuel cell system.
- Represented a developer of subsurface hydrocarbon storage assets in the negotiation of various commercial agreements, including master services agreements, storage agreements, and cost sharing agreements.
Credentials
Education
University of Michigan Law School, J.D. (cum laude), 2014 Morehouse College, B.A. (cum laude), 2008