Eric Hellige, head of the corporate and securities practice at Pryor Cashman, has more than 25 years’ experience in general corporate representation, with an emphasis on transactional work. His practice concentrates on a wide range of corporate, securities and commercial matters, including federal and state securities law, venture capital, mergers and acquisitions, joint ventures, corporate trust and general corporate counseling. He works extensively with both public and private clients and a number of the country’s largest financial institutions. GENERAL CORPORATE: Eric serves as corporate counsel to public and private companies in connection with their general corporate and securities compliance matters. In these engagements, he provides ongoing advice to corporations, partnerships and other entities in connection with operational matters, including venture capital and corporate finance, employment contracts and incentive compensation, transitional planning, shareholder or partnerships arrangements, banking and investor relationships and general business planning and counseling. He has represented clients in all stages of the corporate growth cycle, including emerging growth and later-stage companies in start-up, early stage and other venture capital financings, private placements and bridge financings, mergers and acquisitions, exchange offers, strategic alliances and other joint venture formations. Eric’s background also include the negotiation of technology licensing, consulting, shareholder, executive compensation, confidentiality and non-competition agreements and corporate governance matters. GENERAL SECURITIES PRACTICE: Eric advises public companies, both domestic and international, in a wide variety of issues under the federal and state securities laws, including SEC periodic reporting and proxy requirements, dealing with analysts and the press, Section 16 reporting (short swing profits), Rule 144 sales, and the rules and regulations of the national stock exchanges. Eric also has represented numerous issuers, selling stockholders and underwriters in connection with a variety of public debt and equity financings, including initial public offerings, secondary offerings and selling stockholder shelf registrations. MERGERS AND ACQUISITIONS: Eric has represented purchasers and sellers of businesses in many different industries, including both public and private (including family-owned) companies. These transactions have involved the use of secured and unsecured debt as well as public or private equity securities with the attendant tax, corporate and securities considerations. CORPORATE TRUST: Eric organized the corporate trust group at Pryor Cashman and has over 20 years experience representing corporate trust departments of major banking institutions in a wide variety of corporate trust transactions, including both corporate and municipal debt (including secured, unsecured, senior, subordinated and convertible), secured and unsecured commercial paper, escrow arrangements, asset and security-backed financings and various types of agency agreements. Eric also works with attorneys in Pryor Cashman’s bankruptcy, reorganization and creditors’ rights practice in advising indenture trustees in default administration matters and bankruptcy proceedings, including counseling indenture trustees in their fiduciary capacities as creditor committee members.