New York, NY. International law firm Nixon Peabody LLP is pleased to announce that Charles H. Baker has joined the firm’s Private Equity, M&A, and Global Sports & Entertainment practices as partner. Mr. Baker, who will be based in the firm’s New York City office, comes to Nixon Peabody from Paul Hastings.
Mr. Baker’s practice encompasses all aspects of public and private mergers and acquisitions, corporate finance, restructurings, and private equity transactions, with a core focus in the sports, media, entertainment, and consumer sectors. As a widely recognized corporate lawyer on matters involving fairness, valuation, and solvency opinions, Mr. Baker also has extensive experience representing investment banks and consulting firms.
His recent sports and entertainment client work includes representing the buyer of the Miami Dolphins football franchise and bidders for professional sports franchises in the NBA, NHL, EPL, and most of the other major sports leagues in the U.S. and Europe. Mr. Baker has also recently represented UBS Securities, as financial advisor, in The Princeton Review’s acquisition of Penn Foster Education Group from The Wicks Group of Companies; FTI Consulting, Inc., in its acquisition of CXO LLC; and JPMorgan Securities, as financial advisor, on each of the following: the sale of The Weather Channel to NBC, Bain, and Blackstone; News Corporation’s acquisition of Dow Jones & Company; and the acquisition by Mars, Inc., and Berkshire Hathaway, Inc., of Wm. Wrigley Jr. Company.
“Charles is a strong addition to our Global Sports & Entertainment practice,” said Peter C. White, chair of Nixon Peabody’s Global Sports & Entertainment practice. “Given the international landscape and anticipated deal flow in this industry, Charles will add great depth in the M&A ranks and enable us to strengthen our competitive edge in buy and sell side team engagements.”
“We are excited to have Charles joining our New York City office and we expect him to be one of several key additions to our Private Equity and M&A practices in short order,” added Mats G. Carlston, leader of the firm’s Global Finance and Private Equity practices. “Charles’ industry focus brings significant value to our defined strategies.”
Mr. Baker currently serves as an executive officer and on the Board of Trustees of the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society and on the Sports Luncheon Committee of the March of Dimes. He is a member of the New York Bar and the American Bar Association, where he serves on the Business Law and Sports Law committees.
Mr. Baker earned his J.D. from Cornell Law School, where he served as a member of the Moot Court board and taught undergraduate business law. He received his bachelor’s degree from the University of Rochester, where he graduated magna cum laude in political science.