William A. Kessler

Counsel

Century City
william.kessler@lw.com
+1.213.891.7554

PRACTICES

  • International Tax
  • Tax
  • Tax-Exempt Organizations
  • Transactional Tax

INDUSTRIES

  • REITs

BAR QUALIFICATIONS

  • California

EDUCATION

  • JD, University of Southern California, 2011
    Order of the Coif
  • MBT, University of Southern California, 2008
  • BS, University of Southern California, 2007
    summa cum laude

PROFILE

William Kessler advises a wide variety of public and private companies, including REITs, on federal tax aspects of corporate transactions.

William advises on a broad spectrum of transactions, with a particular focus on:

  • Mergers and acquisitions
  • Spin-offs
  • Joint ventures
  • Securities offerings
  • Restructurings and special situations

William regularly counsels clients on structuring taxable and tax-free mergers, acquisitions, dispositions, and spin-offs, as well as REIT formations, public offerings, and joint ventures.

Prior to law school, William trained as an accountant and passed the Uniform CPA Examination.

EXPERIENCE

William's experience includes advising:

Mergers & Acquisitions

  • Entercom in its US$3 billion merger with CBS Radio
  • LogMeIn in its acquisition of the GoTo business of Citrix Systems, a provider of collaborative communication solutions for small businesses, via a Reverse Morris Trust transaction
  • PDL Biopharma in its sale of Noden Pharma DAC and Noden USA to Stanley Capital for US$48.25 million
  • Eldorado Resorts, now Caesars Entertainment, in its US$17.3 billion buyout of Caesars Entertainment Corporation, creating the largest casino and entertainment company in the US
  • Eastdil Secured, LLC in its joint venture and recapitalization with Temasek and certain institutional clients of Guggenheim Investments

REITs

  • Healthpeak Properties in its pending US$21 billion merger with Physicians Realty Trust, a self-managed health care real estate company
  • Realty Income in its pending merger with Spirit Realty Capital, a REIT that invests in single tenant and commercial real estate facilities
  • Realty Income Corporation in its US$950 million investment in The Bellagio Las Vegas
  • Hersha Hospitality Trust in its US$1.4 billion acquisition by KSL Capital Partners
  • Invitation Homes in its agreement to form a US$375 million venture with Rockpoint Group
  • Cole Office & Industrial REIT II in its US$4.9 billion merger with Griffin Capital Essential Asset REIT
  • CoreCivic (f/k/a Corrections Corporation of America) in its US$157.5 million acquisition of Avalon Correctional Services, Inc.
  • Griffin-American Healthcare REIT II (special committee) in its US$4 billion sale to NorthStar Realty Finance Corp.
  • Kilroy Realty Corporation in its public equity offerings
  • Ventas Realty in its public equity offerings
  • Spirit Realty Capital in its US$3 billion spin-off and creation of a new public company, MTA REIT

Spin-off Transactions

William has represented multiple clients in spinning-off business segments and divisions to create stand-alone, independent publicly listed companies, including:

  • GRAIL, Inc. in its spin-off from Illumina and Nasdaq launch
  • Delphi Automotive in the spin-off of the Powertrain Systems segment to its shareholders
  • Archrock Holdings in its spin-off of the international services and global fabrication businesses of Exterran Holdings
  • Demand Media in the tax-free spin-off of its domain services business
  • Exterran Holdings, Inc. in its spin-off of its international services and global fabrication businesses, a publicly traded company, to its shareholders