PROFESSIONALS SERVICES NEWS & INSIGHTS ABOUT CONTACT US OPEN SEARCH ATTORNEY Valerie D. Barton 404.961.7616 valerie.barton@moyewhite.com Download vCard social linkedin social email social print V alerie is a mergers and acquisitions, exit planning, corporate and intellectual property attorney, working across a broad range of industries to plan, develop, and execute business strategies. In 2019, she became a Certified Exit Planning Advisor. She received her certification from the Exit Planning Institute for the purpose of better counseling her clients in the areas of succession planning and exit strategies. She has wide-ranging, practical experience advising her clients, starting with the initial start-up phase, including selecting the optimal entity structure and creating a pragmatic, workable governance model. For clients in the formative stage, Valerie provides counsel for creating shareholder, employment and independent contractor arrangements and incentive plans, negotiating day-to-day commercial transactions and joint venture arrangements, and procuring angel and seed funding, through the strategic investment and venture financing/private equity rounds that support the latter stages of her clients’ corporate development growth. Valerie understands the evolution of her clients’ legal requirements, strives to understand their risk tolerance, and negotiates deals with the perspective derived from the stage of growth and risk tolerance profiles. She advises, manages, and balances her clients’ unique needs, goals, and expectations. She has spent much of her practice focused on planning and managing equity and debt funding, as well as short- and long-term exit strategies, whether implemented by mergers, acquisitions, corporate spin-outs, equity rollovers, reorganization, or various combinations of the above. Prior to joining Moye White, Valerie worked at several international and regional law firms. Through experience, she has seen first-hand that smaller firms provide a more client-centric opportunity to practice law and are less likely to overbook and underperform. Valerie believes that a corporate and intellectual property focused environment allows her to be responsive to her clientele’s needs and provide the quality of work product she demands from her practice. Her pragmatism and creativity in structuring complex, highly individualized transactions and her thorough understanding of the financial metrics of each deal have been enhanced by 11 years of pre-law business experience, ranging from real estate financial analysis to serving as a business development manager in a major telecommunications provider. Amid this, she has also started her own company, a small retail venture, providing her with rare insight into the struggles faced by entrepreneurs and business principals on a day-to-day basis. Valerie is an animal activist and has volunteered as an elephant caregiver for the Wildlife Friends Foundation in Thailand. She has traveled extensively throughout Southeast Asia, Australia, and New Zealand. Valerie lives in Decatur with her wife Emma and their son. REPRESENTATIVE MATTERS Buyer representation in an asset purchase acquisition of a New York-based consulting company specializing in the design, development, implementation, and support of customized FileMaker, Inc. database solutions. Debtor representation of a high-growth consulting company providing services to sales and marketing teams in the development and implementation of marketing automation strategies using platforms such as Salesforce and Pardot in a $1M convertible debt transaction. Succession planning representation of a local North Carolina family pool business in structuring a win-win purchase arrangement for succession planning purposes. Ongoing representation of a Georgia-grown provider of bespoke spray applicators, which has developed a portfolio of intellectual property in the contracting, engineering, and insulation industries. Representation of a highly successful company specializing in audio visual technology product sales, as well as the integration services and support of such sales, in a complex $11M asset purchase transaction featuring a tailored earnout structure and highly-negotiated, post-closing employment requirements. Representation of a provider of diagnostic laboratory and dermatopathology services in a $15M stock purchase transaction with complex 338(h)(10) tax elections, long-term debt obligations highly customized representations, warranties and indemnification requirements. Ongoing representation of a mortgage origination start-up company from the initial formation of the limited liability company through the first round of angel investment. Ongoing representation of a start-up company buying and opening multiple locations in and around Atlanta, Georgia for a high-end beauty and salon treatment franchisor, including negotiation of the asset purchase transaction and related management services agreements. Representation of a Pennsylvania-based provider of engineering consulting services in its expansion by the asset purchase acquisition of a highly-specialized surveying, land planning, civil engineering, environmental/geology and mining engineering company. Representation of a company providing higher education marketing, recruiting, and retention solutions in connection with its acquisition by a higher education marketing and enrollment management company. Representation in a $215 million merger and acquisition transaction of a provider of customized, end-to-end logistics solutions that uses propriety, cloud-based technology for global end-to-end logistics solutions. Representation of a transportation and logistics technology firm involved in a strategic partnership with a transportation services provider specializing in various modes for perishable and non-perishable freight. PUBLICATIONS AND ARTICLES Co-author “Corporate Document Management Policy: Impact of The Supreme Court’s Reversal of Andersen” MLA Corporate Advisory, June 8, 2005 Co-author “Eleventh Circuit Survey Article: Securities Regulations” 56 Mercer L. Rev. 1341 (2005) Co-author “The “Daubert” Challenge” Commercial Litigation, Supplement to the Recorder, October 2002 Quoted “Reconciling the Burden: Parental Liability for the Tortious Acts of Minors” 51 Emory L.J. 877 (2002) SPEAKING ENGAGEMENTS AND PRESENTATIONS Speaker “Episode 86 - The Nuts and Bolts of Selling your Business: Due Diligence” In Process: Conversations About Business in the 21st Century Podcast, March 22, 2019 AREAS OF CONCENTRATION Business and Corporate Exit Planning Intellectual Property Mergers and Acquisitions EDUCATION Emory University, J.D., with honors University of South Carolina, International MBA University of South Carolina, B.A., magna cum laude CREDENTIALS Certified Exit Planning Advisor (CEPA), Exit Planning Institute (E.P.I.) AFFILIATIONS Georgia Bar Association ADMITTED Georgia I LIKE... Animals Gardening Traveling POSTS BY VALERIE D. BARTON BLOG01 / 19 / 2021 SEC Modernizes and Expands the ... BLOG11 / 01 / 2020 The Potential Impact of PPP Loans on ... 1400 16th St. 6th Floor Denver, Colorado 80202-1486 1349 West Peachtree St., NW Suite 1525 Atlanta, Georgia 30309-2917 211 Midland Ave. Suite 204 Basalt, Colorado 81621-8374 Professionals Services News & Insights About Contact Office: 303.292.2900 Fax: 303.292.4510 Employee Portal Pay an Invoice Pay a Retainer social linkedin social facebook social twitter Privacy and Terms Copyright © 2021 Moye White LLP. All rights reserved