Harry A.

Hanson

[email protected]
D. 617 531 3303
M. 617 501 7107

"Being accessible at all times is part of my DNA."

"Being accessible at all times is part of my DNA."

Education
  • University of California, Hastings College of Law, J.D.
  • University of California at Berkeley, A.B., with honors
Recognitions
  • Leading corporate M&A and private equity attorney
  • Leading corporate M&A and private equity attorney, Best Lawyers in America
  • Massachusetts Super Lawyer
Community
  • New England Aquarium, Board Member
  • Trout and Salmon Foundation, Board Member
  • Massachusetts Chapter of The Nature Conservancy, Board Member
  • American and Boston Bar Associations, Member
  • Town of Wayland Finance Committee, Member
Outside Interests

Harry Hanson advises high-growth companies and their investors on a full range of business deals, including venture capital and private equity financing, mergers and acquisitions and IP licensing agreements.

experience

For more than 30 years, Harry has helped entrepreneurs and technology companies grow and succeed. He has represented some of the most successful private equity and venture capital firms in the United States. Harry gets involved at all points in the growth cycle of a business—advising on initial formation, financing, negotiating mission critical commercial agreements and strategic partnerships, and ultimately, the successful exit by sale of assets, stock or merger.

From software companies to new media companies, Harry advises companies through a hands-on counseling approach. He brings a calming but firm approach to the countless obstacles high-growth companies face. The business activities of his clients extend across the United States and internationally and include:

  • adtech
  • e-commerce
  • enterprise software
  • healthcare services and information technology
  • manufacturing
  • SaaS
  • specialty retail

Harry is regularly engaged as transaction counsel to buyers and sellers in mergers and acquisitions ranging in size from several million dollars to $100+ million. His clients include private companies, independent sponsors, angel investors and institutional investors in hundreds of venture capital financings, growth and private equity transactions, debt financings, cross-border transactions, complex restructuring transactions and spin-off transactions.

Harry’s recent matters at Feinberg Hanson include representing:

  • UK based software firm Adeptra Ltd. and ABS Ventures, its US private equity investor, in the sale of Adeptra’s UK shares to FICO (NYSE: FICO) for $115 million. We helped our clients navigate complex tax, structuring and securities law issues and coordinate the work of lawyers in multiple jurisdictions.
  • Private equity firm Hadley Capital acquiring Storflex, a manufacturer of grocery store shelving equipment. We handled all aspects of the acquisition and related financing, including the asset purchase agreement; senior, subordinated and preferred stock financing; and the employment and equity arrangements with management.   
  • Biostage, Inc. (NASDAQ: BSTG) during its IPO and  spin-off from Harvard Bioscience (NASDAQ: HBIO). We negotiated and documented all of the complex spin-off agreements, which included the separation and distribution agreements, the intellectual property agreement, and the employment and equity agreements with management.
  • June Media, a fast-growing digital media company, when it acquired BetterRecipes.com from Meredith Corporation (NYSE: MDP). This transaction expands June Media’s portfolio whose mission is to create and publish content that inspires and informs the everyday lives of women.  
  • Affinity Marketing Group, a national program broker, in its share sale to Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE: AJG). This involved careful negotiation of complex earn-out terms with a sophisticated large public company. 
  • Choice Solutions, a provider of data analytics, integration solutions and professional services for state and district-level education systems, in its share sale to Houghton Mifflin Harcourt (NYSE: HMH). We coordinated complex share ownership and tax issues as well as international IP issues.
  • A company engaged in developing and manufacturing semiconductor memory chips and an American Capital portfolio company, in its sale of intellectual property assets, technology and development team to HGST, a Western Digital company (NYSE: WDC).
  • Nickerson Lumber Company LLC in its acquisition of real estate and retail store operating assets from Nickerson Lumber Company Inc. Our work included structuring, negotiating and documenting the asset purchase agreements (including real estate assets and operating inventory and retail store assets) and the related equity and secured debt financing
  • Crofton Capital when it acquired Schylling Associates, a premier toy and gift designer, manufacturer and distributor. We negotiated and documented the investor financing and governance arrangements between Crofton Capital and Gladstone Investment Corporation.
  • VisionAid, an industrial eye-safety products manufacturing company, with the recomposition of its board, recapitalization and successful post-turnaround sale to Radians in a share sale transaction.    

Harry was previously a partner with Choate Hall & Stewart LLP and an organizing partner and initial chair of that firm’s Business & Technology Group.

Education
  • University of California, Hastings College of Law, J.D.
  • University of California at Berkeley, A.B., with honors
Recognitions
  • Leading corporate M&A and private equity attorney
  • Leading corporate M&A and private equity attorney, Best Lawyers in America
  • Massachusetts Super Lawyer
Community
  • New England Aquarium, Board Member
  • Trout and Salmon Foundation, Board Member
  • Massachusetts Chapter of The Nature Conservancy, Board Member
  • American and Boston Bar Associations, Member
  • Town of Wayland Finance Committee, Member
Outside Interests