Stephanie S. Brecher

Ms. Brecher is a partner in the Corporate practice group and practices in the firm’s Palo Alto office.  She is co-leader of the firm’s Climate Change and Clean Technology Team.

Areas of Practice

Ms. Brecher has extensive experience in corporate transactional matters, representing venture capital funds, strategic investors, private equity sponsors, public and private companies with respect to mergers and acquisitions, equity and debt financing, initial public offerings, joint ventures and other strategic relationships.  In addition to her transactional expertise, Ms. Brecher regularly serves as a trusted advisor and outside general counsel to emerging private companies, advising management and boards of directors on formation, day-to-day legal matters, corporate governance issues, capital-raising and significant transactions, with a particular emphasis on the renewable energy, telecommunications and technology industries.

Ms. Brecher has a unique perspective on the needs of clients and in-house counsel, having previously served for 9 years as senior corporate counsel to Nortel Networks.  At Nortel, she handled acquisitions of private and public companies totaling more than $10 billion in transaction value, numerous direct equity and fund-of-funds investments, divestitures of non-core Nortel businesses, international and domestic joint ventures and general corporate matters.  She was also formerly corporate counsel to MCI. 

After graduating from UC Berkeley School of Law (Boalt Hall), where she was Note & Comment editor of the California Law Review, Ms. Brecher served as law clerk to the Hon. Richard A. Gadbois, United States District Judge for the Central District of California.

Education

• J.D., University of California Berkeley School of Law (Boalt Hall), 1993
• M.S., The London School of Economics and Political Science, 1990
• B.A., Princeton University, 1989, cum laude

Admissions

• California
• New York
• District of Columbia

Representative M&A and Joint Venture Matters

• Represented Nortel Networks in acquisitions of Tasman Networks, PEC Solutions (NASDAQ: PECS), Qtera, Coretek, Promatory Communications, EpiCon, Sonoma Systems, Shasta Networks, and Alteon Websystems (NASDAQ: ATON)
• Represented Sterling Fund Management, LLC in its acquisition of GEM Mobile Treatment Services
• Represented New Enterprise Associates (NEA) in the sale of InsideVenture to SecondMarket
• Represented NGEN Partners in the sales of Renaissance Lighting to Acuity Brands (NYSE: AYI), Pionetics to Rayne Dealership Corporation and Artificial Muscle to Bayer MaterialScience
• Represented LG-Ericsson Co., Ltd. (formerly LG-Nortel Co. Ltd.) in its acquisition of Novera Optics
• Represented LG-Ericsson Co., Ltd. (formerly LG-Nortel Co. Ltd.) in its joint venture with Accton Technology Corporation (Taiwan) and concurrent equity investment in Edgecore Networks
• Represented Platinum Equity in its acquisition of Covad Communications Group (NASDAQ:COVD)
• Represented Energy and Power Solutions, Inc., in its acquisition of a subsidiary of New Energy Capital
• Represented Mitsui & Co. Ltd. (Japan) and Mitsui & Co. (U.S.A.) Inc. in the sale of Pacific Coast Recycling
• Represented Western Digital in its acquisition of Senvid
• Represented MCI in its Latin America joint venture with Telefonica
• Represented Bay Networks in its merger with Northern Telecom Limited

Representative Venture Capital Clients

• New Enterprise Associates (NEA)
• NGEN Partners
• Hanwha International
• Walden International
• Redpoint

Representative Company Clients

• 3Click Partners, Inc.
• eIQ Energy, Inc.
• Energy and Power Solutions, Inc. (acquired by Ameresco)
• EV Grid, Inc.
• Fallbrook Technologies
• iWillPark, Inc.
• LG-Ericsson Co., Ltd.
• Magnecomp Precision Technology plc
• Pacific Coast Recycling, LLC (acquired by Mitsui)
• ProMorphics, LLC
• Santon Group
• ServiceMesh, Inc.
• Synbotics, Inc.
• Western Digital Corporation

Honors

• Legal 500, 2010

Articles

• "Looking for the Exit: Preparing for the Sale of Your Business," Bloomberg Corporate Law Journal (Fall 2007)
• "Consolidation in Cleantech," The Daily Deal, April 3, 2009
• Quoted in “Green Deals in a Dry Season,” California Lawyer (October 2009)
• Quoted in “Wilson Sonsini Aids in Solar Funding,” Daily Journal (October 30, 2009)
• Quoted in “Investors Doubled Down On Clean Power in 2010,” Daily Journal (December 28, 2010)

Climate Change and Clean Technology Law Blog Articles

• "EU's Proposals for Global Pact on Climate Change at Copenhagen", September 4, 2009
• "Taking Advantage of Public Financing: Stimulus Funding and Beyond", August 3, 2009

Speeches

• Moderator, "Saving Our Resources & Energy," AlwaysOn GoingGreen 2011, San Francisco, CA, September 27, 2011
• Panelist, Clean Tech Roundtable, Venture Summit Silicon Valley 2010, December 14, 2011