Charles C. Berquist

Charlie Berquist is a partner in the firm’s Business Law practice area. His clients include individuals, for-profit businesses, nonprofit organizations, and pension plans. He regularly advises clients on a wide variety of legal matters, including business formation, financing, employment and compensation, mergers and acquisitions, and transition and succession planning.

His main area of concentration is executive compensation and employee benefits, including incentive and equity compensation plans, qualified and non-qualified retirement plans, and other compensation and benefit plans and agreements. He regularly advises employers on compliance with ERISA, the Internal Revenue Code, federal and state securities laws, and other applicable laws and regulations. As part of this practice, he also regularly represents executives in negotiating their employment, compensation, transition, and separation agreements. He has represented several C-suite employees of Fortune 100 companies.

Charlie also regularly advises buyers and sellers in connection with mergers and acquisitions. His recent projects in this area include the following:

• Represented a semiconductor equipment manufacturer now based in Malaysia in its sale to a strategic buyer for $28 million. Charlie and the firm had represented the client for over 30 years, beginning with its IPO.
• Advised the owners of three dental product distributors in the sale of their companies to a buyer backed by private equity. The transaction was structured as two stock sales and an asset sale, plus employment agreements for management.
• Represented the sole shareholder and President of a commercial HVAC contractor in the sale of his company to a public company, and the negotiation of a new employment agreement between him and the buyer. The transaction had a total value of approximately $47 million.
• Advised the owners of a digital marketing company in their sale to a private equity buyer, in a transaction that utilized a tax-free F reorganization and partial equity rollover by the sellers.
• Recently advised a client on his purchase of a business in Valdez, Alaska offering cruises, guided tours and other outdoor adventures. The purchase was financed with a combination of investor funds, bank debt, and seller financing.