Mario Ponce is Of Counsel in the Firm’s Corporate Department. Mario Ponce concentrates his practice on negotiated and hostile M&A transactions, proxy contests, restructurings, joint ventures and securities laws. He regularly represents strategic clients, investment banks and private equity firms. Mario also advises boards on corporate governance matters, fiduciary duties and shareholder activism.
During his more than three decades of experience in mergers and acquisitions transactions, Mario has been engaged in numerous high-profile matters, and his clients have included Alpharma, Inc., American Electric Power, Aramark Corporation, Arch Coal, Blue Buffalo Pet Products, Borg Warner, Eaton Corporation, Emerson Electric Co., Ferro Corporation, General Instrument Corporation, Georgia Pacific Corporation, Goldman Sachs & Co., Harsco Corporation, Ingersoll-Rand Corporation, ITC Holdings, JPMorgan Chase & Co., KeySpan Corporation, KKR & Co., Krispy Kreme Doughnuts, Lazard Frères & Co., Newell Rubbermaid, Owens & Minor Inc., Office Depot, PG&E Corporation, PPL Corporation, RPM International, SBA Communications Corp., Teleflex Incorporated, Walgreens Boots Alliance, Versum Materials, Inc., Willamette Industries, Inc. and Xerox Corporation.
Mario’s recent representations have included:
- Ferro Corporation in its proposed $2.1 billion acquisition by Prince International Corporation
- BorgWarner Inc. in its $3.3 billion acquisition of Delphi Technologies PLC
- Harsco Corporation in its acquisition of Clean Earth Inc. and disposition of Harsco’s Air-X-Changer business to Chart Industries
- Versum Materials in its $6.5 billion acquisition by Merck KGaA, Darmstadt, Germany
- Walgreens Boots Alliance in its purchase of 1,932 Rite Aid Corporation stores for $4.157 billion
- ITC in its $11.3 billion acquisition by Fortis
- American Electric Power in its $2.17 billion sale of power plants to Blackstone and ArcLight JV
- PPL Corporation in its spinoff of Talen Energy and merger with affiliates of Riverstone
- KeySpan Corporation in its $7.3 billion merger with National Grid
- Ingersoll-Rand in connection with the appointment of Nelson Pelz to the Ingersoll Board of Directors and the spin-off of Allegion plc, Ingersoll-Rand’s security businesses; Emerson Electric Co. regarding the disposition of its embedded computing and power business to Platinum Equity
- Eaton Corporation in its $13 billion acquisition of Cooper Industries
- Blue Buffalo Pet Products, Inc. in its $8 billion sale to General Mills, Inc.
- Newell Rubbermaid Inc. in its combination with Jarden Corporation to create a $16 billion consumer goods company
- Krispy Kreme Doughnuts in its $1.35 billion sale to JAB Holding
- Office Depot with respect to its merger with Office Max and proposed merger of equals transaction with Staples, Inc.
Mario has also been engaged in many significant defense matters and activist situations, including the defense of Versum Materials in connection with the unsolicited cash offer by Merck KGaA, Fyffes plc with respect to its proposed merger with Chiquita Brands Inc. and the unsolicited offer by Cutralo-Safra Group for Chiquita; Alpharma Inc. in connection with the hostile tender offer initiated by, and subsequent merger with, King Pharmaceuticals, Inc.; WCI Communities, Inc., regarding its defense of a proxy contest and hostile tender offer initiated by affiliates of Carl Icahn; Nautilus Inc. in its proxy fight with Sherborne Investors; Willamette Industries, Inc., with respect to the hostile offer and proxy contest initiated by Weyerhaeuser Company; and Kemper Corporation in its defense of the hostile offer launched by General Electric Capital Corporation; and activist situations involving numerous companies.
Mario received his B.A., summa cum laude and Phi Beta Kappa, from the University of Richmond in 1984 and his J.D. with honors from Duke Law School in 1988. He serves on the Board of Visitors of Duke Law School and as General Counsel for The Metropolitan Golf Association. He lectures frequently on topics relating to his professional interests. Mario served as Co-Head of the Firm’s Mergers and Acquisitions Practice from 2016 to 2021 and is a former member of the Firm’s Executive Committee. He is recognized in Chambers USA: America’s Leading Lawyers for Business, Who’s Who Legal, IFLR1000 as a leading mergers and acquisitions lawyer, as well as Super Lawyers and Best Lawyers in the M&A area.