Co-Head of the Firm’s Global Capital Markets Practice, Co-Managing Partner of the Firm’s Washington, D.C. office and a member of the Executive Committee, Josh Bonnie is one of the preeminent IPO lawyers in the nation and regularly counsels public companies on spin-offs and other significant strategic transactions, capital markets offerings and general corporate and securities law matters. Josh has also advised clients on business combinations involving special purpose acquisition companies.
Josh has advised a significant number of companies on their initial public offerings, including:
- Bumble Inc. (2021)
- TaskUs (2021)
- Change Healthcare (2019)
- Invitation Homes (2017) in the second largest IPO in history by a U.S. REIT
- Ares Management (2014)
- Medley Management (2014)
- Hilton Worldwide (2013) in the largest IPO in history by a hospitality company and the second largest U.S. IPO of 2013
- Brixmor Property Group (2013) in the third largest IPO in history by a U.S. REIT
- Quintiles Transnational Holdings (2013)
- The Carlyle Group (2012)
- Regional Management Corp. (2012)
- FXCM (2010)
- DynaVox (2010)
- Blackstone (2007) in the largest U.S. IPO of 2007
- MasterCard (2006) in the largest U.S. IPO of 2006
- Evercore (2006)
- Alpha Natural Resources (2005)
- Cohen & Steers (2004)
- Accenture (2001) in the second largest U.S. IPO of 2001
Josh has extensive experience with complex IPOs, including those employing UP-C and other multiple-tier umbrella partnership structures.
Josh has also advised on spin-offs and other significant strategic transactions, including:
- Paysafe on its 2021 merger with Foley Trasimene Acquisition Corp. II
- Finance of America Companies on its 2021 business combination with Replay Acquisition Corp.
- The Carlyle Group on its 2020 corporate conversion and the 2010 and 2007 investments in that firm by Mubadala Development Company, the Abu Dhabi–based strategic development and investment company
- Blackstone on its 2019 corporate conversion, 2015 spin-off of its financial advisory businesses and 2007 sale of $3 billion of non-voting common units to a sovereign wealth fund established by the People's Republic of China
- Dover Corporation in the 2018 spin-off of its upstream energy business into a standalone, publicly traded company
- Hilton Worldwide on the 2017 spin-offs of the bulk of its real estate business, Park Hotels & Resorts Inc., as a publicly traded real estate investment trust (REIT), and of its timeshare business, Hilton Grand Vacations Inc., as a separate publicly traded company
- Ingersoll Rand on its 2013 spin-off of its commercial and residential security businesses and 2009 reorganization incorporating its parent company in Ireland
In addition to his company-side work, Josh routinely represents major investment banking firms, including BofA Securities, Citigroup, Goldman Sachs, JPMorgan, Morgan Stanley and Wells Fargo on equity capital markets transactions.
Josh was featured in The American Lawyer’s “Dealmakers of the Year” in 2008, is recognized in Chambers Global: The World’s Leading Lawyers for Business, Chambers USA: America’s Leading Lawyers for Business and The Legal 500 United States as one of the leading capital markets practitioners in the United States, and is endorsed by PLC Which Lawyer?. Chambers says “Joshua Ford Bonnie is spoken of highly by sources, with one commenting: ‘He is a true partner: He is highly commercial, thinks like a business person and anticipates what we’ll need before we need it.’ This source adds: ‘His customer service is as good as it gets.’ He is also highlighted as being ‘very pragmatic and knowledgeable’ and is particularly noted for his handling of IPOs.” Josh was recently recognized by The Legal 500 in the "Hall of Fame" for Capital Markets: Equity Offerings, with the publication emphasizing that “‘IPO powerhouse’ Joshua Ford Bonnie is noted as ‘second-to-none.’”
Josh frequently writes for industry publications and is noted for his contributions and thought leadership. He co-authored the third edition of the Donnelley Financial Solutions guide, Initial Public Offerings: Considerations for Business Owners and Executives Taking Their Company Public and he has served as a Contributing Editor to the third edition of the NYSE IPO Guide and the 2024 and 2023 editions of Lexology Getting the Deal Through: Initial Public Offerings.
Josh graduated from the University of Virginia and the University of Virginia School of Law, where he was an editor of the Virginia Journal of International Law. After serving as a law clerk to the Hon. Robert R. Merhige, Jr. (E.D. Va.), Josh joined Simpson Thacher in 1996.