Van Whiting

Business Development Company (BDC) Transactions

• Ares Capital Corporation (Nasdaq: ARCC), a business development company, in transactions including six investment-grade bond offerings that raised aggregate proceeds of approximately $4.25 billion
• Ares Strategic Income Fund, a business development company in connection with equity offerings that have raised more than $11.7 billion to date and in seven investment-grade bond offerings that raised aggregate proceeds of approximately $4.3 billion, and related exchange offer
• MSD Investment Corp., a business development company, in connection with its inaugural investment-grade bond offering of $508 million aggregate principal and related exchange offer, and its subsequent investment-grade bond offering of $400 million aggregate proceeds
• Crescent Private Credit Income Corp., a business development company in connection with equity offerings that have raised more than $320 million to date
• Crescent Capital BDC, Inc. (Nasdaq: CCAP), a business development company, in a private offering of $115 million aggregate principal amount of senior unsecured notes

Mergers and Acquisitions and deSPAC Transactions

• Ares Acquisition Corporation II (NYSE: AACT), a publicly traded SPAC and affiliate of Ares Management Corporation (NYSE: ARES), on its definitive business combination with Kodiak Robotics, Inc., a provider of AI-powered autonomous vehicle technology
• Crown Laboratories, Inc., a privately held, global innovative leader in the skincare industry, on a definitive merger agreement to purchase Revance Therapeutics, Inc. (Nasdaq: RVNC), a biotechnology company, and a related tender offer to acquire all of Revance’s outstanding common stock
• Patient Square, a dedicated health investment firm, on the $4.1 billion acquisition of Patterson Companies, Inc. (Nasdaq: PDCO), a leading dental and animal health distributor
• Victory Park Capital, a global private credit manager, on its sale to Janus Henderson Group, a leading global active asset manager

Other Transactions

• The TCW Group, Inc., a leading global asset manager, in a transaction with Nippon Life Insurance Company, one of the world’s largest life insurance companies, whereby Nippon Life intends to commit up to $3.25 billion in additional anchor capital to TCW alternative credit strategies, as well as increase its minority ownership stake in TCW
• Ares Management Corporation in connection with an approximately $500 million Series C-1 financing round for X-Energy Reactor Company, LLC, a nuclear reactor and fuel technology developer
• Ares Management Corporation (NYSE: ARES) in connection with its offerings of $1.5 billion of mandatory convertible preferred stock and $750 million of investment grade notes to finance a portion of the acquisition of the international business of GLP Capital Partners Limited
• Ares Management Corporation (NYSE: ARES) in connection with its $357 million follow-on equity offering
• Equinox Group, the owner of a high-growth collective of influential luxury lifestyle brands, including Equinox Fitness Clubs, in a comprehensive refinancing of its capital structure
• Bain Capital in its $250 million minority growth investment in technology-enabled professional services firm Sikich
• Beemok Capital in a minority investment

Prior to rejoining Kirkland, Van served as General Counsel for James Perse Enterprises in 2023 and Chief Legal Officer for Havas Creative, North America, a division of Havas, from 2021 to 2023. His in-house experience equips him with a pragmatic, business-oriented approach to legal issues, enabling him to craft creative solutions that balance compliance and risk management with his clients’ business objective.