Van Whiting
Overview
Van Whiting is a capital markets partner in the Los Angeles office of Kirkland & Ellis LLP. His practice focuses on corporate finance, securities regulation and corporate governance. Van represents issuers and sponsors in public offerings and private placements of debt and equity securities and offers strategic counsel on mergers and acquisitions, recapitalizations and other complex transactions, with a particular focus on representing business development companies (BDCs) and asset managers. Van also provides general corporate and securities law counseling, focusing on corporate governance, disclosure issues, periodic reporting, Section 16 reporting and stock exchange listing requirements.
Experience
Representative Matters
Business Development Company (BDC) Transactions
- Ares Capital Corporation (Nasdaq: ARCC), a business development company, in transactions including five 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 $9.5 billion to date and in five investment-grade bond offerings that raised aggregate proceeds of approximately $4.3 billion
- MSD Investment Corp., a business development company in connection with its inaugural investment-grade bond offering that raised approximately $500 million
- 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 (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 Experience
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.
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Credentials
Admissions & Qualifications
- California
Education
- Northwestern Pritzker School of LawJ.D.cum laudeManaging Editor, Journal of Criminal Law and Criminology
- Occidental CollegeB.A., English and Comparative Literary Studies