Dan Fisher
Partner
Areas of Focus
- Capital Solutions
- Special Situations
- Financial Restructuring
- Preferred Equity & Hybrid Capital
- Private Capital
- Crisis Management
- Mergers & Acquisitions
- Corporate Governance
- Corporate & Finance
- Credit Funds
- Founder and co-leader of Akin’s integrated capital solutions practice.
- Represents asset managers and their portfolio companies in complex transactions typically arising from credit and hybrid investments.
- Market-leading experience in complex special situations, liability management and out-of-court restructurings, distressed M&A, the transactional aspects of in-court restructurings, crisis management and post-reorganized corporate governance and sale transactions.
The world’s most sophisticated asset managers call upon Dan Fisher to structure, execute and protect their highly complex credit, hybrid and other capital solutions investments.
Dan, the founder and co-leader of Akin’s market-leading capital solutions team and a member of the firm’s Management Committee, has decades of experience counseling credit-heritage investors on evolving market dynamics and opportunities across sectors, geographies, deal structures and economic cycles. He began his career as a public M&A lawyer and brings the judgement, rigor, problem solving and deal leadership skills inherent in that practice to bear in every transaction he leads.
As a result of the unique range of Dan’s practice, his pragmatic approach to transactions, his focus on realistic solutions and risk assessment and his wide-ranging market knowledge and contacts, Dan is frequently called upon to solve the thorniest and most sensitive challenges facing his clients and their investments, including:
- Emerging trends in liability management, BSL and private credit lender dynamics and cooperation agreements.
- Structuring front-end credit investments, typically in the non-sponsor, hybrid capital or opportunistic spaces.
- MNPI and the securities laws aspects of corporate restructurings.
- Developing trading and corporate governance protocols and safeguards for companies emerging from a restructuring.
- Crisis management.
- Asset management and recovery strategies and workouts of non-performing or opportunistic investments.
Dan frequently speaks and is quoted on developments in liability management, distressed transactions and credit market dynamics, including at industry conferences, and is often asked to discuss the latest market developments at his clients’ limited partner/investor meetings and to interact with LPs and allocators.
Special Situations & Liability Management Transactions
Dan has extensive and market-leading experience representing ad hoc creditor groups in special situations, liability management and bespoke amend & extend matters, often involving new and cutting-edge transaction structures that respond to the latest developments in credit agreement technology, sponsor/creditor and creditor/creditor dynamics and case law and impact litigation. The goal of these non-change-of-control transactions is typically to position a company for long-term success with a realistic capital structure and adequate liquidity, while ensuring that creditor interests are guarded and creditor protections are enhanced.
Matters in which Dan has represented creditors or creditor groups include:
Altice USA, American Tire Distributors, Apex Tools, Arch Coal, Casa Systems, Cengage, EDMC, EFI, Equinox, Infrastructure and Energy Alternatives, Glass Mountain Pipeline, Inmar Intelligence, Logix Fiber, Loparex, McAfee, Navios, NEP Group, P&L Development, Revlon, Salt Creek Midstream, Travelport, United Site Services, West Deptford, Wheel Pros and Yak Access.
Private Capital Deployment
Dan serves as trusted counsel to many of the world’s most sophisticated asset managers in making complex, “off the run” capital solutions investments. Whether structured as traditional senior secured term loans, subordinated debt, hybrid capital, structured equity or a combination of these, Dan brings a keen eye regarding what’s market, what deals are getting done and how credit-heritage and other similar investors should balance protecting their investments with being competitive sources of capital.
Specifically, Dan has represented:
- Benefit Street Partners in numerous transactions, including its investment in Alvogen, Innovacare Health and Joerns.
- Blackstone Credit in numerous transactions, including its investment in AXIA Women’s Health Management, Centric Brands, Elevation Midstream, iAero Group, Mantis Innovation and SelectQuote.
- Elliott Investment Management in numerous transactions, including its investment in Roan Resources and Triple Flag.
- Francisco Partners Credit Fund in numerous transactions, including its investment in 8x8, Eventbrite, iBoss, MATRIXX Software, Muse Group, NextCapital, Reciprocity, TouchBistro, Zocdoc and Zotec.
- FS Investments in numerous transactions, including its investment in Ancile Solutions and Medify Air.
- General Atlantic Credit in numerous transactions, including its investment in Buyer’s Edge Platform, Carestream Dental, Depop and NextDecade.
EducationJ.D., Vanderbilt University School of Law, 2002
B.A., Columbia University, 1999
J.D., Vanderbilt University School of Law, 2002
B.A., Columbia University, 1999
Bar AdmissionsDistrict of Columbia
New York
District of Columbia
New York
- Chambers USA, Corporate/M&A & Private Equity, 2021-2023.
- IFLR1000, US, Notable Practitioner, Capital Markets: Equity, and M&A, 2019.
- The Legal 500 US, M&A, 2016-2019; Corporate Governance, 2019.
- Board of Trustees, Potomac School.
- Board of Trustees, American Friends of the Hebrew University.
