Danae V. Grace

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  • Overview
  • Experience
  • Honors & Involvement
Bio overview

Danae Grace is a transactional lawyer known for her representation of her clients’ interests in areas such as mergers and acquisitions, contract negotiations, and general corporate matters.  Her clients come from a broad range of industries, including manufacturing, real estate, financial services, software, food manufacturing and distribution, and retail.  She excels at identifying the key issues requiring the attention of her clients while being able to effectively manage complex transactions and utilize the expertise of others within the firm to provide highly integrated legal solutions for her clients. Danae is particularly regarded for her responsiveness and deep respect of her client’s needs, such as quickly returning their calls, taking the time to deeply understand their businesses, and working efficiently while maximizing their results.

Recognized as an extremely hard worker, her primary focus is representing private and public companies in mergers and stock and asset acquisitions and sales of all sizes.  Over the course of her career,  she has represented buyers and sellers, private equity investors, and companies raising capital from investors in the form of preferred equity, convertible debt, and other structures.   

A large portion of Danae’s practice is also dedicated to counseling businesses and assisting them with day-to-day general corporate governance and transactional matters.  In addition to being  well versed in formation and structuring of corporations, LLCs, and partnerships, she also regularly assists clients in reviewing various types of contracts and agreements with a keen eye for identifying potential pitfalls and limiting liability and risks.

Together with her M&A experience, Danae often counsels clients in real estate and commercial lending transactions.  Her real estate practice includes representation of clients in real estate sales and acquisitions, real estate development projects, and the representation of both landlords and tenants in leasing transactions.  She is well versed in negotiating commercial loan agreements on behalf of borrowers and representing private lenders in commercial lending transactions.

Danae’s achievements have earned her inclusion in The Best Lawyers in America: Ones to Watch (business organizations; closely held companies and family business law; corporate governance and compliance law; corporate law; mergers and acquisition law) and Oklahoma Super Lawyers‘ list of “Oklahoma Rising Stars” for multiple years, which recognizes the state’s top up-and-coming attorneys.

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Experience, Honors, & Awards

Representative Experience

  • Represented Collision Works of Oklahoma LLC, a regional chain of 35 collision repair centers in multiple states, in the multimillion-dollar sale of its operations to Service Collision Center (Oklahoma) Inc., a subsidiary of Canada-based Boyd Group Services Inc. (TSE: BYD).
  • Represented Globe Life Inc. (NYSE: GL) in its acquisition of Beazley Benefits, a specialized provider of supplemental health solutions for the employee benefits market, from Beazley Insurance Company, Inc.
  • Represented The Charles Machine Works, Inc., parent company of Ditch Witch, American Augers, and other leading brands in the underground construction market, in the sale of the privately held company to The Toro Company (NYSE: TTC) for approximately $700 million.
  • Represented Tyson Foods, Inc., the nation’s largest protein-focused food company, and its subsidiaries in their acquisition of the poultry rendering and blending assets of American Proteins, Inc. and AMPRO Products for approximately $850 million.
  • Represented Virgo Capital in the sale of its investment in Sayers Technology, LLC, a leading provider of data center infrastructure and other IT solutions, to Mosaic Capital Partners.  The transaction, which was structured as an asset and membership interest sale, resulted in the restructuring of the ownership of Sayers Technology as an ESOP.
  • Represented TTS, LLC, a Texas-based provider of transportation and logistics management services, in a merger with Sunteck Holdings, LLC, resulting in one of the largest multimodal, agent-based freight management service providers in the United States.
  • Represented Virgo Capital, a Texas-based private equity firm, in its acquisition of Chicago-based Sayers Technology, a leading provider of information technology services and solutions for business. The transaction involved negotiation of two credit facilities with two different lenders and a separate supply chain financing arrangement for the company’s equipment purchases.
  • Represented the Oklahoma Publishing Company, a 108-year-old family owned company, in the sale of 100% of its stock to Anschutz Corporation of Denver, Colorado. The assets of the Oklahoma Publishing Company at the time of the sale included The Oklahoman, the state’s largest newspaper which was founded in 1903; NewsOK.com news website; an ownership interest in Dallas-based Pavestone, LLC, a leading manufacturer of concrete pavers and other landscaping materials; The Broadmoor Hotel, a 5-star, 5-diamond, 744-room resort in Colorado Springs, CO; Manitou and Pike’s Peak Railway Company, the world’s highest railway that runs to the top of Pike’s Peak in the Rocky Mountains; an ownership interest in The Hyatt Regency Lost Pines Resort & Spa near Austin, TX; numerous other real estate holdings; an extensive art collection by Western Masters; and an interest in the nation’s seventh largest cable broadband company.
  • Representation of a regional automotive dealership group in a $170 million floor plan refinancing with a global automotive finance company.
  • Represented an Oklahoma company in connection with its purchase of the assets of a frozen food company in a Section 363 bankruptcy sale for approximately $12 million funded by five separate loans from two lending institutions.
  • Represented a publicly traded bank in a $300 million divestiture of a performing, subperforming and non-performing commercial real estate loan portfolio and real estate owned (REO) properties.
  • Represented The Charles Machine Works, Inc., manufacturer of Ditch Witch underground construction equipment, in its acquisition of both American Augers, Inc. and Astec Underground’s Trencor product line of large trenchers from Astec Industries, Inc. (NASDAQ: ASTE).
  • Represented an Oklahoma-based ice cream and dairy manufacturing company with over 275 retail stores in a $50 million note purchase agreement.
  • Representation of Oklahoma-based Fischer Enterprises, L.L.C., in a $5 million senior secured credit facility to Crumbs Bake Shop, Inc. (NASDAQ: CRMB), the largest cupcake specialty store chain in the United States.
  • Represented an 87-store grocery chain in multiple acquisitions and sales of retail grocery stores.
  • Represented the buyer of a manufacturing business in an Article 9 sale of collateral under the Uniform Commercial Code.
  • Representation of landlords and tenants in all aspects of commercial leasing transactions.

Honors and Awards

  • Selected by peers for inclusion in The Best Lawyers in America: Ones to Watch (business organizations; closely held companies and family business law; corporate governance and compliance law; corporate law; mergers and acquisition law)
  • Named to Oklahoma Super Lawyers’ list of “Oklahoma Rising Stars,” which recognizes the state’s up-and-coming attorneys

Professional Organizations and Memberships

  • Oklahoma Bar Association (Chairperson 2020-2022, Business and Corporate Law Section)
  • VEST

Civic Involvement and Leadership

  • Upward Transitions (Former Member, Young Professionals Board)
  • Rebuilding Together (Volunteer)
  • Leadership Oklahoma City LOYAL Program (Class X)

ATPs display in this column

At The Podium

Women in Law with Danae Grace and Liz George

VEST Podcast - Episode #5
September 28, 2021

Words Matter: Keys to drafting concise, understandable and enforceable contracts

2019 Regional Corporate Counsel Seminar
Springdale, AR | July 25, 2019
Attorney Articles

Articles

The Sky Is Not Falling: How the Anticlimactic Application of Melendez-Diaz v. Massachusetts to Oklahoma’s Laboratory Report Procedures Allows Room for Improvement

Oklahoma Law Review - Vol. 63, P. 383 - 2011 |
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Admissions

  • Oklahoma, 2011
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Education

  • J.D., with honors, University of Oklahoma, 2011
    • Assistant Managing Editor, Oklahoma Law Review; Order of the Coif
  • B.A., magna cum laude, Oklahoma Baptist University, 2007
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