Rhys T. Wilson is a partner of Nelson Mullins Riley & Scarborough LLP and Co-Leader of the Firm's M&A Industry Group.

Mr. Wilson has been selected by his peers as a Georgia Super Lawyer® in Mergers and Acquisitions.  Mr. Wilson is a member of:

• American Bar Association (Business Law Section, Mergers & Acquisitions Committee and M&A Market Trends Subcommittee),
• Association for Corporate Growth,
• The Atlanta Opera (Treasurer; Board of Directors, 2006-present),
• CURE Childhood Cancer (Advisory Board, 2007-present), and
• Vistage International.

Mr. Wilson’s experience includes the following representative M&A transactions:

Sell-side assignments:

• Sale of a business (S corp.), in the building systems integration industry, to a private equity group;
• Sale of a business (S corp.), in the durable medical equipment distribution industry, to a public company;
• Sale of a business (S corp.), in the healthcare cost recovery industry, to 2 private equity groups;
• Sale of a business (S corp.), in the licensed apparel and accessories manufacturing industry, to a private strategic buyer;
• Sale of a business (S corp.), in the physician staffing industry, to a public company;
• Sale of a business (S corp.), in the security and communications systems integration industry, to a private strategic buyer;
• Sale of a business (S corp.), in the transportation business, to a national “big-box” retailer;
• Sale of a business (S corp.), in the video surveillance manufacturing industry, to a public company;
• Sale of a business (S corp.), providing data processing and audit services to the automobile finance industry, to a private strategic buyer;
• Sale of a distribution business (LLC), providing tools, equipment and supplies to contractors serving the natural and engineered stone market, to a private equity group;
• Sale of a business, in the candle and home fragrance industry, to a private equity group; and
• Sale of a business, in the luxury hospitality industry, to a private equity group.               

Buy-side assignments:

• Acquisition of 57 companies in the discount retail industry;
• Acquisition of 25 manufacturers’ representative businesses in the gift and decorative accessories industry;
• Acquisition of 6 private bus dealerships;
• Acquisition of a defense contracting business, in the technology solutions industry, by a private equity group;
• Acquisition of a mechanical contracting business out of bankruptcy;
• Acquisition of a specialty retailing chain by a national “big-box” retailer;
• Management buyout of an agricultural products business;
• Management buyout of a craft beer brewery business;
• Management buyout of a healthcare consulting services business;
• Management buyout of a luxury hospitality and winery business;
• Purchase of the assets of a private business in the franchised restaurant industry; and
• Purchase of the assets of a private business in the travel incentives industry.

Mr. Wilson is known for his work in industry consolidations.  The Center for Private Equity and Entrepreneurship, Tuck School of Business at Dartmouth, has used Mr. Wilson’s article "Is your Industry Ripe for a Roll-Up?" as part of the course materials in its Private Equity Finance course.

Before joining the Firm, Mr. Wilson spent more than 20 years in the private practice of law, most recently in the Atlanta office of another AmLaw 200 firm, where he was leader of that firm's M&A Practice Group and head of its Atlanta Corporate Team.  He also spent three years as an in-house counsel to a private equity group and a physician recruiting firm and two years as president of a healthcare staffing company.

Mr. Wilson earned a Master of Laws in Taxation from Emory University School of Law in 1985.  He earned a Juris Doctor, cum laude, from the University of Georgia School of Law in 1979.  While in law school, Mr. Wilson was named to the Order of the Coif and Phi Kappa Phi, and served on the Editorial Board and as Senior Editor of the Georgia Law Review.  Mr. Wilson earned a Bachelor of Arts degree from Duke University in 1976, cum laude, as an A.J. Fletcher Scholar and a member of the Pi Sigma Alpha Honor Society.

Rhys T. Wilson

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