John V. Chase
PEOPLE

John V. Chase

Partner
chase.john@dorsey.com

Overview

JOHN HAS EXTENSIVE EXPERIENCE ADVISING CLIENTS ON MERGERS & ACQUISITIONS, FUND FORMATION AND INTERNATIONAL TAX MATTERS.

John is a Partner in Dorsey & Whitney's Tax practice, a former member of the firm's Policy Committee (Board of Directors) and former head of the Palo Alto office.

John's M&A experience includes:

  • Tax planning and advice in connection with mergers, acquisitions, tax-free reorganizations, spin-offs, dispositions and financings for public and private companies.
  • Developing, reviewing and negotiating deal structures, term sheets, transaction documents, escrow and earn-out arrangements, and post-acquisition restructurings.
  • Identifying and resolving tax issues related to S corporations, LLCs and partnerships, including incentive compensation arrangements of partners and employees, multi-tier structures and "Up-C" structures.

John’s fund formation experience includes:

  • Advising on the formation of, and investments and dispositions by, private equity funds, including cross-border funds investing into India and China and funds investing into operating partnerships.
  • Resolving issues related to multi-tier partnership structures, equity compensation of fund managers and service providers blocker corporation and splitter partnerships. 
  • Managing “unrelated business taxable income,” “effectively connected income” and non-U.S. tax consequences for fund investments.
  • Tax-efficient planning with real estate investment trusts (REITs), including tax issues related to the formation, operation and disposition of REITs.

John’s international tax experience includes:

  • Resolving U.S. tax issues related to cross-border mergers, acquisitions and investments.
  • Providing inbound and outbound tax planning and advice related to multinational structures, worldwide tax reduction strategies, inversion transactions, transfers of intangibles, cost-sharing arrangements, controlled foreign corporation and passive foreign investment company issues, tax treaty eligibility, cross-border licensing, intercompany agreements, subsidiaries, branches and permanent establishments, Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (FATCA), BEAT and GILTI.
  • Advising on cross-border transactions involving acquisitions and investments in Australia, Barbados, Brazil, British Virgin Islands, Canada, Cayman Islands, China, Hong Kong, India, Israel, Japan, Kazakhstan, Malaysia, Mauritius, Mexico, Puerto Rico, Russia, Sri Lanka, Switzerland, Taiwan and throughout the European Union.

Education & Admissions

University of Southern California, Gould School of Law (J.D., 1999)

University of Southern California, Marshall School of Business (M.B.T., 1999)

Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania (B.S.E., 1990)

Admissions

  • California

Experience

Representative Clients & Transactions

  • LSI Logic ($3.5 billion acquisition of Agere Systems)
  • Ameritrade ($2.9 billion acquisition of TD Waterhouse)
  • RightNow Technologies ($1.5 billion sale to Oracle)
  • ADC Telecommunications ($1.25 billion sale to Tyco Electronics)
  • Genentech ($919 million acquisition of Tanox)
  • Altiris ($830 million sale to Symantec)
  • Business Objects S.A. ($820 million acquisition of Crystal Decisions)
  • Savvian ($780 million cross-border sale to GCA)
  • IndusInd Bank ($750 million placement)
  • Diapers.com ($500 million sale to Amazon)
  • Liberty Global Plc ($273 million acquisition of Puerto Rico Cable Acquisition Company/Choice Cable TV)
  • Carlisle Companies ($265 million acquisition of Thermax-Raydex business from Belden)
  • RBL Bank ($250 million initial public offering in India)
  • Medtronic ($200 million acquisition of Cardiocom LLC)
  • Buy.com ($250 million sale to Rakuten)
  • Jobs2Web ($110 million sale to SuccessFactors/SAP)
  • Sybase ($100 million acquisition of XcelleNet)
  • Cypress Semiconductor (IPO and spin-off of SunPower, $100 million cross-border acquisition of FillFactory, $70 million sale of assets to NetLogic, $53 million sale of Silicon Valley Technology Center to Oak Hill Capital Partners)
  • Otter Tail Corporation ($87 million sale of Idaho Pacific Holdings)
  • Xcel Energy ($75 million acquisition of electricity generation facility)
  • Tri-State Generation and Transmission (acquisition of coal mine from Rio Tinto plc)
  • Expedia (acquisitions of CarRentals.com and others)
  • Google (acquisitions of Neven Vision, Jot and 265.com and international tax planning)
  • Logitech (acquisition of Slim Devices)
  • Network Appliance (sale of assets to Blue Coat Systems)
  • AVAST Software a.s. (acquisitions of U.S. companies and assets)
  • Ninebot Ltd. (acquisition of Segway Inc.)

  • Bruin Sports Capital (fund formation, operation and portfolio investments)
  • Carlyle Group (portfolio investments)
  • CMEA (fund formation)
  • CMIA Capital Partners (international tax planning)
  • Corner Market Capital (hedge fund formation)
  • Cross Creek Capital (venture capital fund formation)
  • CrossHarbor Capital (fund formation)
  • Draper Fisher Jurvetson (portfolio investments)
  • Goldman Sachs (investment in portfolio companies)
  • Graycliff Partners (portfolio investments)
  • H.I.G. Capital (acquisition of controlling interest in portfolio company)
  • Housatonic Partners (portfolio investments)
  • JMI Equity (various acquisitions and portfolio investments)
  • Leavitt Equity Partners (fund formation)
  • Lee Equity Partners (portfolio investments)
  • New Enterprise Associates (international tax planning and portfolio investments)
  • PolyTor Global (fund formation)
  • Pt Capital (fund formation)
  • REI Equity Partners (fund formation)
  • RUSNANO Fund (domestic tax planning and portfolio investments)
  • Satori Capital (fund formation and portfolio investments)
  • Sequoia Capital (fund formation and international tax planning)
  • Serent Capital (tax planning and portfolio investments)
  • Spell Capital Partners (portfolio investments)
  • Stelac Capital Partners (portfolio investments)
  • Sylvan Road Capital (fund formation)
  • TA Associates (portfolio investments)
  • Thrivent Financial (investments into private equity funds and co-investment vehicles)
  • Tower Arch Capital (portfolio investments)
  • VantagePoint Venture Partners (domestic tax planning and portfolio investments)
  • Zana Capital (international tax planning) 
  • Zeal Asset Management (fund formation and international tax planning)

  • 3Com (international tax planning and various acquisitions)
  • Allied Nevada Gold (international tax structuring and acquisitions)
  • Emigrant Bank (domestic tax planning and portfolio investments)
  • Franco-Nevada Corporation (international tax structuring)
  • IEEE (international tax structuring)
  • Infosys (domestic tax planning)
  • Intuit (domestic tax planning)
  • Kodiak Oil & Gas Corporation (international tax structuring)
  • Mitsubishi Heavy Industries America (domestic tax planning)
  • Northern Tier Energy (publicly traded partnership tax planning)
  • Rambus (international tax planning)
  • Suntory Holdings Ltd. (tax planning in connection with international debt offering)
  • SUPERVALU (domestic transactional planning)
  • Unilever (domestic tax planning)
  • Water Pik, Inc. (domestic tax planning)
  • Wipro (domestic tax planning and acquisitions)

News & Resources

Events & Speaking Engagements

Private Funds Symposium

Select Presentations

  • American Bankruptcy Institute VALCON 2019, Impact of Tax Reform
  • Tax Implications of Offshoring IP
  • Foreign Tax Credits: The Direct and Indirect Credits
  • Investing in Non-U.S. Companies: An Introduction to ‘CFC’ and ‘PFIC’ Issues
  • Cross-border Planning with Respect to Outbound Nonrecognition Transactions
  • Going Offshore: Use of Foreign Corporations in Acquisitions
  • New Global Frontiers: International Tax Considerations for Portfolio Companies

Industries & Practices

  • Banking & Financial Institutions
  • Capital Markets
  • China
  • Closely Held Businesses
  • Emerging Companies
  • Energy & Natural Resources
  • Europe
  • Healthcare & Life Sciences
  • India
  • Investment Funds
  • Mergers & Acquisitions
  • Private Equity
  • Tax
  • Technology

Professional & Civic

Professional Achievements

  • Adjunct Professor, Golden Gate University Law School, Taxation LLM Program

Accolades

           Contributed 50+ Pro Bono Hours in 2021 Contributed 50+ Pro Bono Hours in 2020

  • Contributed more than 50 Challenge pro bono hours, 2020-2022