PEOPLE

Hayden M. Baker

Associate
baker.hayden@dorsey.com

Overview

Hayden is a corporate attorney who focuses his practice on mergers and acquisitions, equity financing, and general corporate matters.

Hayden helps his clients achieve their strategic business objectives by using a sensible, business-centric approach gained during his time in-house at a Fortune 100 company. 

Hayden regularly represents buyers and sellers in connection with both strategic and private equity-backed acquisitions and dispositions across a wide range of industries, including manufacturing and healthcare.

Over his career, Hayden has counseled a broad spectrum of clients ranging from founders seeking an exit to key stakeholders of publicly traded companies looking to make a strategic acquisition. This broad client base has provided Hayden with valuable insight into the various perspectives and considerations that often surface during the lifecycle of a transaction.

Education & Admissions

Southern Methodist University Dedman School of Law (J.D., 2018), cum laude; Article Editor, SMU Science & Technology Law Review; 2018 Don M. Smart Directed Research Award

Washington State University (B.A., Political Science, 2014), magna cum laude

Admissions

  • Texas
  • U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Texas

Experience

Representative Experience

  • Represented, as in-house counsel, an NYSE-listed Fortune 100 company in connection with various acquisitions and dispositions of operating businesses and assets. * 
  • Represented an NYSE-listed corporation in the $375 million all-equity sale of its highway products division to a private equity buyer. *
  • Represented a Texas-based multiple-location home health provider in the $80 million all-equity sale of its business to a private equity buyer. *
  • Represented the Related Party Transactions Committee of the Board of Directors of an NYSE-listed REIT in connection with the Board’s review and consideration of the REIT’s contribution of hotel assets to an affiliated private REIT in exchange for operating partnership equity. *
  • Represented a private equity-backed portfolio company in its $10 million add-on acquisition of quarry assets. *
  • Represented a national HVAC air filter manufacturer in its all-equity acquisition of one of its strategic distributors. *
  • Represented a family office, as majority equity holder, in connection with the recapitalization of a portfolio investment, including the sale and issuance to a private credit fund of convertible preferred equity and warrants to acquire common equity. *
  • Represented an NYSE-listed financial institution in its approximately $55 million acquisition of a debt facility secured by the world’s largest gas station, convenience store, and travel center. *

*Certain representations occurred prior to joining Dorsey.

News & Resources

  • Co-Author, Professional Liability, 6 SMU ANN. TEX. SURV. 259 (2020).
  • Co-Author, Professional Liability, 5 SMU ANN. TEX. SURV. 291 (2020).
  • Co-Author, Business Succession Planning for Baby Boomers, Dallas Bar Association Headnotes (November 2019). 
  • Author, Tales from the Crypt: The Securities Law Implications of Initial Coin Offerings and a Framework for a Compliant ICO, 46 SEC. REG. L.J. 309 (2018). 
  • Co-Author, Investor Fairness in Securities Arbitration: A Perceptional Issue?, 45 SEC. REG. L.J. 259 (2017). 
  • Co-Author, Luxottica Group, S.p.A. v. Greenbriar Marketplace II, LLC—Landlord is “Knocked Off” by Tenant’s Conduct, ICSC Shopping Center Legal Update (June 2017). 
 

Professional & Civic

Professional Achievements

  • Member, Dallas Bar Association
  • Member, Dallas Association of Young Lawyers
  • Co-Chair, 2021-2022 Dallas Association of Young Lawyers Deal Bootcamp Subcommittee

Accolades

  • Super Lawyers® - M&A Rising Star, 2024