Edward Deibert, a director with the firm’s Business Department and Vice Chair of the Corporate Practice Group, practices general business, corporate and securities law. Mr. Deibert has broad experience representing individuals, companies, private equity firms, venture capital funds and investment banks in a variety of transactions and matters. He represents clients in the technology, internet, financial services, consumer products, food and beverage, medical device and health care industries.

Mr. Deibert’s practice focuses on mergers and acquisitions, and he has been involved in numerous transactions buying and selling privately held and publicly traded businesses. His experience also includes representing companies, investors and investment banks in venture capital financings, securities offerings and other financing transactions and representing clients in connection with the acquisition or sale of aircraft, including fractional interests, yachts and collectible automobiles.

Prior to joining Howard Rice, Mr. Deibert practiced corporate and securities law at Cooley Godward LLP and O’Melveny & Myers LLP. He served as a judicial clerk to the Honorable Alicemarie H. Stotler of the United States District Court for the Central District of California.

Representative Matters

• Represented The Charles Schwab Corporation in the $3.3 billion sale of U.S. Trust Corporation to Bank of America.
• Represented PlanetOut Inc., a publicly traded media company, in its combination with Here Networks LLC and Regent Entertainment Media Inc to form Here Media Inc, a publicly traded holding company.
• Represented The Charles Schwab Corporation in the sale of its capital markets business to UBS Securities, LLC.
• Represented Palmsource, Inc., the publicly traded owner of the Palm OS, in its acquisition by ACCESS Co., Ltd. 

Education

• J.D., University of Michigan Law School (Editor, Michigan Law Review), 1995
• B.A., Duke University (magna cum laude), 1991

Admitted

• California

Memberships

• State Bar of California
• Corporations Committee of the California State Bar Business Law Section
     - Co-Chair, 2009-2010
     - Vice-Chair, 2007-2009
• American Bar Association, Committee on Mergers and Acquisitions
     - Task Force on Acquisitions of Public Companies
     - Editorial Board Member for the Model Agreement for Acquisition of a Public Company
     - M&A Market Trends Sub-committee, participant in public and private deal points studies
• Bar Association of San Francisco
  

Selected Publications

• "Benefits And Risks Of Fractional Aircraft Ownership," Howard Rice Private Client Services Newsletter (Winter 2008)

Selected Presentations

• “Deciphering Due Diligence: Tackling the IT Issues That Can Cripple a Business Transaction," American Bar Association Annual Meeting (August 2010)
• "Gotcha: A Survey of Hidden Traps for the Unwary in Several Practice Areas," American Bar Association Section of Business Law (April 2010)
• "M&A Negotiation Trends Involving Public Targets: Insights from the 2009 Strategic Buyer/Public Target Deal Points Study," The American Bar Association Center for Continuing Legal Education (2009)

Awards & Honors

Mr. Deibert was recognized as a Northern California Super Lawyer from 2005 through 2010.