Christopher S. Connell

Co-Chair, Corporate & Securities

cconnell@stradley.com

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Christopher Connell
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Overview

Christopher Connell is the co-chair of Stradley Ronon’s corporate and securities practice group. He focuses his practice on the representation of financial institutions, financial services businesses and other corporate clients in various industries in numerous transactional matters, including mergers and acquisitions, offerings of debt and equity securities (both public and private), initial public offerings and securities matters for public companies. Chris also regularly advises corporate clients of all sizes in an outside general counsel role, supporting the clients’ general corporate law, contracting and governance needs.

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Focus

Results

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Representative Matters

Chris’ experience includes the representation of:

Investment Management M&A

  • Wealth Legacy Institute, a Denver-based financial planning and investment management firm, in its merger with Cerity Partners, a financial and wealth advisory firm headquartered in New York City
  • Chatham Financial, a global leader in financial risk management advisory and technology, in its acquisition of EA Markets
  • Lumina Financial Consultants, a financial planning and wealth management services provider, in a merger with Cerity Partners
  • Columbia Pacific Advisors, an alternative asset management firm with approximately $3.5 billion in assets under management, in its sale of a minority stake to CI Financial
  • Columbia Pacific Wealth Management, a wealth management firm with approximately $6.4 billion in assets under management, in its sale to CI Financial
  • Great Valley Advisor Group, a technology-driven full-service registered investment adviser, in its acquisition of U.S. Financial Advisors, a registered investment adviser with over $725 million in assets under management
  • Artivest Holdings in its sale of its advisory, mutual fund, commodity pool and broker-dealer businesses to Altegris Holdings

Private Equity Investment

  • Oppenheimer & Co. in its acquisition of the preferred stock of Red Rover Moving & Storage, a provider of moving and storage solutions

Banking and Financial Institutions

  • DNB Financial Corp. (NASDAQ: DNBF), the holding company for community bank DNB First, in its $206 million acquisition by S&T Bancorp, Inc. that will expand S&T’s footprint into Chester, Delaware and Philadelphia, Pennsylvania counties
  • Bryn Mawr Bank Corporation in its:
    • definitive agreement and plan of merger to acquire Continental Bank Holdings Inc., and related joint proxy statement/prospectus on Form S-4, in a transaction valued at $109 million
    • multimillion-dollar acquisition of the private wealth management group of Hershey Trust Company
    • agreement to acquire certain assets of First Bank of Delaware
    • multimillion-dollar acquisition of the Davidson Trust Company
  • Customers Bank in connection with its:
    • initial public offering of common stock
    • corporate holding company restructuring and acquisition of Berkshire Bancorp
  • Valley Green Bank in connection with its sale to Univest Corporation of Pennsylvania
  • Atlantic Coast Financial Corporation, the Jacksonville, Florida-based holding company for Atlantic Coast Bank, in its $48.3 million underwritten public offering of common stock
  • First Star Bancorp Inc. in connection with its sale to ESSA Bancorp, Inc.
  • Beneficial Mutual Bancorp Inc. in connection with its $30.6 million acquisition of SE Financial Corp., the parent holding company of St. Edmond’s Federal Savings Bank
  • MoreBank in connection with its sale to Bank of Princeton

Real Estate

  • a major national merchant-builder real estate developer, several regional banks and a computer-hardware service company on acquisition and leasing issues
  • a national commercial real estate developer with the acquisition of a property in suburban Philadelphia and negotiating for the developer on leases with national tenants
  • several regional outdoor advertising companies on the sale of assets to a publicly held company and on purchasing assets from other regional companies
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Credentials

Bar Admissions
  • Pennsylvania
  • New Jersey
Education
  • J.D., Villanova University School of Law
  • B.S., cum laude, Villanova University

Publications

News

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Speaking Engagements

  • Panelist, Customers Bank’s Virtual Town Hall
  • Panelist, “The CARES Act and the PPP: What Catholic Parishes Need to Know,” Ascension Press Webinar
  • Panelist, “Banking in the 21st Century – Settling into the Digital Age,” Association for Corporate Counsel’s Banking & Financial Services Law CLE
  • Moderator, Association for Corporate Growth’s Annual M&A Dealmakers’ Panel
  • Presenter, “Executive Board Governance – Roles & Responsibilities … Do You Know What You Don’t Know?” Pennsylvania Association of Community Bankers
  • Presenter, “Interacting with Our Clients through Technology in a World of Regulators and Scammers,” Philadelphia Estate Planning Council
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Recognitions

  • Philadelphia Business Journal, “Best of the Bar: Philadelphia's Top Lawyers”
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