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The $1.5 billion Maine Power Reliability Program was the largest transmission project in Maine's history, with approximately 350 miles of new high voltage transmission line and five new substations. Pierce Atwood was instrumental in helping CMP assess the need for the project through the ISO-New England regional transmission planning process, overseeing the studies to develop the transmission solution for that need, preparing the non-transmission alternative assessment for the project, and obtaining all federal, state, and municipal environmental and land use permits for the project.
We have assisted BlueTarp Financial Inc., a leading provider of credit and transaction information services to the building materials industry, with numerous rounds of capital raising, including a $15 million Series D Convertible Preferred Stock issuance led by Long Ridge Equity Partners and including existing investors Trinity Ventures, Highland Capital Partners and Flybridge Capital Partners. This was paired with an expansion of its senior secured working capital line of credit. We have also assisted BlueTarp with their related technology and retail financial regulatory needs.
In a dispute involving a 17-year business relationship between companies in the plastic film industry, firm attorneys prevailed at trial and on appeal in this breach-of-contract case. When a firm client suspected it was being shortchanged by its materials supplier, the future of their small family business was at stake. Pierce Atwood stepped in and helped convince a jury in Rhode Island federal court to award $2 million in lost profits to our client and ensure that the 17-year contract would remain in force. The award and the contract helped ensure the future of this small business.
In a property tax refund case filed on behalf of the largest hotel in Rhode Island, we obtained a judgment for $2.44 million, plus interest, in December 2017 following a trial. The judgment represented the amount of excess property taxes paid by the hotel during 2013-2015 as a result of an inflated assessment of the hotel’s value.
We assisted Sprague Operating Resources with the $22 million acquisition of the natural gas marketing and electricity brokerage business assets of Metromedia Gas & Power, Inc. and its subsidiaries.
On behalf of our client, the Markley Group, we successfully negotiated a $240 million syndicated bank financing package with TD Bank. Markley Group is New England's largest and longest operating multi-tenant, mission-critical telecommunications and data center facility.
We represented ND OTM LLC, a subsidiary of ND Paper, in a $30 million new markets tax credit financing that will be used to finance the restart of a pulp mill located in Old Town, Maine. The mill was shuttered in 2015, and the restarting of the mill will result in approximately 130 new direct jobs, and hundreds of indirect jobs in the forest products industry.
We secured a favorable resolution for technology corporation in a tax dispute with the Massachusetts Department of Revenue. The appeal was settled two weeks before trial, saving the client in excess of $30 million of assessed sales and use tax, interest, and penalties. The Department of Revenue’s assessment was a result of our client’s failure to document or demonstrate, during a multi-year audit, that tax had been paid or that the transactions at issue were tax exempt. Working with the client, we retrieved archived documentation, located in-house and third party witnesses, and leveraged strong relationships with department attorneys to achieve a successful outcome.
We successfully tried a NASDAQ-listed company's claims against an ASIC developer who had contracted to develop the client's next generation product. The 14 person jury returned a unanimous verdict in favor of our client for $36.7 million in damages, which is believed to be the largest verdict ever from a state court jury in Massachusetts. The jury also returned a verdict for the client rejecting the developer's approximately $7 million in counterclaims.
Pierce Atwood served as lead counsel to Casella Waste Systems in its $47 million acquisition of waste disposal assets in western Massachusetts and Albany, New York from publicly traded Republic Waste and its affiliates.
Represented New England Mountain Ventures, a Massachusetts private equity firm, in the acquisition out of bankruptcy of the Joe Jones Ski & Sport chain of seven retail stores for $5 million (Bankr. D. Me.).
We secured an arbitration award in excess of $5 million on behalf of a general contractor. The arbitration award was for a breach of contract/cumulative impact claim against the developer of a high end waterfront residential condominium project. The award exceeded the Guaranteed Maximum Price, as adjusted by change order.