Areas of Focus
“A successful engagement is one that achieves or exceeds the client’s personal and business goals and in which the client is protected and can sleep well at night.”
Overview
A partner in the Corporate + Transactions Practice Group, Steven Manket focuses on mergers and acquisitions, venture capital and general advisory work to both established companies and those in all other stages of growth. He represents a wide range of clients in the marketing communications, hospitality, technology, media, distribution and manufacturing sectors.
Describing his approach as “high touch,” Steven deftly guides companies of all sizes through their most important deals. Whether putting together strategic acquisitions for a giant multinational, selling a privately held business or arranging early stage funding for a promising start-up, he crafts practical solutions based on the needs, business styles and risk tolerance of his clients.
For a mature company planning an exit or a business in its early-stage development, Steven performs a key advisory role in helping his clients achieve their long-term goals and ambitions. Steven strives to understand all the legal needs of his clients, not just their transactions, so he can bring the right people to bear on specific issues. Drawing on resources throughout the firm, he coordinates the work of other disciplines to address the myriad business and legal issues facing both emerging and established companies. He brings a sophistication attained through long experience with large global clients — companies dominant in their industries — that routinely draw on multiple practices in their business dealings.
In a typical venture — whether for a new technology platform, a digital marketing company, a manufacturing business, an innovative restaurant concept or a celebrity chef — Steven will be an active participant and trusted partner in every stage of the business life cycle. From formation through various funding rounds, from strategic acquisitions through to a successful exit, his clients rely on his keen business sense, his calmness under pressure and his innate willingness to treat their issues as his own.
Representative Experience
Acted on behalf of a Michelin Star chef/proprietor on the development of a restaurant in Rockefeller Center, as part of a venture with a major American real estate company.
Advised the shareholders of the largest regional distributors of HVAC and refrigeration equipment and engineering solutions in the Northeastern United States. Prepared the company for its sale and subsequent disposition to a global Japanese conglomerate and the largest manufacturer of HVAC equipment.
Advised the world’s leading provider of prepaid and payment solutions on its senior credit facility with a syndicate of financial institutions led by a multinational investment bank.
Acted for the founder and sole shareholder of a leading digital magazine, authority and online marketplace for vintage and luxury timepieces, in its merger with a luxury digital platform.
Advised the founders and shareholders of a leading Latinx advertising agency with offices in Latin America and the U.S. on tax and other deal issues in its sale to an American digital consulting company.
Counseling a web-based, global financial services workshop supporting the financial services industry by bridging the gap between citizen data scientists and domain experts on all capital transactions and intellectual property, digital, corporate and employment matters.
Acted on behalf of a Michelin Star chef/proprietor in the opening and operation of a restaurant at a museum of modern and contemporary art.
Acted on behalf of a primary coordinating body for U.S universities and colleges in a venture with a private equity firm to form an LLC that provides certification for teaching staff.
Credentials
Education
- New York University School of Law (LL.M., 1982)
- Brooklyn Law School (J.D., 1981)
- Cornell University (B.S., 1978)
Bar Admissions
- New York
- New Jersey
Associations
Member, American Bar Association
― Member, Business Law Section
― Member, Technology Section
Member, New York City Bar Association