Profile

Ward Wellman has over 30 years of experience in mergers and acquisitions. He regularly handles up to 20 separate transactions annually, large and small, representing both public and private companies, as well as private equity and other investor groups. Mr. Wellman’s industry experience includes the retail sector, with particular emphasis on automobile dealerships. He also has extensive experience in the manufacturing and distribution sectors (building products, office products, biotechnology and highly engineered industrial products), and in the service sector (contract lighting services, food distribution services and funeral services).

Mr. Wellman also has significant maritime law experience, having represented U.S. regulated ocean shipping companies, primarily in the purchase, sale and financing of containerships and related equipment.

Since 2010, Mr. Wellman has served as an Adjunct Professor at the Charlotte School of Law.

Experience Highlights

Mr. Wellman’s representative transactional experience includes:

• Representation of a New York Stock Exchange-listed automotive dealership group in more than 100 transactions involving the purchase and sale of over 200 dealerships, including the acquisition of another publicly held dealership group
• Representation of the U.S. subsidiary of a German industrial company in the acquisition of a contract lighting services business
• Representation of a domestic corporation in the private acquisition of paper mills and more than two million acres of related timberlands
• Representation of a private equity group in leveraged buyouts of various manufacturing and distribution companies
• Representation of owners of privately held industrial glove manufacturing companies in the sale of their assets and businesses to a foreign multinational buyer
• Represented a New York Stock Exchange-listed diversified manufacturing company in the acquisition of one of the largest U.S. manufacturers of vending machines
• Representation of a Pennsylvania based company engaged in the manufacture and distribution of specialty wire mesh products in a series of acquisitions in Canada and the United States
• Representation of a United States flag ocean shipping company and its stockholders in the sale of the company to a British-owned ocean shipping company

News

• Forty-Four Parker Poe Attorneys Named 2013 NC Super Lawyers
  January 18, 2013
• 74 Parker Poe Attorneys Recognized as Best Lawyers® for 2013
  August 23, 2012
• Forty-Two Parker Poe Attorneys Named as 2012 NC Super Lawyers
  January 20, 2012
• 69 Parker Poe Attorneys Recognized as Best Lawyers® for 2012
  September 6, 2011
• Thirty-Seven Parker Poe Attorneys Named NC Super Lawyers for 2011
  January 25, 2011
• 61 Parker Poe Attorneys Recognized as Best Lawyers® for 2011
  August 18, 2010
• Law & Politics Names 36 Parker Poe Attorneys as Super Lawyers
  January 28, 2010
• 55 Parker Poe Attorneys Recognized as Best Lawyers®
  July 30, 2009
• Forty-Six Attorneys Named Super Lawyers
  January 26, 2009
• Twenty-One Parker Poe Attorneys Among "Legal Elite" for 2009
  January 1, 2009
• Parker Poe Increases Number of Attorneys Recognized as Best Lawyers in America
  October 1, 2008
• More than 50 Parker Poe Attorneys among Business Leader's Top Lawyers
  September 24, 2008
• Twenty-One Parker Poe Attorneys Named Super Lawyers
  January 28, 2008
• 40 Parker Poe Attorneys Named Among 2008 Best Lawyers in America
  September 14, 2007
• Nineteen Parker Poe Attorneys Named North Carolina Super Lawyers 2007
  January 26, 2007
• The SEC Proposes New Category of "Accredited Investor"
  Business Law Alert
  January 10, 2007
• Fifteen Parker Poe Attorneys Among "Legal Elite"
  January 8, 2007
• The SEC Further Amends Executive Compensation Disclosure and Votes to Adopt E-Proxy Rule
  Business Law Alert
  January 3, 2007
• Parker Poe Attorneys Named to Best Lawyers in America
  September 12, 2006
• Seventeen Parker Poe Attorneys Among "Legal Elite"
  January 20, 2006
• More Relief From Accelerated Filing Deadlines
  Business Law Alert
  January 3, 2006
• Parker Poe Attorneys Among The Best Lawyers in America
  September 13, 2005
• Dissecting the Purchase Agreement Seminar Features Parker Poe Attorneys
  September 12, 2005
• Parker Poe Attorney to Present at May 24th Seminar, "Selected Strategies on Mergers and Acquisitions in North Carolina"
  April 4, 2005
• Parker Poe Attorneys Honored as The Best Lawyers in America and the "Legal Elite" in North Carolina
  February 28, 2005
• Directors With Specialized Expertise May Be Held to a Higher Standard
  Business Law Alert
  October 28, 2004