Charles Baker is a partner in DLA Piper's Corporate and Finance practices, based in New York.

Mr. Baker's practice encompasses all aspects of public and private mergers and acquisitions, corporate finance, restructurings and private equity transactions, with a core focus in the sports, media, entertainment and consumer sectors.

Mr. Baker has represented buyers and sellers of sports franchises in the National Football League, National Basketball Association, National Hockey League, Major League Baseball, Major League Soccer and many of the European football leagues.

Mr. Baker has also developed specific experience representing investment banks and consulting firms on corporate finance advisory matters, including fairness and solvency opinions, and has lectured extensively on these matters to various groups, including the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania and various private seminar organizations. He has also conducted numerous training sessions for professionals at the Big Four accounting and national consulting firms on negotiating mergers and acquisitions transactions, both in and out of bankruptcy.

Mr. Baker is regularly featured or quoted on sports M&A and finance issues in media publications including Sports Business Journal, Financial Times, Investment Dealers' Digest, The Daily Deal, The Deal Pipeline, The Am Law Daily and Corporate Finance Law360, and regularly appears on such television programs as Fox Business News. In September 2011, Law 360 reported on his work on behalf of Atlanta Spirit in "How they sealed the deal: NBA lockout can't stop DLA Piper." In August 2011, he was the subject of the article "Wanna buy a ballclub?"on bisnow.com and was also recently named "Dealmaker of the Week" by The Am Law Daily for his representation of Atlanta Spirit LLC in the sale of the Atlanta Hawks NBA franchise.

Mr. Baker is ranked in Chambers USA: America's Leading Lawyers for Business as a leading lawyer for both his M&A practice and as a national Sports Law lawyer. In 2011, Chambers described him as "well connected, incredibly bright and just able to get the deal closed." He is also ranked in the 2011 edition of Legal 500.

Mr. Baker currently serves as an independent director on the board of USA Triathlon, the sanctioning authority for triathlon and multisport events, which is responsible for the selection and training of teams to represent the United States in international competition, including the world championships, Pan Am Games and Olympic Games.

Mr. Baker also serves as an Executive Officer and Chair of the Board of Trustees of the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society and as a member of the Sports Luncheon Committee of the March of Dimes. He is a guest lecturer at Brown University’s Sports Business Club and the 2011 Ivy League Sports Symposium. Mr. Baker is also a member of the American Bar Association's recently formed Financial Advisor Task Force. Mr. Baker is a member of the Editorial Advisory Board of Strafford Publications and the Corporate Finance Editorial Board of Law 360, where he advises on mergers and acquisitions and corporate finance matters. Previously, Mr. Baker served as a staff intern for former Senator Bill Bradley.

Representative cases

Mr. Baker has represented:

• Investor in the purchase of the Philadelphia 76ers basketball team from Comcast-Spectacor
• Atlanta Spirit Group in the proposed sale of the Atlanta Hawks basketball team and the operating rights to Philips Arena to Alex Meruelo, founder of The Meruelo Group
• Private equity fund focused on investments in professional sports teams and companies in the sports, media and entertainment industries and other related sectors
• Atlanta Spirit Group in the sale of the Atlanta Thrashers hockey team to True North Sports and Entertainment and relocation of the franchise to Winnipeg, Manitoba
• Private equity investor in the purchase by Ted Leonsis of Washington Capitals hockey team and Washington Wizards basketball team from Estate of Abe Pollin
• Stephen Ross, chairman and CEO of the Related Companies, in the purchase of the Miami Dolphins football franchise and Dolphin Stadium
• Bidders in proposed purchases of Charlotte Bobcats basketball team, Oakland A's baseball team, and Anaheim Mighty Ducks hockey team
• MacFarlane-Chang, LLC, in the acquisition of Major League Soccer's DC United from the Anschutz Entertainment Group (AEG)
• Kurt Salmon Associates, as financial advisor, in connection with the merger of Ashworth Inc. and TaylorMade-Adidas Golf
• Fila Korea Ltd. in its acquisition of the global Fila footwear and apparel business from Cerberus Capital
• Dubai World in its minority investment in MGM Mirage and joint venture in the Las Vegas CityCenter development project
• JPMorgan Securities, as financial advisor and fairness opinion provider, in connection with the following:
  • News Corporation's acquisition of Dow Jones & Company
  • Mars, Inc., and Berkshire Hathaway, Inc.'s acquisition of Wm. Wrigley Jr.
  • Landmark Communications' sale of The Weather Channel to NBC, Bain and Blackstone
  • MoneyGram's recapitalization with T.H. Lee Partners and Goldman Sachs
  • United Industrial Corporation’s sale to Textron, Inc.
• UBS Securities, as financial advisor and fairness opinion provider, in connection with the acquisition by The Princeton Review of Penn Foster Education Group from The Wicks Group of Companies
• Duff & Phelps, as financial advisor, in connection with $4.4 billion spin-off by Verizon Communications of landline businesses to Frontier Communications
• William Blair & Company, as financial advisor and fairness opinion provider, in connection with $3.7 billion merger of Grifols, SA and Talecris Biotherapeutics, Inc.
• Oppenheimer & Co., as financial advisor and fairness opinion provider, in connection with acquisition by Laboratory Corporations of America of Orchid Cellmark Inc.
• Fairmount Partners, as financial advisor and fairness opinion provider, in connection with merger of Ferring Pharmaceuticals with Cytokine PharmaSciences, Inc.
• INC Research on its sale to Avistar Capital Partners
• Lotte Group of Korea, together with UBS, in a bidded acquisition of Godiva Chocolates from the Campbell Soup Company
• FTI Consulting, Inc., a global business advisory firm, in the acquisition of CXO LLC, a turnaround management services firm