Blane Clark is a partner in the Baton Rouge office of Kean Miller and a member of the Management Committee. He has more than 24 years of experience in handling complex industrial commercial and healthcare transactions for clients. Blane has handled many different types of transactions such as:

• The sale and purchase of hundreds of industrial, commercial and medical businesses in the form of asset deals, equity deals and mergers;
• Onshore and offshore oil, gas and other material pipeline dedication, gathering and transportation agreements;
• Industrial and commercial construction agreements;
• The sale and leasing of mineral interests;
• The formation of entities for use as business operating companies, as joint ventures, as real estate holding companies, as medical, legal, architectural and other professional service providers and other purposes involving the preparation of organizational documents;
• The contracts utilized in the healthcare industry, such as exclusive services agreements between hospitals and physician groups, agreements between physician groups and third party payers, employment and independent contractor agreements, shareholder and partnership agreements among physician shareholders and partners, and purchase agreements involving the acquisition of health care providers;
• The loan transactions involving loan agreements and collateral documents involving real estate and other assets;
• Employment agreements; and
• Non-competition agreements.

In addition to handling transactions for his clients, Blane works with clients in planning their overall corporate structure and in helping with day-to-day issues that surface in the operation of their businesses.

Blane has also advised many shareholders and partners on the relative rights of holders of a majority or minority equity position. He has been recognized for his legal skills by being listed in The Best Lawyers in America (Woodward/White) in Corporate Law, Mergers & Acquisitions Law, and Commercial Litigation.  Blane is listed among the top Corporate/M&A lawyers in the State of Louisiana by Chambers USA.

Representative Experience

• Lead outside counsel in the sale of a company business unit to a private equity company. The transaction took the form of an asset transaction, and involved issues particular to the sale of an on-going industrial business, such as those relating to ERISA, unions, state and local taxes and environmental regulatory matters.
• Lead outside counsel in the representation of an integrated natural gas company in the negotiation of a suite of agreements involving the construction of oil and gas export pipelines and the ownership and operation of those lines to gather:
  • gas production from a floating platform system situated in the Green Canyon Block 641, Offshore Louisiana, Gulf of Mexico;
  • oil and gas production from a floating platform system situated in the Aliminos Canyon Block 857, offshore Texas in the Gulf of Mexico; and
  • oil and gas production from a semi-submersible floating oil and gas production facility situated in Mississippi Canyon Block 650, offshore Louisiana in the Gulf of Mexico.
• Representation of a locally private owned food manufacturer in the sale of the assets of the Clinton-based company to a New Iberia-based food corporation. The multi-million dollar transaction included unique intellectual property, trademark, and copyright negotiations, as well as complex valuations of the nationally distributed marinade maker.
• Representation of non-physician group in the formation of a series of physician owned joint ventures in the ownership and operation of medical imaging centers.
• Lead outside counsel in representation of an international oil and gas company in its acquisition of the former Tenneco Refinery in Chalmette, Louisiana.
• Representation of a public advertising company and the largest owner of outdoor advertising structures operating in 48 states, in the acquisition of a number of outdoor advertising companies.
• Representation of a leading inspection adn certification company and its shareholders in the sale of all stock to a global service provider. Negotiations focused heavily on the terms for escrowing of the purchase price to satisfy potential indemnity claims. Further adding to the complexity of the transaction were issues relating to foreign ownership of assets and filings under Hart-Scott-Rodino Antitrust Improvements Act.
• Representation of an individual in the acquisition of a membership interest in a pipeline company and in the financing of the acquisition cost.
• Representation of an industrial services contractor in the acquisition of a business by a domestic competitor. The transaction included various successor liability issues.
• Representation of a Louisiana home health and hospice agency, in the acquisition of a business from a regional hospital.
• Representation of numerous medical groups and doctor groups in a wide variety of complex business transactions and agreements.
• Representation of numerous banks and financial institutions in a variety of transactional matters, financings and closing matters.

Education

Blane arned his J.D. from the LSU Law Center in 1984, where he was a member of the Order of the Coif. He earned his B.S. from Louisiana State University in 1980.

Admissions

• Admitted, Louisiana, 1984

Memberships

• Louisiana Law Institute (Council, 1993-1995 Junior Honorary Member)
• Baton Rouge, Louisiana State (Business and Antitrust Sections) and American (Business and Antitrust Sections) Bar Associations

Articles, Publications and Presentations

Business Notes, September 2004

Community Service

• Past Member and President, Board of Directors, Big Buddy Program
• Past Member, Board of Directors, The Hospice Foundation of Greater Baton Rouge
• Graduate, Greater Baton Rouge Chamber of Commerce Leadership Class of 1998
• Baton Rouge Business Report's "40 Under 40" (1999)
• Member, Board of Directors, Myriam's House
• Member, Board of Managers, Baton Rouge Main Street Market, L.L.C. (a community public market)
• Member, Past President, Board of Directors of Catholic High School Alumni Association
• Member, Board of Directors of Catholic High School

Lecturer

• Business Acquisitions, Baton Rouge Bar Association, 1995.
• Basic Corporate Law in Louisiana, National Business Institute, 1993.
• Considerations in Buying or Selling a Business in Louisiana, National Business Institute, 1991.