Ayesha M. Barnett advises clients on a broad range of corporate matters, including mergers and acquisitions, corporate finance and securities transactions.

She regularly represents purchasers and sellers in negotiated purchases and dispositions of assets and businesses. Ms. Barnett counsels issuers and investment banks in public and private offerings of debt and equity securities. She also advises private investment funds as to their formation and investment activities.

Ms. Barnett actively undertakes pro bono representation, working primarily on matters that affect the welfare of women and children.

Her representations have included:

The sale of a media company by the private equity arm of a leading investment bank.

The sale of a leading supplier of equipment and services to the transportation industry to a group of private equity funds managed by a leading global alternative asset manager.

The acquisition and related financing of a major manufacturer and distributor of high protein nutrition and energy bars by the private investment arm of a prominent banking and real estate company.

The acquisition and related financing of a leading designer, manufacturer and seller of aviation ground support equipment by an established middle-market private equity firm.

The public and Rule 144A offerings of securities by several clients, including a prominent children’s entertainment and education company, a leading retailer of children’s clothing and accessories, an established designer and marketer of ski accessories, a leading operator of franchised casual dining restaurants.

The private placement of securities by, and the general corporate representation of, numerous clients, including a leading steel manufacturer, a veteran institutional investment manager of alternative assets, a leading provider of strategic capital to new hedge funds, a leading retailer of children’s clothing and accessories, an established restaurant investment and management company.

The pro bono representation of several clients, including a not-for-profit organization that partners with existing schools to create urban boarding school programs for underserved youth, a community development organization that assists female entrepreneurs in undertaking small business ventures, an inner-city neighborhood improvement association that provides housing counseling, housing development and other community development services.

Activities

Co-author, SEC Proposes New Disclosure Rules in MD&A on Critical Accounting Policies, Derivatives Report, December 2002;Corporate Governance and Financial Reporting Reforms Proposed by SEC, NASDAQ, and NYSE, Stroock Capital Markets, July 2002

Admitted to Practice

New York, 1996

Education

J.D., cum laude, Boston University School of Law, 1993

A.B., Brown University, 1989