Alain Dermarkar is a partner in the Private Equity and Mergers & Acquisitions practices and is Co-Head of the firm’s Private Equity Group.

His practice focuses on national and international mergers and acquisitions, takeover preparedness, and special purpose acquisition companies (SPACs). Alain’s clients come from various industries including technology, manufacturing, aerospace/defense, healthcare, consumer products, energy, real estate and construction.

Alain has completed more than $200 billion of transactions for public and private U.S., European, and Asian companies and private equity firms.

Alain also counsels clients on capital raising transactions and corporate governance.

Private Equity Investments

• J.F. Lehman in multiple transactions, including acquisitions of Inland Pipe Rehabilitation, BEI Systems, Integrated Global Services, Global Marine, Waste Control Specialists, Northstar Group Services, Murphy Pipeline Contractors, Wenzel Associates, Lone Star Disposal, NRC Group and OP-Tech Environmental and more recently:
  • in its proposed acquisition of Heritage-Crystal Clean Inc. in an all-cash transaction for US$45.50 per share that values the company at approximately US$1.2 billion, including net debt
  • the sale of Lone Star Disposal to Waste Connections US Holdings Inc.
  • acquisition of the assets of the Narda-MITEQ division and the stock of Narda Safety Test Solutions, GmbH (Narda-MITEQ) from L3Harris Technologies, Inc.
  • Narda-MITEQ, a portfolio company of J.F. Lehman & Company, in its acquisition of Intelligent RF Solutions, LLC
• NRC Group’s (a public company majority-owned by J.F. Lehman & Company) US$750 million transaction with Hennessy Capital Acquisition Corp. III, a Nasdaq-listed SPAC, and subsequent US$966 million acquisition by US Ecology


• New Mountain Capital portfolio companies
  • 3E, in its acquisition of Toxnot, a software as a service (SaaS) platform that enables product compliance and sustainability within supply chains
  • Profile Products LLC, in its acquisition of The Quick Plug Group from Dummen Orange
  • Aegion Corporation, in its sale of Aegion Energy Services, LLC to Brock Holdings III, LLC, a portfolio company of American Industrial Partners
• Great Elm Group, Inc. in multiple transactions including:
  • its US$80 million sale of a majority equity interest in its durable medical equipment business, Great Elm Healthcare, LLC to QHM Holdings Inc., a wholly-owned subsidiary of Quipt Home Medical Corp., a U.S. based leader in the home medical equipment industry
  • its acquisition of a majority equity interest in Sterling Commercial Credit, LLC
  • its acquisition of a majority interest in Lenders Funding, LLC
  • its sale of a majority interest of Forest Investments, Inc. to affiliates of JPMorgan Chase & Co.
  • its joint venture Great Elm Healthcare Finance, LLC with Berkadia Commercial Mortgage, LLC
  • Great Elm Capital Management, Inc., a subsidiary of GEG in its acquisition of the investment management agreement for Monomoy Properties REIT, LLC and certain other related assets from Imperial Capital Asset Management, LLC
• Evolute Capital, LLC in multiple transactions, including its acquisition of eGroup Holding Company, a recognized leader in differentiated Data Center, Cloud, Hybrid Cloud, and Managed Service, and its acquisition of Signature Utility Services, LLC, a provider of helicopter services for railroad planning, vegetation and hazard mitigation, and construction as well as:
  • eGroup Holding Company, LLC, a portfolio company of Evolute Capital, in its acquisition of substantially all of the assets of Enabling Technologies Corp.
• Connell Limited Partnership in multiple transactions, including its sale of Anchor Danly and AWC Manufacturing to Hidden Harbor Capital Partners, its sale of Wabash Alloys to Aleris International, its acquisition of Dayton Progress from Federal Signal and subsequent sale of Dayton Progress to Misumi Group, and its acquisition of SencorpWhite


• Alturus Capital in its acquisition of Physicians Rehab Solution, LLC


• Strike Capital in its attempted sale to a SPAC


• Community Counseling Service Co. (CCS Fundraising), the world’s leading fundraising consulting firm for non-profits, with respect to a strategic investment by ABRY Partners


• Road Ventures in various investments (and secondary investments) in Alto Experience, Inc., a premium subscription based ride share company

Mergers & Acquisitions

• SAP in the US$12.5 billion sale of Qualtrics International, Inc. to Silver Lake


• Hitachi, Ltd. in its acquisition of GlobalLogic Inc. for an enterprise value of US$9.5 billion


• Ardagh Group in its US$8.5 billion transaction with Gores Holdings V, a Nasdaq-listed SPAC, involving its metal packaging business


• Microvast, Inc. in its US$3 billion business combination with Tuscan Holdings Corp., a Nasdaq-listed SPAC, and $57.5 million bridge financing notes offering with affiliates of Luxor Capital Partner


• Citrix Systems' US$2.25 billion acquisition of Wrike, Inc.


• Granite Construction Inc. in multiple transactions, including:
  • its acquisition of Coast Mountain Resources Ltd. from Hall & Tenney Holdings Ltd
  • its divestiture, through its subsidiaries, of its Inliner business to Inland Pipe Rehabilitation LLC, an investment affiliate of J.F. Lehman & Company
  • its acquisition of Coast Mountain Resources (2020) Ltd
  • its acquisition of Layne Christensen for US$536 million
• ExcelFin Acquisition Corp. in an agreement to combine with Baird Medical Investment Holdings Limited in a transaction that will result in Baird Medical, a medical technology company, based Guangzhou, China, going public on Nasdaq under the ticker XFIN


• Aeries Technology, as a subsidiary of Aark Singapore Pte. Ltd, in Aark Singapore's combination with Worldwide Webb Acquisition Corp.


• Volta Inc. in its acquisition by Shell USA, Inc.


• TV Ammo, Inc. in its US$1.21 billion business combination with Breeze Holdings Acquisition Corp., a SPAC


• Reynolds American in connection with its
  • US$49 billion acquisition by British American Tobacco
  • US$5 billion sale to JT Group of the international rights to the Natural American Spirit brand name
  • US $27.4 billion acquisition of Lorillard and related US$7.1 billion asset divestiture to an Imperial Tobacco affiliate
• Newell Rubbermaid in its US$16 billion acquisition of Jarden Corporation


• Tokyo Electron in multiple transactions, including its attempted US$29 billion merger-of-equals with Applied Materialsn


• Oncor Electric Delivery Company in connection with Sempra Energy’s US$18.8 billion enterprise value acquisition of Energy Future Holdings Corp., Oncor’s majority owner


• Futura Title & Escrow in its sale to an investment affiliate of Seidler Equity Partners


• Teradyne, Inc. in multiple transactions, including its acquisition of Energid


• Capital Southwest in its tax-free spin-off of CSW Industries


• Mother Lode Holding Co. in its US$300 million acquisition by First American Financial Corporation


• Investcorp Europe Acquisition Corp in its proposed business combination with OpSec Group, a UK-based global leader in brand protection solutions and intellectual property management

Awards & Accolades

• Named “Most Effective Dealmakers” by Texas Lawyer (2022)
• Named a “Client Service All-Star” by The BTI Consulting Group (2020–2023)
• Recognized as a leading lawyer for Corporate/M&A in Texas by Chambers USA (2020–2023)
• Named a "Rising Star" by Texas Super Lawyers (2015–2018)
• Recipient of "Emerging Leaders Award" by M&A Advisor (2016)
• D Magazine, "Best Lawyers in Dallas" (2018, 2016) 

Speaking Engagements

• “Primer on SPACs” (December 16, 2020)
• “IPO Alternatives: What You Should Know About SPACs and Direct Listings,” panelist at the Austin Finance Leadership Summit (November 5, 2020)