Member
Attorneys
Joseph B. Allen
Member
Joe is a corporate transactional attorney who closes complex deals across the middle market. He advises companies, investors, and founders on M&A, private placements (issuer and investor side), governance, reorganizations, joint ventures, and commercial agreements in software, digital marketplaces, media, industrial equipment, life sciences, manufacturing, government contracting, and infrastructure. His experience includes the sales of The Virginian-Pilot (to Tronc Inc.) and Homes.com (to CoStar), divestitures at Dominion Enterprises and Landmark Media Enterprises, growth investment and rollup acquisitions for Fortis Solutions Group, acquisitions for Trader Interactive, Reg D capital raises for startups—including a life sciences spinoff—and a public-private restructuring around a waste-to-energy facility. From term sheet through closing, Joe turns strategy into execution, drives diligence, and keeps decisions on schedule.
Joe guides buyers and sellers, including founder- and family-owned companies as well as private equity portfolio companies, through complex platform and carve-out deals in news, data, and digital marketplaces. Highlights include advising on Landmark Media Enterprises’ sales of The Virginian-Pilot to tronc, Homes.com and ForRent.com to CoStar, and Expedient Data Center to a private equity firm. For Dominion Enterprises, he advised on sales of Dominion Web Solutions (now Trader Interactive) to a joint venture owned by Eurazeo and Goldman Sachs and Dominion Marine Media (now Boats Group) to Apax. He also advised Trader Interactive, under both private equity and public company ownership, on several acquisitions, including The Cosby Harrison Company and Statistical Surveys, and advised Digital Envoy on its acquisition of X-Mode Social and multiple mobile app companies.
Joe structures capital raises that keep growth moving while managing securities risk. He represented a life-sciences startup through seed, Series A, and multiple follow-on rounds, including a complex reorganization and spinoff to attract outside investment that culminated with a $12 million Series A raise. Joe has served as issuer’s counsel on multiple private offerings for acquisitions by several commercial real estate and multifamily developer and for private funds under Regulation D and Section 3(c) of the Investment Company Act. He also counsels high-net-worth investors and family offices on commitments to venture capital, private equity, and hedge funds, and on early-stage rounds in emerging companies. A digital marketplace client closed a $2 million Rule 506(b) raise with his guidance.
Joe helps sponsors and founders align strategy with execution. He represented Fortis Solutions Group in a strategic growth investment by Main Post Partners and in a series of follow-on acquisitions of label and packaging businesses across multiple markets. He advised the controlling shareholder of Swimways in a sale to Spin Master and guided a regional accounting firm through the sale of multiple offices to a competitor. His work blends disciplined diligence, practical governance, and clear closing plans to deliver certainty of outcome.
Joe negotiates complex commercial agreements that form the backbone of companies and sustain scale. He represents software companies in exclusive and non-exclusive licenses and reseller agreements, and supports private-equity-backed digital media platforms on licensing, services, and intellectual property development. For a global industrial equipment and mining truck manufacturer, he handled equipment purchase agreements, engine delegated assembly arrangements, and technology development contracts. He has also advised a geo-location data and intelligence company on acquiring multiple mobile apps, and an online ticketing and entertainment-news platform on strategic content and technology acquisitions.
Joe advises on formation, organization, and financing of real estate joint ventures for developers acquiring or repositioning multifamily, shopping center, and other real estate assets, including issuer-side private placements to fund acquisitions and renovations. He also represented the purchaser of a waste-to-energy facility within a broader municipal restructuring, navigating asset purchase documentation, diligence on statutory and bond matters, and coordination with local counsel to amend zoning for post-closing operations. The throughline is disciplined project management that keeps stakeholders aligned and enables assets to perform on day one.
To me, it means discipline with purpose. I break big goals into clear decisions, timelines, and documents that move the deal forward. That means clear term sheets, pragmatic risk allocation, and relentless communication so no issue drifts. The work product is crisp—term sheets that read cleanly, diligence that answers the real questions, closing plans that hold. The result: outcomes that match the business case.
McLean Office
