Richard B. Aldridge

Partner

Having closed some of the biggest mergers and acquisitions (M&A) deals in the firm’s history, Richard B. Aldridge has led Morgan Lewis’s mergers and acquisitions practice for over two decades. He counsels clients in many kinds of complex business law matters, focusing on domestic and cross-border public and private company M&A and joint venture transactions. Richard regularly advises companies in industries such as technology, pharmaceutical, energy, telecommunications, manufacturing, financial services, and electric utilities.

Richard routinely counsels clients in corporate governance, takeover preparedness, and obligations under securities laws, particularly in connection with the acquisitions of privately and publicly held companies, and private and public securities offerings. In addition, he serves as a counselor to privately and publicly held companies on a wide variety of general corporate matters.

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Richard has an amazing perspective on corporate and M&A transactions.
Chambers USA
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He is a client-focused, responsive lawyer who gets the job done.
Chambers USA
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He's a smart, deal-focused attorney who truly does understand his clients' needs.
Chambers USA
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a seasoned practitioner who gives reasoned advice and is not scared to take a position.
Legal 500
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  • Represented MSP Sports Capital in the sale of its interest in McLaren Racing, the Formula 1 racing team, to McLaren Group Limited (Consummated September, 2025)
  • Represented Grover Gaming, Inc. and G2 Gaming, Inc. in the $1.05 billion sale of its charitable gaming assets, Grover Charitable Gaming, to Light & Wonder, Inc. (Announced February, 2025)
  • PTC Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ: PTCT) in its $2.9 billion global license and collaboration agreement with Novartis Pharmaceuticals Corporation, a subsidiary of Novartis AG, in which PTC will receive an upfront payment of $1.0 billion, up to $1.9 billion in development, regulatory and sales milestones, a profit share in the U.S., and double-digit tiered royalties on ex-U.S. sales, for its PTC518 Huntington’s disease program, inclusive of related molecules (Consummated January, 2025)
  • TC Transcontinental (TSX: TCL.A) in the $95 million sale of its industrial packaging operations to Hood Packaging Corporation (Consummated October, 2024)
  • EQT Corporation (NYSE: EQT) as Pennsylvania deal counsel in its $5.5 billion acquisition of Equitrans Midstream Corporation (NYSE: ETRN), one of the largest natural gas gatherers in the United States (Consummated July, 2024)
  • MSP Sports Capital in its acquisition of a majority interest in X Games, an iconic sports and entertainment property, from ESPN Productions, Inc. (Consummated October, 2022)
  • Idera Pharmaceuticals Inc. (NASDAQ: IDRA) in the acquisition of Aceragen Inc., a privately held biotechnology company addressing rare, orphan pulmonary and rheumatic diseases for which there are limited or no available treatments (Consummated September, 2022)
  • Fanatics Commerce, a division of Fanatics Holdings, Inc., in its $250 million acquisition of Mitchell & Ness, a premier brand offering authentic vintage jerseys and apparel collections for the MLB, NFL, NBA, NCAA and MLS (Consummated February, 2022)
  • Aramark (NYSE:ARMK) in its strategic collaboration with Starr Restaurants, the owner and operator of multiconcept restaurants (Consummated December, 2021)
  • CubeSmart (NYSE: CUBE) in its acquisition of LAACO, Ltd., the owner of the Storage West platform which owns and operates 59 self-storage assets in the western markets of Southern California, Phoenix, Las Vegas, and Houston, for approximately $1.69 billion (Consummated December, 2021)
  • Fanatics, an online and in-venue retailer of officially licensed sports merchandise, in its $325 million equity financing that values the company at $18 billion (Consummated August, 2021)
  • Aramark (NYSE:ARMK) in its acquisition of Next Level Hospitality, a provider of culinary and environmental services in the senior living sector, specializing in skilled nursing and rehabilitation facilities (Announced April, 2021)
  • Fanatics in its $320 million Series F investment round (Consummated April, 2021)
  • Fanatics in its joint venture with Hillhouse Capital to expand into China (Consummated February, 2021)
  • Synovos, Inc., an integrated supply chain management services provider, in its $145 million sale to Electrocomponents plc (Consummated January, 2021)
  • Fanatics in its joint venture with Lids and subsequent equity investment in Barnes & Noble, a solutions provider for the education industry (Consummated December, 2020)
  • MSP Sports Capital in its £185 million investment in McLaren Racing, a Formula 1 sports franchise (Consummated December, 2020)
  • ShopRunner, an e-commerce platform that connects online shoppers with their favorite merchants and brands, in its sale to FedEx Corp. (NYSE: FDX) (Announced December 2020)
  • Fanatics, Inc. in its acquisition of Top of the World, a retail suppler of college headwear and apparel (Consummated September 2020 - terms not publicly disclosed)
  • Fanatics, Inc. in a late stage $350 equity financing round, which valued Fanatics at $6.2 billion and was co-led by Fidelity Management and Thrive Capital (Consummated August, 2020)
  • PTC Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ: PTCT) in its acquisition of Censa Pharmaceuticals, Inc., a privately held biopharmaceutical company focused on the development clinical-stage investigational therapy for orphan metabolic diseases, including phenylketonuria (PKU), for a mix of up-front stock and cash consideration valued at approximately $50 million and potential future consideration including $377.5 million in development and regulatory milestones and potential additional contingent value payments based on net sales (Consummated June, 2020)
  • Liberty Property Trust (NYSE: LPT) in its $13 billion sale to Prologis, Inc. (NYSE: PLD) (Consummated January, 2020)
  • Transcontinental (TSX: TCL.A, TCL.B) in its $180 million sale of its paper and woven polypropylene packaging operations to Hood Packaging Corporation (Consummated January, 2020)
  • Rue Gilt Groupe (a privately held premier off-price e-commerce portfolio company) in the approximately $280 million investment from Simon Property Group (NYSE: SPG) (Consummated October, 2019)
  • Aramark (NYSE:ARMK) in its acquisition of privately-held Good Uncle, an innovative, app-based on-demand food delivery service that brings freshly prepared, restaurant quality meals to conveniently located pick-up points around college campuses (Consummated August, 2019 – terms not publicly disclosed)
  • Aramark in its $300 million sale of its Healthcare Technologies business to TriMedx (Consummated November, 2018)
  • Transcontinental (TSX: TCL.A, TCL.B) in its $1.32 billion acquisition of Coveris Americas, a flexible packaging business held by Coveris Holdings S.A., a portfolio company of Sun Capital Partners, Inc. (Consummated May, 2018)
  • SEI (NASDAQ: SEIC) in its acquisition of Huntington Steele LLC, an investment advisor specializing in providing advisory services to high net worth individuals and families (April, 2018)
  • TriMark USA, LLC in its acquisition of foodservice equipment and supplies distributor Chefs’ Toys (Consummated March, 2018 – terms not publicly disclosed)
  • Aramark (NYSE:ARMK) in its $1.0 billion acquisition of AmeriPride Services Inc., one of the largest textile rental and supply companies in North America (Consummated January, 2018)
  • Harron Communications, L.P. in the $1.4 billion sale of all of its cable systems operating under the MetroCast brand name to Atlantic Broadband, a subsidiary of Cogeco Cable Inc. (Consummated January, 2018)
  • Fanatics, Inc. in a $1 billion equity financing round led by SoftBank’s Vision Fund (August, 2017)
  • SEI (NASDAQ: SEIC) in its $80 million acquisition of Archway Technology Partners, LLC, a provider of operating technologies and services to the family office industry (Consummated July, 2017)
  • Fanatics, Inc. in the acquisition of VF Corporation’s (NYSE: VFC) Licensed Sports Group business, including the Majestic® brand, supplies apparel and fan wear through licensing agreements with U.S. and international professional sports leagues and teams (Consummated May, 2017 – terms not publicly disclosed)
  • Avantor Performance Materials in its acquisition of Puritan Products, a supplier and manufacturer of high-purity chemicals for the pharmaceutical, biopharmaceutical, semiconductor and laboratory markets (Consummated April 2017 – terms not publicly disclosed)
  • TriMark USA in its acquisition of foodservice equipment and supplies dealer Hockenbergs Food Service Equipment & Supply (Consummated February 2017 – terms not publicly disclosed)
  • HollyFrontier Corporation (NYSE: HFC) in connection with its CAD $1.125 billion acquisition of Suncor Energy’s Petro-Canada Lubricants business (Consummated February, 2017)
  • Jones Lang LaSalle (NYSE: JLL) in its acquisition of Urbis Partners, a commercial real estate company (Consummated January 2017 – terms not publicly disclosed)
  • Harte Hanks (NYSE: HHS) in the $112 million sale of its Trillium Software business to Clearlake Capital Group, L.P. backed Syncsort Incorporated (Consummated December, 2016)
  • Aramark (NYSE: ARMK) in its $140 million acquisition of HPSI, a supply chain company that serves thousands of healthcare providers, educational institutions and hospitality businesses in the U.S (Consummated August 2016)
  • Day & Zimmerman in the acquisition by its subsidiary, Yoh Services, of Starpoint Solutions, a staffing and consultancy firm (Consummated October, 2016 – terms not publicly disclosed)
  • Day & Zimmerman in the acquisition by its subsidiary, Mason & Hanger, of Hankins & Anderson, an architecture and engineering firm (Consummated July 2016 – terms not publicly disclosed)
  • Transcontinental (TSX: TCL.A, TCL.B) in its acquisition of Robbie Manufacturing, a flexible packaging supplier (Consummated June 2016 – terms not publicly disclosed)
  • Harte Hanks (NYSE: HHS) in its acquisition of Aleutian Consulting Inc., a leading marketing consulting firm (Consummated March, 2016 – terms not publicly disclosed)
  • Jones Lang LaSalle (NYSE: JLL) in its acquisition of Big Red Rooster, a brand experience and retail design services company (Consummated January 2016 – terms not publicly disclosed)
  • Jones Lang LaSalle (NYSE: JLL) in its acquisition of Cresa South Florida, a tenant-focused project management services and real estate firm (Consummated December 2015 – terms not publicly disclosed)
  • eBay (NASDAQ: EBAY) in the $925 million sale of its ecommerce operations business, eBay Enterprise, to Permira and Sterling Partners (Consummated November 2015)
  • Transcontinental, Inc. (TSX: TCL.A, TCL.B) in its $80 million acquisition of Ultra Flex Packaging Corp., a supplier of flexible packaging (Consummated October 2015)
  • MetroCast Communications of Connecticut, LLC (MetroCast Connecticut) and its parent Harron Communications, L.P. in the $200 million sale of MetroCast Connecticut to Atlantic Broadband, a subsidiary of Cogeco Cable Inc. (Consummated August, 2015)
  • Fanatics, Inc. in a $300 million equity investment from Silver Lake Partners (August, 2015)
  • Campbell Soup Company (NYSE: CPB) in its $231 million acquisition of privately held Garden Fresh Gourmet (the No. 1 branded refrigerated salsa in the US that also makes hummus, dips and tortilla chips). (Consummated June, 2015)
  • Harte Hanks (NYSE: HHS) in the sale of its B2B research businesses, Aberdeen Group and Harte Hanks Market Intelligence, to subsidiaries of Halyard Capital (Consummated April, 2015)
  • Harte Hanks (NYSE: HHS) in its acquisition of Silicon Valley based digital marketing agency 3Q Digital, Inc. (Consummated March, 2015 – terms not publicly disclosed)
  • Source4Teachers (a leading provider of outsourced substitute teacher and paraprofessional managed services to K-12 schools in the eastern United States) in its sale to private equity firm Nautic Partners. (Consummated April, 2015 – terms not publicly disclosed)
  • Micros Systems, Inc., an information technology solutions provider for the hospitality and retail industries, in its $5.3 billion sale to Oracle (NYSE: ORCL) (Consummated September, 2014)
  • Harron Communications in the sale of MetroCast Systems, video, high-speed internet and phone services, in MS and AL, to Block Communications (Consummated July, 2014 – terms not publicly disclosed)
  • Merck (NYSE: MRK) in the sale of its microbial process development and manufacturing operations to KBI Biopharma (Consummated May, 2014 – terms not publicly disclosed)
  • Transcontinental (TSX: TCL.A, TCL.B) in its $133 million acquisition of Capri Packaging, a supplier of printed flexible packaging (Consummated March, 2014)
  • Fanatics, Inc. in the acquisition of SportsMemorabilia.com, a sports memorabilia online retailer (Consummated August, 2013 – terms not publicly disclosed)
  • Tyco International (NYSE: TYC) in the acquisition of Team AVS, Inc. a security systems provider (Consummated August, 2013 – terms not publicly disclosed)
  • Liberty Property Trust (NYSE: LPT) in its $1.5 billion acquisition of Cabot Industrial Fund III (Consummated July, 2013)
  • ShopRunner, an online retailer, in the sale of a minority stake to Alibaba Group Holding (Consummated July, 2013 – terms not publicly disclosed)
  • Fanatics, Inc. in the $170 million investment from Alibaba Group Holding and Temasek Holdings (June, 2013)
  • Contango Oil and Gas (NYSE: MCF) in the $390 million acquisition of Crimson Exploration Oil and Gas (NASDAQ: CXPO, an oil and natural gas exploration and development company (Consummated April, 2013)
  • Braskem S.A.(NYSE: BAK) in its acquisition of assets from Sunoco (NYSE: SUN) related to Braskem’s polypropylene manufacturing facility located adjacent to Sunoco’s Marcus Hook, PA refinery. (Consummated June, 2012 – terms not publicly disclosed)
  • SAP AG (NYSE: SAP) it its acquisition of Syclo, L.L.C. (a privately held leading provider of enterprise mobile applications and technologies). (Consummated June, 2012 – terms not publicly disclosed)
  • Fanatics, Inc. in its $183 million acquisition of Dreams, Inc. (a publicly traded (NYSE Amex: DRJ) multichannel retailer focused on the licensed sports products industry). (Consummated June, 2012)
  • ShopRunner in its acquisition of PickupZone, a company that assists with online shopping. (Consummated April, 2012 – terms not publicly disclosed)
  • Leone Industries Container Co. (a privately held manufacturer of glass containers for food and beverage markets in the United States) in its sale to Ardagh Group (an international metal and glass packing business based in Luxembourg). (Consummated March, 2012 – terms not publicly disclosed)
  • Lightwire Optical Technology Co. (a privately held developer of advanced optical interconnect technology for high-speed networking applications) in its $271 million sale to Cisco Systems, Inc (NASDAQ: CSCO). (Consummated February, 2012)
  • Dansko, LLC (a privately importer and reseller of shoes) in its 100% employee stock ownership plan (ESOP) buyout. (Consummated January, 2012 – terms not publicly disclosed)
  • Cari-All Group Inc. (a Canada-based manufacturer and distributor of shopping carts to the North American retail market under the Technibilt, Cari-All, and Rondi brand names) in its sale to Wanzl Metallwarenfabrik Gmbh (a Germany-based cart manufacturer). (Consummated January, 2012 – terms not publicly disclosed)
  • FMC Corporation (NYSE:FMC) in its asset acquisition of the Rovral® iprodione and Sportak® prochloraz brand families of fungicides from Bayer CropScience. (Consummated January, 2012 – terms not publicly disclosed)
  • ARAMARK Refreshment Services in its approximately $145 million acquisition of Van Houtte USA Holdings, Inc., also known as the Van Houtte US Coffee Service business or “Filterfresh” business, from Green Mountain Coffee Roasters, Inc. (a publicly traded (NASDAQ: GMCR) supplier of specialty coffee and coffeemakers). (Consummated October, 2011)
  • ARAMARK Corp., a global provider of professional services, in connection with the sale of its Galls, Inc. subsidiary, a leading provider of public safety equipment and apparel, to CI Capital Partners, a North American private investment firm. (Consummated October, 2011 – terms not publicly disclosed)
  • GSI Commerce, Inc. (a publicly traded (Nasdaq: GSIC) ecommerce services provider) in connection with its $2.4 billion acquisition by eBay Inc. (Nasdaq: EBAY). (Consummated June, 2011)
  • Tyco International Ltd. (NYSE: TYC) in connection with the acquisition by its subsidiary, ADT Security Services, Inc., of Proximex Corporation (a privately held provider of physical security information management (PSIM) system software). (Consummated April, 2011 – terms not publicly disclosed)
  • ARAMARK Healthcare in its approximately $155 million acquisition of Masterplan (a privately held clinical technology management and medical equipment maintenance company). (Consummated March, 2011)
  • GSI Commerce, Inc. (a publicly traded (Nasdaq: GSIC) ecommerce services provider) in connection with its $277 million acquisition of Fanatics, Inc. (a privately held online retailer of licensed sports merchandise). (Consummated March, 2011)
  • BMP Sunstone Corporation (a publicly traded (Nasdaq: BJGP) specialty pharmaceutical company with a proprietary portfolio of branded pharmaceutical and healthcare products in China) in connection with its $520 million acquisition by Sanofi-aventis (EURONEXT: SAN and NYSE: SNY). (Consummated February, 2011)
  • Eurand N.V. (a publicly traded (Nasdaq: EURX) specialty pharmaceutical company) in connection with its $568 million acquisition by Axcan Holdings, Inc. (a privately held specialty pharmaceutical company focused on gastroenterology). (Consummated February, 2011)
  • GlaxoSmithKline (NYSE: GSK) in connection with the divestiture of over-the-counter products (iron supplements Seosol and Palafer, multivitamin Geritol, alertness treatment Vivarin and cold and flu drug Contac) to Meda Pharmaceuticals. (Consummated December, 2010 and January, 2011 – terms not publicly disclosed)
  • Safeguard Scientifics, Inc. (a publicly traded (NYSE: SFE) provider of growth capital for entrepreneurial and innovative life sciences and technology companies) in connection with the $587 million acquisition by GE Healthcare, a unit of General Electric Company (NYSE: GE) via a public tender offer of Clarient, Inc. (Nasdaq: CLRT), a Safeguard portfolio investment. Safeguard received net sale proceeds of approximately $144 million. (Consummated December, 2010)
  • Valeant Pharmaceuticals International in connection with the $318 million acquisition of Aton Pharma (a privately held specialty pharmaceutical company focused on ophthalmology and certain orphan drug indications). (Consummated May, 2010)
  • GlaxoSmithKline (NYSE: GSK) in connection with the $135 million acquisition of NovaMin Technologies (a privately held manufacturer of makers of a calcium phosphate oral product ingredient). (Consummated May, 2010)
  • K-Tron International, Inc. (a publicly traded (Nasdaq: KTII) leader in the design, production, marketing, and servicing of material handling equipment and systems) in connection with its $435 million acquisition by Hillenbrand, Inc. (a publicly traded leader in the North American death care industry through the sale of funeral services products). (Consummated April, 2010)
  • Transcontinental Inc. (TSX: TCL.A, TCL.B) in the sale of substantially all of the assets of its US direct mail group, which generated revenues of approximately $153 million in 2009 and employed about 1,200 people, to IWCO Direct (a privately owned domestic US direct mail provider). (Consummated April, 2010 – terms not publicly disclosed)
  • ICT Group, Inc. (a publicly traded leading global provider of customer management and business process outsourcing (BPO) solutions) in its $272 million acquisition by Sykes Enterprises, Incorporated (a publicly traded leading global provider of outsourced customer contact management solutions and services in the BPO arena). (Consummated February, 2010)
  • Tyco International Ltd. (NYSE: TYC) in connection with the $38 million purchase by its subsidiary (Allied Tube & Conduit Corporation) from Chriscott USA Inc. of the former steel tube operations in Morrisville, Pennsylvania of Barzel Industries Inc. (a formerly publicly traded NASDAQ company that filed for bankruptcy protection under title 11 in September, 2009). (Consummated November, 2009)
  • Sunoco, Inc. in its $158 million sale of its Tulsa Refinery, including related assets and inventories, to Holly Corporation (NYSE:HOC). (Consummated June, 2009)
  • Novell in connection with its acquisition of Fortefi Ltd. (a provider of compliance and privileged user management solutions). (Consummated February, 2009 – terms not publicly disclosed)
  • Keating Building Corporation (a privately held construction, construction management and design/build company) in its $43 million (plus an amount to be determined based on the operating results for 2009 – 2011) acquisition by Perini Corporation (NYSE:PCR) (a leading building, civil construction and construction management company). (Consummated January, 2009)
  • AmerisourceBergen Corporation in connection with the sale of its PMSI business unit (which provides specialty managed care services and products for workers’ compensation and catastrophically injured populations) to private equity firm H.I.G. Capital, L.L.C. (Consummated October, 2008 – terms not publicly disclosed)
  • Novell in connection with its acquisition of Managed Objects (a provider of workload management and virtualization solutions). (Consummated October, 2008 – terms not publicly disclosed)
  • Safeguard Scientifics, Inc. in the sale of its ownership position in five partner companies (Acsis, Inc., Alliance Consulting Group Associates, Inc., Laureate Pharma, Inc., Neuronyx, Inc. and ProModel Corporation) to Saints Capital for approximately $128 million. (Consummated May, 2008)
  • Novell in connection with its $205 million acquisition of PlateSpin Ltd. (a provider of solutions to deliver business critical services across physical and virtual infrastructures for the data center market). (Consummated March, 2008)
  • Novell in connection with its acquisition of SiteScape, Inc. (an open source collaboration software provider). (Consummated February, 2008 – terms not publicly disclosed)
  • LLR Partners (a private equity investment firm) in its $25 million investment in BrightHeart Holdings, LLC (a national network of advanced-care veterinary facilities). (Consummated January, 2008)
  • Deb Shops, Inc. (a publicly traded national specialty apparel retailer) in its $395 million acquisition by an affiliate of Lee Equity Partners, LLC (a private investment firm founded by Thomas H. Lee). (Consummated October, 2007)
  • Playtex Products, Inc. (a publicly traded manufacturer and distributor of a diversified portfolio of Skin Care, Feminine Care, and Infant Care products) in its $1.9 billion merger with Energizer Holdings, Inc. (a publicly traded manufacturer and distributor of household and specialty batteries and powered lighting products, including the Energizer and Eveready brands). (Consummated October, 2007)
  • AmerisourceBergen Corporation in connection with its $190 million acquisition of Bellco Health, a privately held distributor of branded and generic pharmaceuticals. (Consummated October, 2007)
  • BP Energy Company in connection with its acquisition of Wasatch Energy L.L.C. (an integrated energy marketing and trading company including 350,000 MMBtu/d of gas purchase, transportation and sales activities). (Consummated April, 2007 – terms not publicly disclosed)
  • University of Pennsylvania Law School, 1993, J.D.
  • Duke University, 1989, A.B.
  • Pennsylvania

Listed, The Best Lawyers in America, Lawyer of the Year, Corporate Law, Philadelphia (2026)

Listed, The Best Lawyers in America, Corporate Law, Philadelphia (2023–2026)

Recommended, Industry Focus: Sport, The Legal 500 US (2024)

Recommended, M&A/corporate and commercial – M&A – large deals ($1bn+), The Legal 500 US (2011–2021, 2023, 2024)

Ranked, Corporate/M&A (International & Cross Border), USA, Chambers Global (2023)

Band 1, Corporate/M&A & Private Equity, Pennsylvania: Philadelphia & Surrounds, Chambers USA (2021–2025)

Ranked, Corporate/M&A & Private Equity, Pennsylvania: Philadelphia & Surrounds, Chambers USA (2019, 2020)

Ranked, Corporate/M&A & Private Equity, Pennsylvania, Chambers USA (2009–2019)

Highly Regarded – State, IFLR1000 Financial and Corporate (2020–2023)

Highly Regarded – State, IFLR1000 United States (2018–2020)

Recognized, Best Law Firms for M&A (Upper Mid-Cap), United States (Leading), Leaders League and Décideurs (2021)

Best of the Bar, Corporate, Philadelphia Business Journal (2018)

Member, American Bar Association

Member, Pennsylvania Bar Association

Member, Board of Directors of the Institute for Law and Economics, University of Pennsylvania

Former Chair, Philadelphia Bar Association - Business Law Section, Mergers & Acquisitions Committee