The Work
April 19, 2010 6:32 PM
Hogan & Hartson, Akerman Senterfitt on $685 Million Prison Deal
Posted by Irene Plagianos
The U.S. has the world’s highest incarceration rate. So it's no wonder the private prison business is a growth industry. On Monday, one of the country's leading prison operators got even bigger: The GEO Group Inc. announced plans to buy rival correctional services provider Cornell Companies for $685 million in stock and cash; the deal includes the assumption of about $300 million in Cornell debt.
The combined company will own or manage around 97 correctional facilities as well as 32 behavioral health facilities, and is expected to generate $1.5 billion in revenue. The jails are sure to be in demand. States shackled by budget deficits are increasingly outsourcing parts of their prison systems to private companies, the WSJ reports.
Akerman Senterfitt's Stephen Roddenberry, a lead lawyer for the GEO Group on the deal, says "it seemed like the right time to do a transaction. I think everyone is pleased with it."
Akerman has served as the GEO Group's outside counsel since the company formed in the 1980s. Along with Roddenberry, the Miami-based team on the deal includes partners William Arnhols, Kenneth Alberstadt, Marci Poliakoff, Peter Salomon, and of counsel Jose Gordo.
Hogan & Hartson advised Cornell on the deal. The Washington, D.C-based team is being led by Stuart Stein and Dan Keating and includes Scott McClure, Christian Chandler, and Joseph Krauss.
The deal is expected to close in the third quarter this year.
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