Biography
Rick Frye is a partner in Weil’s Private Equity practice and is based in Dallas. Rick advises private equity sponsors and their portfolio companies in acquisitions and dispositions (both public and private), joint ventures, minority equity investments, venture capital investments and other complex corporate transactions. Rick has substantial experience in a variety of industries, including energy, media, technology, financial services, insurance, food and consumer products, and healthcare services.
Experience
- Advent International in its acquisitions of BOS Solutions Ltd., Culligan International Company and of a majority stake in Distribution International, Inc.
- Aethon Energy in the formation of Aethon United LP, a joint venture with Ontario Teachers' Pension Plan and Redbird Capital Partners, and its acquisition of upstream and midstream oil and gas assets of J-W Operating Company and its affiliates
- Arcosa, Inc. in its $375 million acquisition of StonePoint Ultimate Holding and its $180 million acquisition of Ameron Pole Products LLC
- AxiomSL Group, Inc. in the sale of a controlling stake to Thoma Bravo by AxiomSL's founder, TCV and certain other investors
- General Electric Capital Corporation in its $6.9 billion sale of its United States, Mexico, Australia and New Zealand fleet businesses to Element Financial Corporation and in the sale of its European fleet businesses to Arval Service Lease S.A.
- General Electric Capital Corporation in the sale of its consumer mortgage business in Mexico, including its $2 billion consumer mortgage portfolio, to Grupo Financiero Santander México, S.A.B. de C.V.
- Government Brands Holdings, LLC (at the time, an indirect portfolio company of PSG and Greater Sum Ventures) in a recapitalization by PSG and TPG Tech Adjacencies, with Greater Sum Ventures exiting
- Greater Sum Ventures in its acquisition of Strax Technologies, LLC
- Healthcare Solutions, Inc., a portfolio company of Brazos Private Equity Partners, in its $405 million sale to Catamaran Corporation
- Inhabit IQ (a portfolio company of Goldman Sachs, Insight Partners, GSV and PSG) in its acquisition of ResMan, LLC
- Kainos Capital in its acquisitions of Kettle Cuisine, JTM Foods LLC and Trilliant Food and Nutrition, LLC; the sale of its portfolio company InterHealth Nutraceuticals, Inc.; Kettle Cuisine in its acquisition of Del Monaco Foods Inc.; and Olde Thompson in its $950 million sale to Olam Food Ingredients (a subsidiary of Olam International Limited)
- Kologik Software, Inc. (a platform company of GSV Management, LLC) in its acquisition of Kologik, LLC
- Main Event Entertainment, Inc., a subsidiary of Ardent Leisure Group Limited, in Ardent's sale of a 24.2% stake in Main Event to RedBird Capital Partners together with an option for Redbird to acquire a controlling stake within a defined period
- Mubadala, as lead investor, in a $700 million funding round for REEF Technology (f/k/a ParkJockey Global Inc.) and, together with SoftBank Group and Oaktree, in a funding round for REEF Technology
- Mubadala Development Company PJSC, a public joint stock company wholly owned by the Government of the Emirate of Abu Dhabi, as a leading member of a consortium including Sony Corporation, in the consortium's $2.2 billion acquisition of EMI Music Publishing
- MDC Capital alongside SoftBank Group and ParkJockey Global Inc. in the acquisition of Imperial Parking Corporation
- Peak Rock Capital and its portfolio company The Tranzonic Companies in its acquisition of Supply Source Enterprises, Inc. (a portfolio company of H.I.G Capital)
- Providence Equity Partners in its acquisition of GlobalTranz Enterprises, Inc.; the $7.5 billion sale of ZeniMax Media, Inc.; and Blackboard Inc. in its sale to Anthology (a portfolio company of Veritas Capital and Leeds Equity Partners)
- Providence Equity Partners and PSG, as part of a consortium led by CVC Capital Partners and that also included Ridgemont Equity Partners, in the business combination of GlobalTranz Enterprises, Inc. with Worldwide Express, Inc.
- PSG in its acquisitions of SchoolStatus LLC, ClassTag Inc. and majority stakes in Dental Intelligence, Inc., Jobcase, Inc. and Kenect, LLC; its acquisition, together with M33 Growth LLC, of Total Synergy Pty Ltd; its investments in DigitalEd, Propertybase, Semarchy SAS, Validity, Inc. and Wagepoint Inc.; its $800 million investment, alongside Golub Capital and others, in LogicMonitor Inc.; as lead investor in an investment in, and in a separate, secondary purchase of common shares of, Code Climate Inc.; its investment in and subsequent sale of a significant ownership stake in EverCommerce; its sale of DivvyCloud Corporation; together with Vista Equity Partners, in the sale of a minority stake in Inhabit IQ; Meal Ticket Inc. in its acquisition of MarketMan Ltd.; Propertybase in its acquisition of Cross Media, LLC and its sale to Lone Wolf Technologies (a portfolio company of Stone Point Capital); SchoolStatus LLC in its acquisition of TeachBoost; Traliant Operating, LLC in its acquisition of Kantola Training Solutions, LLC; Netsurion LLC in the sale of its Secure Edge Networking business segment to Acumera, Inc. (a portfolio company of Peak Rock Capital) and sale of substantially all of the remaining assets to Lumifi Cyber, Inc.; Vehlo Holdings LP in its sale of a majority stake to a consortium led by Greater Sum Ventures, with PSG remaining a significant investor in Vehlo; and its sale of Sovereign Sportsman Holdings, LLC to PayIt, LLC; and Vertical Knowledge L.L.C. in its sale to Babel Street, Inc.
- Susquehanna Growth Equity and Real Capital Analytics, Inc. in Real Capital’s $950 million sale to MSCI Inc.
- Thompson Street Capital Partners in its acquisition of a majority stake in SmartProcure, Inc. and SmartProcure, Inc. in its acquisition of Fedmine, LLC
- Tower Three Partners in its acquisition and subsequent sale of The Paslin Company and its acquisition of Nurse Assist
- Trinity Industries, Inc. in its tender offer acquisition of Quixote Corporation
- Trive Capital in its sales of Southern Towing Company, LLC and Valence Surface Technologies, Inc.
- Warwick Energy Group in its acquisition of R/C Sugarkane LLC from Riverstone Holdings LLC
- Warwick Partners III in its acquisition of the equity of Warwick Partners I
- A private equity fund in its investment in the acquisition and development of acreage in the Permian Basin
Rick is recognized as a leading lawyer for Private Equity in Texas by Chambers USA 2024, where clients note he “always stays cool, calm and collected, enabling negotiations to go smoothly. He is current on market terms and always brings an informed opinion.” He is recognized as a “Best Lawyer” for Mergers and Acquisitions Law in Dallas by Best Lawyers in America* 2024.
Prior to rejoining Weil, Rick was a partner at an international law firm. In 2011, Rick began a one-year secondment with the M&A legal team of Mubadala Development Company, the strategic investment and development company of the Abu Dhabi government, followed by a one-year secondment as the general counsel of EMI Music Publishing Management.
* Best Lawyers (in America) is by Levine Leichtman Capital Partners
Awards and Recognition, Firm News & Announcements
Awards and Recognition
- Richard Frye Named to “Leading” Lawyer for Private Equity in Texas Award Brief — Chambers USA 2024
- Richard Frye Named a “Best Lawyer” for Mergers & Acquisitions Law in Dallas Award Brief — Best Lawyers in America 2024 (Best Lawyers (in America) is by Levine Leichtman Capital Partners)
Firm News & Announcements
- Weil Advises PSG on $800M Investment in LogicMonitor Deal Brief — November 21, 2024
- Weil Guides Ad Hoc Group of Noteholders in 2U’s Successful $1 Billion Strategic Restructuring Deal Brief — October 11, 2024