Catherine provides strategic counsel and communications support to companies across industries in a broad range of special situations and high-profile events, including mergers and acquisitions, restructurings and bankruptcies, crisis management and shareholder activism defense. In addition, she works with clients to develop and refine their investor and public relations programs. Her areas of expertise include:

Mergers & Acquisitions

She advises companies in friendly and unsolicited transactions. Select assignments include advising Merck in its acquisition of Acceleron Pharma; Penn National in its acquisition of Score Media and Gaming; Foot Locker in its acquisitions of atmos and WSS; Thermo Fisher Scientific in its acquisition of PPD; Herman Miller in its merger with Knoll; Perspecta in its sale to Peraton, a portfolio company of Veritas Capital; Citrix in its acquisition of Wrike; S&P Global in its acquisition of IHS Markit; Xilinx in its sale to AMD; Gilead Sciences in its acquisition of Immunomedics; Noble Energy in its sale to Chevron; Hexcel in its terminated merger with Woodward; Exact Sciences in its acquisition of Genomic Health; Bristol Myers Squibb in its acquisition of Celgene; and Broadcom in its proposal to acquire Qualcomm, among others.

Post-close, she has also supported several companies through integration processes, including: SWM’s integration with Neenah; Centene’s integration of WellCare; and Bristol Myer Squibb’s integration of Celgene.

Restructuring & Bankruptcy

She advises companies involved in out-of-court financial restructurings and in-court Chapter 11 reorganizations. Select assignments include: Mallinckrodt, LTL Management, Basic Energy Services, CWT, Belk, Serta Simmons Bedding, INSYS, Catalina Marketing, Mattress Firm, American Tire Distributors and Bon-Ton.

Crisis Communications

She has experience supporting clients with crisis preparedness and responses related to a range of issues including litigation, cybersecurity incidents, reputational attacks, regulatory inquiries, short attack campaigns, workforce reductions, facility closures and management succession and unplanned leadership changes.

Investor Relations & Public Relations

She works with clients to enhance their overall corporate communications strategy, including corporate positioning and message development, thought leadership and profile raising, quarterly earnings preparation, employee communications, investor conferences and presentations, analyst days and annual shareholder meetings.

Shareholder Activism

She has supported companies in public and private activist situations opposite some of the most notable activist investors, including Starboard Value, Elliott Management, Trian Partners, Sachem Head Capital Management, ValueAct Capital and JANA Partners.

Catherine joined Joele Frank in 2017. She received a BA in Economics and French from Wake Forest University.