Benton B. Bodamer

• The Legal 500 United States
  • Mergers & Acquisitions - Corporate and Commercial, 2024
  • Cannabis, 2022-2024
• Columbus Business First
  • “40 Under 40,” Honoree, 2019
• The Business Journals 
  • National Influencers , Law List
    
• Massachusetts Lawyers Weekly
  • “Up and Coming Lawyer,” 2014
    
•  Boston Bar Association
  • One of 14 participants selected for Public Interest Leadership Program, 2012

Mr. Bodamer has advised clients on domestic and cross-border transactions of all sizes and complexity.  His experience includes advising:

Advent International in various investments, including its acquisitions of Noosa Yoghurt and Morrison Supply Company, and its joint venture (with Warburg Pincus) in Brazilian clothing company Dudalina S.A., and subsequent sale of Dudalina to Restoque;

Berkshire Partners in its acquisition of SRS Distribution and in its divestiture of an investment in premium toy company Melissa & Doug;

BioLite Energy in capital raising transactions and various commercial arrangements, including acquisition of an EU certified emission reduction platform for future development of carbon offsets from high-efficiency stoves;

Charlesbank Capital Partners in the acquisition of L&L Foods by Charlesbank portfolio company Peacock Foods, and subsequent sale of Peacock Foods to UK public company Greencore, and its sale of portfolio company United Road Services to Carlyle; 

Connolly Holdings (now Cotiviti) in its merger with iHealth;

Iron Mountain in the $380 million carve-out sale of its digital business unit to Autonomy Corporation, including simultaneous asset and stock sales in the U.S. and nine foreign jurisdictions;

Leeds Equity Partners in the acquisition of the Fusion Education Group;

Oaktree Capital Management in the strategic combination of its portfolio company Bioplan with (KKR and DLJ Merchant Banking-owned) Visant’s Arcade;

Providence Equity Partners in connection with its acquisitions of Miller Heiman, IPS Learning Systems and VitalSmarts, and its carve-out cross-border acquisition of assets from UK public company Informa plc;

SpeedCast International in its carve-out acquisition of the Caprock division of Harris Corporation and in its CFIUS-approved acquisition of satellite communications firm UltiSat, Inc.;

TA Associates in its investments in Gamma Technologies, CCRM, Flexera, and PetPeople;

Thomas H. Lee Partners in various investments including the acquisition of an upscale churrascaria-style restaurant; and

Velos Partners in a comprehensive restructuring of and new investment in Surf Airlines Inc.

Benton has also advised state-compliant cannabis clients in their most sophisticated transactions, including advising:

LivFree Wellness in its public strategic transaction with AYR Strategies (formerly Cannabis Strategies Acquisition Corporation);

Common Citizen as outside company counsel, including assistance in a strategic reorganization and subsequent commercial relationship with institutional debt financing sources;

Three separate Michigan-based vertically-integrated operators with strategic reorganizations and institutional funding;

An international cannabis private equity fund in acquiring a minority interest in a CBD cosmetics manufacturer;

A Canadian public company in connection with the rollout of CBD topical kiosks in US jurisdictions;

A Canadian public company / US multi-state operator with acquisitions in Nevada and Ohio;

LA-based cultivation professional with seed funding, as well as successful cannabis strain/cultivar patent issuance;

A minority-owned business in connection with an international joint venture for cannabis operations in New Jersey;

An Ohio-based biosynthetics developer with a yeast-based cannabinoid platform buildout;

A multi-state operator in connection with an international joint venture for cannabis operations in Florida;

High-net worth founders with celebrity-branded cannabis lounges in selected adult-use jurisdictions;

A pre-IPO vertically-integrated hemp / CBD operator with shipping regulatory compliance; and

A US cannabis REIT as primary deal counsel for new $350m fund.

* - Includes matters prior to joining Dickinson Wright.

• Co-Author, "Cliffs Without Fences and Fences Without Cliffs: Exploring the Emerging Conflicts Between Quasi-Legal Intoxicating Hemp and Regulated State-Legal Cannabis," Ohio State Legal Studies Research Paper, No. 855, Drug Enforcement and Policy Center, June 2024
• Co-Author, "At the Intersection of Law and Technology: Navigating Generative AI in the Legal Industry Part 2," Texas Lawyer, March 2024
• Co-Author, "Artificial Incompetence: How Generative AI Creates Latent Intellectual Property Issues," The Journal of Robotics, Artificial Intelligence & Law, March 2024
• Moderator, “Sell-Side,” Navigating M&A Uncertainty, Smart Business Dealmakers Conference, September 2023
• Author, “A Prescription for Progress? Would a Schedule III Reclassification of Psychoactive Cannabis Help or Hurt State Operators?”  Ohio State Legal Studies Research Paper, No. 799, Drug Enforcement and Policy Center No. 72, September 2023
• Moderator, "Lawyering in Cannabis," Ohio State University, Moritz College of Law, September 2023
• Speaker, “The Convergence of Sacred Substances and FDA-Route Psychedelics,” Eighth Native American Cannabis and Hemp Conference, June 2023
• Panelist, YACG Columbus Luncheon: State of Play-the Ohio Cannabis Legalization Battle, May 2023
• Speaker, Benzinga Psychedelics Capital Conference, April 2023
• Speaker, "Investing in the legal US cannabis market & Panel Discussion" CFA Society of Columbus, February 2023
• Panelist, "Current Economic Environment and its Impact on the Sell-Side M&A Market," Smart Business Dealmakers, The M&A Boom: How Long Can It Last?, September 2022 
• Panelist, "Selling a Business," Smart Business Dealmakers Conference, The M&A Boom: How Long Can It Last?, September 2022 
• Moderator, "Adult-Use Marijuana Reform," Ohio State University, Moritz College of Law, Drug Enforcement and Policy Center, April 2022 
• Moderator, The Art of Strategic Acquisitions, Smart Business Dealmakers Conference Columbus, September 2021 
• Speaker, “Psychedelic M&A Trends,” Momentum’s 2nd Annual Psychedelic Opportunity Worldwide Virtual Summit, June 2021 
• Interview, Q&A with… Benton Bodamer, NJ Cannabis Insider, October 2020 
• Guest Speaker, The Green Peak Podcast, CannabisRadio.com, October 2020
• Guest Column: 8 Things Cannabis Businesses Need to Know About Using Receivership | Cannabis Business Times (July 2020)
• Why the Pathway for Psychedelics is and will Remain Drastically Different than Cannabis | Panelist, Momentum's Psychedelic Opportunity Worldwide Virtual Summit (June 2020)
• Hemp: State and Federal Regulation after the 2018 Farm Bill | Panelist, Cannavest East, Boston (February 2020)
• Cannabis-Infused Beverages: Beyond the Hype and Excitement | Panelist, Cannavest East, Boston (February 2020)
• Unions Elbow Into Pot Industry With State-Backed ‘Peace’ Deals | Quoted, Bloomberg Law (February 2020)
• STATES, SAFE, and the Impact of Cannabis Banking | Panelist, MJBizDaily Investor Intelligence Conference (December 2019)
• Mergers & Acquisitions | Cannabis Law Conference, Ohio State Bar Association (October 2019) 
• Cannabis and Commercial Real Estate: Business Opportunity and Legal Conundrum | Panelist, International Council of Shopping Centers, U.S. Law Conference, San Diego (October 2019)
• Crystal Balling the Future of Cannabis | Panelist, Institutional Capital in Cannabis Conference (IC3) (October 2019)
• Before, During and After The Sale Process | Moderator, Smart Business Dealmakers Conference Columbus (September 2019)
• Lawyering in the Cannabis Space; Assessing the State and Development of the Cannabis Industry | Moderator, Buckeyes in Cannabis, Drug Enforcement and Policy Center (September 2019)
• Hemp legalization is a slippery slope ... and that’s OK | The Columbus Dispatch (September 2019)
• Why Family Offices? | Panelist, CannaVest West (July 2019)
• Investing in the Cannabis Industry | Panelist, Opal Family Office Winter Forum (March 2019)
• Ohio, Kentucky, Indiana, Michigan & Pennsylvania Retail Development & Law Symposium, ICSC Columbus (March 2019) 
• Business of Cannabis Roundtable | Panelist, Drug Enforcement And Policy Center (January 2019) 
• Listen to Mitch McConnell - CBD is Not Marijuana | The Columbus Dispatch (September 2018) 
• Troubled Waters: Bridging the Unexpected | Panelist, Aspire Columbus (September 2018)
• Achieving Earnouts Without Fallout | Buyouts (November 2015) (with Michael Kendall)
• The New Frontier of Agreements to Negotiate | Law 360 (June 2013)
• CYA on that LOI: Avoiding Liability Under Preliminary Agreements | Metropolitan Corp. Couns. (February 2012) (with Kevin Sullivan)
• Renewed Clarity After Clear Channel: Recent Cases Reaffirm the Finality of Section 363 Asset Sales | Pratt’s J. Bankr. L., Vol. 6, No. 7 (October 2010) (with Joe Basile)
• Parsing Piccadilly: A New York ruling may bring back Section 1146(a) transfer tax exemptions for Section 363 Sales | M&A Journal, Vol. 9, No. 5 (2009) (with Joe Basile)
• Psychoactive Substances, Dietary Supplements and the War on “Drugs”: Law, Myth and Tradition as the Social Control of Consciousness | 66 Ohio St. L.J. 1311 (2005)