Mark A. Bluhm

With Mark Bluhm, you get much more than a 30-year, Chambers-rated business lawyer. He was a co-founder of a startup healthcare company, a bank director for 25 years and graduated at the top of his MBA class. Mark was the Chief Executive Officer of Lathrop Gage LLP (one of the two firms that combined to form Lathrop GPM) for more than four years, where he served on the Executive Committee for almost eight years and acted as the firm's Marketing Partner for nine years.

Representative Experience

The following representative transactions highlight Mark’s range of experience.

Acquisitions / Dispositions

• Represented clients in acquisitions and divestitures with an aggregate value in excess of $1 billion during the three years before becoming Chief Executive Officer. 
• Represented Silpada Designs, Inc. in the sale of its business to Avon Products, Inc. for $650 million in cash, and the subsequent repurchase of the company.
• Represented the stockholders of Ivy Animal Health, Inc. in their sale of the company to Eli Lilly and Company. 
• Represented the shareholders of Russell Stover Candies, Inc. in their acquisition of Whitman's Candies from Pet Incorporated. 
• Supervised and handled the sale, liquidation or other disposition of 17 subsidiaries of Franklin Savings Association during the three-year period after the Resolution Trust Corporation was appointed Franklin's conservator. 
• Represented BlueScope Steel North America Corporation in several acquisitions. 

Strategic Initiatives

• Represented Sprint PCS in structuring its PCS Affiliate Program and negotiating management, services and license agreements with companies to build-out and operate Sprint PCS networks in specific geographic regions. 
• Represented Sprint PCS in obtaining financing for its PCS Affiliates, including syndicated senior secured financing, subordinated debt and public offerings of equity and high yield bonds, aggregating more than $3 billion. 
• Represented Sprint PCS in its swaps of FCC spectrum licenses with AT&T Wireless and T-Mobile. 
• Represented Sprint Spectrum Holding Company, L.P. in its acquisition of a partnership that holds a broadband personal communications services license for the Washington, D.C./Baltimore major trading area, and in the subsequent sale of the GSM System owned by that partnership to Omnipoint Corporation (a predecessor of T-Mobile). 
• Created and executed all aspects of the sales process of a bank and bank holding company. This included drafting the disclosure material, identifying and contacting the potential buyers, managing the potential buyers’ diligence process, selecting the final purchase candidates, negotiating the price, business terms and purchase agreements and closing the transaction successfully.

Start-Ups / Business Investments

• Represented several companies and individuals in their investments in unaffiliated businesses. 
• Represented several companies in raising venture capital at various stages of capitalization.
• Co-founded a healthcare start-up. The company successfully completed a multimillion-dollar capital raise and negotiated several strategic alliances to enhance solutions.       

Governance – Mark has served as board counsel to numerous privately held companies, including financial institutions. In this role, Mark works with the board and the company’s stockholders to develop policies and procedures that promote efficient decision-making while complying with requisite corporate formality. Mark has also served as outside general counsel for a variety of privately held companies. In this capacity, Mark works closely with the senior management teams of the clients, assisting them with strategic initiatives, strategic relationship issues with vendors and customers, and fundamental business transactions. 

• Greater Kansas City Chamber of Commerce, Former Member of the Board of Directors
• Kansas City Tomorrow, Year VIII Member 
• Norbank, Former Member of the Board of Directors
• The Civic Council of Greater Kansas City, Former Member

• Children's Center for the Visually Impaired, Former Member of the Executive Committee and the Board of Directors
• The Bacchus Foundation, Past President and Former Member of the Board of Directors
• The Children's Place, Former Member of the Executive Committee and the Board of Directors
• Economic Club of Kansas City, Board of Directors, 2019-2023

• Ingram's 250 Honoree, 2016-2020
• Selected among The Best Lawyers in America®, 2010-2024
• Chambers USA: America’s Leading Lawyers for Business, Missouri Corporate/M&A, 2010 - 2018, Eminent Practitioner
• Super Lawyers, Missouri & Kansas, 2005-2013
• Martindale-Hubbell® "AV" Rating