Our Lawyers » Leo A. Keevican, Jr.

Leo A Keevican, Jr.

Since co-founding Keevican Weiss Bauerle & Hirsch LLC in 1988, Managing Director Leo A. Keevican, Jr. has steered the law firm with a clear vision: focusing on the needs of entrepreneurial-minded clients.

The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette called Mr. Keevican a "middle-market merger maker" and "one of Pittsburgh's busiest mergers and acquisitions attorneys." In fact, Mr. Keevican has led the firm in orchestrating over 400 transactions and serves as the firm's leader for its Mergers and Acquisitions, practice. During his more than 30 years of practice, Mr. Keevican has completed transactions involving operations or companies throughout the United States, Europe, Asia, Central and South America and Australia.

Under Mr. Keevican's leadership, the firm has launched ancillary services to provide additional professional services to its clients. In a Chicago Tribune article entitled, "Law firms take steps out of the box," Mr. Keevican was quoted for being among the first law firms in the country to establish ancillary services.

Among his accomplishments in his legal practice, Mr. Keevican has had extensive dealings in both the steel, rail and printing industries. The Firm, under his leadership, has worked with over one hundred companies in the steel industry and helped form MotivePower, the largest remanufacturer of railroad locomotives in the United States. He has represented a privately held international manufacturing company in its acquisition of one of Europe's largest railroad wheel and axle manufacturers from one of the world's largest producers of stainless steel.

Mr. Keevican and his M&A group represented the purchasers of Rouge Steel from Ford Motor Company. He also represented a publicly-held manufacturer in a merger, resulting in the creation of a $1.3 billion diversified manufacturing concern. Mr. Keevican was instrumental in creating the only American-owned ferroalloys manufacturer working with private equity, the State of West Virginia and the United Steelworkers of America to form a 30% ESOP. He also organized and developed a U.S. presence for a French-owned manufacturing company and served as its general counsel, negotiating over $400,000,000 of contracts.

In 1977 Mr. Keevican, together with his partner Michael Weiss, represented the sellers of a large Pittsburgh based industrial company to Kohlberg Kravis & Roberts (now KKR). Since that time, Mr. Keevican's practice has had extensive involvement with private equity transactions, including representing over 30 private equity and venture capital groups in their transactions, both in the United States and abroad. In addition, Mr. Keevican serves as the general counsel to a $400 million family of venture capital funds in their investment activities.

Mr. Keevican has served as the Secretary and General Counsel of Freedom Forge Corporation (Standard Steel) and as a Director of American Alloys, Inc., since each company's inception.

He is a former member of the Board of Directors of the United Way of Allegheny County and the West Penn Chapter of the March of Dimes. He currently serves as a Director of the Shadyside Hospital Foundation. Mr. Keevican is also active in major fund raising campaigns for the Hillman Cancer Center, the Little Sisters of the Poor and Catholic Charities.

Additional examples of Mr. Keevican's experience include:

• Carrying out a restructuring and disposition program that cut a client's losses and saved it from having to take its Australian subsidiary company through bankruptcy proceedings-all within two weeks of being called in for help.

• Reorganizing a $250 million manufacturer of railroad wheels and axles out of the Allegheny International bankruptcy.

• Representing the receiver in the bankruptcy of a national hockey league franchise by negotiating the interim financing agreements and player contracts and overseeing the efforts necessary to effect the stabilization, marketing and ultimate sale of the team.

• Assisting in the privatization of a state-owned freight railroad and above ground passenger railway and subway systems in Argentina and Mexico for an American client.

• Assisting a manufacturer of equipment used to monitor coal-fired boiler emissions in connection with the sale of the business for approximately $20 million to a British company.

• Representing an international locomotive remanufacturer in connection with its relations with OEMS (in United States, Canada, Europe and Asia).

• Representing a public company that developed systems for use by the electric utility industry with respect to product development arrangements, protection of intellectual property, securing of governmental funding, creation of strategic alliances and securities law compliance.

• Serving as outside counsel to an NFL Franchise.

• Representing individuals investors in their investments with an NHL franchise and in a Major League Baseball franchise.

• Representing a multi billion dollar distressed bond fund in the acquisition of the largest SBA Steel bar manufacturer in the United States.

• Representing a large private equity fund in its negotiations with the Department of Justice and the Federal Trade Commission to acquire a multi billion dollar fully integrated steel making facility.