David Wheeler Email & Phone Number

Cedar Park, TX, US

Cedar Park, Texas, US

• Head of legal and compliance for a private equity owned pre-IPO space transportation company that provides rockets, lunar landers and spacecraft to global government and commercial customers.
• Principal advisor to CEO and CFO; strategic partner to executive team; Board of Directors Secretary.
• Responsible for corporate governance, risk management, contract negotiations and management, litigation management, and export and regulatory matters.
• Manage legal budgets and select and supervise outside counsel and expert advisors as required.Selected Achievements:
• Built small, high performing legal and compliance team from scratch.
• Led structuring & negotiation of $2.5B joint-development program with Northrop Grumman for a medium lift launch vehicle.

Cleveland, Ohio, US

Represent public and private companies in domestic and cross-border M&A transactions.

Orlando, Florida, US

• GENERAL COUNSEL, Global Engine Services (2019 – 2021)GENERAL COUNSEL, Global Engine Services & Ontic (2015 – 2019)
• Led legal operations for Global Engine Services ($550M P+L; sold for $230M) and Ontic ($220M P+L; sold for $1.4B) overseeing all commercial, corporate, compliance, risk management, and litigation matters.
• Principal advisor to division CEO and CFO; strategic partner to division executive team.
• Managed legal budgets and selected and supervised outside legal counsel and expert advisers as needed.
• From 2015 to 2018, also led global ethics and compliance for Signature Aviation ($3B public company), including policy development, employee training, program benchmarking, and reporting to the Board of Directors and.
• Part of turn-around team improving Global Engine Services business from a loss position in 2015 to $45M EBITDA in 2020.

Cincinnati, OH, US

• Senior Counsel, BGA / General Counsel, Unison, Power, Mechanical Systems, & Passport Engine ($2.1B P+L) 2013 – 2015Senior Counsel, Business Development / General Counsel, Avionics ($700M P+L) 2012 – 2013Senior Counsel.
• Senior M&A counsel for GE Aviation ($26B P+L), handling acquisitions, divestitures, Joint Ventures, and other strategic transactions from structuring and negotiating transactions to closing and overseeing the.
• Led legal activities for GE Aviation Systems businesses, including commercial contracts, risk management, compliance, and legal policies.
• Collaborated with executives and management to develop and grow new and existing business lines and products, and drove legal initiatives for commercial best practices, localization, growth, and simplification.
•  Provided insider trading training to GE Aviation executive leadership and acted as corporate governance subject matter expert for all GE Aviation subsidiaries and Joint Ventures.Selected Achievements:
• Closed $1B Joint Venture for the development of technology for GE9X engines for Boeing 777x aircraft.

Cincinnati, OH, US

Cincinnati, OH, US

• Six-month interim engagement for multi-site machining business (Squire Sanders client) to improve the overall performance of the business, increasing profitability, growing the business, and ensuring compliance with.
• Led sales, administration, quality, and finance activities, restructured the sales function, and managed the re-certification of the company's quality system (ISO 9001:2008).

Cleveland, Ohio, US

• Structured domestic and cross-border acquisitions, divestitures, leveraged buyouts and joint ventures, ran auctions, drafted and negotiated deal agreements, managed due diligence processes, and planned and supported.
• Specialized in middle-market M&A transactions ($50M to $500M) for aviation, financial services, healthcare, and industrials.
• Represented borrowers and lenders in a variety of acquisition financing transactions, syndicated credit facilities, second lien debt, subordinated debt transactions, and asset based and unsecured loans.Selected.
• Represented a private equity firm in the simultaneous $300M IPO of its investment fund and closing of a $225M credit facility, immediately followed by the acquisition of four (4) portfolio companies for $215M in the.
• Prepared prospectuses for IPOs and follow-on offerings, proxies for annual and special stockholder meetings, and periodic securities reports (Forms 8K, 10Q, 10K) typically involving drafting the business, risk factors.
• Completed numerous private placements in connection with formation of private equity and hedge funds.

Juris Doctorate, Law, Business And Taxation Emphasis

Bachelor Of Science, Business Administration, Professional Accounting Curriculum

High School