Stephen Reaume is a Member in the firm’s Corporate and Mergers and Acquisitions practice group.  His practice includes mergers and acquisitions, commercial transactions and general corporate counseling.

Mergers and Acquisitions

Mr. Reaume specializes in mergers, buy and sell side stock and asset transactions, divestitures, leveraged buyouts, recapitalizations, reorganizations, and private equity investments.  Mr. Reaume’s clientele ranges across manufacturing, financial advisory, healthcare, marine, and many other industries. His expertise extends to various transaction structures, carve-out transactions, and arrangements involving rollover equity and earn-outs. Mr. Reaume’s background also includes representing family-owned and closely-held businesses, addressing multifaceted considerations like transaction tax strategies, estate planning, purchase price adjustments, and risk allocation solutions.

Mr. Reaume offers comprehensive support to financial industry professionals and registered investment advisory (RIA) firms nationwide. His counsel encompasses various facets, including SEC and state registration, compliance matters, client and partner transitions, as well as broader aspects like succession planning.

Additionally, Mr. Reaume provides legal counsel to healthcare providers and healthcare practice groups, covering areas such as contract review, healthcare compliance, and general legal issues.

Mr. Reaume brings a comprehensive understanding of private-equity acquisitions, auction sale processes, distressed transactions, corporate carveouts, management buyouts, and cross-border transactions. His expertise is particularly evident in advising private equity funds, where he navigates unique legal issues related to financial acquirers, including competitive auction processes, transaction tax strategies, equity incentive plans, representation and warranty insurance, debt financing, and funding considerations.

General Corporate Counseling and Commercial Transactions

Mr. Reaume works with clients on their business strategies including entity formation, corporate governance, shareholder agreements and other ownership agreements.  His experience includes conducting thorough due diligence, reviewing and drafting contracts to manage risk and seize opportunity, analyzing terms and availability of funding sources and succession planning.  In addition, Mr. Reaume represents clients in the negotiating and drafting of various business contracts, including employment agreements, non-compete agreements, non-disclosure and confidentiality agreements, sales representative agreements, supply agreements and others complex commercial agreements.

Education

Mr. Reaume earned his J.D., cum laude, from Wayne State University Law School. During law school, Mr. Reaume was the Managing Member of The Wayne Law Review, an oralist and brief writer for the Wayne Law Moot Court National Team, and received the Board of Governors Scholarship and the Dean’s Book Award Scholarship. Prior to law school, Mr. Reaume earned his Bachelor of Arts in Sociology, summa cum laude, from DePaul University and was awarded the Department of Sociology – Outstanding Senior Award and the Award for Scholastic Excellence.

Professional Recognition and Affiliations

Mr. Reaume was named as a 2024 and a 2025 Best Lawyers: Ones to Watch for Corporate Law and Mergers and Acquisitions Law.

Mr. Reaume is a member of the American Bar Association, the State Bar of Michigan, the State Bar of Michigan’s Business Law Section, the State Bar of Michigan’s Young Lawyers Section, the Catholic Lawyers Society of Metropolitan Detroit, the Incorporated Society of Irish American Lawyers, and the Financial and Estate Planning Council of Metropolitan Detroit