Mr. Manuel (“Manny”) Rubio has twenty years of experience in negotiating, structuring and consummating various venture capital and private equity transactions, as a well as numerous capital markets transactions.
As an attorney at Willkie Farr & Gallagher he specialized in M&A, MBOs, hostile tender offers, proxy contests, public and private offerings of equity and debt, joint ventures, debt restructuring and corporate governance projects. Mr. Rubio has also worked in one of Argentina’s largest law firm, Marval, O’Farrell & Mairal, specializing in privatizations and debt offerings.
As a Co-Founder and advisor to Columbia Equity Partners, he has supervised and structured various venture capital and private equity related transactions including in such industries as aviation, technology, retail, healthcare. Mr. Rubio was part of the initial management team at apparel company Active Apparel Group, Inc. where he structured the initial private equity investments in the company and provided oversight over the company’s IPO. As a principal at the internet company go2net, Inc., he directed and structure the company’s venture capital funding and directed the company through the IPO process.
Mr. Rubio was with the U.S. State Department as a Foreign Service Officer attached to the U.S. Embassy in Panama where his portfolio included issues regarding the Panama Canal, aviation, maritime, money laundering, international trade and economic matters. In this role, he also wrote numerous reports on international economic, trade, commercial and investment issues, earning the Meritorious Service Award for his work in advancing U.S. interests on trade matters.
From 1999 to 2005, Mr. Rubio served as a member of the Board of Trustee of Fordham Preparatory School in New York, advising the school on various matters, such as its funding requirements, budget, capital improvement plans and recruitment program.
In addition to serving as Of Counsel to Simonetti & Associates, Mr. Rubio also serves as outside general counsel to Garcia Trujillo Holdings, a consulting and merchant banking firm founded by Sol Trujillo, former CEO of U.S. West, Orange and Telestra. Mr. Rubio oversees all legal matters relating to the company and its operations. Mr. Rubio also assist in the negotiation, structuring and implementation of the merchant banking and consulting services offered by Garcia Trujillo.
Mr. Rubio received a B.A. in Economics from Columbia College in New York and a J.D. from Columbia University School of Law where he was a Harlan Fiske Stone Scholar. Mr. Rubio holds a Charted Financial Analyst designation.
Current Representative Transactions
Advising majority shareholder of privately-held Long Island based managing general agent insurance company in its sale to publicly-trade insurance company.
Representing Long Island based sports retailer with over $70 million in annual revenues in connection with a minority investment being made by a New York based private equity fund.
Representing Long Island based company in negotiating licensing of proprietary software with Sega.
Representing U.S. developer of $280 million 70 megawatt solar farm projects located in Ontario Canada, including construction and permanent financing arrangement and EPC contracts.
Representing Garcia Trujillo Holdings in joint venture with RLJ Companies to form and a SBIC fund.
Representing Garcia Trujillo Holding in joint venture with The Yucaiapa Companies to acquire Hispanic-focused television broadcasting stations.