Zach Detra represents clients in transactional matters, including mergers and acquisitions, debt and equity financings, joint ventures, private fund formation and investments, partnership and operating agreements, entity structuring and other commercial contracts. While he has experience in a broad range of industries all over the world and regards his practice as being industry agnostic, Mr. Detra’s practice has included transactions involving private equity; the purchase, sale, lease, operation, and maintenance of aircraft and helicopters; manufacturing and product distribution; real estate development and financing; equipment purchases, leasing, and financings; technology and intellectual property; startup and early stage businesses; and international considerations.
Mr. Detra is a 2006 graduate of McGill University’s Institute of Air and Space Law and a 2005 graduate of the University of Denver Sturm College of Law, where he served as editor-in-chief of the Denver Journal of International Law and Policy. Mr. Detra has an undergraduate degree in Political Economy and English. He is currently a member of the American, Canadian American, Colorado, and Denver Bar Associations. Mr. Detra previously served on the Board of Trustees of the Colorado Symphony and DGS' Diversity, Equity, & Inclusion Committee. Mr. Detra currently serves on the Board of the Colfax Marathon and the Executive Committee for the Metro Denver Economic Development Corporation.
Mr. Detra is a member of the 2018 class of Leadership Denver, a foundation leadership program that strives to educate and inspire people who want to make a difference as community leaders. He was also included as a 40 Under 40 award winner by the Denver Business Journal in 2018.
Mr. Detra has experience representing clients in a wide range of transactions in various industries, some representative examples of which include:
Manufacturing & Industrials
- Intertech Plastics, LLC, an innovative solutions provider of complex, precision injection molded components, in its sale to TriMas (NASDAQ: TRS).
- The acquirers in the acquisition of Capco, LLC, a defense department supplier of machine gun mounting systems, small arms and ordinance components, electronic and mechanical assemblies, electro-explosive devices, and other hardware and energetic items, and the sellers in their subsequent sale of Capco, LLC to Chumash Capital Investments.
- ESS Metron, a leader in designing and producing highly-engineered electrical equipment solutions, in its sale to Riot Blockchain, Inc. (NASDAQ: RIOT).
- PERENfra in its water infrastructure partnership with DIF Capital Partners, which targets large scale investments towards development of a portfolio of over $1.5 billion.
- Brannan Sand & Gravel Co., in its acquisition of Ready Mixed Concrete Company from Boral Limited (ASX: BLD).
- Majestic Metals, LLC, a leading provider of precision sheet metal fabrication services, in its sale to CORE Industrial Partners.
- R-W Specialties, a wholesale distributor of specialty building products serving a diversified customer base located throughout the Mountain West, in its sale to Strength Capital Partners, LLC.
- Split-Rail Fence Company in its sale to U.S. Fence Solutions, a portfolio company of Building Industry Partners.
- Aqua-Hot Heating Systems, Inc., a leading provider of hydronic heating systems to the RV industry, in its sale to Airxcel Inc., a portfolio company of L Catterton.
- RFMW Ltd., a RF and microwave specialty component distributor, in its sale to TTI, Inc., a Berkshire Hathaway company.
- CTAP, LLC, a leading OCTG supplier in the United States operating out of 11 service centers located across the major oil and gas basins with a robust transportation and logistics network, in its sale to Sooner Inc., a member of Marubeni-Itochu Steel Group.
- Kodiak Building Partners in its acquisition of Drywall Material Sales, a distributor of drywall, steel studs, lath, plaster, and other related building materials.
- Vail Honeywagon Ltd., a waste and recycling services company in Vail Colorado, in its sale to Mountain Waste & Recycling.
- Tri-Lakes Disposal in its sale to GFL Environmental, a leading North American provider of diversified environmental solutions.
- Prairie Disposal Inc., an industry-leading waste management services company, in its sale to R360 Environmental Solutions.
- Jayco Manufacturing, a metal stamping and fabrication company, in its sale to Sage Metals Private Limited, a portfolio company of Delos Capital.
- Westmoreland Coal Company (NASDAQ: WLB) in its acquisition of the 13,400-acre Kemmerer mine located in Kemmerer, Wyoming from Chevron Mining, Inc.
- J2 Partners, a Boulder-based private equity firm, in its stock purchase of Instrument Sales & Service, Inc., a diversified manufacturing, re-manufacturing, and distribution company offering turnkey supply chain solutions for the automotive and capital equipment industries, and, more recently, in its acquisition and financing of Craig Energy Holdings LLC (f/k/a Craig’s Roustabout Service, Inc.), a company specializing in oil and gas field construction, blasting, drilling, trucking, roustabout, disposal, and hydro-excavation services.
Aviation
- Air Methods Corporation (previously, NASDAQ: AIRM), a leading air medical transport company, in the following acquisitions:
- Sundance Helicopters, Inc., a helicopter tour operator with 20 aircraft based in Las Vegas, Nevada, which focuses primarily on Grand Canyon helicopter tours, but also helicopter services to support firefighting, natural resource agency operations, vertical lifts, aerial photography/motion pictures, news gathering, and aerial surveying.
- American Jets, Inc., a fixed-wing air ambulance provider based in Fort Peirce Florida, which operates a fleet of Learjet aircraft and provides worldwide air ambulance transport services.
- Blue Hawaiian Helicopters, Inc., a helicopter tour operator with 24 aircraft based in Hawaii, which is one of the world’s largest aerial tour operators and is the premier helicopter tour company in the state of Hawaii, offering a diverse portfolio of 12 scheduled tours on five of Hawaii’s six tourist islands.
- Mindoro Investments Limited (Cyprus) in its sale to ASL Aviation Group Limited (Ireland) of the FARNAIR Group of companies, which is based in Switzerland and consists of four airlines, FARNAIR Switzerland and FARNAIR Hungary, Quikjet India, and K-Mile (a joint venture in Southeast Asia), and provides a wide range of air cargo and aviation services across the world.
- FARNAIR Switzerland and FARNAIR Hungary in their acquisition and lease of Boeing 737-400 aircraft, including the conversions of those aircraft into freighter configurations, and then export to Hungary, where they entered commercial service.
- U.A.E.-based cargo airline in the acquisition of B1900 freighters and negotiation of a fleet maintenance program agreement with the European affiliate of a Canadian aircraft engine manufacturer.
- The NORDAM Group, Inc., a leading aircraft repair and component manufacturing company based in Tulsa, Oklahoma with operations in Singapore and the U.K., in a wide range of repair agreements with airlines around the world, and life-of-program supply agreements with aircraft and engine manufacturers.
- Various purchasers, borrowers, and taxpayers in all aspects of the purchase, sale, lease, financing, and 1031 exchange of aircraft covered by the Cape Town Convention and requiring International Registry filings, including developing solutions to complex, cross-border problems involving letters of credit, conversion of financing leases to operating leases, airworthiness directives, insurance requirements, and aircraft registration and de-registration in the U.S., Europe, and the Middle East.
- Lead lender in loans to a leveraged company engaged in the business of leasing wide body aircraft around the world, including strategic planning to protect the lender from insolvency and bankruptcy risks.
Technology & Professional Services
- Zayo Group Holdings, Inc. in its acquisition of QOS Networks, the preeminent provider of SD-WAN and edge managed services, from majority owner, MC Partners.
- Bow River Capital in its recapitalization of Ocean Tomo, an expert in management consulting and advisory services for intangible assets, corporate accounting investigations, regulatory and reporting obligations, solvency and restructuring, and contractual or competition disputes, and the sellers of Ocean Tomo in the sale of Ocean Tomo to JS Held.
- Jviation, Inc., a leading airport planning, survey, architecture, engineering and construction management firm, in its sale to architecture, engineering, geospatial firm, Woolpert.
- SnapEngage, the premier conversation platform for customer engagement, in its sale to Team Support.
- IQGeo (AIM: IQG), a developer of geospacial productivity and collaboration software for the telecoms and utilities industries, in its acquisition of OSPInsight International, Inc.
- eCommerce Systems, Inc. in its sale to CGI Group, Inc. (NYSE: GIB).
- NDP LLC, an engineering services, systems integration, and technology development outsourcing services company, in its sale to Braxton Holdings, LLC.
- Channel Intelligence, Inc., a shopping engine optimization company, in its acquisition of ClickEquations, Inc., a leading-edge paid search platform serving large advertisers and search agencies.
Retail & Consumer Products
- Stone Glacier, Inc., a premium brand focused on ultralightweight, performance hunting gear designed for backcountry use, in its sale to Vista Outdoor Inc. (NYSE: VSTO).
- Keg Credit in its sale to Keg Logistics (a portfolio company of Seaport Capital), in a sale combining two of the leading keg providers in the rapidly growing U.S. craft brewing industry.
- The seller of one of the largest single-location retail liquor stores in the U.S. to a Denver-based private equity firm.
- Kay Jan, Inc., an operator of John Deere dealerships in Eastern Colorado, in its merger with and into 21st Century Equipment.
- Steve Spangler Inc. in its sale of the Steve Spangler Science product line to Really Good Stuff.
- Maria Empanada in a financing transaction with Colorado Impact Fund.
- The sellers of Horan & McConaty Funeral Services, Inc. and the Baue Funeral Home Co., leading funeral services and cemetery firms in Denver and St. Louis, respectively, to Park Lawn Corporation (TSX: PLC).
