Ken Gordon is co-chair of the firm’s Technology group. He has more than 30 years of experience representing privately held and publicly traded companies (domestic and foreign), investment banks, and venture capital firms. Ken concentrates his practice in the areas of general corporate representation, corporate finance and acquisitions. He is also registered as a Certified Public Accountant.
Prior to becoming co-chair of the Technology practice, Ken held various other positions with the firm, most recently as National Hiring Partner. Ken enjoys cycling and running and is an enthusiastic supporter of Boston sports teams. Ken ran the 2014 Boston Marathon as part of a team which raised over $800,000 for the survivors of the 2013 Boston Marathon bombings.
Experience
Ken advises a variety of high-growth technology clients across a broad range of industries, including enterprise software, healthcare IT, fintech, security, ad tech, IT services, and e-commerce. Ken works with these clients in connection with various corporate, strategic, and securities transactions, including private placements and mergers and acquisitions, as well as general business matters.
Ken’s corporate finance practice includes extensive experience with both private and public offerings. He has represented companies as well as venture capitalists and investment banks in over 500 completed financings.
Representative Matters
Ken’s M&A experience includes representing:
Buy side representation:
- Bit9 in its acquisitions of Carbon Black and Confer
- Cimpress (NASDAQ: CMPR), formerly Vistaprint, in its acquisition of Webs
- Fleetmatics (NYSE: FLTX) in its acquisitions of Australia-based Connect2Field and Italy-based Routist
- Imprivata in its acquisitions, including HT Systems, certain assets of Caradigm, a GE company, and GroundControl Solutions
- Lionbridge Technologies (NASDAQ: LIOX) in its acquisition of Mubai, India-based Mentorix
- PlumChoice in its acquisitions of Everon and Tific AB
- SessionM in its acquisition of Loyal Tree
Sell side representation:
- 7Park Data in its sale to Vista Equity Partners
- Apperian in its sale to Arxan Technologies
- Adelphic in its sale to Time
- Carbon Black in its sale to VMWare (NYSE: VMW)
- eCopy in its sale to Nuance Communications (NASDAQ: NUAN)
- Evariant in its sale to Healthgrades
- Fleetmatics in its sale to Verizon (NYSE: VZ)
- Freshly in its sale to Nestlé USA
- Gemvara in its sale to Richline Group, a Berkshire Hathaway (NYSE:BRK.A) subsidiary
- Imprivata in its sale to Thoma Bravo
- Innov-X in its sale to Olympus
- NetCracker Technology Corporation in its sale to NEC Corporation
- P&H Solutions in its sale to ACI Worldwide (NASDAQ: ACIW)
- Planet Payment (NASDAQ: PLPM) in its sale to Fintrax Group
- Reflexis in its sale to Zebra Technologies (NASDAQ: ZBRA)
- SessionM in its sale to MasterCard (NYSE: MA)
- SimpliSafe in its sale to Hellman & Friedman
- Qvidian in its sale to Upland Software (NASDAQ: UPLD)
- xkoto in its sale to Teradata (NYSE: TDC)
- He has also completed numerous other acquisitions for clients, including Imprivata, Lycos, and Salary.com
Ken represents issuers as well as investment banking firms in a wide variety of public and quasi-public offerings, including IPOs, convertible debt transactions and PIPE transactions. His recent IPO work includes representing:
- Underwriters in SailPoint’s IPO
- Underwriters in Switch’s IPO
- Underwriters in Amber Road’s IPO
- Underwriters in Covisint’s IPO
- Underwriters in SPS Commerce’s IPO
- Underwriters in Everbridge’s IPO
- Underwriters in Tufin’s IPO
- Carbon Black in its IPO
- Dynatrace in its IPO
- Fleetmatics in its IPO
- Imprivata in its IPO
- Salary.com in its IPO
His other recent capital markets transactions include representing:
- Markforged in its definitive business combination with One, a special purpose acquisition company
- Underwriters in a follow-on equity offering for Carbonite
- Underwriters in a follow-on equity offering for SailPoint
- Underwriters in several follow-on equity offerings for Everbridge
- Fleetmatics in numerous follow-on equity offerings
- Dynatrace in numerous follow-on equity offerings
- Several investment banks as initial purchasers in multiple convertible debt offerings for Rapid7
- Several investment banks as initial purchasers in a convertible debt offering for Everbridge
- Several investment banks as initial purchasers in a convertible debt offering for Carbonite
- Several investment banks as initial purchasers in a convertible debt offering for Varonis
- Investment banks that he has represented include Goldman Sachs, JPMorgan, Morgan Stanley, Credit Suisse, Deutsche Bank Securities, and Stifel Nicolaus, among others
- Other companies that Ken has represented in public offerings include DealerTrack Holdings, Lumenpulse Lighting, Lionbridge Technologies, Lycos, Sipex Corporation, and Precise Software Solutions
Recently completed venture financings on behalf of his corporate clients include investments in:
- Adelphic by Matrix Partners and Google Ventures
- AdmitHub by Rethink Education, Relay Ventures, Reach LP, University Ventures, Google, and Salesforce Ventures
- Apperian by Bessemer Venture Partners, Kleiner Perkins, and North Bridge Venture Partners
- Carbon Black by Atlas Ventures, Highland Capital, Kleiner Perkins, Sequoia Capital, and .406 Ventures
- Evariant by McKesson Ventures and Salesforce Ventures
- Freshly by Highland Capital Insight Ventures and Nestlé
- iBoss by Night Dragon and Francisco Partners
- MarkForged by numerous investors
- Onapsis by Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec, LLR Equity Partners, and .406 Ventures
- Repsly by Resolve Growth
- SessionM by Highland Capital Partners, Charles River Ventures and Kleiner Perkins
- Sea Machines by Huntington Ingalls Industries Inc.
- Tausight by Polaris Partners and Flare Capital Partners
- Ken has also represented many venture capitalists in making their investments, including most recently Edison Ventures, North Bridge Venture Partners, Highland Capital, Flybridge Capital Partners and GrandBanks Capital
Professional Activities
Ken is involved in various pro bono matters, including working with THINKmd, Year Up and Project Citizenship.
Professional Experience
Prior to joining Goodwin in 2005, Ken was a partner at Testa, Hurwitz & Thibeault in Boston, where he was a member of the Business Practice Group and the Canadian initiative. Before that, he was an accountant for KPMG in Hartford and Boston.
Credentials
Education
JD1991
Boston University School of Law
(cum laude)
BS1985
Lehigh University
Admissions
Bars
- Massachusetts
Recognition & Awards
Ken has been recognized by Chambers USA: America’s Leading Lawyers for Business for his work in technology, and as highlighted by the guide, is described as "a master at relating incredibly complex topics to both lawyers and non-lawyers, and his proactive approach ensures we get ahead of potential issues before they materialize."
Ken has been recognized by Legal 500 US for his work in Technology Transactions, Venture Capital and emerging companies.
Ken has been recognized as a Best Lawyer by The Best Lawyers in America for his work in Corporate Law 2022-2023, Mergers and Acquisitions Law, Technology Law 2023, and on multiple occasions as a “Massachusetts Super Lawyer” in Boston Magazine. He has also been selected on multiple occasions for inclusion in U.S. News - Best Lawyers.
Publications
Ken is a frequent public speaker and guest lecturer on matters relating to venture capital transactions, mergers and acquisitions, and other topics relevant to both domestic and foreign private and public technology companies.