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John Beaulieu (Beau)
Grenier

Position
Partner
Office
Birmingham

Beau Grenier is a partner in the Corporate Practice Group. He provides comprehensive legal and strategic counsel on M&A, capital raising, and other business transactions; securities matters; and corporate governance.


Beau is a leading corporate and securities lawyer with more than 35 years of experience. For more than 17 years, he also served as the managing partner and board chairman for a diversified AmLaw 200 law firm, guiding the organization through a significant period of growth and transition. During his tenure as chairman, Beau led the firm from approximately 150 lawyers primarily in Alabama to more than 525 lawyers in nine cities in six states and the District of Columbia, elevating the firm ranking in the AmLaw 200 from 181 in 2007 to 110 in 2017.

Beau draws on his extensive legal knowledge and firsthand leadership experience to help key executives and boards of directors identify and pursue strategic growth opportunities, negotiate major business and financial transactions, ensure compliance with federal and state securities and other regulations, and address a host of day-to-day operational issues.

Beau has represented publicly traded corporations, privately held enterprises, and family-owned businesses in a broad range of multimillion-dollar transactions, including mergers, acquisitions, divestitures, and changes of ownership. He has advised issuers, underwriters, investors, and other parties in capital-raising initiatives, including debt and equity offerings, and project financings. He has also advised clients on corporate governance, ethics, and other board-level issues. Focused on getting the deal done, Beau organizes effective teams that deliver sophisticated legal counsel on time and on budget. Recognizing the quality of his legal skills and client service, leading publications and ratings agencies such as Chambers USA and The Best Lawyers in America© have routinely recognized Beau as a top corporate and securities lawyer.

Beau has represented clients with operations and interests in many of the nation’s key industries, including banking and financial services, healthcare, housing, industrial operations, investments, manufacturing, private equity, technology, and venture capital. Among other high-profile transactions, Beau helped lead a $1 billion restructuring and leveraged recapitalization of a large manufacturing company; a $200 million merger of a health maintenance organization and a national healthcare provider; a hostile takeover that resulted in the $380 million negotiated acquisition of a regional drugstore chain; and an IPO of a family and ESOP owned manufacturing company.

In addition to his corporate and securities work, Beau has helped businesses and state and local governments pursue economic development opportunities in the southeastern United States. For example, he served as one of the primary liaisons between one of the world’s top automobile manufacturers and government entities, external counsel, and other stakeholders, which resulted in a successfully negotiated project agreement that brought a $1 billion automotive plant to Montgomery, Alabama.

Noteworthy

  • The Best Lawyers in America®, Corporate, M&A, Securities Law (2001–2006); Corporate Law (2006–2022); Mergers and Acquisitions Law (2007–2022); Securities/Capital Markets Law (2007–2022); Securities Regulation Law (2007–2013); Securities Regulation (2015–2022)
  • Best Lawyers®, "Lawyer of the Year," Securities/Capital Markets Law, Birmingham (2022)
  • Chambers USA, Corporate/Commercial (2004–2018, listed annually since 2020)
  • Best Lawyers®, "Lawyer of the Year," Mergers & Acquisitions Law, Birmingham (2012)

Presentations

  • Moderator, “Trends for Large Law Practices and In-House Counsel”, July 2017, Point Clear, Alabama
  • Co-Chair, Thomson Reuters Law Firm Leaders Forum, October 2016, New York, New York
  • Panelist, Managing Partners/General Counsel Roundtable, October 2016, Birmingham, Alabama
  • Guest lecturer, Law Firm Management, Vanderbilt Law School, (ongoing)

Memberships

  • Alabama Symphony Orchestra, Past Member, Board of Directors
  • American Heart Association, Birmingham Chapter, Past Chairman and Member, Board of Directors
  • Birmingham Business Alliance, Past Member, Board of Directors, Executive Committee
  • Birmingham Venture Club, Past President & Member, Board of Directors
  • Boy Scouts of America, Greater Alabama Council, Board Member
  • Business Council of Alabama, Past Member, Board of Directors
  • Eagle Merchant Partners, Member, Advisory Board
  • Highlands School, Past President and Member, Board of Trustees
  • Jemison Investment Co., Inc., Board of Directors
  • Leadership Birmingham, Class of 2005
  • Rotary Club of Birmingham, Member, Past Board Member and Program Chair
  • UAB Leadership Cabinet, Past Member
  • United Way of Central Alabama, Past Member, Board of Directors and Leader of Tocqueville Society Campaign
black and white headshot of John Beaulieu (Beau) Grenier
Birmingham
Suite 1100
420 20th St N
Birmingham, AL 35203
D: 205.244.5200
F: 205.244.5400
Emailbgrenier@joneswalker.com

Education

  • Vanderbilt University Law School
    JD, 1982
    Editor-in-Chief, Vanderbilt Law Review
  • University of Virginia
    BA, with high distinction, Phi Beta Kappa, 1978

Bar Admissions

  • Alabama

Court Admissions

  • US District Court for the Northern District of Alabama

Languages

  • French (conversational)

Related Practices

  • Corporate
  • Economic Development
  • Finance
  • Healthcare Practice
  • Mergers & Acquisitions
  • Private Equity
  • Securities
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