Bio
Samantha Vasco is a member of DarrowEverett’s Mergers & Acquisitions and Corporate & Business Transactions Practice Groups. Sam represents companies in corporate, finance, securities, and various transactional matters. These transactions include mergers and acquisitions, venture capital financing rounds, private placements of equity, debt and hybrid securities, public offerings, joint ventures, and financings, as well as preparing any related securities filings and reports. Additionally, Sam works on contracts and other corporate agreements, government inquiries and investigations, regulatory work, and corporate governance and formation.
Prior Experience
Before joining the DarrowEverett team, Sam served as a Corporate Associate for a national Am Law 200 firm concentrating on mergers and acquisitions, capital markets, and corporate governance matters in a wide array of industries. In addition, Sam previously worked in legal recruiting for a national Am Law 50 firm.
Accolades
- The Best Lawyers in America© Ones to Watch (2026)
- Super Lawyers — Rising Stars, 2025 (Business/Corporate, Energy & Natural Resources)
- Guest Author: Capturing the Sun: The Effects of State Prompt Payment Acts on Solar Construction, via Solar Power World, January 2025
Practice Areas
Bar Admissions
- Massachusetts
- Rhode Island
Education
- Northeastern University School of Law, J.D.
- Northeastern University, B.A., History
Involvement
- Rhode Island Bar Association
- Boston Bar Association
- Hispanic National Bar Association
- National LGBTQ Bar Association
Representative Matters
- Served as sell‑side counsel to Young American Food Brands and Trivest Partners in the sale of Young American Food Brands to Falfurrias Management Partners, a private equity firm focused on growth‑oriented middle‑market businesses. Our team guided the transaction from exit preparation through closing, advising on deal strategy, structuring, diligence readiness, negotiation, and execution. Working seamlessly with management, ownership, and financial advisors, we helped deliver a smooth and successful transaction that aligned strategic objectives with long‑term growth opportunities. Our corporate, real estate, employment, and tax teams worked seamlessly to deliver comprehensive sell‑side representation tailored to a rapidly scaling business with layered operational and transactional considerations.
- Represented a prominent private investment firm and its portfolio company, a leading operator of coin-operated amusement machines, in the acquisition of select contracts for a handful of locations from two coin-operated amusement machine businesses, representing a portion of the sellers’ overall operations, for an aggregate eight-figure purchase price. Each transaction was structured as a separate sign-and-close deal due to the need for regulatory approval. The representation involved comprehensive due diligence, structuring, and negotiation of asset purchase agreements for both transactions, including detailed schedules addressing the transfer of gaming equipment, route locations, and customer contracts. We navigated the unique regulatory considerations applicable to the coin-operated amusement industry, ensuring compliance with state licensing and permitting requirements governing the operation and placement of amusement machines. A critical component of the engagement involved documenting an amendment to the portfolio company’s existing credit agreement to facilitate the funding of the acquisitions. DE also coordinated closing logistics across both transactions, managing the execution of purchase agreements, bill of sale documentation, and assignment of location agreements.
- Represented a New York-based private investment firm and its portfolio company, a multistate pawn shop platform, in connection with a multi-phase rollup acquisition of pawn shops. Over the course of three months, we structured and closed seven separate acquisition transactions, resulting in the purchase of 17 retail pawn shop locations across four states for an aggregate eight-figure purchase price. The engagement required coordination of numerous complex deal elements across multiple rolling closings, including the negotiation and execution of both asset purchase agreements and a stock purchase agreement. A significant component of the representation involved navigating the highly regulated pawn and dealer licensing requirements in each of the four states, ensuring proper applications, transfers, and regulatory approvals were obtained to permit continued operations immediately upon closing. The real estate workstream included the review, negotiation, and assignment of existing commercial leases, as well as the negotiation of new leases for locations where the underlying real estate was owned by the sellers, and landlord consents where required. We worked closely with landlords and sellers to ensure seamless transitions of occupancy rights and compliance with all lease assignment provisions.
- Served as lender’s counsel to a New York City-based private investment firm in connection with credit facilities to a borrower in the television and radio broadcast sector that operates stations affiliated with the Big Four networks across the U.S. The facilities were used to refinance existing debt and fund the acquisition of additional stations, expanding the borrower’s nationwide operations. Our team managed all aspects of the transaction, including navigating complex regulatory considerations, negotiating loan documentation, and structuring solutions to address the borrower’s multi-jurisdictional footprint.
- Served as lender’s counsel to a New York-based private investment firm in connection with six add-on acquisitions completed by the borrower within a four-month period under a delayed draw term loan facility. The borrower, a multistate residential home services company, expanded its operations across various states. Our team handled all aspects of the lender-side transaction, including structuring, documentation, and coordination of simultaneous closings.
- Served as counsel to a prominent private investment firm in connection with the upsize of an existing credit facility for a multi-state HVAC residential and commercial services company. The transaction increased the borrower’s delayed draw term loan capacity to support future growth initiatives, bringing the total facility to over nine figures. Our team handled all aspects of the transaction, including negotiating an equity kicker via a warrant for the client.
- Structured and executed a comprehensive refinancing and restructuring transaction for a leading fitness and nutritional supplement business. The engagement involved negotiating a detailed term sheet that established the framework for both a new credit facility and a significant equity infusion, addressing complex economic terms, lender and investor commitments, and governance arrangements across a syndicate of lenders and multiple equity participants. We structured and documented the new credit facility, coordinating among participating lenders to align interests, resolve inter-creditor issues, and secure all necessary approvals. The transaction included the issuance of warrants to lenders, structuring an equity kicker for the lead lender and investor, and negotiating amendments to the company’s operating agreement to implement the new equity structure and enhance governance rights. The team also advised on intellectual property and licensing considerations relevant to ongoing operations.
- Served as U.S. special counsel to a private investment firm in connection with the acquisition of a fleet of commercial aircraft. Representation focused on U.S. legal aspects of the financing, including the structuring and documentation of key credit support facilities — specifically liquidity lines and revolving credit arrangements — that formed critical conditions precedent under the transaction’s credit agreement.
- Represented a major Canadian private equity firm in the simultaneous closings of two strategic roll-up transactions for a regional waste disposal platform that consolidated two regional waste-disposal and recycling operators in the Northeast. The deals were financed through a senior secured credit facility provided by a large institutional lender and a seller earn-out. Our multidisciplinary team structured the acquisitions of the holding company; negotiated two separate asset purchase agreements and disclosure schedules; conducted accelerated search and payoff diligence for sellers; reviewed loan documents in connection with the upsize senior secured credit facility documents; and closed both acquisitions on an expedited timeline, aligning funding mechanics and post-closing integration milestones for the sponsor’s nationwide growth strategy.
- Successfully closed a $14.8 million development-to-permanent loan to finance the development of a major renewable energy project in New England. This financing followed our representation of an affiliated entity in the strategic acquisition of the underlying real estate, secured through a $1.66 million mortgage loan. The coordinated closings demonstrate our team’s ability to navigate complex, multi-stage transactions involving real estate, finance, and renewable energy development.
- Represented a publicly held provider of energy efficient hydraulic fracturing fleets in numerous acquisitions of oil and gas service providers throughout 2021 and 2022 to support the operation of its fleets.
- Represented an HR software service provider that helps companies better track and keep employees satisfied with their positions and career growth in its sale for approximately $2 million in 2022.
- Represented a virtual at-home fertility clinic in its Series Seed Preferred Stock financing and concurrent know-how licensing agreement with a major medical institution in 2021 to further develop their products and services.
- Represented a financial services company in an amendment to its existing revolving credit facility, for a new $74.4 million term loan to the company’s subsidiary in 2022.
Insights
- Private Credit Is Booming—and Is Now Squarely in Regulators’ Sights - via JD Supra, September, 2025
- The Forecast Calls For Sun: What New Administration’s First 30 Days Means for Solar Industry - via JD Supra, February, 2025
- Capturing the Sun: State Prompt Payment Acts’ Effects on Solar Construction - via JD Supra, January, 2025
- Should Solar Developers Pursue Community Solar? Incentives Can Be Key - via JD Supra, March, 2024
- Lessons For Founders From Sam Altman’s Short-Lived OpenAI Ouster - via JD Supra, January, 2024