E Kent Auberry

With more than 40 years experience, Kent is a trusted legal advisor to businesses across North Carolina.

His practice focuses on mergers and acquisitions, joint ventures, strategic alliances and financing transactions. He often assists buyers and sellers in the health care, pharmaceuticals, med tech, textile, apparel and retail industries.

Kent also serves as outside general counsel to businesses in those industries, assisting them with capital formation, corporate governance, contractual matters, federal and state securities law compliance, advertising issues, trade regulations, employee relations and other aspects of their day-to-day operations. He speaks daily with many of his clients, answering their legal questions and connecting them with specialists when needed.

His experience extends to intellectual property matters, where he assists with transactions and technology, data and trademark licensing.

Kent was a partner at Smith Moore Leatherwood LLP, which combined with Fox Rothschild in 2018.

American Bar Association, Business Section and Intellectual Property Section | North Carolina Bar Association, Business Section and Intellectual Property Section

Kent is an Adjunct Professor at the UNC School of Law, where he teaches Business Planning.

Representative Experience

- Numerous mergers, acquisitions and change in control transactions of tax-exempt hospitals

- Numerous healthcare acquisitions and transactions, including anti-trust compliance

- Numerous acquisitions and sales of medical testing laboratory networks

- Numerous acquisitions, sales, mergers and divestitures of textile manufacturing companies and subsidiaries

- Sale of pharmaceutical research and development venture

- Acquisition of the specialty chemical division of public company by an international chemical conglomerate

- Sale of national building maintenance company in industry roll-up

- Sale of national cable television installation contractor in first stage of industry roll-up

- Acquisition of assets of furniture manufacturer by leading public company in ready-to-assemble furniture industry

-Acquisition of regional trucking firm

-Sale of emergency vehicle manufacturer in industry roll-up

University of North Carolina School of Law

J.D., with highest honors

1982

University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

A.B.

1978