Steven Humke	John Thornburgh

Family and Firm Provide Scholarship Funds for Entrepreneurial Students

Ice Miller LLP and partner Joe DeGroff, have a long history with Purdue.  Several students, including some from the Krannert School, are about to benefit as a result.

Ice Miller's relationship with Purdue University dates back to the 1920's and attorney Robert McCord.  McCord helped draft Indiana's building facilities acts of 1927 and 1929, which established the market for the bonds used to finance scores of buildings on state's university campuses.  Today, the firm continues to work with Purdue on sophisticated financing matters.

"Our law firm has been involved with Purdue for many years," says DeGroff, a partner in Ice Miller's Business Practice Group in Indianapolis.  "Not only have we acted as Purdue's bond counsel, we also have a number of alumni who work at the firm and are very active on campus."

DeGroff's interest in Purdue is also personal.  His father, Harold, was a longtime faculty member and dean of the aeronautical engineering school who also taught in Krannert.  As a tribute to Harold, DeGroff and his four siblings made a $25,000 gift to Purdue's Access & Success scholarship campaign.  At the same time, Ice Miller made a $25,000 commitment.  Thanks to a donor challenge match, the combined gifts doubled in value to $100,000 in endowed funds for scholarships.

"Purdue was a very important part of my father's career," DeGroff says.  "It made sense for both the firm and the family to use the university match to support student scholarships.  The only thing we had to decide was which areas we wanted to support."

After consulting with Purdue administrators, the DeGroff family decided its gift would go to either management or aeronautical engineering students who are earning a Certificate in Entrepreneurship and Innovation.  Open to all undergraduates, the program gives participants a basic understanding of how to start their own company, work in a start-up venture, or spearhead new initiatives within an existing organization.

Source: Krannert Magazine

Law360, in New York, recently profiled Steven Humke in a Q&A column on corporate/M&A law.  Read the Q&A with Steven Humke.

IPO Environment is Improving
NEW YORK -- The flurry of initial public offerings last week is confirmation that this fall's rebound in the market wasn't a fluke and sets the stage for more companies to raise money through IPOs in 2010. But the response to two of the newly public companies shows that investors continue to be careful.

Last week was the second-biggest for new issues -- with five IPOs -- since the market began heating up in mid-September. There have been 22 offerings this quarter, compared with one in the final three months of last year. There are more than 90 in the 2010 IPO pipeline.

Read the entire Indianapolis Star article.

Source: Indianapolis Star

December
December 8 - Walker Information's "Cigar Bar"
December 15 - Economic Club of Indiana with Martin Feldstein, Professor of Economics at Harvard University
December 17 - ACG Holiday Reception

January
January 13 - NCAA Convention Reception - Atlanta, Georgia
January 20 - Economic Club of Indiana with Kevin Chavous, School of Choice Advocate
January 21 - Indiana Chamber of Commerce - Health Care Reform Seminar Part 2
January 21 - Financial Executives International's with Rob Santa for French Lick Resort Redevelopment
January 22 - Mayor's Celebration of Diversity Awards

Ice Miller has been active in the private equity industry for over 25 years, representing both management teams building great companies and the private equity firms and individuals that invest in them. We have extensive experience with all types of funds (formations and operations); mezzanine and senior secured financings; leveraged buyouts, roll-ups, build-ups, and consolidations; divestitures and exits; and complex litigation on behalf of investors and privately financed companies.

Read the complete profile of the Private Equity and Venture Services Practice Group.