Kevin Leiske

Kevin Leiske primarily practices in the areas of taxation, corporations, partnerships, and limited liability companies. He has advised a wide range of clients in all stages of their operations, such as; closely held companies and partnerships, including start-ups and family businesses; multinational corporations; and both real estate and securities investment funds.

Kevin is experienced in corporate and partnership taxation issues stemming from a multitude of transactions, along with generally advising on the formation, capitalization, day-to-day operation, liquidation, and sale of such entities.

Prior to joining the firm Kevin most recently worked in the London office of a large accounting firm, focusing on US international and domestic tax advisory work. Before that he worked for a law firm in Silicon Valley and a financial services firm in New York City.

• Representative Experience
  • Entity Formations and Organizational Restructurings
  • Real Estate Investment and Development — Routinely form real estate investment vehicles ranging from closely-held entities to larger private placements for investment in and development of real estate projects.
  • Global Partnership Consortium Restructuring — Advised on the restructuring of a global public relations firm, taking the business from a closely held partnership to global enterprise.
  • International Film Distribution Joint-Venture — Represented European movie studio in €40 million joint-venture to distribute a slate of films produced by the studio, including an Oscar nominated film, within the United States.
  • Mergers and Acquisitions
  • Start-Up Acquisition — Advised start-up medical software company in its acquisition by a global information and management company.
  • Cross-Border Partnership De-Merger — Structured the "de-merger" of a £3 billion joint venture, UK limited partnership between two publicly traded, multinational consumer products retailers
  • Private Equity Acquisition — Advised a private equity fund on its acquisition of construction companies located in Germany, Norway, the Netherlands, and Singapore for an aggregate purchase price of $500 million
  • Tax Controversy
  • Private Letter Rulings
  • Represented taxpayer in requesting retroactive Qualified Electing Fund election.
  • Drafted Section 355 spin-out private letter ruling request for non-US publicly traded company.
  • FBAR Penalty Abatement — Successfully assisted taxpayer in penalty abatement request and voluntary disclosure of previously undisclosed non-US bank accounts.
  • IRS Challenge of Intercompany Debt — Represented a multinational manufacturing company in contesting an IRS adjustment resulting in an increase to its taxable income of $180 million.
• Professional/Community Involvement
  • Board Member of Therapy Works (http://www.austintherapyworks.org/)