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Thomas R. Anderson

Partner, Head of M&A Practice at Harter Secrest & Emery LLP

Rochester, New York, USA

TR
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Why they matter

Runs M&A at a Band-1-ranked Upstate NY firm and has just closed a 2026 PE capital partnership for an A&E platform, giving him a live read on regional roll-up activity.

Background

Thomas R. Anderson is a Partner and Head of the Mergers and Acquisitions Practice at Harter Secrest & Emery LLP, working out of the firm's Rochester, New York office. He holds a J.D. magna cum laude from Albany Law School and a B.A. cum laude from the University of Massachusetts, and has been ranked Band 1 for Corporate/M&A in Upstate New York by Chambers USA every year since 2015. He advises public and private companies, including numerous private-equity-backed businesses, on transactions ranging from roughly $10 million to over $500 million, plus large-scale technology licensing agreements.

Notable deals

  • 2021
    Represented IEC Electronics Corp. (Nasdaq) in its ~$240M enterprise-value go-private merger with Creation Technologies
  • 2024
    Represented Precision Optical Technologies, Inc. in its $290M sale to Belden Inc.
  • 2026
    Led the M&A team advising CPL (architecture/engineering/planning firm) on a strategic capital partnership with private equity firm GHK

Call-prep brief

Background

  • Partner and Head of M&A at Harter Secrest & Emery LLP (Rochester, NY); J.D. magna cum laude, Albany Law School.
  • Chambers USA Band 1 for Corporate/M&A (Upstate NY) every year since 2015; multiple "Lawyer of the Year" awards (2014, 2021, 2023, 2026).

Current focus

  • Sell-side and buy-side M&A for Upstate NY middle-market companies, frequently PE-backed, spanning telecom, optics/photonics, industrial services, and now professional/technical services (A&E).
  • Deal sizes historically $10M–$500M+, plus large tech licensing agreements.

What he cares about

  • Positioning Rochester/Upstate NY founder-owned businesses for institutional capital partnerships (see CPL/GHK deal, Feb 2026) rather than outright sales — suggests comfort structuring minority or growth-equity deals, not just exits.
  • Maintaining relationships with repeat sponsor clients across multiple deal cycles.

Recent moves

  • Named to the 2026 Power 50 Law List (Rochester Business Journal/Daily Record).
  • Closed the CPL–GHK capital partnership in February 2026, a live signal he's active in current deal flow relevant to services roll-ups.

Sensitivities

  • As deal counsel, he cannot discuss confidential client terms — frame outreach around market color/referrals, not specific transaction details.
  • Long-tenured firm partner; likely values discretion and firm reputation over transactional name-dropping.

Questions to ask

  1. What's he seeing in PE appetite for Upstate NY home-services and industrial-services platforms right now?
  2. Does he have portfolio companies or founder clients actively exploring a first institutional capital raise?
  3. Who on the sponsor side has he worked with repeatedly on similar-sized deals ($50M-$300M) that might be a useful intro?

Outreach draft

Subject
Quick call on Upstate NY M&A trends?
Hi Thomas, I came across your work leading HSE's M&A practice, including the recent CPL/GHK capital partnership and the Precision Optical sale to Belden. We're a private equity team actively looking at home services and industrial services businesses in the Northeast, and your read on deal flow in the region would be valuable. Would you be open to a 20-minute call in the next couple of weeks? Happy to work around your schedule, and glad to share what we're seeing on the buy side in return. Thanks in advance, [Placeholder Name]

Linked companies

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