Frank A. Ciatto

Partner
Frank Ciatto

Frank Ciatto co-chairs Venable's Corporate Practice Group and helps founders, entrepreneurs, business owners, and investors navigate defining moments in a company's life cycle. Frank advises clients on mergers and acquisitions (M&A), private equity investments, corporate and partnership structuring, succession planning, shareholder matters, and governance. He represents businesses across industries, including financial services, technology, hospitality, professional services, and manufacturing. Frank serves as outside corporate counsel to privately held businesses, advising on growth, governance, ownership transitions, acquisitions, divestitures, and succession planning. He has assisted in sales of founder-owned businesses, management buyouts, and strategic acquisitions, developing long-standing relationships that extend well beyond individual transactions. 

Frank's background as a certified public accountant and former Coopers & Lybrand professional further distinguishes his practice. His combined legal, tax, and financial experience enables him to provide practical, commercially informed advice on complex transactions and broader business issues.

Experience

Representative Matters

  • Represented the Washington, DC-area Atlantic Services Group and Atlantic Transportation Services companies in their acquisition by national parking management company ProPark
  • Represented the shareholders of Dominion Electric Supply Company, Inc., and Dominion Electric Supply Company of Washington, LLC, in the sale of the companies to Border States Industries, Inc.
  • Served as lead counsel representing Beacon Global Strategies, LLC in the sale of its equity interests to an affiliate of ICV Partners, LLC. The total transaction consideration was paid in a combination of cash and rollover equity
  • Served as sellers’ counsel in the sale of Praxis Engineering Technologies Inc. to SCRA, LLC (now General Dynamics Information Technology)
  • Served as sellers’ counsel in the sale of Telmate, LLC to Global Tel*Link Corporation
  • Served as counsel for DOAR Consulting, a trial strategy consulting firm, in a management buyout of private equity interests
  • Served as purchaser’s counsel for SAGE Publications, Inc. in the sale of the assets of its CQ Press imprint First Street, and Professional Directories business lines to Leadership Directories, Inc.
  • Served as counsel to a leading operator of food and beverage brands in travel locations worldwide
  • Served as purchaser's counsel in the redemption of a majority of the stock of the founder of CHL Business Interiors
  • Served as seller's counsel in the sale of CTS Services, LLC
  • Served as seller's counsel for Kastle Holding LLC, the owner of Kastle Systems International LLC, in the sale of Kastle Security Systems, a major security systems firm
  • Represented a leading food and beverage brands operator in licensing, franchising, joint venture, real estate, and IP matters related to its worldwide travel locations

Representative Clients

  • Beacon Global Strategies LLC, a Washington, DC-based consultant to large government contractors
  • Boland Trane Associates, Inc. and Boland Trane Services, Inc.
  • Doar, Inc., a litigation consulting and trial services company, located in New York City
  • Entertainment Software Association, an association dedicated to the video game industry
  • Hausfeld LLP, a Washington, DC-based law firm
  • Heart+Mind Strategies, LLC, a Reston, Virginia-based marketing consulting company
  • Longhorn Vaccines and Diagnostic LLC, a Bethesda, MD-based health sciences company
  • Mindset Advocacy, LLC, a lobbying / government affairs and public-policy consulting firm, located in Washington, DC
  • Prospect Hotel Advisors, Inc.
  • Radius Networks, Inc., a Washington, DC-based technology firm serving large chain restaurants
  • RK Chevrolet, Inc. and RK Motors, LLC, two prominent automobile dealerships in Virginia Beach, Virginia
  • SAGE Publications, Inc., a publishing company located in Sherman Oaks, California
  • SSP America, Inc., a food service provider to airports located in Herndon, Virginia
  • Theralogix, LLC, a nutraceutical company located in Rockville, Maryland
  • Volkswagen Group of America, Inc.

Insights

Credentials
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Education

  • J.D. Georgetown University Law Center 1994
  • B.A. cum laude Georgetown University 1988

Bar Admissions

  • District of Columbia
  • New York

Professional Memberships and Activities

  • Member, Mergers & Acquisitions Subcommittee, Corporations Section, American Bar Association
  • Member, Corporations Section, DC Bar Association

Recognition
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  • Legal 500, M&A/corporate and commercial – M&A: middle-market (sub-$500m), 2023 – 2026
  • Georgetown University, James P. Reed Alumni Award, 2017 (awarded for distinguished service to the Georgetown University Alumni Board of Governors)
  • Georgetown University, John Carroll Award, 2025 (awarded annually for distinguished alumni service)

Community
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Volunteerism

  • Served in various capacities on the Board of Governors, Georgetown University Alumni Association, since 2003; served as treasurer for the period 2014-2018 and currently serves as president, Georgetown University Alumni Association
  • Co-teaches “Ethics & Leadership,” a summer class for the Fund for American Studies at George Mason University
  • Serves as communications chair of his undergraduate class at Georgetown University

Personal Activities

  • Previously coached his daughters' softball and basketball teams
  • Played in the Maryland division of the Ponce de Leon 30-and-Over Baseball League