With the global capital markets nearly in a coma, companies are looking at all their options for boosting liquidity. For the airline industry, it appears, their current favored option for raising money has been so-called continuous offering programs.

The latest airline to pull off such a deal is Delta Air Lines Inc., taking legal advice from Kilpatrick Stockton partner Ben Barkley. On Dec. 17, Delta announced plans to sell up to 18.2 million shares of its common stock in a continuous offering program. Based on the stock’s price the day the sale was announced, it would raise up to $200 million for Delta.

Citigroup Global Markets is underwriting the stock sale, with legal advice coming from Shearman & Sterling partner Abigail Arms in Washington.

Kilpatrick Stockton has had a relationship with Delta for a number of years, although most of its work had not been in the corporate area, Barkley said. Barkley worked with Delta General Counsel Richard B. Hirst, who was previously general counsel of Northwest Airlines Corp. Delta and Northwest completed their merger on Oct. 29.

These types of stock sales are called different things by different investment banks. Citigroup prefers the term “continuous offering program,” but Merrill Lynch called a similar transaction it’s conducting for AMR Corp.’s American Airlines an “ATM Equity Offering Sales Agreement.” ATM stands for “at the market,” Barkley said.

UAL Corp.’s United Airlines and Continental Airlines each have also recently launched similar continuous stock offerings, Barkley said.

In these types of stock sales, the underwriter sells new stock in the open market on a daily basis, according to Delta’s prospectus. The size of each day’s stock sale depends on the market’s performance. Delta won’t receive a large cash infusion, as it would from a single-day securities offering. But Delta will benefit from not flooding the market with its shares, which could potentially increase Delta’s stock volatility.

Delta will receive a daily report from Citigroup on how that day’s stock sales went.

“Citi will provide to us written confirmation following the close of trading on the [New York Stock Exchange] each day in which shares of common stock are sold by it for us under the equity distribution agreement. Each confirmation will include the number of shares sold on that day, the gross sales price per share, the net proceeds to us and the compensation payable by us to Citi,” Delta said in its prospectus.

Delta plans to use the proceeds from its continuous offering program to “replace funds that were used to pay the employee portion of withholding taxes on the issuance and vesting of equity awards made to our employees in connection with our merger with Northwest” Airlines, according to a regulatory filing.

An Atlanta company that transcribes communications between doctors, hospitals and patients has expanded through the acquisition of an Ohio medical-transcription company. Lawyers from Morris, Manning & Martin worked on the deal.

Transcend Services Inc., of Atlanta, agreed to acquire DeVenture Health Partners of Canton, Ohio, for $4.25 million in cash, according to a news release. The deal is expected to close by Jan. 1.

Morris Manning partners Bernard Coleman [photo, left] and Sandy Smith were counsel to Transcend Services. Lensman & Associates in Canton advised DeVenture.

Parker, Hudson, Rainer & Dobbs partner Eric Anderson is representing Textron Financial Corp., a secured creditor in the Chapter 11 bankruptcy case of Eva-Tone Inc.

Parker Hudson has previously represented Textron in numerous matters, Anderson said. Parker Hudson associate Joshua Lewis is working with Anderson on the Eva-Tone bankruptcy.

Eva-Tone, of Clearwater, Fla., filed for Chapter 11 in U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Middle District of Florida on Nov. 3. Holland & Knight partner Rod Anderson in Tampa is Eva-Tone’s debtor counsel.

Eva-Tone was forced to file for Chapter 11 after defaulting on a lease payment, according to a court filing. Eva-Tone said it had 2007 sales of $34.5 million in 2007, down 11 percent from $38.9 million in 2006, according to a court filing.

Eva-Tone owes Textron about $2.3 million from a revolving credit facility, according to a court filing.

Eva-Tone provides commercial printing services, order fulfillment and CD and DVD manufacturing. Textron is involved in aircraft financing, resort and golf course financing, insurance brokerage and other financial services. Textron is headquartered in Providence, R.I., and its distribution finance division is based in Alpharetta, Ga.

During its efforts to secure economic incentives for its $1 billion manufacturing plant near Chattanooga, Volkswagen AG steered legal questions to Balch & Bingham partner Alex Leath.

Now the question becomes, what law firm will the German auto giant pick as its regular outside counsel for future matters in the U.S.? Balch is a contender for the prize assignment, Leath said. Chattanooga-based Miller & Martin is also bidding on the VW job, according to attorneys familiar with the law firm's plans.

Additionally, lawyers are also scrambling to represent other local governments in Tennessee, Georgia and Alabama that wish to lure suppliers that want to locate near VW’s first U.S.-based manufacturing plant, Leath said.

Leath, who is based in Birmingham, Ala., is not a newcomer to this type of legal work. Leath’s resume includes a stint advising the state of Alabama on negotiating incentives with Mercedes-Benz for a plant in Vance, Ala.; and another project advising Toyota on its plans for an assembly facility in Mississippi. His clients have also included Boeing, Northrop Grumman and General Motors.

“Probably no lawyer in the Southeast has benefited from the re-industrialization of the South more than the one you’re talking to,” said Leath [photo, right].

In addition to the winning site in southeastern Tennessee, VW also looked at sites in Alabama and Michigan. Leath advised VW on the site-selection process and has continued advising VW on implementing its economic-incentive package and on negotiating details on construction agreements.

Among the incentives is a payment-in-lieu-of-taxes agreement, in which Volkswagen has agreed to pay 29.23 percent of its Hamilton County, Tenn. property taxes between 2010 and 2039, according to the Chattanooga Times Free Press. After that, VW will pay 100 percent of its property tax bill.

VW’s plant will be located at the 1,300-acre Enterprise South industrial park east of Chattanooga. The 1.9 million-square-foot plant will build mid-sized sedans for the North American market, is expected to employ about 2,000 people, and is projected to begin operations in 2011, according to the Times Free Press.

Leath led a team of about 45 lawyers from Balch in a slew of practice areas, including environmental, real estate, labor and employment, corporate, tax, utilities, and railroad and trucking regulations. The Balch lawyers were spread out among the firm’s offices in Birmingham and Montgomery, Ala., and in Jackson, Miss.

Other attorneys who were involved in the economic-benefits package offered to VW, according to Leath, include: Miller & Martin partner Evan Allison in Chattanooga, who advised Hamilton County on real estate issues; Hamilton County Attorney Rheubin Taylor; Tennessee Department of Economic & Community Development General Counsel Stephanie Tisdale; and Chattanooga City Attorney Randy Nelson.

Looking to capitalize on the banking industry’s upheaval, and corresponding high rate of deal activity, Morgan Keegan & Co. acquired Atlanta boutique investment bank Burke Capital Group LLC.

McKenna Long & Aldridge partner Michael Cochran and associate Allix Magaziner advised Burke. Baker, Donelson, Bearman, Caldwell & Berkowitz partner Robert DelPriore in Memphis advised Morgan Keegan, which is a unit of Regions Financial Corp. Terms of the sale weren’t disclosed.

Burke Capital specializes in the community banking industry, Cochran said. Founded by former Robinson-Humphrey banker Jon Burke in 1995, Burke Capital has been active in recent weeks advising clients on the U.S. Treasury’s Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP) program and on acquisitions.

“For community banks, the TARP money only goes so far. A lot of these banks still might have to raise additional capital,” Cochran said. “It’s going to be a really active industry.”

Burke Capital’s clients have included Merchants and Farmers Bank in Comer, Ga.; Citizens Financial Services Inc. in Greensboro, Ga.; and Allied Bankshares Inc. of Cumming, Ga.

Cochran said he hopes to continue to do work for Burke Capital, noting that McKenna Long & Aldridge already has a relationship with Regions Bank.

College football is king in Atlanta and the Southeast. Georgia State University, seeking to capitalize on the region’s passion for football, is starting its first football team. The Panthers’ first game is scheduled for 2010 at the Georgia Dome.

The team will start practicing next year, at a new site just a short walk from Georgia State’s downtown campus. Seyfarth Shaw partner Robert Trusty and Ferguson McManamy partner Kati Heller were the primary outside counsel on the property sale.

Blood N Fire Ministries-Atlanta Inc., a non-profit group, sold the 3.8-acre parcel to the Georgia State University Foundation for $6.6 million, according to Fulton County Superior Court records. Trusty advised Georgia State and Heller was counsel to Blood N Fire. Georgia State University in-house counsel Neal Bateman III worked on contract issues and due diligence.

The property is located on Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard, just east of where the street crosses the Downtown Connector. MARTA’s east-west rail line runs along the northern edge of the property. The headquarters of Atlanta businessman Billy Corey’s business sits to the west of the site. Blood N Fire operated a ministerial-outreach program on the property, which includes two older brick-clad industrial warehouses.

Georgia State plans to have two practice fields on the site, along with a training facility and coaches' offices.

The property sale was brokered by Jamie Hargather of Wilson, Hull & Neal, representing Georgia State; and by Larry Culbertson of The C Group LLC, representing Blood N Fire.

The Georgia State Panthers will be coached by former Georgia Tech and Alabama head coach Bill Curry [photo, above].

The recession has meant a precipitous drop in the number of M&A deals this year, meaning less work for investment bankers and lawyers.

But one segment of law firms’ corporate practice groups remains strong—advising banks and financial institutions. In the past month, two South Carolina banks turned to Nelson Mullins Riley & Scarborough for legal counsel on securities offerings.

Nelson Mullins partners Neil Grayson and John Jennings were counsel to SCBT Financial Corp. of Columbia and First Community Corp. of Lexington on securities work. Grayson works out of Nelson Mullins’ offices in Atlanta and Greenville, S.C. Jennings works in Greenville.

SCBT Financial raised about $27 million in a private placement of 1.01 million shares of common stock.

First Community sold $11.4 million in preferred stock to the U.S. Treasury as part of its Troubled Asset Relief Program Capital Purchase Program. First Community also sold 195,915 in 10-year warrants to Treasury.

SCBT Financial operates South Carolina Bank and Trust, as well as four offices of The Scottish Bank in North Carolina. First Community operates 11 offices of First Community Bank in the Columbia, S.C. area.

A Buckhead boutique that peddles high-priced, trendy denim pants—a.k.a. blue jeans—has filed for bankruptcy.

The store, called Blue Genes, filed for Chapter 11 protection in federal court in Atlanta on Wednesday. Jones & Walden partner Leon Jones is the company’s bankruptcy counsel.

Blue Genes operates one store near Lenox Square Mall, as well as an online commerce site. Blue Genes was founded in August 2001 by sisters Jennifer, Julie and Jane Arrendale [photo, left].

Some of the hottest names in casual women’s fashion are owed money by Blue Genes, according to a court document. Blue Genes owes about $159,000 to 7 For All Mankind, which makes Seven Jeans. The store owes Karen Zambos Vintage Couture about $25,000. Designer Elise Overland is owed about $16,000. Blue Genes owes Alice & Olivia of New York about $12,000.

The largest creditor is the State of Georgia, which Blue Genes owes about $810,000 in taxes.

Blue Genes has been a featured spot on the Bravo show “The Real Housewives of Atlanta." [photo, right] One of the housewives, Kim Zolciak, held a birthday party for her daughter at Blue Genes, according to the NoControl television blog. The wives also frequently are shown shopping at the store.

A private equity fund that is the majority-owner of an Atlanta mortgage-services provider turned to Debevoise & Plimpton for counsel on an agreement to sell the Atlanta company to an Australian firm.

QBE Insurance Group Ltd. agreed to acquire ZC Sterling Corp. for $575 million. The acquisition was announced at the same time that QBE said it was also buying two U.S. underwriting agencies and one in Europe, according to Bloomberg News.

ZC Sterling is owned Stone Point Capital LLC. Atlanta-based ZC Sterling provides outsourced services to the mortgage industry, such as managing lender-placed hazard insurance programs. QBE, of Sydney, Australia, sells general insurance and reinsurance in more than three dozen countries.

Debevoise partner Robert Quaintance was lead adviser to Stone Point Capital, according to the law firm. Edwards Angell Palmer & Dodge advised QBE.

Stone Point Capital, of Greenwich, Conn., invests in financial services and insurance companies. Other companies in Stone Point Capital’s portfolio include Atlantic Capital Bank of Atlanta, and personal lines insurance agency Lane McVicker LLC, which has an office in Alpharetta.

Latex products developer Vystar Corp. of Gwinnett County tapped longtime counsel Greenberg Traurig partner Gerald Baxter for work on its plans to issue stock to a venture capital company.

Universal Capital Management Inc., a publicly traded venture capital company based in Wilmington, Del., is an investor in Vystar, according to regulatory documents. UCM also provides management services, strategic planning, investment banking consultation and other services to Vystar. As payment for those services, Vystar intends to issue 600,000 shares of common stock to UCM.

The transaction is described in Vystar’s prospectus as an initial public offering. Baxter declined to comment, citing the Securities and Exchange Commission’s “quiet period” rules for companies in the midst of preparing for an IPO.

Vystar, based in Duluth, owns the rights to a technology used to make natural rubber latex products. The technology, which is branded under the name Vytex, reduces “antigenic protein in natural rubber latex products made with Vytex to virtually undetectable levels,” according to the company’s prospectus. “Allergic reactions to untreated latex are a significant detriment affecting numerous individuals globally,” the company said.

In April, Vystar signed a contract with a Malaysian company to commercially manufacture its products.

Ballard Spahr Andrews & Ingersoll partner Kean DeCarlo in Atlanta and Dergosits & Noah partner Michael Dergosits in San Francisco are listed in U.S. Patent & Trademark Office records as intellectual property counsel to Vystar.