Primarily advising large multinational corporations and private equity fund sponsors, the Baker McKenzie LLP team is highly adept at ‘bridging gaps’ in complex multi-jurisdictional M&A proceedings, while also offering clients extesnive experience with divestitures and joint venture transactions. Alan Zoccolillo heads the outfit from New York and specializes in corporate restructurings and investment transactions, while Palo Alto-based Leif King is an expert in spin-offs and recapitalizations. From Chicago, Michael DeFranco focuses on corporate finance and securities matters, David Malliband routinely counsels both domestic and international companies on cross-border transactions, and Olivia Tyrrell is knowledgeable on strategic alliances ad carve-outs. The ’committed’ Airi Hammalov concentrates on strategic investments from New York, and San Francisco-based Derek Liu advises startups on inbound growth and venture capital investments.
Testimonials
Collated independently by Legal 500 research team.
‘The Baker McKenzie team is at its best in large and complex cross-border deal. On those deals things work quite seamlessly in between countries and specialists involved. The team comes across as diverse and client-friendly. Firm has an impressive carve-out team.’
‘I work mostly with David Malliband and really like him as a lead partner. Completely dedicated and invested in getting to know me/us as a client. David in particular is good at challenging me - which is needed every now and then - but also extremely supportive of me in my role.’
‘While working to protect the client they were also realistic about what we could reasonably negotiate from the buyer which made the process more efficient. Additionally, they kept explanations and documents to plain English, given the lack of prior M&A experience of our shareholders and Board.’
‘Strong focus on responsiveness and availability. International reach coupled with ability to project manage/centralize from the US is very helpful for bridging gaps on cross-border deals.’
‘Hard-working and solution-oriented team with practical insights.
‘Airi Hammalov: committed person with a steady hand and excellent negotiation skills.'
Key clients
- Johnson & Johnson
- Physicians Realty Trust
- Nielsen
- Emerson Electric Co.
- Aurora Acquisition Corp.
- Sika
- Spectrum Brands, Inc.
- Newly Wed Foods, Inc.
- Olink Holding AB
- Wilbur-Ellis
- The Estee Lauder Companies, Inc.
- Safran SA
- Denso
- Mitsubishi Electric Corporation
- ALDI
- Abbott Laboratories
- ImageFirst Healthcare Laundry Specialists LLC
- YAGEO Corporation
Work highlights
- Advised long-standing healthcare client Johnson & Johnson on the approximately $50bn spin-off of its consumer products business.
- Acted for Physicians Realty Trust on its agreement to combine with Healthpeak Properties, Inc. in an all-stock merger of equals valued at approximately $21bn.
- Advised Aurora Acquisition Corp. on a de-SPAC transaction to transform Better into a publicly traded company.
Practice head
The lawyer(s) leading their teams.
Alan Zoccolillo