North America - United States • M&A/corporate and commercial

Cravath, Swaine & Moore LLP

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Cementing its status as a market-leading outfit for high-value M&A, the team at Cravath, Swaine & Moore LLP demonstrates extensive expertise in handling cross-border joint ventures, divestitures, and strategic investments. Drawing upon a deep bench of seasoned corporate lawyers, the department regularly advises global companies in the pharmaceutical, finance, and digital sectors on a wide range of transactional matters. With the outfit operating entirely out of New York, presiding partner Faiza Saeed is highly regarded for her corporate governance and crisis management work, while co-head Mark Greene focuses primarily on complex restructuring matters and private equity deals. Co-head Robert Townsend is an expert in international M&A and activist defense proceedings, and George Schoen routinely counsels corporations and their directors on fiduciary duty issues. Co-head Richard Hall is a specialist in managing strategic partnerships in the renewable energy field, Ting Chen is knowledgeable on corporate activism matters, and Aaron Gruber oversees general corporate affairs. Keith Hallam left the team in March 2024.

Legal 500 Editorial commentary

Key clients

  • Biogen
  • Deutsche Börse
  • EchoStar
  • Hasbro
  • IBM
  • Johnson & Johnson
  • Route Mobile
  • RWE
  • The Snyder Family
  • Viatris
  • The Walt Disney Company
  • WestRock

Work highlights

  • Represented Brookfield Renewable Partners in its $8bn acquisition of Westinghouse.
  • Advised Biogen on its $7.3bn acquisition of Reata Pharmaceuticals.
  • Advised Viatris in connection with divestitures totaling $6.94bn.

Lawyers

Hall of Fame

The lawyers at the very top of the profession, widely known and respected by peers and clients for their longstanding involvement in market-leading work.

Mark Greene

Hall of fameCravath, Swaine & Moore LLP

Mark I. Greene is the Head of Cravath’s Corporate Department and the Leader of the Firm’s International Practice. His practice focuses on mergers and acquisitions, corporate governance and securities matters, including advising on cross-border and domestic transactions, private equity deals, complex restructuring transactions, proxy fights, takeover defense and hedge fund activism. According to clients and the market, Mr. Greene has a “mighty reputation in cross-border deals” and “outstanding and deep experience in M&A.” He “treats his clients as priority number one” and “takes time to probe and understand his clients’ objectives and is very practical in the legal advice he offers.” 

Faiza Saeed

Hall of fameCravath, Swaine & Moore LLP

Faiza J. Saeed is Cravath’s Presiding Partner. She advises public companies, boards of directors and special committees in connection with M&A, corporate governance and crisis management, including takeover defense and proxy contests.

Leading lawyers

Ting Chen

Cravath, Swaine & Moore LLP

Ting S. Chen is a partner in Cravath’s Corporate Department. Her practice focuses on mergers and acquisitions, corporate governance, and activism and takeover defense. Ms. Chen’s clients have included Avon, BDT Capital Partners, British American Tobacco, DHT, DreamWorks Animation, Goldman Sachs, Honeywell, IBM, Illumina, InterMune, JPMorgan Chase, Kraft, Lundbeck, New Senior, OneBeacon Insurance, Pitney Bowes, Qualcomm, Starbucks, Thermo Fisher Scientific, The Washington Post, White Mountains Insurance and Zale Corporation.

Aaron Gruber

Cravath, Swaine & Moore LLP

Aaron M. Gruber is a partner in Cravath’s Corporate Department. His practice primarily focuses on mergers and acquisitions, activist defense, corporate governance and general corporate matters.

George Schoen

Cravath, Swaine & Moore LLP

George F. Schoen is a partner in Cravath’s Corporate Department. His practice focuses primarily on mergers, acquisitions and joint ventures, including hostile and contested transactions. He also regularly counsels corporations and their directors on fiduciary duty and corporate governance matters.

Practice head

The lawyer(s) leading their teams.

Faiza Saeed, Mark Greene, Robert Townsend, George Schoen, Richard Hall

Other key lawyers

Ting Chen, Aaron Gruber, G.J. Ligelis Jr.