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

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M&A: large deals ($1bn+)

Kirkland & Ellis LLP

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Representing multinational corporations, financial sponsors, and boards of directors, the Kirkland & Ellis LLP team has vast experience handling cross-border M&A, including complex mergers of equals and hostile takeovers. The firm’s corporate offering is extensive and also encompasses cross-border leveraged buyouts, carve-out transactions, and joint ventures, with Daniel Wolf acting as a key contact for activism defense and general corporate matters. Sarkis Jebejian is experienced with corporate governance and shareholder activism matters, whilst Eric Schiele frequently advises public company boards and special committees on general transactional and hostile takeover matters. David Feirstein is especially knowledgeable on corporate and securities law issues, Jonathan Davis focuses on public and private M&A, and Edward Lee is an expert in assisting with IPOs and spin-offs. All the department’s lawyers are based in New York, including David Klein, who routinely counsels private equity firms and other investors on a wide array of transactional matters.

Legal 500 Editorial commentary

Testimonials

Collated independently by Legal 500 research team.

  • 'This team is very experienced, creative, and responsive. They offer pragmatic, actionable legal advice. They take the time to understand our business and to apply that understanding to the advice they provide. They are willing to identify options along the risk spectrum.'
  • 'Sarkis Jebejian uses his substantial experience to provide excellent legal advice. I also appreciate his rapport with the regulators and counsel on the other side of our transaction. For large, strategically important M&A activity, this team is among the very best.'

Key clients

  • AbbVie
  • Accenture
  • BAE Systems
  • Bristol-Myers Squibb
  • Celanese Corporation
  • Clayton, Dubilier & Rice
  • Cvent Holding Corp.
  • Diversey Holdings, Ltd.
  • Eli Lilly and Company
  • EQT Corporation
  • Groupe Bruxelles Lambert SA
  • KKR & Co, Inc.
  • NortonLifeLock
  • Oak Street Health
  • Option Care Health
  • Six Flags Entertainment Corporation
  • Verizon
  • Vincent McMahon
  • Vista Equity Partners

Work highlights

  • Advised Vincent McMahon on leading WWE through a review of its strategic alternatives and on the resulting $21bn merger with Endeavor Group Holdings, Inc.
  • Advised Oak Street Health on its $10.6bn sale to CVS Health.
  • Advised Six Flags Entertainment Corporation on its $8bn merger of equals with Cedar Fair.

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.

Daniel Wolf

Hall of fameKirkland & Ellis LLP

Daniel focuses on mergers and acquisitions, representing public and private companies and private equity firms in a variety of domestic and international transactions. His transactional experience spans the range of M&A activity, including many significant cross-border and contested transactions, as well as representing boards of directors in activism defense and governance matters. Clients he has represented include Bristol-Myers Squibb, Blackstone Group, Vista Equity Partners, Celanese, Fortive, Avis Budget, Teva Pharmaceutical, GrubHub, Ventas, Akzo Nobel and GSK.

Leading lawyers

Jonathan Davis

Kirkland & Ellis LLP

Jonathan Davis’s practice primarily focuses on public and private company merger and acquisition transactions and activist defense. Jonathan also advises corporations and their directors on general corporate and governance matters. Over the course of his career, Jonathan has advised on transactions having an aggregate value of approximately $700 billion. His clients have included 3G Capital, AbbVie, Alliant Techsystems, Amcor, Anheuser Busch InBev, Avaya, Avon, Bristol-Myers Squibb, Delhaize Group, Fortive, General Motors, H.J. Heinz, Honeywell, IBM, J.Crew, Jones Group, Mead Johnson, Pentair, Pinnacle Foods, Scientific Games and Spectrum Brands, as well as numerous SPACs and investment banks.

Other key lawyers

Daniel Wolf, Sarkis Jebejian, Eric Schiele, David Feirstein, Jonathan Davis, Edward Lee, David Klein

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