Our M&A lawyers are among the most experienced and effective in the world. We represent many of the world's largest publicly traded and privately held companies, as well as leading private equity firms on their most important mergers, acquisitions and takeover transactions.
Paul, Weiss Recognized in The American Lawyer
Paul, Weiss was recognized for four transactions in the April issue of The American Lawyer.
In the "Big Deals" section, Paul, Weiss was noted in connection with CF Industries Holdings, Inc.'s (CF) $4.7 billion cash and stock hostile bid for Terra Industries Inc. on March 2. Paul, Weiss represented Agrium Inc. in its unsolicited bid to acquire all of the issued and outstanding shares of common stock of CF. The Paul, Weiss team representing Agrium included, among others, corporate partners Matthew Abbott, Ted Maynard and Bob Schumer, and associates Phillip Bongiorni, David Lee, Po Ying Lo, Krista Ann McDonough and Nicholas Smolansky; antitrust partner Joe Simons; and tax partner David Sicular and associate Mashiho Yuasa.
In the "Big Deals" section under "Deals in Brief," Paul, Weiss was recognized for the representation of Prime Outlets Acquisition Company and certain of its affiliated entities in the disposition of their outlet shopping center business to Simon Property Group, Inc., the largest public U.S. real estate company. The transaction, in which the owners of Prime Outlets Acquisition Company will receive cash as well as units of Simon's operating partnership, was valued at approximately $2.325 billion, including the assumption of Prime Outlets' existing indebtedness and preferred stock. The transaction was one of only four deals in the sector larger than $500 million and involving a U.S. party since August 2009. The Paul, Weiss team representing Prime Outlets included corporate partners Eric Goodison, John Kennedy, Jeff Marell and Bob Schumer, and associates Ricky Fong, Danielle Gaier, Daniel Levine, Brett Nadritch, Barry Spatzer, Judith Tomkins, Michael Wong and Karina Yamada; real estate partner Peter Fisch and associates Brandilyn Dumas, Leslie Horton, Julia Milne and Andrew Wurzburger; tax partner Jeff Samuels and associates Lee Hepner, John Hynes and David Levine; employee benefits partner Larry Witdorchic, associate Erin Murphy and former associate Lauren Voss; and environmental counsel Bill O'Brien.
In the "New Business" section, Paul, Weiss was noted for its role in Walgreens' acquisition of New York-based drugstore chain, Duane Reade, from affiliates of Paul, Weiss client Oak Hill Capital Partners. The cash transaction, which included assumption of debt, had a total enterprise value of $1.075 billion. The Paul, Weiss team representing Oak Hill included, among others, corporate partners Eric Goodison, Marco Masotti and Bob Schumer, associates Tara Doolan, Danielle Gaier, Stanislav Grigoryev, Zhiping Liu, Liza Montesano, Daniel Mun, Nathan Pusey, Alykhan Sunderji, Lindsey Wiersma, Justin Winegar and Karina Yamada, and foreign lawyer Andres Nieto; employee benefits partners Rob Fleder and Larry Witdorchic, and associates Paul Koppel, Verity Rees and Michelle Zimmerman; environmental counsel Bill O'Brien; intellectual property associates Zoe Hilden and Lindsay Silber; real estate partners Mitch Berg and Peter Fisch, and associate Julia Milne; tax partner David Sicular and associate David Levine; antitrust partner Joe Simons, counsel Didier Malaquin and associate Danielle Clark; and litigation partner Dan Beller and associate Jonathan Freedman. Assistance was provided by corporate paralegals Richard Scudder and Brooke Spiegel.
Also in the "New Business" section, Paul, Weiss was noted for the representation of Religare Enterprises Limited in its acquisition of a majority stake in Northgate Capital, a leading global private equity and venture capital fund-of-funds firm, for an undisclosed amount. The Paul, Weiss team included, among others, corporate partner Steve Williams and associates Sebastian Chan, Joel Karansky, Daniel Levine and Melissa Mao; tax partner David Mayo and associate Joy Zhang; employee benefits partner Larry Witdorchic and associate Tzvi Mackson. Counsel Philip Heimowitz and Jennifer Spiegel provided investment funds advice.