Alston & Bird is among the leading counsel to investment banks acting as financial advisors. The Financial Advisors Practice led by Stuart Rogers and Aaron Dixon has advised large and midsized financial advisors on more than $1 trillion of M&A transactions. The team regularly represents investment banks serving as financial advisors to parties in connection with mergers, acquisitions, divestitures, joint ventures, capital raises, and other complex business transactions.
Before joining Alston & Bird, Stuart had previously served as the head of Credit Suisse’s legal group for the Americas covering investment banking. Stuart is a member of the Mergers, Acquisitions & Corporate Control Contests Committee of the New York City Bar. Aaron has served on the boards of the Atlanta Bar Association’s Business and Finance and Corporate Counsel Sections. Charles Cox, a seasoned M&A litigator with substantial experience in Delaware, provides litigation support and counseling to the team and its clients.
Alston & Bird’s Financial Advisors Practice is consistently ranked in the top ten by The American Lawyer and Corporate Control Alert among U.S. law firms representing financial advisors in M&A transactions.
Financial Advisors
Financial advisors to companies engaging in M&A transactions demand sophisticated legal advice on increasingly complex transactions and expect strategies to avoid potential legal, commercial, and reputational risks. Leading investment banks rely on us—and our experience as both in-house and outside counsel and our reputation as thought leaders—to quickly address issues before they become problems.
Alston & Bird has represented financial advisors to the following:
- Healthcare Realty Trust in its $7.75 billion business combination with Healthcare Trust of America.
- Churchill Downs Inc. in its $2.485 billion acquisition of Peninsula Pacific Entertainment.
- Sitio Royalties Corp. in its $4.8 billion merger with Brigham Minerals Inc.
- AllianceBernstein in its $750 million acquisition of CarVal Investors.
- GTY Technology Holdings in its $372 million sale to GI Partners.
- Hoegh LNG Holdings in its $168 million acquisition of outstanding units of Hoegh LNG Partners.
- Marrone Bio Innovations, Inc. in its $236 million acquisition of Bioceres Crop Solutions.
- Gesher I Acquisition, an Israel-based blank check company, in its $435 million acquisition of Freightos Limited.
- Ocean Bio-Chem Inc. in its $125 million acquisition by OneWater Marine Inc.
- Advance Publications Inc., a significant stockholder in Discovery, in Discovery’s $43 billion combination, via a Reverse Morris Trust transaction, with AT&T’s WarnerMedia.
- Altus Midstream Company in its $9 billion acquisition of EagleClaw Midstream Services LLC.
- Scientific Games in the $6.05 billion sale of its lottery business to Brookfield Business Partners, a business services and industrials company of Brookfield Asset Management.
- Realty Income Corp in its $11 billion acquisition of VEREIT.
- BA Sports Nutrition LLC in its $5.6 billion sale of the remaining 85% stake in the company to The Coca-Cola Company.
- Hexion in its $2 billion sale to private equity firm American Securities.
- Independence Energy in its $5.7 billion business combination with Contango Oil & Gas.
- Altria on the $1.2 billion sale of Ste. Michelle Wine Estates to Sycamore Partners Management LP.
- Desktop Metal Inc. in its $575 million acquisition of The ExOne Company.
- The Andersons Inc. in the $550 million sale of its railcar leasing business to American Industrial Transport, Inc.
- Reliant Bancorp in its $517 million acquisition by United Community Banks.
- Diamond S Shipping Inc. in its $416 million merger with International Seaways.
- Fuze Inc. in its $250 million acquisition by 8x8 Inc.
- Neenah Inc. in its €205 million acquisition of Global Release Liners.
- Earthstone Energy Inc., in its $604 million acquisition of Chisholm Energy Holdings LLC.
- Special purpose acquisition company CM Life Sciences II in its $1.23 billion acquisition of SomaLogic.
- Special purpose acquisition company CM Life Sciences III in its $1.8 billion acquisition of pharmaceutical company EQRx.
- TGR Financial in its $295 million acquisition by First Foundation Inc.
- ANI Pharmaceuticals in its $163.5 million acquisition of Novitium Pharma.
- Benefit Street Partners Realty Trust, Inc. in its $707 million acquisition of Capstead Mortgage Corporation.
- IEC Electronics in its $174 million sale to Creation Technologies Inc.
- BurgerFi International in its $161.3 million acquisition of Anthony’s Coal Fired Pizza from L Catterton.
- The Walman Optical Company in its sale to EssilorLuxottica.
- Special purpose acquisition company Marquee Raine Acquisition Corp. in its $1.2 billion acquisition of Enjoy Technology Inc.
- Special purpose acquisition company Legato Merger Corp. in its $1.7 billion acquisition by Ontario-based Algoma Steel.
- Special purpose acquisition company Legato Merger Corp. II in its $493 million acquisition of Southland Holdings.
- Griffin-American Healthcare REIT IV Inc. in its $4.2 billion merger with Griffin-American Healthcare REIT III Inc.
- Special purpose acquisition company Reinvent Technology Partners Y in its $11 billion acquisition of Aurora Innovation.
- The special committee of the board of directors of State Auto Financial Corporation in its $2.29 billion sale to Liberty Mutual Holding Company.
- Special purpose acquisition company Motive Capital Corporation, in its $2 billion acquisition of Forge Global.
- Special purpose acquisition company Novus Capital Corporation II in its $1.1 billion acquisition of energy storage startup Energy Vault.
- Special purpose acquisition company Tailwind Two Acquisition Corp. in its $1.58 billion acquisition of Terran Orbital.
- SLR Senior Investment Corp in its $2 billion merger with SLR Investment Corp.
- Huntington Ingalls Industries Inc. in its $1.65 billion acquisition of Veritas Capital portfolio company Alion Science and Technology.
- Acies Acquisition Corp. in its $1.1 billion acquisition of PlayStudios Inc.
- Hormel Foods Corporation in its $3.35 billion acquisition of Planters® from the Kraft Heinz Company.
- Coty Inc. in its majority sale of its professional beauty and retail hair businesses valued at $4.3 billion to KKR Funds.
- Chevron Corporation in the acquisition of Noble Energy valued at $13 billion.
- 7-Eleven Inc. in its acquisition of Speedway LLC in a cash transaction valued at $21 billion.
- Intercontinental Exchange in its acquisition of Ellie Mae for cash and stock valued at $11 billion.
- Builders FirstSource Inc. in its acquisition of BMC Stock Holdings Inc. valued at $2.5 billion.
- Concho Resources in its $9.7 billion sale to ConocoPhillips.
- Parsley Energy in its $7.6 billion sale to Pioneer Natural Resources Company.
- The special committee of the board of directors of Pacific Oak Strategic Opportunity REIT II, Inc. in its acquisition by Pacific Oak Strategic Opportunity REIT, Inc., creating a combined company with approximately $2.6 billion in gross real estate and real estate-related assets.
- Leidos in its acquisition of the Security Detection and Automation Business of L3Harris Technologies, valued at $1 billion.
- Cleveland-Cliffs in its acquisition of AK Steel, valued at $1.1 billion.
- Dupont in the separation and sale of its Nutrition and Bioscience Business to International Flavors & Fragrances, valued at $26 billion.
- The Charles Schwab Corporation in its acquisition of TD Ameritrade Holding Corporation in a stock for stock merger valued at approximately $26 billion.
- Bombardier Inc. in its sale of its aerostructures business to Spirit Aerosystems in a cash transaction valued at $1.2 billion.
- First Bancorp in its acquisition of Banco Santander Puerto Rico in a cash transaction valued at $1.1 billion.
- Bayer AG in its sale of its animal health business to Elanco in a cash transaction valued at $7.6 billion.
- The Charles Schwab Corporation in its acquisition of USAA’s investment management business in a cash transaction valued at 1.8 billion.
- UGI Corp. in the acquisition by UGI Energy Services of Columbia Midstream Group in a cash transaction valued at $1.275 billion.
- Performance Food Group in its acquisition of Reinhart Foodservice in a cash transaction valued at $2.0 billion.
- 3M in its acquisition of Acelity in a cash transaction valued at $6.7 billion.
- Worldpay Inc. in its business combination with Fidelity National Information Services Inc. in a cash and stock transaction valued at $43 billion.
- Mellanox Technologies Ltd. in its sale to NVIDIA Corporation in a cash transaction valued at $6.9 billion.
- Luxoft Holding Inc. in its sale to DXC Technology in a cash transaction valued at $2 billion.
- Encana Corporation in its acquisition of Newfield Exploration Company in an all-stock transaction valued at $5.5 billion.
- Momentive Performance Materials in its acquisition by a consortium including Wonik QnC Corporation, KCC Corporation, and SJL Partners in a cash transaction valued at $3.1 billion.
- Ocean Rig UDW Inc. in its business combination with Transocean in a stock and cash transaction valued at $2.9 billion.
- Modular Space Holdings in its $1.1 billion acquisition by WillScot Corporation in a stock and cash transaction valued at $1.1 billion
- Pinnacle Foods in its acquisition by Conagra Brands for cash and stock in a transaction valued at $10.9 billion.
- ESCO Corporation in its acquisition by Weir plc in a stock and cash transaction valued at $1.285 billion.
- Nationstar Mortgage Holdings in its acquisition by WMIH Corp. for cash and stock in a transaction valued at approximately $4.8 billion.
- Ply Gem Holdings in its acquisition by an affiliate of Clayton Dubilier & Rice in a cash transaction valued at $2.4 billion.
- Laboratory Corporation of America Holdings (LabCorp) in its acquisition of Chiltern International Ltd in a cash transaction valued at $1.2 billion.
- AmeriPride in its acquisition by Aramark in a cash transaction valued at $1 billion.
- Williams Scotsman in its acquisition by Double Eagle Acquisition Corp. in a cash transaction valued at $1.1 billion.
- CSRA in its acquisition by General Dynamics in a cash merger valued at $9.6 billion.
- Fidelis Care in the acquisition of substantially all of its assets by Centene Corporation for approximately $3.75 billion in cash.
- CH2M HILL in its sale to Jacobs Engineering Group in a transaction valued at approximately $3.25 billion.
- McCormick & Company in its acquisition of Reckitt Benckiser Group’s Food Division in a transaction valued at approximately $4.2 billion.
- SemGroup Corporation in its acquisition of Houston Fuel Oil Terminal Company in a cash and stock transaction valued at approximately $2.1 billion.
- The special committee of the board of directors of Nord Anglia Education Inc. in its sale to a consortium of investors led by Baring Private Equity Asia and the Canadian Pension Plan Investment Board in a cash transaction valued at approximately $4.3 billion.
- Praxair in its merger with Linde in a transaction valued at approximately $65 billion.
- Dr Pepper Snapple Group in DPS’s acquisition of Bai Brands LLC in a transaction valued at approximately $1.7 billion.
- Stanley Black & Decker in Stanley Black & Decker’s acquisition of Newell Tools from Newell Brands for approximately $1.95 billion in cash.
- WCI Communities Inc. in its merger with Lennar Corporation in a cash and stock transaction valued at approximately $807 million.
- Isle of Capri Casinos Inc. in its cash and stock merger with Eldorado Resorts Inc. in a transaction valued at approximately $1.7 billion.
- Enbridge Inc. in its stock merger with Spectra Energy Corp. in a business combination valued at approximately C$37 billion.
- EverBank Financial Corp. in its cash merger with TIAA in a transaction valued at approximately $2.5 billion.
- Epiq Systems Inc. in its cash merger with an entity affiliated with OMERS Private Equity and Harvest Partners LP in a transaction valued at approximately $1 billion.
- The conflicts committee of Plains All American Pipeline L.P. in a simplification transaction with Plains AAP L.P., a controlled affiliate of Plains GP Holdings L.P.
- The strategic alternatives committee of the board of directors of Electro Rent Corp. in the cash acquisition of Electro Rent by Platinum Equity in a transaction valued at approximately $324 million.
- Range Resources in its acquisition of Memorial Resource Development in a stock for stock merger valued at approximately $4.4 billion.
- Krispy Kreme in its acquisition by JAB Beech in a cash merger with an equity value of approximately $1.35 billion.
- The special committee of the board of directors of SL Industries Inc. in the acquisition of SL Industries by Handy & Harman Ltd. in a cash transaction valued at approximately $158 million.
- Nasdaq Inc. in its acquisition of International Securities Exchange for $1.1 billion in cash.
- Algonquin Power & Utilities Corp. in its acquisition of Empire District Electric in a cash transaction valued at approximately $2.4 billion.
- Cameron International in its acquisition by Schlumberger NV in a stock and cash merger valued at approximately $14.8 billion.
- The special committee of the board of directors of WuXi PharmaTech in its acquisition by a consortium that includes the founder and a group of financial sponsors in a cash merger for aggregate equity consideration of approximately $3.3 billion.
- Precision Castparts Corp. in its acquisition by Berkshire Hathaway Inc. in a cash merger valued at approximately $37.2 billion.
- Lockheed Martin in its acquisition of Sikorsky Aircraft from United Technologies in a transaction valued at $9 billion.
- Hormel in its acquisition of Applegate Farms in a transaction valued at $775 million.
- Micrel in its acquisition by Microchip Technology in a cash and stock transaction valued at approximately $744 million.
- Crestwood Midstream Partners in its acquisition by Crestwood Equity Partners in a stock transaction valued at approximately $7.5 billion.
- Raytheon in its acquisition of Websense in a transaction valued at approximately $1.9 billion.
- Hyperion Therapeutics in its acquisition by Horizon Pharma in a transaction valued at approximately $1.1 billion.
- Lakes Entertainment in its acquisition of Sartini Gaming.
- AK Steel in its acquisition of Severstal Dearborn LLC from an affiliate of Severstal OAO for approximately $700 million in cash.
- Kodiak Oil & Gas in its acquisition by Whiting Petroleum for approximately $6 billion in Whiting stock.
- Merck in its acquisition of Idenix in a cash transaction valued at $3.85 billion.
- The Priceline Group in Priceline’s cash acquisition of OpenTable in a transaction valued at approximately $2.6 billion.
- Furiex Pharmaceuticals in its acquisition by Forest Laboratories for approximately $1.1 billion in cash and contingent value rights worth up to an additional $360 million in the aggregate.
- Chiquita Brands in its business combination with Fyffes plc in a transaction valued at approximately $1.07 billion.
- Coastal Energy in its acquisition by an affiliate of CEPSA for $2.3 billion in cash.
- General Parts International in its acquisition by Advance Auto Parts for $2 billion in cash.
- Crown Holdings in its acquisition of Mivisa Envases for approximately $1.6 billion in cash.
- CapLease in CapLease’s acquisition by American Realty Capital Properties for approximately $2.2 billion in cash.
- Berry Petroleum in its acquisition by LinnCo and LINN Energy for approximately $4.3 billion in LinnCo stock.
- KAYAK in its acquisition by Priceline.com for approximately $1.8 billion in stock and cash.
- Epoch Holding in its acquisition by The Toronto-Dominion Bank for $668 million in cash.
- Freeport-McMoRan Copper & Gold in its acquisition of Plains Exploration & Production Company for $17.2 billion in stock and cash.
- Freeport-McMoRan Copper & Gold in its acquisition of McMoRan Exploration for $3.4 billion in cash and units in a royalty trust.
- Anheuser Busch InBev NV in its acquisition of the shares of Grupo Modelo SA it did not own for approximately $20 billion in cash.
- Sunoco in its acquisition by Energy Transfer Partners L.P. for approximately $5.3 billion in cash and stock.
- Complete Production Services in its acquisition by Superior Energy Services for $2.7 billion in stock and cash.
- Goodrich Corporation in its acquisition by United Technologies for approximately $18.4 billion in cash.
- Energy Transfer Equity in its acquisition of Southern Union for $8.9 billion in stock and cash.
- Frontier Oil in its $7 billion stock merger with Holly Corporation.
- Total SA in its acquisition via tender offer of approximately 60 percent of the outstanding equity securities of SunPower Corporation for $1.4 billion.
- Frontier Oil Corporation in its $7 billion merger with Holly Corporation.
- The conflicts committee of the board of PVG GP LLC, as general partner of Penn Virginia GP Holdings L.P., in the acquisition by Penn Virginia Resource Partners L.P. of its general partner Penn Virginia Holdings.
- The audit, conflicts, and governance committee of the board of Enterprise Products GP LLC as general partner of Enterprise Products Partners L.P. in the acquisition by Enterprise Products Partners of its general partner Enterprise GP Holdings L.P.
- BP P.L.C. in its $7 billion sale of assets to Apache Corporation.
- Allscripts-Misys Healthcare Solutions Inc. in its $1.3 billion acquisition of Eclipsys Corporation.
- Mainline Management LLC, as general partner of Buckeye GP Holdings L.P., in the acquisition of Buckeye GP Holdings L.P. by Buckeye Partners.
- Mariner Energy Inc. in its $3.9 billion sale to Apache Corporation.
- Merck & Co. Inc. in the $4 billion sale of its 50 percent interest in Merial Ltd to Sanofi-Aventis SA.
- Schering-Plough Corporation in its granting Merial Ltd the right to acquire its Intervet/Schering-Plough Animal Health business for consideration with a minimum aggregate value of at least $9.25 billion.
- The special committee of the audit, conflicts, and governance committee of the general partner of TEPPCO Partners L.P. in its $3.3 billion acquisition by Enterprise Products Partners L.P.
- Sun Microsystems Inc. in its $7.4 billion acquisition by Oracle Corporation.
- The special committee of the board of directors of Retail Ventures Inc. in the acquisition of Retail Ventures by DSW Inc.
- Booz Allen Hamilton Inc. in the spinoff of its commercial consulting business and the sale of its government consulting business to the Carlyle Group.
- The special committee of the board of directors of UnionBanCal in its $3.5 billion acquisition by its majority stockholder, the Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi UFJ.
- King Pharmaceuticals Inc. in its $1.6 billion acquisition of Alpharma Inc.
- Grant Prideco Inc. in its $7.5 billion merger with National Oilwell Varco Inc.
- Thomas Weisel Partners Group Inc. in its $300 million acquisition by Stifel Financial Corp.
- The special committee of the board of directors of Pomeroy IT Solutions Inc. in Pomeroy IT Solutions’ acquisition by an affiliate of Platinum Equity for $6.50 per share.
Contacts
Highlights
Alston & Bird Ranked a Top Counsel to Investment Banks in the First Half of 2024
Corporate Control Alert – a service of The Deal that provides analysis of key Delaware case law, trends in dealmaking, activism, and regulation – has ranked Alston & Bird third among counsel to financial advisors on U.S. M&A transactions with a value of $100 million or more announced between Jan. 1 and June 30, 2024.
Alston & Bird Counsels Houlihan Lokey, Financial Advisor to Everi Holdings, in Everi’s Merger with International Game Technology
Alston & Bird counseled Houlihan Lokey, financial advisor to Everi Holdings, in Everi’s $6.2 billion proposed merger with gaming business International Game Technology.
Alston & Bird Ranked a Top Counsel to Investment Banks in 2023
Corporate Control Alert – a service of The Deal that provides analysis of key Delaware case law, trends in dealmaking, activism, and regulation – has ranked Alston & Bird sixth among counsel to financial advisors on U.S. M&A transactions with a value of $100 million or more announced between Jan. 1 and Dec. 31, 2023.
Alston & Bird Represents Truist Securities in Sunoco’s Acquisition of NuStar Energy
Alston & Bird represented Truist Securities, financial advisor to Sunoco LP, in the motor fuel distributor’s $7.3 billion acquisition of NuStar Energy LP, an independent liquids terminal and pipeline operator.