Sidley has a preeminent global M&A practice comprising more than 200 lawyers in 20 offices worldwide.
We are engaged in the full spectrum of public and private M&A transactions of all sizes including such recent deals such as the acquisition by Aon Corporation of Hewitt Associates, the sale of Alberto Culver to Unilever, the acquisition by Caterpillar of Bucyrus, the acquisition of Security Benefit Life by Guggenheim Capital, the acquisition by GE of Dresser and Newcrest Mining’s merger with LGL. Our clients include large and small companies, private equity funds and other financial sponsors, boards of directors, special committees, financial advisors and other participants in corporate transactions.
What differentiates Sidley’s M&A practice from that of other leading “M&A law firms” is that we are a full-service firm with experienced lawyers in numerous practice areas that complement and enhance our deal experience. For example, we have top-ranked practices in areas as diverse as healthcare, life sciences, insurance, real estate, hedge funds, REITs, telecommunications, energy, trade and WTO rules, U.S. antitrust and EU competition, and labor and employment law, as well as corporate governance, executive compensation, ERISA and Federal, state and many foreign tax practices. We also draw upon and work closely with lawyers in our top-ranked M&A litigation practice.
Unlike many firms that simply assign junior corporate lawyers to large due diligence exercises, we are able to deploy lawyers well versed in the legal aspects of an acquisition target’s businesses to assist our M&A lawyers in analyzing those businesses. Moreover, these Sidley lawyers assist our corporate lawyers in drafting and negotiating the specialized representations and covenants that distinguish the appropriate transaction agreement from the typical form agreement for a standard “widget” company - because there are very few standard “widget” companies out there. Few law firms have the breadth and depth of resources that we make available to our M&A clients.