Our M&A lawyers bring sophisticated judgment, advice and client service to high-stakes transactions, including public and private deals, private equity transactions, divestitures, joint ventures, carveouts, friendly and contested situations, leveraged buyouts and other types of M&A transactions. Equally important is our ability to offer the same high level of proficiency across a broad spectrum of other disciplines that are critical to achieving success on these multi-faceted and possibly contentious matters, such as antitrust and competition, tax, acquisition financing, capital markets, executive compensation and employee benefits, litigation, intellectual property, environmental and such regulatory fields as economic sanctions, anti-bribery and Exon-Florio laws.

• "Davis Polk & Wardwell continues to live up to its reputation as one of the country's most cutting-edge M&A practices." – IFLR1000 2012
  
  
  
• "They are experts in their fields, creative problem solvers and dedicated to providing excellent service.” – Chambers Global 2012
  
  
  
• Davis Polk lawyers are: "Subject matter experts, who have strong commercial instincts and good, practical judgment. They are terrific at anticipating issues and are very effective negotiators, drafters and problem solvers.” – Legal 500 U.S. 2012
  
  
  
• 21 nominations – more than any other firm – for theIFLR 2012 Americas Awards, including:
  
  
  • M&A Team of the Year
    
  • Private Equity Team of the Year
    
  • 3 M&A/Private Equity Deals of the Year

Recent Selected Matters

• ConAgra Foods. We advised ConAgra Foods, an Omaha, Nebraska-based food company with brands in 97% of America’s households, on its $6.8 billion acquisition of Ralcorp, a St. Louis, Missouri-based producer of a variety of private-brand foods sold under the individual labels of retailers.
  
  
• Thomas & Betts. We advised Thomas & Betts, a Memphis, Tennessee-based electrical component manufacturer, on its $3.9 billion acquisition by Swiss engineering firm ABB.
  
  
• Bertelsmann. We have advised Bertelsmann, a German diversified media and business outsourcing company, in connection with the pending combination with Pearson, a U.K. business information, education and publishing company, of their trade-book publishing companies, Random House and Penguin Group, respectively. Bertelsmann will own 53% and Pearson will own 47% of the combined company, which will be named Penguin Random House.
  
  
• Cigna. We advised Cigna on its $3.8 billion acquisition of HealthSpring, a Nashville, Tennessee-based provider of Medicare Advantage coordinated care plans.
  
  
• Daikin Industries. We advised Daikin Industries, a diversified Japanese manufacturing company and producer of heating, ventilating and air conditioning (HVAC) products, on its $3.7 billion acquisition of Goodman Global, a Houston, Texas-based manufacturer of HVAC products, from affiliates of Hellman & Friedman. This was the largest completed Japanese outbound M&A deal in 2012.
  
  
• Tele2. We advised Tele2 AB, one of Europe’s leading telecom operators, on the $3.55 billion sale of its Russian operations to VTB Group, the financial holding company of one of the leading universal banks of Russia.
  
  
• Rabobank. We have advised Rabobank, a Dutch provider of a full-range of financial services, on its pending €1.935 billion sale of approximately 90.01% of the equity in Robeco Groep, a global asset manager with approximately €189 billion of assets under management, to ORIX Corporation, a Japanese integrated financial services group. 
  
  
• Dalian Wanda. We advised Dalian Wanda, a Chinese real estate conglomerate, on its $2.6 billion acquisition of AMC Entertainment, a Kansas City, Missouri-based movie theater company, in the largest Chinese outbound acquisition of a U.S. company.
  
  
• TE Connectivity. We advised TE Connectivity, a Swiss electronic components manufacturer, on its $2.1 billion acquisition of Deutsch Group, a French provider of connectivity solutions for harsh environment applications, from the Wendel Group.
  
  
• Campbell Soup Company. We advised Campbell Soup Company, a manufacturer and marketer of high-quality foods and simple meals, on its $1.55 billion acquisition of Bolthouse Farms, a food and beverage company focused on developing, manufacturing and marketing proprietary, high-value-added natural, healthy products.
  
  
• Reliance Steel & Aluminum. We have advised Reliance Steel & Aluminum, the largest metals service center company in North America with headquarters in Los Angeles, California, on its pending $1.2 billion acquisition of Metals USA Holdings, a Fort Lauderdale, Florida-based provider of a wide range of products and services in the heavy carbon steel, flat-rolled steel, non-ferrous metals and building products markets.
  
  
• Artio Global Investors. We have advised the strategic review committee of independent directors of Artio Global Investors, a registered investment adviser that actively invests in global fixed income and equity markets for institutional and intermediary clients, on its pending $160 million acquisition by Aberdeen Asset Management, a U.K. asset management company that offers its clients its investment expertise in equities, fixed income and property.