North America - United States • M&A/corporate and commercial
Morrison Foerster
With a strong track record in overseeing cross-border M&A transactions across the tech, life sciences, and agriculture sectors, the Morrison Foerster team delivers ‘efficient and seamless’ results for a roster of global corporate clients. Based in New York, Spencer Klein co-heads the practice and specializes in stock and asset acquisitions, while Mitchell Presser is an expert on the financial services and insurance industries. Co-head Brandon Parris, who is based in San Francisco, regularly represents clients in major spin-offs and joint ventures. Also in San Francisco, Erin McCrath is an expert on matters arising in the tech sector, and Michael O’Bryan concentrates on divestitures and strategic transactions. In Miami, Randy Bullard is noted for his ability to handle cross-border transactions spanning the US, Europe, and Latin America. Denver-based lawyer Erik Knudsen is knowledgeable on leveraged buyouts.
Legal 500 Editorial commentary
Testimonials
Collated independently by Legal 500 research team.
‘Deep industry knowledge and expertise coupled with strong client demeanor and negotiating skills.’
‘Tremendous work ethic, reasonable / effective approach to negotiations, and strong client management skills.’
‘Well integrated with key specialists, e.g. government contract experts, which is critical for my deals.’
‘Very efficient and seamless in their behind-the-scenes interactions with specialists. Tyler Sewell and Gabriella Fortun are extraordinary.’
‘They have a depth and breadth of experience that is critical for doing large transactions including international expertise.’
‘Erik Knudsen - lead partner on US transactions. Erik is very knowledgeable, easy to work with, and explains things well. Great problem solver. Very good at anticipating next steps.’
‘There are two factors that have led to me continuing to work with MoFo over the years, (i) the commercial nature of their approach to M&A transactions and (ii) their exceptional expertise within our Government Contracting industry. There are many other law firms around the beltway that bring one or the other, but not both. In order to accomplish our M&A objectives, these two attributes are critical to the ability to get transactions completed.’
Key clients
- 98point6
- Alpine Investors
- AgroFresh Solutions
- Anzu Partners
- ATN International
- Autodesk
- Axalta Coating Systems
- BetterUp
- Boyd Gaming
- Bow River Capital
- Daiwa Securities
- Ducera Securities
- eBay
- eTelligent Group
- Examinetics
- Excellere Partners
- Fidelio Capital
- FoodChain ID
- Freedom 3 Capital
- Fremont Macanta
- Fujitsu
- Grant Thornton
- Honeywell
- Infineon Technologies
- Main Post Partners
- Marrone Bio Innovations
- McGrath Rentcorp
- MGG Investment Group
- Linquest
- Odevo AB
- onsemi
- Paine Schwartz Partners
- Pivotal Investment Corporation II
- Popchips
- Pulse Agri Investments
- Qatalyst Partners
- Raymond James Financial
- Renesas Electronics
- Rubicon Technology Partners
- Rothschild & Co.
- San Francisco Equity Partners
- Seagate Technology
- Sedgwick Claims Management Services
- Seller X
- Sigma Defense Systems
- Silver Crest Acquisition Corporation
- Sky Harbour
- SoftBank Group
- Solomon Partners
- Southwest Gas
- Special New Fruit Licensing
- Tene Capital
- Tinicum
- The News Lens
- Toshiba
- Trailhead Capital
- Uber Technologies
- Unity Technologies
- US Silica
- Veeco Instruments
- Verdane Capital Advisors
- Verisem
- Vimian Group
- Visa
- Vontier
Work highlights
- Advised SoftBank on the $3.3bn sale of Fortress Investment Group to Mubadala Investment Company, as well as on its $375m acquisition of robotic automation company Berkshire Grey and in the establishment of joint venture GreenBox to offer first-of-its-kind automated warehouse services.
- Advised Unity Software Inc. in connection with ironSource’s merger into a wholly owned subsidiary of Unity via an all-stock deal valuing ironSource at approximately $4.4 billion.
- Advised the board of directors and the Transaction Special Committee of Toshiba Corporation regarding the $15.2bn tender offer proposal by Japan Industrial Partners, Inc. to acquire all of Toshiba Corporation’s common shares.
Practice head
The lawyer(s) leading their teams.
Spencer Klein, Brandon Parris