With over 60 Mergers and Acquisitions partners and a total of over 200 lawyers in the practice group, we are one of the leading law firms in the world representing companies in complex M&A transactions. 

We have extensive experience in all types of domestic and cross-border M&A transactions, including negotiated and contested mergers of public and private companies, stock and asset purchases, tender and exchange offers, restructurings and acquisitions out of bankruptcy, leveraged buyouts, private equity investments and joint ventures.  Our M&A attorneys also provide advice to senior management, boards of directors, board committees (including special committees) and shareholders on a wide range of corporate governance matters, including the implementation of anti-takeover defenses and proxy contests.

Our M&A clients benefit from Gibson Dunn’s network of over 950 attorneys located in 15 offices across major financial centers of North America, Europe and the Middle East.  In the structuring, negotiation and execution of M&A transactions, our M&A attorneys work closely with colleagues in other practice groups, including antitrust, tax, finance and executive compensation, all of which are vital to the success of complex M&A transactions. In addition, Gibson Dunn lawyers have played key roles in regulatory bodies such as the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, and they bring their expertise to planning and resolution of the numerous securities and regulatory issues that necessarily accompany the purchase and sale of publicly traded companies.  We also have extensive experience in defending the litigation that often follows the announcement of public company mergers.  Among other high profile cases, we litigated and won the landmark Unocal Corp. v. Mesa Petroleum case in the Supreme Court of Delaware (the Business Lawyer called our defense "a human shield of corporate restructuring"). 

We have extensive M&A experience in every major industry, including health care, pharmaceuticals, retail and consumer products, manufacturing, defense, financial services, asset management companies, consumer finance, professional services, energy, telecommunications, technology, Internet and real estate.

Our M&A client list includes many of the world's preeminent corporations, including Amazon.com, Inc., Atmos Energy Corp., Basic Element, Boeing, Cadence Design Systems, Computer Sciences, Del Monte, Dole Foods, GE Commercial Finance, GE Healthcare, GE Capital, Hollywood Entertainment Corporation, Intel, Marriott International, Inc., MCI Worldcom, Inc., Nortel Networks, Northrop Grumman, Phoenix Scientific Inc., Schlumberger, SES S.A., Siemens A.G., St. Jude Medical, Inc., Transamerica Finance Corporation, United Company Rusal, United Defense Industries, Inc., Vivendi Universal S.A. and Watson Wyatt & Company.  We also represent many of the U.S.'s most prominent investment banks as financial advisors in M&A transactions.

Recently, we have:

• Represented Altria Group, Inc. as special counsel to the Board of Directors of Altria Group in its $61.5 billon spin off of its subsidiary Kraft Foods.
• Represented Rusal Trade Limited in its $30 billion merger with SUAL International and Glencore International to create United Company RUSAL.
• Represented Vivendi Universal S.A. in the $18.9 billion combination of Vivendi Games with Activision, a pure-play online and console game publisher, to create Activision Blizzard.
• Represented Borse Dubai in its $7 billion acquisition of OMX and stakes in Nasdaq Stock Market and the London Stock Exchange, and subsequent sale of OMX to Nasdaq Stock Market.
• Represented the Kuwait Investment Authority (KIA) in its $3 billion investment in depositary shares  representing 7% Non-Cumulative Convertible Preferred Stock of Citigroup Inc.
• Represented XTO Energy Company in its $2.5 billion acquisition of natural gas-producing in the Rocky Mountain region and South Texas from Dominion Resources.
• Represented Marriott International, Inc. in its $2.1 billion sale of 47 hotels by Royal Bank of Scotland to Delek Real Estate.
• Represented CTF Holdings, Inc in its $1.8 billion sale of a 70% controlling stake in a Manhattan office building and a San Francisco office complex to Vornado Realty Trust.
• Represented K&F Industries, Inc. in its $1.8 billion sale of K&F Industries to Meggitt-USA, a manufacturer of aerospace equipment, sensing and defense systems.
• Represented Itron, Inc. in its $1.7 billion acquisition of Actaris Metering Systems, a designer and manufacturer of meters and associated systems for the electricity, gas, water and heat markets.
• Represented Basic Element as antitrust counsel in its $1.54 billion investment in Magna International, Inc.
• Represented SES S.A. in its $1.3 billion 355 split off of certain satellite businesses to General Electric in return for GE's ownership position in SES Global.
• Represented Alliant Techsystems in its proposed $1.3 billion acquisition of the information systems and geospatial services businesses of MacDonald Dettwiler & Associates, a provider of information technology solutions.
• Represented Computer Sciences Corporation in its $1.3 billion acquisition of Covansys, an information technology services company.
• Represented The Carlyle Group in its $772 million acquisition of Synagro Technologies, a recycler of biosolids and other organic residuals.
• Represented Capital One Financial Corporation in its $700 million acquisition of NetSpend, a retail marketer of prepaid debit cards.
• Represented Goldman Sachs as financial advisor to (1) Bright Horizons Family Solutions, Inc. in its proposed $1.3 billion acquisition by an affiliate of Bain Capital Partners, LLC, and (2) Target in its $3.24 billion sale of the Marshall Field's department store chain and selected real estate assets to May Department Stores.
• Represented Lazard Freres & Co. as financial advisor to (1) Trane, Inc. in its proposed $10.1 billion acquisition by Ingersoll Rand, (2) Penn National Gaming in its $8.9 billion acquisition by funds managed by Fortress Investment Group and Centerbridge Partners, and (3) Dollar General in its $7.3 billion acquisition by Kohlberg Kravis Roberts.
• Represented Lehman Brothers Inc. as financial advisor to (1) Symantec Corporation in its $13.5 billion acquisition of Veritas Software, and (2) EBG Holdings in its $5 billion merger with Astoria Generating to form US Power Generating Company.
• Represented UBS Securities LLC as financial advisor to (1) Gas Natural SDG, S.A. in its $28.8 billion unsolicited bid for Endesa, S.A., and (2) the Special Committee of the Board of Directors of Harrah's Entertainment in its $27.8 billion acquisition by Apollo Management and Texas Pacific Group.