Joseph Raymond Casey
Overview
Joseph Casey is a partner in Kirkland’s Bay Area office. Joseph focuses his practice on mergers and acquisitions and other corporate transactions. He has represented strategic and financial clients in a variety of U.S. and cross-border transactions, including mergers, acquisitions, dispositions and joint ventures. Joseph has also represented issuers in connection with initial public offerings in the United States and in Hong Kong and regularly advises clients on corporate governance, other general corporate matters and SEC reporting obligations, including reviewing Exchange Act reports.
Experience
Representative Matters
Since joining Kirkland, Joseph was involved in the following matters:
- Invitae in its $239 million asset sale to Labcorp
- BAE Systems in its $5.5 billion acquisition of Ball Corp.’s defense and commercial space unit, Ball Aerospace
- Invitae in its $52.5 million asset sale to Natera
- AP Acquisition Corp. (NYSE: APCA), a special purpose acquisition company, on its proposed business combination with JEPLAN, Inc., a global leader in chemically recycled PET technology. The transaction values the combined company at an estimated equity value of approximately US$480 million on a post-money basis. This transaction was named “Best M&A Deal - North Asia” by FinanceAsia Achievement Awards 2023
- MoneyHero Group on its business combination with Bridgetown Holdings Limited (NASDAQ: BTWN), a special purpose acquisition company formed as a collaboration between Pacific Century Group and Thiel Capital
- TH International Limited (“Tims China”; NASDAQ: THCH) on its acquisition of PLKC International (“Popeyes China”) to become the exclusive operator and developer of the Popeyes® brand in mainland China and Macau
- L Catterton Asia Acquisition Corp. (NASDAQ: LCAA), a special purpose acquisition company formed by affiliates of L Catterton, a leading global consumer-focused investment firm, on its business combination with Lotus Technology Inc., a leading global luxury electric vehicle maker that operates under the iconic British brand, Lotus. The combined business is listed under the ticker symbol “LOT”. The transaction values the combined business at a pro forma enterprise value of approximately US$5.4 billion. This transaction was named “Deals of the Year 2023” by China Business Law Journal
- Asia Innovations Group Limited (ASIG), a leading mobile social company across emerging markets, on its proposed business combination with Magnum Opus Acquisition Limited (NYSE: OPA), a special purpose acquisition company. The business combination provides for an equity valuation of US$2.5 billion for the combined company. This transaction was named “Deals of the Year 2022” by China Business Law Journal
- Near Intelligence Holdings, Inc., a global SaaS leader in privacy-led data intelligence on people, places and products, on its business combination with KludeIn I Acquisition Corp. (NASDAQ: INKA), a special purpose acquisition company
- Voyager Innovations, a KKR portfolio company and the leading technology company in the Philippines, on its US$210 million Series C fundraising round (including funding from KKR, Tencent, PLDT, IFC, SIG Venture Capital, EDBI and First Pacific)
- Hypebeast Limited (HKSE: 00150), a global digital media and e-commerce platform in contemporary lifestyle and culture, on its proposed listing on NASDAQ through a business combination with Iron Spark I Inc. (NASDAQ: ISAA), a special purpose acquisition company
- Poema Global Holdings Corp. (NASDAQ: PPGH), a special purpose acquisition company affiliated with Princeville Capital, on its business combination with Gogoro Inc., a global technology leader in battery swapping ecosystems that enable sustainable mobility solutions for cities
- Artisan Acquisition Corp. (NASDAQ: ARTAU), a special purpose acquisition company founded by renowned Hong Kong cultural entrepreneur Adrian Cheng, on its business combination with Prenetics Group Limited, a global leader in genomic and diagnostic testing. This transaction was named “Deals of the Year 2022” by China Business Law Journal
- Magnum Opus Acquisition Limited (NYSE: OPA), a publicly traded special purpose acquisition company, on its proposed business combination with Forbes Global Media Holdings Inc., the iconic business information brand, and subsequent US$200 million strategic investment from Binance, one of the world’s largest cryptocurrency and blockchain infrastructure providers
- Bullish, a technology company focused on developing financial services for the digital assets sector, on its proposed agreement to go public on the New York Stock Exchange through a merger with Far Peak Acquisition Corporation (NYSE: FPAC), a special purpose acquisition company, for approximately US$9 billion
- Advised as an international co-counsel and sole debt financing counsel for an investor consortium, comprising DCP Capital Partners II, L.P., Ocean Link Partners Limited, and Mr. Rick Yan, the Chief Executive Officer of 51job, in the take-private of 51job, Inc. (NASDAQ: JOBS) at a valuation of appropriately US$4.3 billion. This transaction was named “2021 Deals of the Year” by China Business Law Journal and “TMT Deal of the Year” by Asia Legal Awards 2022
- TH International Limited (Tims China), the master franchisee and operator of Tim Hortons coffee shops in China, on its business combination with Silver Crest Acquisition Corporation (NASDAQ: SLCR), a publicly-traded special purpose acquisition company. The transaction values the combined business at approximately US$1.4 billion. This transaction was named “Deals of the Year 2022” by China Business Law Journal
- TH International Limited (Tims China), the exclusive master franchise of Tim Hortons coffee shops for Restaurant Brands International Inc. (TSX: QSR) (NYSE: QSR) in China, on a convertible note financing by a leading global asset manager
Prior to joining Kirkland, Joseph was involved in the following matters:
- Zayo Group Holdings, Inc. in its US$14.3 billion acquisition by affiliates of Digital Colony Partners and the EQT Infrastructure IV fund, the largest media and communications leveraged buyout since the 2008 financial crisis
- Intel Corporation in its US$15.3 billion acquisition of Mobileye, N.V.; in the sale of its 5G smartphone modem business to Apple, Inc. for US$1 billion; and in connection with the initial public offering of McAfee Corp.
- PayPal, Inc. in its US$4 billion acquisition of Honey Science Corporation
- Lattice Semiconductor Corporation in its US$1.3 billion acquisition by Canyon Bridge Capital Partners Inc. and US$600 million acquisition of Silicon Image, Inc.
- WL Ross Holding Corp., a special purpose acquisition company, in its US$1.6 billion acquisition of Nexeo Solutions Holdings, LLC
- Panacea Acquisition Corp., a special purpose acquisition company, in its business combination with Nuvation Bio Inc. resulting in US$830 million in available cash for Nuvation Bio
- Crescent Acquisition Corp, a special purpose acquisition company, in its US$840 million business combination with LiveVox Holdings, Inc.
- PMC-Sierra, Inc. in its US$2.5 billion acquisition by Microsemi Corporation
- Cavium, Inc. in its US$6 billion acquisition by Marvell Technology Group Ltd.
- Yahoo! Inc. in the US$4.5 billion sale of its operating business to Verizon Communications Inc.
- Flex Ltd. in the US$273 million sale of the China-based operations of its subsidiary Multek Corporation to Multi-Fineline Electronix, Inc.
- Core Specialty Insurance Holdings, Inc. in its acquisition of the StarStone U.S. business from Enstar Group Limited and its initial formation and US$610 million capital raise from SkyKnight Capital, Dragoneer Investment Group and Aquiline Capital Partners
- Ctrip.com International Ltd. in several strategic investments
- ZhongAn Online P&C Insurance Co., Ltd. in its subsidiary ZhongAn International’s joint venture with SoftBank Vision Fund
Clerk & Government Experience
Research FellowUnited States–China Economic and Security Review Commission
Prior Experience
Partner, Kirkland & Ellis (Palo Alto), March–April 2021
Associate, Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP, 2014–2021
Global Security Manager, Apple. Inc.
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Credentials
Admissions & Qualifications
- California
- Hong Kong, Solicitor
Languages
- English
- Mandarin
Education
- Stanford Law SchoolJ.D.2014
Submissions Editor, Stanford Journal of Law, Business & Finance
- Harvard UniversityA.M., Regional Studies – East Asia2005
- Johns Hopkins University, Nanjing University Center for Chinese and American StudiesCertificate in Business and Law2004
- Tsinghua UniversityInter-University Program for Chinese Language Studies2002
- Wesleyan UniversityB.A., College of Letters (Philosophy)2001
with University Honors and High Departmental Honors
News &
Insights
Kirkland Advises RLS Radiopharmacies on Sale to Telix