Edward J. Lee, P.C.
Overview
[Ed] is phenomenal at understanding deals…[He] knows how to navigate the often complex internal politics of big companies…His experience and thought leadership are extremely valuable in devising strategies and tactics.” - Chambers USA
Edward J. Lee is a corporate partner in the New York office of Kirkland & Ellis LLP. Ed’s practice focuses on mergers and acquisitions and shareholder activism defense. Ed also regularly counsels corporations and boards of directors on securities law, corporate governance and crisis management.
Ed has extensive experience advising major public companies and private equity firms on their most significant domestic and cross-border M&A transactions, as well as on spin-offs and carve-outs, joint ventures, and initial public and other complex securities offerings. During his career, he has advised on announced transactions with an aggregate value of over $700 billion, including over $375 billion over the last five years. Ed has represented clients in some of the most significant and complex M&A transactions in recent years, including United Technologies’ $140 billion merger of equals with Raytheon Company and simultaneous spin-offs of Carrier Global and Otis Worldwide, and its $30.3 billion acquisition of Rockwell Collins; Celgene Corporation’s $98 billion acquisition by Bristol Myers Squibb; Walgreens’ $27 billion two-staged acquisition of Alliance Boots GmbH and related reorganization to create Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc.; NortonLifeLock’s ~$25 billion combination with Avast; and Salesforce’s $15.7 billion acquisition of Tableau.
Ed has also advised numerous boards of directors and senior management teams in connection with unsolicited takeover proposals, as well as in response to shareholder activism campaigns and other contested situations involving, among others, Elliott Management, Jana Partners, Sachem Head, Third Point, Pershing Square, Relational Investors, and Starboard Value.
Chambers USA recognizes Ed as among the best lawyers in the country for Corporate/M&A. Ed also is recognized as one of the 500 leading lawyers in America (across all practice areas, as well as among dealmakers) by Lawdragon, as a “Notable Diverse Leader in Law” by Crain’s, and as an “M&A Client Service All-Star” by BTI Consulting Group. In 2022, he was one of six M&A attorneys nationwide chosen as a Law360 MVP. Ed has been named a leading lawyer and as “highly regarded” within the M&A practice by IFLR1000, and as a “Rising Star” in Corporate/M&A by Expert Guides and by Law360. He has also been recognized by The Legal 500 for his work on mergers & acquisitions and shareholder activism. Ed has also been highlighted on Variety’s 2024 list of “Hollywood’s Top Entertainment Attorneys” and as a “Top Dealmaker of 2023” by The Hollywood Reporter. The Ascend Foundation recognized Ed among its 2024 A-List Award recipients for his achievements and contributions to the Asian and Pacific Islander community. Ed is a frequent speaker on M&A and shareholder activism, including co-chairing PLI’s Shareholder Activism conference in 2018–2020.
Experience
Representative Matters
Prior to and since joining Kirkland, notable representations include the following:
Aerospace & Defense / Aviation
- BAE Systems in its $5.5 billion acquisition of Ball Corp.’s defense and commercial space unit, Ball Aerospace
- United Technologies in connection with the following:
- $140 billion all-stock merger of equals of its Aerospace businesses with Raytheon Company, creating Raytheon Technologies
- $30.3 billion acquisition of Rockwell Collins
- $18.4 billion acquisition of Goodrich Corporation
- $9 billion sale of Sikorsky Aircraft to Lockheed Martin
- BBAM LP, as manager and servicer of Fly Leasing Limited, in FLY’s $2.36 billion sale to Carlyle Aviation Partners
- Raytheon Technologies in connection with the following:
- $1.925 billion divestiture of the Collins Aerospace military GPS business to BAE Systems
- sale of its electro-optical solutions business to AMERGINT, a Blackstone portfolio company
- Atlas Crest Investment Corp in its $1.7 billion combination with Archer Aviation
- KKR in its $1.6 billion acquisition of CIRCOR International
- Goodrich Corporation in connection with the following:
- sale of its electric power systems business to Safran S.A.
- sale of its pump & engine control systems business to the Triumph Group
- Southwest Airlines in resolving Elliott Management’s threatened special meeting proxy contest seeking to replace its CEO and a majority of the board
Consumer & Retail
- Affiliates of BC Partners in connection with certain merger and other transactions restructuring their ownership interests in Chewy, Inc.
- Tim Hortons Inc. in its $12.2 billion sale to Burger King Worldwide, Inc.
- Michael Kors Holdings Limited in its €1.83 billion acquisition of Gianni Versace S.p.A.
- Schottenstein Stores Corp., the controlling shareholder of Retail Ventures Inc., in Retail Ventures’ $914 million merger with DSW Inc.
- BC Partners in the sale of a minority stake in PetSmart to Apollo
- Colgate-Palmolive Company in connection with the following:
- acquisition of the EltaMD skin care brand
- acquisition of the PCA Skin brand
- Mondelēz International in its acquisition of Tate’s Bake Shop
Healthcare
- Celgene Corporation in its $98 billion acquisition by Bristol-Myers Squibb
- Novartis AG in its acquisition of a majority stake in Alcon from Nestlé, and of Alcon’s public minority shares, in a transaction valued at $49.7 billion
- Walgreens in connection with the following:
- $27 billion two-staged acquisition of Alliance Boots GmbH
- reorganization to create Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc.
- establishing a long-term partnership with AmerisourceBergen, including a 10-year distribution agreement, a global joint procurement agreement, and the right of Walgreens to acquire an equity interest in AmerisourceBergen through open market purchases and warrants
- Thermo Fisher Scientific in connection with the following:
- $13.6 billion acquisition of Life Technologies Corporation
- $2.1 billion acquisition of Dionex
- Crown Laboratories in its $924 million acquisition of Revance Therapeutics
- Azenta in its cooperation agreement with Politan Capital Management
Industrials
- United Technologies in its simultaneous spin-offs of Otis Worldwide and Carrier Global
- Frutarom Industries Ltd. in its $7.1 billion sale to International Flavors & Fragrances
- Prysmian Group in its $3 billion acquisition of General Cable
- Carvana Co. in its $2.2 billion acquisition of ADESA’s U.S. physical auction business from KAR Global
- The Wertheimer family and IMC International Metalworking Companies B.V. in Berkshire Hathaway’s $2.05 billion purchase from the Wertheimer family of the 20% stake in IMC it did not already own
- Faiveley Transport in its €1.7 billion sale to Wabtec Corp.
- Footprint, Inc. in its $1.6 billion business combination with Gores Holdings VIII, Inc.
- Carrier in the $1 billion sale of its Taylor Company business to The Middleby Corporation
- FMC Corporation in the acquisition of a significant portion of DuPont’s crop protection business and simultaneous sale to DuPont of FMC’s Health and Nutrition business
- Hyundai Motor Group in its agreement with Aptiv to acquire a majority interest in Motional, the companies’ autonomous driving joint venture
- SK Inc. in a number of matters, including in the recent initial public offering of SK Growth Opportunities Corp. and other transactions
Insurance / Financial Institutions
- The Special Committee of the Board of Directors of State Auto Financial Corporation in the $2.3 billion sale of State Auto Financial to Liberty Mutual
- Pacific Capital Bancorp in its $1.5 billion acquisition by UnionBanCal Corporation/The Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi UFJ
- Metromile Inc. in its $500 million acquisition by Lemonade, the first combination of publicly traded “Insurtechs”
- SCBT Financial Corporation in connection with the following:
- $300 million merger with First Financial Holdings
- merger with Peoples Bancorporation, Inc.
- Banc of California in connection with the following:
- acquisition of Beach Business Bank
- acquisition of The Private Bank of California
- Carvana Co. in its exclusive partnership and strategic equity investment in Root, Inc.
- Warburg Pincus in its acquisition of The Mutual Fund Store
- Warburg Pincus and The Carlyle Group in their acquisition of DBRS Holdings Limited
Real Estate, Engineering & Energy
- Regency Centers in its $15.6 billion merger with Equity One
- Samsung C&T in its $8 billion merger with Cheil Industries
- Riverstone in its $5.2 billion acquisition of Talen Energy
- Goldman Sachs, Highstar Capital, The Carlyle Group and Riverstone Holdings in connection with their investments in Kinder Morgan, Inc. and Kinder Morgan’s $3.2 billion initial public offering
- Doosan Corporation in its acquisition of the assets of ClearEdge Power in a Section 363 bankruptcy sale
Technology, Media & Telecommunications
- TIM S.p.A. (Telecom Italia) in responding to KKR & Co. L.P.’s €33 billion takeover proposal
- NortonLifeLock in its ~$25 billion combination with Avast
- Controlling stockholder of World Wrestling Entertainment, Inc. (WWE), Vincent McMahon, in $21+ billion merger of WWE and UFC to form a global live sports and entertainment company
- Salesforce in connection with the following:
- $15.7 billion acquisition of Tableau Software
- $6.5 billion acquisition of MuleSoft
- Harman International Industries in connection with the following:
- $8.8 billion acquisition by Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd.
- acquisition of Roon, a founder-led music management, discovery and streaming platform for audiophiles
- Inmarsat in its $7.3 billion acquisition by Viasat, Inc.
- Verizon Communications in connection with the following:
- $5+ billion sale of Verizon Media to funds managed by affiliates of Apollo Global Management
- $4.83 billion acquisition of Yahoo!
- Publicis Groupe S.A. in connection with the following:
- $4.4 billion acquisition of Alliance Data Systems’ Epsilon business
- $3.7 billion acquisition of Sapient Corporation
- $35 billion agreed merger of equals with Omnicom
- Expedia Group in connection with the following:
- $4 billion all-stock acquisition of Liberty Expedia Holdings
- $1.2 billion private placement of preferred stock and warrants to investment funds managed by affiliates of Apollo Global Management, Inc. and Silver Lake
- Twilio Inc. in its strategic partnership with and up to $750 million investment in Syniverse Corporation and Syniverse’s related $2.85 billion merger with M3-Brigade
- Francisco Partners in its $1.7 billion acquisition of Sumo Logic
- Genius Sports Limited in connection with the following:
- $1.5 billion business combination with dMY Technology Group, Inc. II
- strategic partnership with the National Football League
- Naver Corporation in connection with the following:
- $1.2 billion acquisition of Poshmark, Inc.
- $600 million acquisition of Wattpad
- acquisition by its subsidiaries, LINE Digital Frontier Corporation and WEBTOON Entertainment, of eBOOK Initiative Japan Co., Ltd.
- Turn/River Capital in its $570 million acquisition of Tufin
- WEBTOON Entertainment in its $315 million initial public offering, at a $2.7 billion valuation
- KRAFTON, Inc. in its acquisition of Unknown Worlds
- Vincent McMahon, the founder and controlling shareholder of World Wrestling Entertainment Inc. (WWE), on actions in support of a plan for WWE to undertake a review of strategic alternatives
Prior Experience
More
Memberships & Affiliations
David Rockefeller Fellow, Partnership for New York City, Class of 2017–2018
Board of Directors, Harvard Law School Association of New York City
Cornell University Council
Board of Directors, Korean American Community Foundation (KACF)
Credentials
Admissions & Qualifications
- New York
Education
- Harvard Law SchoolJ.D.cum laude
- Cornell UniversityB.S.