Seth Traxler, P.C.
Overview
Seth Traxler co-leads Kirkland’s global Technology & IP Transactions practice. He serves as lead counsel in complex or strategic deals where technology assets or opportunities are core to the deal’s value proposition.
Seth has over 25 years’ experience negotiating oftentimes transformative M&A deals, financings, joint ventures, collaborations, licenses, and other strategic commercial agreements. Seth is a key advisor supporting significant M&A transactions for leading public companies and premier private equity sponsors. Over the course of his career, he has worked on more than 200 completed technology-intensive M&A deals, more than 125 completed carve-outs, and more than 40 joint ventures and collaborations. He is particularly experienced on transactions involving business models where commercial matters heavily intersect with technology and legal matters; complicated business separations involving the entanglement of technology and intangible assets; and advising sponsor clients on the full lifecycle of their investments.
Seth’s successful track record of advising companies on technology’s impact on their corporate strategies and business models has earned him recognition noting that his “tech-intensive M&A experience is virtually second to none” and that he is “a master craftsman of complex, international deals of all stripes” (IAM). He is recognized by numerous industry publications and legal directories, including Billboard, Variety, The Hollywood Reporter, The Legal 500 United States and Chambers USA.
In addition, he has worked on multiple award-winning transactions, including:
- an innovative financing arrangement for United Airlines, which was named IFLR’s Debt Capital Markets U.S. Deal of the Year in 2021;
- Blackstone’s transformative partnership with Hipgnosis Song Management that was named IFLR’s Private Equity Deal of the Year in 2022; and
- Brookfield Infrastructure Partners’ $30 billion joint venture with Intel that earned Kirkland “Standout Firm” in the technology category at The Financial Times’ North America Innovative Lawyers Awards 2023.
Experience
Representative Matters
Seth’s deal experience includes:
Software/AI & Services
- Eli Lilly in its agreement with OpenAI to harness generative AI to develop new treatments to overcome antimicrobial resistance
- Thoma Bravo, a premiere private equity firm investing in software and technology, in its investments into and strategic support of more than 100 software companies across all fund strategies (large cap, mid cap, small cap, and growth), including:
- $950 million carve-out acquisition of Veracode from Broadcom
- $1.6 billion take-private acquisition of Barracuda Network
- $950 million carve-out acquisition of Symantec’s SSL business
- Accenture, a leading professional services consultancy, in its:
- carve out acquisition of Symantec’s Cyber Security Services business from Broadcom
- joint venture with Apax Partners from the carve-out of Accenture’s Duck Creek Technologies
- $830 million carve-out sale of its Navitaire travel systems business to, and long-term strategic alliance with, Amadeus SA
- Open Invention Network, a joint venture of nine companies and 3800+ licensing participants, which is the largest patent non-aggression community and supports the freedom of action with respect to the Linux operating system
Life Sciences
- Eli Lilly and its wholly owned subsidiary Dermira in an outbound license agreement with Evommune for three development programs for the treatment of inflammatory diseases
- Hellman & Friedman in its $1 billion carve-out acquisition of Cordis, a manufacturer of cardiology and endovascular interventional devices, from Cardinal Health (NYSE: CAH)
- Mazor Robotics in its robotic surgery technology strategic alliance with Medtronic
- Samumed in its exclusive license agreement with United Therapeutics Corporation for North American rights to Samumed's SM04646, being developed for the treatment of idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF)
- ARYA Sciences Acquisition Corp. III (NASDAQ: ARYA) in its $1.3 billion business combination with Nautilus Biotechnology, a company pioneering a single-molecule protein analysis platform for quantifying the human proteome
- Cinven-backed Bioclinica, a solutions services provider of clinical life science expertise, in its merger with ERT, a clinical end-point data solutions provider
- GTCR-backed Cole-Parmer in its add-on acquisition of ZeptoMetrix, a life sciences developer and manufacturer of quality control standards and verification panels used in molecular diagnostic testing for infectious diseases
- Thoma Bravo in its strategic growth investment in Circle Cardiovascular Imaging Inc. (Circle CVI), the global leader in cardiovascular imaging solutions
Media, Entertainment, Gaming and Sports
- Unrivaled, LLC, a new 3v3 women’s professional basketball league offering record-high salaries for women’s pro sports, in its Series A funding backed by leading media and sports investors and multiyear media rights partnership with TNT Sports to air games on TNT, truTV, and Max
- Blackstone in its $1.6 billion acquisition of Hipgnosis Songs Fund and a catalog of more than 45,000 songs by artists such as the Red Hot Chili Peppers, Journey, and Shakira, and in its asset-backed securitization of such assets
- Universal Music Group in its $240 million investment in Chord Music Partners, a portfolio of music assets
- Blackstone, a leading alternative investment manager, in its:
- transformative partnership with Hipgnosis Song Management to deliver c.$1 billion to acquire and manage song catalogues, with follow-on catalogue purchases from iconic artists including Kenny Chesney, Leonard Cohen, Erika Ender, Justin Timberlake, TMS and Justin Bieber
- acquisition of music rights organization SESAC
- carve-out acquisition of Entertainment One Music (eOne Music), a collection of record labels, from Hasbro
- acquisition of Moonbug Entertainment, a global children’s entertainment company, through Blackstone’s next-generation media company Candle Media
- sale of Death Row Records to entertainment and hip hop icon Snoop Dogg
- Metallica in its acquisition of the majority interest in Furnace Record Pressing, a leading provider of high-quality vinyl records
- Cosm, a leading immersive technology, media and entertainment company, in its multi-year partnership with:
- the NBA that will feature a new live game viewing experience for fans
- the UFC, the world's premier mixed martial arts organization
- the Cirque du Soleil, a world leader in live entertainment
- Warner Bros. Discovery’s TNT Sports to produce and present select live premium sports programming from across TNT Sports’ footprint in immersive 8K+ at its forthcoming venues
- Sagard, in its $415 million private credit financing, together with a group of private lenders, to WildBrain, a leading kids' and family entertainment company
- HARMAN International, a connected technologies company, on the acquisition of Roon, a founder-led and owned music player platform designed for music enthusiasts
- Kobalt Music Group in its partnership with investment funds managed by Morgan Stanley Tactical Value to invest more than $700 million to acquire music copyrights
- Francisco Partners in its acquisition of Kobalt, a music company powered by innovative technology created as an alternative to the traditional music-business model
- Abry Partners in its $100 million investment in HARTBEAT, Kevin Hart’s comedy-focused media and entertainment company
- Verizon (NYSE: VZ) on the carve-out sale of Verizon Media to Apollo Global Management, Inc. (NYSE: APO) for $5 billion
- KKR in its strategic investment in PlayOn! Sports, a high school sports media and technology company, and PlayOn! Sports’ subsequent acquisition of GoFan, a digital ticketing company for high school sports and events
- Silversmith Capital Partners and its portfolio company DistroKid, the world’s leading distributor of independent music, on a substantial investment from Insight Partners
- MRC and its portfolio company Billboard in its acquisition of the music-industry data, software and analytics business of Nielsen Holdings (n/k/a Luminate) and joint venture of such business with Penske Media Corporation, and in its minority stake in Fulwell 73, an Emmy-winning British independent production company involving James Corden
- Naver Corporation, Korea’s largest internet company, in its $600 million acquisition of social storytelling platform Wattpad and its $1.2 billion acquisition of Poshmark (NASDAQ: POSH), a social e-commerce marketplace
- STX Entertainment, a film studio, in its merger with global entertainment company Eros International (NYSE: EROS) and subsequent sale to a consortium led by The Najafi Companies
- The Carlyle Group in its acquisition of British video game studio Jagex
- Krafton in its acquisition of game development studio Unknown Worlds
- Horizon Acquisition Corporation (NYSE: HZAC) in its $1.95 billion business combination with Vivid Seats
- Oaktree Capital Management in its acquisition of Shout! Factory, a provider and producer of feature film and television content
Energy & Infrastructure
- Brookfield Infrastructure Partners L.P. in its $30 billion joint venture with Intel Corporation to fund Intel’s under-construction semiconductor fabrication facility in Chandler, Arizona
- Stonepeak Partners LP in the formation of Levo Mobility LLC, a $750 million sustainable infrastructure joint venture with Nuvve Holding Corp. (Nasdaq: NVVE), which will utilize Nuvve’s proprietary vehicle-to-grid platform to accelerate deployment of electric fleets
- Eos Energy Storage in its strategic partnership with Holtec International, Inc., to manufacture and commercialize Eos’ next generation batteries
- TPG Rise Climate in its strategic partnership with and convertible preferred equity investment in Nextracker, a provider of intelligent, integrated solar tracker and software solutions
Travel & Hospitality
- Mohari Hospitality in its acquisition of Tao Group Hospitality, a global leader and innovator in restaurants, nightlife, and entertainment
- United Airlines in its innovative $6.8 billion financing comprised of $3.8 billion of bonds and $3 billion of term loans secured by the airline’s MileagePlus loyalty program, a first-of-its-kind approach to liquidity
- Norwegian Cruise Lines in its $2.4 billion capital markets transaction, the first-ever four-tranched marketed financing
- Silver Lake and Sixth Street Partners in their $1 billion investment in Airbnb
- Wyndham Destinations on its acquisition of the Travel + Leisure brand and travel clubs from Meredith Corporation, including a long-term license back to Meredith
- Wyndham Worldwide in its spin-off separation into separate publicly traded companies, Wyndham Hotels & Resorts, Inc. and Wyndham Destinations, Inc.
- Wyndham Hotel Group in a joint venture with five other industry participants to launch Room Key, Inc., a digital platform business for the travel industry
- Robert Redford and his affiliate Sundance Partners in the sale of Sundance Mountain Resort to Broadreach Capital Partners and Cedar Capital Partners
- Bain Capital’s capitalization and launch of Virgin Cruises, including the long-term license agreement with Virgin, and Bain’s $3.5 billion acquisition of Virgin Australia
Automotive
- General Motors in its $2.25 billion investment from the SoftBank Vision Fund in GM Cruise, GM’s autonomous vehicle business
- Polestar Performance, an electric performance car company, in its $20 billion business combination with Gores Guggenheim
Consumer Products, Services & Brands
- HanesBrands (NYSE: HBI) in the $1.2 billion sale of its Champion apparel business to Authentic Brands Group
- Victoria’s Secret & Co. (NYSE: VSCO) in its acquisition of Adore Me, Inc., a digitally-native intimates brand
- L Catterton, the largest global consumer-focused private equity firm, in multiple transactions including its:
- its acquisition of a majority stake in BIRKENSTOCK Group
- its acquisition of Kodiak Cakes and subsequent strategic partnership with actor and producer, Zac Efron
- its $900 million sale of ELEMIS to L’Occitane International
- Cerberus Capital Management in six carve-out transactions, including its acquisition of Staples’ European business and its acquisition of Avon’s North American business
- Grubhub Inc. on its strategic partnership with Yum! Brands and its $287.5 million carve-out acquisition of Eat24 from Yelp, Inc.
Clerk & Government Experience
Law ClerkHonorable John GradyUnited States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois1998–1999
More
Recognition
The Hollywood Reporter’s “Power Lawyers 2024: Meet Hollywood’s Top 100 Attorneys”
Variety’s “Legal Impact Report 2024: Meet Hollywood’s Top Entertainment Attorneys”
Billboard’s 2024 “Top Music Lawyers” list
The Hollywood Reporter’s “Power Lawyers 2023: Hollywood’s Top 100 Attorneys List”
Variety’s “Legal Impact Report 2023: Meet Hollywood’s Top Entertainment Dealmakers and Litigators”
Recognized as a “Media & Entertainment MVP,” Law360, 2023
Recognized for “Technology & Outsourcing,” Chambers USA, 2017, 2018, 2023–2024
Recognized for “Media and Entertainment: Transactions,” Legal 500, 2022–2024
Recognized for “Patents: Licensing,” Legal 500, 2018–2024
Recognized for “Technology: Transactions,” Legal 500, 2017–2024
Recognized for “Transactional Practice,” IAM Patent 1000, 2013–2024
Credentials
Admissions & Qualifications
- 1997Illinois
Courts
- United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois1998
Languages
- English
- Spanish
Education
- Northwestern Pritzker School of LawJ.D.cum laude1997Articles Editor, Northwestern Law Review
- University of KansasB.A.cum laude1993Phi Beta Kappa
Civic and Pro Bono
Former Director of the Kirkland & Ellis Foundation
Former board member for Equip for Equality and the highly-acclaimed Writers’ Theatre
Kirkland Pro Bono Service Award for Outstanding Service (2007–2020) for work with many organizations, including A Sense of Home, an organization creating homes for youth aging out of foster care; the American Theatre Wing, the creator of the Tony Awards and a supporter of theater through educational programs, grants and awards; and Ownership Works, a nonprofit partnering with companies and investors to give employees ownership opportunities to share in the value creation.
Angel investor in Broadway productions including Spamalot (original and revival), History Boys, You’re Welcome America by Will Ferrell, and Mean Girls