Kirkland & Ellis Adds Leading Corporate Attorney in Los Angeles
Kirkland & Ellis LLP announced today that the Firm has expanded its West Coast corporate practice with the hiring of Rick C. Madden. Mr. Madden will join the Firm as a partner in the Los Angeles office and was previously a corporate partner in the Los Angeles office of Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP.
"The addition of Rick to the Firm strategically strengthens our West Coast presence," said Jeffrey C. Hammes, Chairman of Kirkland's Global Management Executive Committee. "Kirkland is firmly established as a premier legal advisor for West Coast private equity firms, as well as for technology companies engaged in complex intellectual property litigation. Rick brings a broad range of experience that will expand our offerings to clients involved in the technology sector, and across a wide array of other industries."
Mr. Madden represents private equity firms as well as public and private companies in connection with acquisitions and other transactions. He also represents initial purchasers, underwriters and issuers in connection with sales of securities in private and public offerings. His significant representations include Joltid Limited, a member of the investor group in Skype Global S.à r.l., in connection with Microsoft Corporation's $8.5 billion acquisition of Skype; Centro Properties Group in its $9.4 billion sale of its U.S. shopping centers to The Blackstone Group L.P. and the acquisition and restructuring of the operations of certain of its affiliated funds; Leonard Green & Partners, L.P. and Texas Pacific Group in connection with their acquisition of PETCO Animal Supplies, Inc.; Apollo Advisors, L.P. in its acquisition of the K-12 education business of Sylvan Learning Systems, Inc. and the subsequent representation of Educate, Inc. in connection with its initial public offering; The Gores Group, LLC and its portfolio company, Stock Building Supply Holdings, LLC, in Stock Building Supply's approximately $45 million acquisition of substantially all of the assets of Bison Building Holdings, Inc. and its subsidiaries as part of Bison Building's Chapter 11 bankruptcy proceedings; and Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Inc. (MGM) in a $4 billion prepackaged bankruptcy.
"Rick is the latest in a select group of talented, energetic partners who have joined the Firm to further build our global corporate team. He adds geographical and industry experience to our group and complements the multidisciplinary M&A and private equity practice that we have been building at the Firm," said David Fox, a partner in the New York office and member of Kirkland's Global Management Executive Committee. "We continue to have the fastest growing and busiest practice, and pride ourselves on providing clients with creative solutions for the most challenging transactions."
The Firm recently added corporate M&A partner Sarkis Jebejian and private equity partner Taurie Zeitzer to its New York office. Kirkland has one of the most active and highly regarded international corporate practices, representing many of the world's largest public companies and more than 300 private equity firms on complex multi-jurisdictional transactions in every major market around the globe.
Mr. Madden's transaction for the Centro Properties Group was recognized in the Financial Times' 2011 "U.S. Innovative Lawyers" report, and received the "Turnaround of the Year (Large Market)," "Distressed M&A Deal of the Year (Upper Middle Market)" and "Real Estate Deal of the Year ($500 million and over)" awards at the sixth annual M&A Advisor Turnaround Awards. His work for MGM was named in 2011 as "Media, Entertainment or Telecom Deal of the Year" by The M&A Advisor.
Mr. Madden holds a J.D. from Georgetown University Law Center, and a B.A. from the University of California, San Diego.
Kirkland & Ellis LLP is a 1,600-attorney law firm representing global clients in complex corporate and tax, restructuring, litigation and dispute resolution/arbitration, and intellectual property and technology matters. The Firm has offices in San Francisco, Los Angeles, Chicago, Hong Kong, London, Munich, New York, Palo Alto, Shanghai and Washington, D.C.
