Jonathan L. Davis, P.C.
Overview
Jonathan is an extraordinarily bright, young M&A star - The American Lawyer
Jonathan Davis is a corporate partner in the New York office of Kirkland & Ellis LLP. His practice primarily focuses on public and private company M&A transactions and activist defense. Jonathan also advises corporations and their directors on general corporate and governance matters. In addition, Jonathan has extensive experience advising on business combination transactions involving special-purpose acquisition companies (SPACs).
Over the course of his career, Jonathan has advised on transactions having an aggregate value of over $700 billion. In recent years, he has participated in some of the largest and most high profile M&A transactions in history, including Anheuser‑Busch InBev’s $123B acquisition of SABMiller, Bristol Meyer Squibb’s $90B acquisition of Celgene, AbbVie’s $63B acquisition of Allergan and H.J. Heinz’s $60B merger with Kraft.
In 2021, Jonathan was one of six M&A attorneys recognized in Bloomberg Law’s inaugural “They’ve Got Next: The 40 Under 40” awards, and was profiled by Insider as one of 29 M&A lawyers “leading the way on billion-dollar M&A deals.” He was recognized as a 2020 “Dealmaker of the Year” by The American Lawyer, and he was one of five M&A attorneys nationwide chosen as a Law360 MVP in 2019. Chambers and Partners has listed Jonathan as a top M&A attorney in 2020 and 2021. He was also named a "Rising Star" in M&A by Law360 in 2017 and 2018 and has been repeatedly recognized by The Legal 500 U.S. for his work in M&A generally and in the technology sector from 2016–2021. In addition, after naming him a “Rising Star” in 2017, IFLR1000 recognized Jonathan as “Highly Regarded” in 2021 and 2022.
Experience
Representative Matters
Public M&A Transactions Since 2015
- Anheuser‑Busch InBev in its $123 billion acquisition of SABMiller
- Bristol Myers Squibb in its $90 billion acquisition of Celgene
- Honeywell in its $90 billion proposal to acquire United Technologies
- AbbVie in its $63 billion acquisition of Allergan
- H.J. Heinz Company in its $60 billion merger with Kraft Foods Group to create The Kraft Heinz Company
- Mead Johnson Nutrition in its $17.9 billion sale to Reckitt Benckiser Group plc
- Bristol Myers Squibb in its $13.1 billion acquisition of MyoKardia
- Special Committee of the Board of Directors of Spectrum Brands in connection with the $10 billion merger of Spectrum Brands and HRG Group
- Bristol Myers Squibb in its pending $4.1 billion acquisition of Turning Point Therapeutics
- Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings Ltd. in its PIPE investment from L Catterton as part of Norwegian’s multi-tranche financing for aggregate proceeds of up to $2.4 billion
- Pinnacle Foods in its $975 million acquisition of Boulder Brands
- Special Committee of Board of Directors of Verso Corporation in response to an unsolicited takeover bid and subsequent $825 million sale to BillerudKorsnäs
- Fortive Corporation in its $770 million acquisition of Landauer
- Alliant Techsystems in the spin‑off of its Sporting Group to its shareholders and merger of its Aerospace and Defense Groups with Orbital Sciences through a tax‑free Morris Trust merger of equals
- Avaya Holdings Corp. in its strategic partnership with RingCentral, Inc.
Cross-Border Transactions Since 2015
- Delhaize Group in its $29 billion merger of equals with Royal Ahold
- Allwyn Entertainment in its pending $9.3 billion combination with Cohn Robbins Holdings Corp.
- Amcor Ltd. in its $6.8 billion acquisition of Bemis Co.
- Investindustrial Acquisition Corp. in its $3.2 billion combination agreement with Ermenegildo Zegna Group
- Amer Sports, along with its investor consortium, in its $420 million sale of Amer’s Precor division to Peloton
- Ahold Delhaize in its acquisition of FreshDirect
- Anheuser‑Busch InBev in its asset swap with Ambev
- Arya Sciences Acquisition Corp. in its combination with Immatics Biotechnologies GmbH
Carve-Out Transactions Since 2015
- Bristol Myers Squibb in its $13.4 billion divesture of Celgene’s OTEZLA® program to Amgen
- Anheuser‑Busch InBev in its $12 billion divestiture of SABMiller’s U.S. and global Miller branded businesses to Molson Coors
- Wynn Resorts in its proposed $3.2 billion combination of its Wynn Interactive business with Austerlitz Acquisition Corporation
- Spectrum Brands in its $2 billion carve-out sale of its global consumer battery business to Energizer
- Shenandoah Telecommunications Company (Shentel) in its $1.95 billion sale of its wireless business to T-Mobile USA
- Stanley Black & Decker in its $1.95 billion acquisition of the Tools business of Newell Brands
- ARYA Sciences Acquisition Corp IV it its proposed acquisition of Amicus Therapeutic’s Gene Therapy Business
- Avon in the sale of 80% of its North America business to Cerberus Capital Management and in the PIPE investment by Cerberus in Avon’s international business
- Wyndham Destinations in its acquisition of the Travel + Leisure brand and related assets from Meredith Corporation
Private M&A Transactions Since 2015
- General Motors in connection with a series of transactions involving GM Cruise, GM’s autonomous vehicle (AV) business, including:
- $2.25 billion investment from the SoftBank Vision Fund (at a $11.5 billion valuation)
- $2.8 billion investment from Honda (at a $14.6 billion valuation)
- $1.15 billion investment from new institutional investors. including T. Rowe Price Associates, Inc., as well as existing investors (at a $19 billion valuation)
- $2 billion investment from Microsoft (at a $30 billion valuation)
- Colfax Corporation in its $3.15 billion acquisition of DJO Global Inc.
- Fortive Corporation in its $2 billion acquisition of Accruent; $570 million acquisition of Intelex Technologies; and combination of its Tektronix Video business with Telestream
- IBM in its acquisitions of Bluewolf, Resource/Ammirati, Cleversafe, Meteorix and Explorys
- Le Tote Inc. in its acquisition of Lord + Taylor
- Vista Outdoor in its acquisition of Camp Chef
Private Equity Sponsor Transactions Since 2015
- Pamplona Capital Management in its $5 billion acquisition of PAREXEL International
- Sun Capital Partners in its $441 million acquisition of Select Interior Concepts
- Accelya, a portfolio company of Vista Equity Partners, in its acquisition of Farelogix
- Durational Capital Management in its acquisition of Casper Sleep Inc.
- Vista Equity Partners in its acquisition, alongside funds managed by Blackstone, of Ellucian
SPAC Transactions Since 2015
- Atlas Crest Investment Corp in its $1.7 billion combination with Archer Aviation
- Tailwind Two Acquisition Corp. in its $1.58 billion business combination with Terran Orbital Corporation
- Tailwind Acquisition Corp. in its proposed $1.4 billion combination with QOMPLX, Inc.
- Arya Sciences Acquisition Corp. II in its $1.3 billion combination with Cerevel Therapeutics
- Arya Sciences Acquisition Corp. III in its $1.3 billion combination with Nautilus Biotechnology
Prior Experience
Partner, Cravath, Swaine & Moore LLP
More
Recognition
Corporate/M&A ─ New York, Chambers USA, 2020–2022
They’ve Got Next: The 40 Under 40 (M&A), Bloomberg Law, 2021
MVP, Mergers and Acquisitions, Law360, 2019
Mergers and Acquisitions, Law360, 2017–2018
Mergers and Acquisitions, IFLR1000, 2017–2022
M&A: Large Deals ($1bn+) [Next Generation], The Legal 500 U.S., 2016–2021
Credentials
Admissions & Qualifications
- New York
Education
- New York University School of LawJ.D.
- University of Wisconsin-MadisonB.B.A.