Overview
Sarkis Jebejian is a corporate partner in Kirkland’s New York office and focuses his practice primarily on mergers and acquisitions, corporate governance and shareholder activism defense. Sarkis’s clients include Accenture, Bain Capital, Eli Lilly, Infineon Technologies, Lazard, Moelis & Co., Nexstar Media, Six Flags, Vista Equity Partners and WeWork.
Sarkis has been repeatedly recognized as one of the country’s leading practitioners in mergers and acquisitions. In 2021, Insider profiled Sarkis as one of 29 M&A lawyers “leading the way on billion-dollar M&A deals.” From 2013 to 2023, Chambers USA recognized him as among the best lawyers in the country for Corporate/M&A and he was highlighted by clients for being “very responsive and thoughtful,” while Chambers Global mentioned he is “always offering a practical approach to solving problems, and has excellent domain experience.” He was chosen by Law360 as a 2017 MVP for being “at the forefront of some of the biggest transactions in the past year.” Sarkis is also lauded for his work in connection with shareholder activism defense, and has been recognized by The Legal 500 US from 2020 to 2023 for Shareholder Activism: Advice to Boards.
Sarkis is a member of the Board of Trustees and Secretary of Carnegie Hall, which is dedicated to presenting extraordinary music to the widest possible audience with performances, educational programs and the cultivation of new artists.
Experience
Representative Matters
Public Company Representations
- Six Flags Entertainment Corporation in its $8 billion merger of equals with Cedar Fair
- BAE Systems in several transactions over the past 20 years, including:
- $5.5 billion pending acquisition of Ball Aerospace
- $4.1 billion acquisition of Armor Holdings
- $3.97 billion acquisition of United Defense Industries
- Option Care Health, Inc., in its proposed $3.6 billion merger with Amedisys, Inc.
- Ruth’s Hospitality Group in its $715 million acquisition by Darden Restaurants
- WellCare Health Plans in 4 transactions since 2017 including:
- $17.3 billion acquisition by Centene Corporation and related Medicaid divestitures to Anthem
- $2.5 billion acquisition of Meridian Health Plans
- Infineon Technologies AG in multiple transactions since 2014 including:
- $10.0 billion acquisition of Cypress Semiconductor Corporation
- $3.0 billion acquisition of International Rectifier Corporation
- Nexstar Media Group in 5 transactions since 2016 including:
- $6.4 billion acquisition of Tribune Media Co.
- $4.6 billion acquisition of Media General, ending a six-month public takeover battle
- Diversey Holdings and Bain Capital on Diversey's $4.6 billion sale to Solenis
- Groupe Bruxelles Lambert, as the majority shareholder of Webhelp, in the $4.8 billion combination of Webhelp and Concentrix Corporation
- Accenture in 30 transactions since 2013 including:
- $1+ billion acquisition of Novetta, Inc., its largest-ever acquisition
- acquisition of Symantec’s Cyber Security Services business from Broadcom, Inc.
- $375.0 million acquisition of Procurian Inc.
- $317.0 million acquisition of Acquity Group
- Lee Enterprises in response to an unsolicited acquisition proposal from Alden Global Capital and in its successful defense of an attempted proxy contest by Alden
- Eli Lilly in its $2.4 billion acquisition of DICE Therapeutics, its acquisition of Versanis Bio for up to $1.925 billion, its $1.4 billion acquisition of POINT Biopharma, its divestiture of BAQSIMI to Amphastar Pharmaceuticals for up to $1.075 billion and in connection with several other transactions
- IGATE Corporation in its $4.0 billion sale to Capgemini S.A.
- ADTRAN, Inc. in its $2.0 billion merger with ADVA
- Paya Holdings Inc. in its sale to Nuvei Corporation for approximately $1.3 billion
- Commercial Metals Company in its $550.0 million acquisition of Tensar Corporation
- Fox Corporation:
- $440.0 million acquisition of Tubi
- $397.0 million acquisition of Credible Labs
- Strayer Education in its $1.9 billion merger of equals with Capella Education Company
- Toshiba in connection with receiving CFIUS approval for its $15 billion acquisition by Japan Industrial Partners
REITs and Real Estate
- GLP in the $18.7 billion sale of its U.S. logistics business to Blackstone, the largest-ever private real estate transaction
- Equity One in its $15.6 billion stock-for-stock merger with Regency Centers Corporation
- Ladder Capital, a NYSE-listed mortgage REIT, in connection with the review and rejection of an unsolicited ~$1.7 billion acquisition proposal from Related Fund Management
- Starwood Capital Group in its proposed $605.0 million acquisition of Forestar, resulting in the strategic acquisition of Forestar assets
Asset Management and Insurance
- Helios Holdings Limited in its combination with Fairfax Africa Holdings
- Rhône Group in its strategic partnership and sale of a 30% stake to Eurazeo
- Hamilton Insurance Group in its sale of Hamilton USA and expansion of its strategic partnership with AIG and Two Sigma Insurance Quantified
- Flagstone Reinsurance Holdings in its $623.2 million sale to Validus Holdings
Special Committee
- Special Committee of the Board of Directors of Spectrum Brands in connection with the $10.0 billion merger of Spectrum Brands and HRG Group
- Talen Energy in its evaluation and rejection of an unsolicited $11 per share proposal from 35% shareholder Riverstone Holdings resulting in the $5.2 billion sale of Talen at a substantially increased price of $14 per share
Public Company Activism Defense
- Sylvamo in connection with its cooperation agreement with Atlas Holdings
- Six Flags Entertainment Corporation in connection with its agreements with H Partners regarding the composition of the Six Flags board, shareholder activism by Land and Buildings and its CEO transition
- Rice Energy in the successful defense against opposition by JANA Partners to the $6.7 billion acquisition by EQT Corporation
- Lee Enterprises in response to the “withhold-the-vote” campaign by Cannell Capital
- Ultra Petroleum Corp. in connection with the governance agreement with its largest shareholder, Fir Tree Partners
- Bonanza Creek Energy in connection with opposition by investors Carl Icahn and Fir Tree Partners to the $746.0 million proposed acquisition by SandRidge Energy
- SunEdison Inc. in connection with its negotiation and agreement with activist investor Greenlight Capital regarding various corporate governance initiatives
Private Equity Representations
- Vista Equity Partners in 8 transactions since 2013 including:
- $8.4 billion acquisition of Avalara, Inc.
- $4.3 billion acquisition of TIBCO Software
- $2.7 billion acquisition of Vertafore
- acquisition of Farelogix by Vista portfolio company Accelya
- acquisition, alongside funds managed by Blackstone, of Ellucian
- Bain Capital:
- $6.9 billion acquisition of BMC Software with Golden Gate Capital and subsequent sale to KKR
- $3.16 billion acquisition of Chindata Group Holdings Limited
- investment in Surgery Partners and Surgery Partners’ simultaneous $760.0 million acquisition of National Surgical Healthcare
- $500 million acquisition of Blue Nile with Bow Street Capital
- Golden Gate Capital:
- proposed $825.0 million sale of Eddie Bauer to Jos A. Bank, during the hostile bid by Men’s Wearhouse
- $2.1 billion acquisition of Red Lobster
- EQT Infrastructure in its $5.3 billion acquisition of Covanta Holding Corp.
- Lead consortium investor in the $4.76 billion take-private of China Biologic Products Holdings, Inc.
- Madison Dearborn Partners in its acquisition of Benefytt Technologies
- Warburg Pincus in the establishment of Vivtera, a global business process management company, and in the acquisition of Arise Virtual Solutions
Joint Ventures
- Tripadvisor in its joint venture and strategic partnership with Trip.com
- Avaya Holdings Corp. in its strategic partnership with RingCentral
- Corning Inc. in the unwinding of its 73-year-old Dow Corning joint venture with Dow Chemical Co. in exchange for $4.8 billion in cash and other businesses
- Accenture in its joint venture with Apax Partners relating to the carve out of Accenture’s Duck Creek Technologies
- Genpact in its joint venture with Markit Group Ltd. to launch Markit|Genpact KYC (“Know Your Customer”)
Carve-Outs
- Spectrum Brands in its $2.0 billion carve-out sale of its global consumer battery business to Energizer
- Accenture in its $830.0 million carve-out sale of Navitaire to Amadeus S.A.
Financial Advisor Representations
- Lazard as financial advisor:
- Special Committee of the Board of Directors of VMware in VMware's $2.7 billion acquisition of Pivotal Software
- Special Committee of SolarCity in its $2.6 billion merger with Tesla Motors
- Google’s $2.6 billion acquisition of Looker
- Bacardi Ltd.’s $5.1 billion acquisition of Patron Spirits International
- Reynolds American’s $49.0 billion merger with British American Tobacco
- Reynolds American’s $27.4 billion acquisition of Lorillard
- Morgan Stanley, as financial advisor, to Auxilium Pharmaceuticals, Inc. in its $2.6 billion sale to Endo International plc
- Moelis & Co. as financial advisor:
- Sucampo Pharmaceutical’s $278.0 million acquisition of R-Tech Ueno
- Columbus McKinnon Corp.’s $189.0 million acquisition of Magnetek
Prior Experience
Cravath, Swaine & Moore LLP, 1994–2012
- Partner, 2002–2012
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Memberships & Affiliations
Carnegie Hall, Board of Trustees and Secretary
Institute for Law and Economics, University of Pennsylvania Law School, Board of Advisors
Armenian General Benevolent Union (AGBU), Board of Directors and Secretary
New York City Bar Association
Credentials
Admissions & Qualifications
- New York
Education
- Columbia Law SchoolJ.D.1994Harlan Fiske Stone Scholar
- Columbia CollegeB.A.1991
News &
Insights
Ten Questions for Board Chairs to Ask to Prepare for Shareholder Activism, Hostile Takeovers, Short Attacks, (Anti-)ESG Pressure and Other Emergent Threats