Will Lawley is a corporate associate in the Chicago office of Kirkland & Ellis LLP. Will's practice focuses on mergers and acquisitions, private equity and shareholder activism and hostile takeover defense.
Experience
Representative Matters
Mergers & Acquisitions and Other Corporate Transactions
Thoma Bravo in its pending acquisition of AxiomSL
Duff & Phelps in its $4.2 billion acquisition by a global investor consortium led by funds managed by Stone Point Capital and Further Global
Thoma Bravo in its acquisition of Command Alkon Incorporated
GTCR and its portfolio company, Mega Broadband Investments, in its acquisition of Vyve Broadband
Arsenal Capital Partners in its acquisition of Caprion Biosciences and HistoGeneX
Destination Maternity Corporation in its acquisition by Marquee Brands in connection with its Chapter 11 cases in the United States Bankruptcy Court for the District of Delaware
Deluxe Entertainment Services Group Inc. in connection with its reorganization as part of its prepackaged Chapter 11 cases in the United States Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of New York
Multi-Color Corporation through the signing of its $2.5 billion acquisition by an affiliate of Platinum Equity LLC*
Kemper Corporation in its $1.6 billion acquisition of Infinity Property and Casualty Company*
Sirius International Insurance Group in connection with its S-4 filing associated with its merger with Easterly Acquisition Corp., allowing Sirius International Insurance Group to become a publicly traded company with a $2.2 billion market capitalization*
The lead underwriters in the transaction financing for Conagra Brands, Inc.'s acquisition of Pinnacle Foods Inc., which included the issuance of $7.025 billion of senior debt and $575 million of equity*
Public Company Activism Defense
KVH Industries in its agreement with Vintage Capital regarding the composition of the KVH Industries board of directors
CBL in its agreement with Exeter Capital regarding the composition of the CBL board of directors
Elaine Wynn in her proxy contest against Wynn Resorts*
HomeStreet Inc. in its proxy contest defense against Roaring Blue Lion Capital*
ProLung, Inc. in its proxy contest defense against its former CEO, which was conducted through a consent solicitation*
Corporate Governance
Various boards of directors and board committees in connection with corporate governance advice, implementation of shareholder rights plans (both on the shelf and active) and shareholder activism preparation, many of which remain confidential
*Prior to Kirkland
Prior Experience
Associate, Sidley Austin LLP, 2017–2019
PILI Fellow, Chicago Lawyer's Committee for Civil Rights Under Law, 2017
