Kirkland Expands M&A Practice with Hire of Jonathan Davis in New York
Kirkland & Ellis LLP announced today that Jonathan Davis has joined the New York office as a partner in the Corporate Practice Group. Mr. Davis joins the Firm from Cravath, Swaine & Moore LLP, where he was a partner in the corporate department.
“Jonathan is an extraordinarily bright, young M&A star and will be an invaluable addition to our top-tier M&A practice in New York,” said Jeffrey C. Hammes, Chairman of Kirkland’s Global Management Executive Committee. “His significant experience representing clients on a wide range of transactional, corporate governance and activism defense matters will complement the incredibly strong M&A platform we have established in New York and across the Firm.”
High-profile assignments for Mr. Davis include representing Anheuser-Busch InBev in its $123 billion acquisition of SABMiller and the $12 billion sale of SABMiller’s U.S. and global Miller branded businesses to Molson Coors; H.J. Heinz Company in its $60 billion merger with Kraft Foods Group to create The Kraft Heinz Company; Delhaize Group in its $29 billion merger of equals with Royal Ahold; Avon in its strategic partnership with Cerberus Capital Management; and Scientific Games in its $5.1 billion acquisition of Bally Technologies, among many others.
Mr. Davis was recognized in 2016 by The Legal 500 U.S. for his work in M&A and for his transactional work in the technology industry. He also was named a Rising Star in mergers and acquisitions by IFLR1000 in 2017. Mr. Davis earned a B.B.A. from the University of Wisconsin and a J.D. from New York University School of Law.
“Kirkland has an extremely talented group of M&A lawyers,” said Jonathan Davis. “I am very excited to join Kirkland’s entrepreneurial and energetic platform and look forward to serving our clients in today’s dynamic deal environment.”
Kirkland’s corporate practice, with more than 700 attorneys worldwide, is an adviser to public and private companies and firms on all types of M&A transactions, including negotiated and unsolicited acquisitions; public company mergers; going private transactions; spin off transactions; acquisitions of minority interests; tender and exchange offers, and joint ventures. The Firm is also preeminent in the areas of private equity transactions and fund formation.
About Kirkland & Ellis
Kirkland & Ellis LLP (www.kirkland.com) is a 1,900-attorney law firm representing global clients in M&A, private equity and other complex corporate transactions, restructuring, litigation and dispute resolution/arbitration, and intellectual property and technology matters. The Firm has offices in New York, Beijing, Chicago, Hong Kong, Houston, London, Los Angeles, Munich, Palo Alto, San Francisco, Shanghai and Washington, D.C.
