Peter M. McCormack
Overview
Peter McCormack is an Antitrust & Competition partner in Kirkland's New York office. Peter advises a variety of public company and private equity clients on all aspects of antitrust matters relating to mergers and acquisitions, joint ventures and other business combinations, and has over a decade of experience representing clients on antitrust transactional matters and other critical business issues investigated by the federal, state and international antitrust and competition authorities. He regularly appears before the Antitrust Division of the U.S. Department of Justice, the Federal Trade Commission and state attorneys general in connection with merger reviews and civil antitrust investigations, and counsels clients in both domestic and cross-border transactions on issues relating to antitrust filings, substantive risk and strategy. Peter also has experience representing clients in private antitrust litigation, including substantial antitrust pre-trial, trial and arbitration experience prior to his concentration on antitrust merger matters.
Experience
Representative Matters
Since joining Kirkland, Peter has been involved in the following representations:
- Bain Capital and its portfolio companies in matters including
- the acquisition of Big Tex Trailers and subsequent merger with American Trailer World (ATW), acquired from Southlake Equity Group, which closed after a DOJ Second Request, and the sale of ATW’s Tex Trail trailer parts distribution business to DexKo Global
- the combination of PSA Healthcare and Epic Health Services to form Aveanna Healthcare, the proposed merger of Aveanna Healthcare and Maxim Health Services, which was terminated after an extended FTC investigation, and other confidential matters involving Aveanna
- Bain Capital and Hellman & Friedman in the $17 billion acquisition of athenahealth
- Bain Capital and Vista Equity Partners in the $5.35 billion sale of Vertafore to Roper Technologies
- the sale of Blue Nile to Signet Jewelers Limited
- BMC Software in various matters including the sale of BMC to KKR
- Imperial Dade in various matters including in the acquisition of a significant stake by affiliates of Advent International
- the $1.5 billion PIPE investment into II-VI Incorporated in connection with II-VI’s merger with Coherent
- US LBM in various acquisitions and the sale of its wallboard distribution business to ABC Supply Co.
- Rocket Software in various matters including the acquisition of ASG Technologies
- the acquisition of Buildertrend and subsequent combination with Co-Construct
- Bain Capital and Vista Equity Partners in the merger of Tritech Software Services, Superion and the public sector and healthcare business of Aptean to form CentralSquare Technologies
- Apex Tools, Dealer Tire, Citius Tech, Diversey, LeanTaas, Parts Source, Surgery Partners, US Renal Care, Virgin Voyages and Varsity Brands in various matters
- Huntsman Corporation in matters including
- the sale of its Textile Effects business to Archroma, a portfolio company of investment firm SK Capital Partners
- its $20 billion merger-of-equals with Clariant, which was mutually terminated after Clariant shareholder opposition
- the acquisition of CVC Thermoset Specialties from American Securities; Demilec from affiliates of Sun Capital Partners; and Icynene-Lapolla from affiliates of FFL Partners
- Lone Star Funds and portfolio company Forterra in its sale to Quikrete, which closed after a DOJ Second Request
- Nexstar Broadcasting Group in matters including
- its $6.4 billion acquisition of Tribune Media
- its related $1.3 billion sale of 19 stations in 15 markets to TEGNA and The E.W. Scripps Company pursuant to a DOJ Final Judgment
- its acquisition of The CW
- KKR in various matters including
- the $1.6 billion investment in CIRCOR International
- its acquisition of Bettcher Industries and the subsequent acquisition of Frontmatec
- Kinderhook Industries and its portfolio companies in matters including
- Capital Waste Services and EcoSouth in their acquisition of assets as a divestiture buyer pursuant to a DOJ Final Judgment in United States v. Republic Services, Inc.
- the sale of Circon Holdings to Covanta, a portfolio company of EQT Infrastructure
- the acquisition of Mobile Mini Tank and Pump Solutions, Inc. from WillScot Mobile Mini Holdings and combination with the Adler Tank Rentals acquired from McGrath RentCorp
- Cint Group, a portfolio company of Nordic Capital, on its $1.07 billion acquisition of Lucid Holdings
- K1 Investment Management and its portfolio company Smarsh in the acquisition of the Digital Safe business of Micro Focus; its portfolio company ComplySci in the acquisition of RIA in a Box; and other matters
- Investindustrial in matters including its carve-out acquisition of the Meal Preparations Business of TreeHouse Foods and its investment in Eataly to accelerate international expansion efforts
- Corning in its acquisition of a controlling stake in the Hemlock Semiconductor joint venture from DuPont
- Owl Rock Capital Group in its agreement with Dyal Capital Partners to form Blue Owl Capital an alternative asset management firm with over $45 billion in assets under management
- Towerbrook Capital Partners and portfolio company TriMedx in the acquisition of Aramark Healthcare Services
- Boise Cascade Company in its acquisition of engineered lumber production facilities from Georgia Pacific
- Thomas H. Lee Partners in the $1.4 billion sale of Curo Health Services to a consortium led by Humana
- Private equity sponsor and its portfolio company in the $1 billion acquisition of a competing hospice provider
- Sumeru Equity Partners (Silver Lake) in various matters including the merger of MDSL with Calero Software and the sale of Buildium to Real Page
- Confidential hedge fund client in connection with DOJ Antitrust Division investigation
- Starr Investment Holdings in its sale of ACA Group to Foreside Financial Group, portfolio company of Genstar Capital
- Ingersoll Rand in the sale of its High Pressure Solutions business to American Industrial Partners
- Consolidated Aviation Services in its sale to Worldwide Flight Services, a portfolio company of Platinum Equity
- LNK Partners in the sale of Niman Ranch and its parent company Natural Food Holdings to Perdue Farms
- Warburg Pincus in the sale of Coyote Logistics to UPS
- Sentinel Capital Partners and portfolio company Hollander Sleep Products in the acquisition of Pacific Coast Feather
- Vista Equity Partners in the combination on Cvent and Lanyon, which closed after a Second Request
- Cerberus Capital Management in its strategic partnership with Avon Products
- Centerbridge Partners in its investment in Heartland Food Products Group to finance the acquisition of Splenda from McNeil Nutritionals, a subsidiary of Johnson & Johnson
- Private equity clients including Arsenal Capital, CIVC, Genstar, KKR, New Mountain Capital, Nordic Capital, Starr Investments, TA Associates, The Jordan Company, Warburg Pincus, WCAS and their portfolio companies in confidential transactions and antitrust advisory matters
Prior to joining Kirkland, Peter was involved in the following representations:
- Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. in connection with the antitrust aspects of its litigation against Vulcan Materials regarding Martin Marietta’s hostile exchange offer for Vulcan and related proxy contest
- Advantest Corp. in its $1.1 billion merger with Verigy Ltd.
- Ainsworth Lumber Co. Inc. in its successful merger with Norbord, Inc., which received DOJ clearance after a Second Request investigation, and in its terminated $864 million merger with Louisiana-Pacific Corp.
- In connection with American Airlines’ $11 billion merger with US Airways Group, Inc., represented AMR Corporation’s Official Committee of Unsecured Creditors as part of AMR’s Chapter 11 reorganization
- Amylin Pharmaceuticals, Inc. in its lawsuit against Eli Lilly and Co. alleging breach of a commercialization agreement for the diabetes medication exenatide and related antitrust claims, and in its subsequent settlement with Eli Lilly terminating the agreement and transitioning full responsibility for developing and marketing exenatide to Amylin
- CF Industries Holdings, Inc. in the $1.4 billion sale of its phosphates business to The Mosaic Co. and its $910 million acquisition of Viterra, Inc.’s stake in Canadian Fertilizers Limited
- Express Scripts, Inc. in its $29.1 billion acquisition of Medco Health Solutions, including in connection with the private antitrust challenge to the transaction
- SanDisk Corporation in its successful trial defense against claims brought by Kingston Technologies relating to SanDisk’s licensing policies
- U.S. professional sports leagues in various confidential matters, including arbitration matters pursuant to the NHL and NBA collective bargaining agreements
- Watson Pharmaceuticals, Inc. in connection with its $5.6 billion acquisition of Actavis Group
Clerk & Government Experience
InternHonorable John G. KoeltlUnited States District Court for the Southern District of New York2008
Prior Experience
Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP, 2011–2015
More
Thought Leadership
Publications
Co-author, “Populist Instincts: A Trump Administration Antitrust Merger Retrospective,” Antitrust Magazine, Volume 35 No. 3 (Summer 2021)
Co-author, “Prepare For Antitrust Scrutiny Of PIPEs, Partial Acquisitions,” Law360 (June 29, 2020)
Author, “INSIGHT: Planning for Government Antitrust Merger Litigation During and After the Pandemic,” Bloomberg Law (April 17, 2020)
Recognition
Recognized in Global Competition Review’s GCR 100 (New York), 2021–2022
Recognized in The Legal 500 U.S. — Antitrust: Merger Control, 2018–2020
Credentials
Admissions & Qualifications
- 2011New York
Languages
- English
- Spanish
Education
- Albany Law SchoolJ.D.summa cum laude2010
Managing Editor, Albany Law Review
- Villanova UniversityB.A., History & Spanish; Business Minorcum laude2007