Elizabeth Cooper > Simpson Thacher & Bartlett LLP > New York, United States > Lawyer Profile

Simpson Thacher & Bartlett LLP continues to be a leading practice in the area of transactions involving financial services companies, handling billion-dollar M&A deals, investments and joint ventures. The practice is engaged by a wide variety of clients in this sector, including banks, business development companies, private equity funds, financial holding companies and asset managers. Lee Meyerson leads the team from New York and has deep experience across both banking and M&A, having previously served as the firm’s global head of M&A. Other key figures in the team include Elizabeth Cooper, who has a particular focus on transactions involving private equity and is increasingly active in the growing area of transactions involving financial services companies and special purpose acquisition companies (SPACs).

Praised for its ‘knowledge‘ and ‘leadership‘ within the private equity market, Simpson Thacher & Bartlett LLP is a regular advisor to many of the largest and most active funds in the market, handling bulge-bracket and volume mandates for the likes of Blackstone, Apollo, and Warburg Pincus, alongside many others. The firm advises on major buyouts and portfolio transactions, including several of the largest deals in the market, and is able to handle complex arrangements such as carve-outs, take-privates, and consortium arrangements such as Blackstone, Carlyle and Hellman & Friedman’s majority investment in Medline Industries, Inc. ‘True leader‘ Marni Lerner co-heads the team, and remains a leading name in the market, regularly handling high-profile deals such as KKR’s $4.7bn buyout of Global Atlantic, which also saw a key role for Katie Sudol. Co-head Elizabeth Cooper is noted for her active work on behalf of Blackstone, most notably the $5bn acquisition of The Chamberlain Group from Duchossois alongside Anthony Vernace, who continues to establish himself as a go-to for major private equity deals. The highly experienced Gary Horowitz is a senior figure within the team who offers strategic guidance to funds clients, while Palo Alto-based Atif Azher is a key figure for the firm on the West Coast and particularly strong in tech sector transactions. Michael Holick has a growing profile within the market, and is increasingly active on behalf of many of the firm’s bulge-bracket clients and portfolio companies. Lawyers are in New York unless otherwise stated.