International law firm Hogan Lovells is adding M&A partners Richard Climan, Keith Flaum and Jane Ross, and IP and technology transactions partner John Brockland to its global corporate team.
Climan and Flaum will join the global leadership teams within Hogan Lovells’ corporate practice.
Climan, Flaum, Ross and Brockland have worked together for nearly 20 years. Over that period, the team has handled some of the most significant transactions in the technology and life sciences sectors, having worked with companies such as Adobe, Ant Financial, Applied Materials, eBay, Facebook, Gilead Sciences, Intel, Jazz Pharmaceuticals, Oracle, Qorvo and Synopsys.
The team advises major technology, life sciences and other companies on complex and significant transactions, including advising on multi-billion dollar acquisitions of publicly traded companies on a regular basis. While Climan, Flaum, and Ross lead the team’s M&A work, Brockland focuses on the development, transfer, and licensing of technology and intellectual property assets.
Recent work carried out by the team includes Facebook’s acquisition of WhatsApp for USD16 billion; the successful defence of Illumina against Roche’s USD6.2 billion hostile takeover attempt; more than 25 acquisitions for Adobe, eBay, Intel, Oracle, and Synopsys; and the USD2 billion sale of the Los Angeles Dodgers to a buyout group led by Guggenheim Partners.
“We have a strategic focus on advising clients on transactions with a regulatory or industry specific component,” says Hogan Lovells CEO Steve Immelt. “We are excited to have this team of lawyers join us in Northern California, as they have represented market leading technology and life sciences companies on many of their most significant transactions. Their well-earned reputation, relationships, and market profile will expand our presence in one of the most active markets for corporate transactions and illustrates a focus on strengthening our M&A capabilities in key markets in the US and globally.”
Climan, Flaum, Ross, and Brockland will join Hogan Lovells from Weil, Gotshal & Manges and will be based in the firm’s Menlo Park and San Francisco offices.
“This team’s reputation is world class, and with Hogan Lovells, they will join a strong global M&A team with a track record of success, as part of a sustained drive to enhance our corporate M&A capabilities in key markets throughout the world,” says David Gibbons, global head of the firm’s corporate practice group. “As more and more companies across a wide range of market sectors put disruptive technology at the heart of their business strategy and operations, this group’s deep understanding of M&A and the technology and life sciences sectors will prove invaluable.”
