Stephen F. Arcano

Mr. Arcano has advised clients on a variety of high-profile mergers and acquisitions, with notable examples including Mobil Corporation in its merger with Exxon Corporation; the independent directors of Time Warner Cable (TWC) in its acquisition by Charter Communications and in TWC’s terminated transaction with Comcast, as well as in connection with TWC’s separation from Time Warner; XTO Energy in its acquisition by Exxon Mobil Corporation; Gilead Sciences, Inc. in various transactions, including its acquisition of Kite Pharma, Inc. and its acquisition of Pharmasset, Inc., a transaction that was recognized in the Financial Times’ U.S. Innovative Lawyers report; E*Trade Financial Corporation in its acquisition by Morgan Stanley; Alcatel in its merger with Lucent Technologies Inc.; the Bertarelli family and Serono S.A. in connection with the acquisition of Serono by Merck KGaA; The WhiteWave Foods Company in its acquisition by Danone SA; Veoneer Inc. in its initial agreement to be acquired by Magna Industries, and its acquisition by SSW Partners in conjunction with a subsequent acquisition of assets by Qualcomm.

Mr. Arcano’s experience in contested situations and shareholder activist defense includes representing CoreLogic, Inc. in connection with an unsolicited acquisition offer and proxy contest by Senator Investment Group and Cannae Holdings; Norfolk Southern Corporation in connection with an unsolicited offer and threatened proxy contest by Canadian Pacific Railway; The Washington Companies in the unsolicited acquisition of Dominion Diamond Corporation; Pinnacle Entertainment in connection with the unsolicited offer by Gaming & Leisure Properties Inc. and subsequent agreement to merge with GLPI following a spin-off by Pinnacle’s operating business; Pinnacle Entertainment in its acquisition by Penn National Gaming; ICN Pharmaceuticals, Inc. in its replacement of the board of, and subsequent acquisition of the publicly held shares of, Ribapharm Inc.; Validus Holdings, Limited in its unsolicited acquisition of IPC Holdings, Limited; and Transocean Limited in its proxy contest with Carl Icahn.

Mr. Arcano has represented companies in spin-offs and similar corporate separation transactions, including NCR Corporation in its spin-off of NCR Atleos, a committee of independent directors of Time Warner Cable in the completion of its separation from Time Warner and Trinity Industries in its spin-off of Arcosa, Inc.

In leveraged buyouts and take-private transactions, Mr. Arcano has represented target companies, special committees of boards of directors, management, selling shareholders, controlling stockholders and buyout groups.

Mr. Arcano has been active in firm and practice management over his career, including most recently having served as a global head of Skadden’s transactions practices, as well as a member of multiple firm committees.

In recognition of his work, Mr. Arcano has been honored as one of The American Lawyer’s Dealmakers of the Year and repeatedly selected for inclusion in Chambers Global: The World’s Leading Lawyers for Business and Chambers USA: America’s Leading Lawyers for Business. Mr. Arcano also has been listed in The Best Lawyers in America and IFLR1000, in addition to being named to Lawdragon’s 500 Legends of Law list, which recognizes attorneys “whose contributions define justice and excellence in the legal profession.”