Christopher M. Barlow

Mr. Barlow regularly advises private equity firms, alternative asset managers, public and private companies, SPACs and financial institutions in a variety of corporate matters, including acquisitions, divestitures, restructurings, financial advisor engagements, financings, leveraged buyouts, shareholder activism, corporate governance and takeover preparedness. Examples of his representations include:

• Squarespace, Inc. in its $7.2 billion going-private acquisition by Permira Advisers
• DESRI Inc. in the pending $1.7 billion acquisition of a significant minority stake in the company by funds managed by Macquarie Asset Management
• Shopify in its sales of Deliverr, Inc. and 6 River Systems, LLC
• Spotify in numerous acquisitions, including:
  • Podsights
  • Chartable, Inc.
  • Findaway
  • Podz, Inc.
  • Betty Labs Incorporated
  • Megaphone from Graham Holdings
  • Bill Simmons’ The Ringer
  • Cutler Media, LLC
  • Gimlet Media Inc.
  • Anchor FM Inc.
  • SoundBetter
  • The Echo Nest
  • Loudr.fm
• Permira Funds in numerous transactions, including:
  • its $4.2 billion sale of a majority stake in Duff & Phelps
  • its $2.4 billion acquisition of Cambrex Corporation
  • its acquisition of a majority stake in Reformation
  • the $1.9 billion sale of an 80% stake in its portfolio company Netafim Ltd. to Mexichem, S.A.B. de C.V.
  • the sale of a majority stake in Teraco Data Environment to Berkshire Partners
  • its investment in Curriculum Associates
  • its acquisition of a majority stake in Cielo, Inc. from Accel-KKR
  • its acquisition of Evonik Jayhawk Fine Chemicals Corporation from Evonik Industries AG
• Elon Musk in his $44 billion acquisition of Twitter, Inc.
• Bitfarms Ltd. in its:
  • $175 million acquisition of Stronghold Digital Mining, Inc.
  • settlement agreement with shareholder Riot Platforms, Inc.
• Social Capital Hedosophia in its:
  • $8.65 billion merger with SoFi
  • $3.7 billion merger with Clover Health Investments Corp.
  • $4.8 billion merger with Opendoor Labs
  • $1.5 billion merger with Virgin Galactic
• The Blackstone Group and Stearns Holdings in the sale of Stearns Lending to Guaranteed Rate, Inc.
• Kelso & Co. in its acquisition of Physicians Endoscopy, LLC in a recapitalization transaction with management from Pamlico Capital
• Reinvent Technology Partners in its:
  • $6.6 billion merger with Joby Aviation
  • $11 billion merger with Aurora Innovation, Inc.
• FaZe Clan Inc. in its $1 billion merger with B. Riley Principal 150 Merger Corp.
• Aspirational Consumer Lifestyle Corp. in its $2.1 billion merger with Wheels Up Partners Holdings LLC
• Neuberger Berman Group in its $12.5 billion combination of its Dyal Capital Partners division and Owl Rock Capital Group to form Blue Owl Capital, which will become publicly listed through a business combination with Altimar Acquisition Corporation
• Kemet Corp. in its pending $1.8 billion acquisition by Yageo Corp.
• NXP Semiconductors N.V. in its proposed but terminated acquisition by Qualcomm Inc.
• Wenner Media LLC in numerous transactions and corporate matters, including:
  • a strategic investment in Wenner Media LLC from Penske Media Corporation
  • its sale of US Weekly to American Media, Inc.
  • its sale of a 49% stake in Rolling Stone Magazine
• Anbang Insurance Group Co., Ltd. as lead member of an investor group in its proposed, unsolicited $14 billion acquisition of Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide Inc., which would have been the largest acquisition of a U.S. company by a Chinese buyer if completed
• Pinnacle Entertainment in connection with the unsolicited offer by Gaming & Leisure Properties Inc. and subsequent merger with GLPI following a spin-off of Pinnacle’s operating business;
• Frontier Communications Corporation in its $10.5 billion acquisition of the wireline businesses of Verizon in California, Texas and Florida
• Integrated Whale Media Investments, a Hong Kong-based investor group, in its acquisition of a majority stake in Forbes Media LLC
• Cobham plc in its $1.46 billion acquisition of Aeroflex Holding Corp.
• BlackBerry Ltd. in its exploration of strategic alternatives, culminating in a $1 billion private placement of convertible debentures
• Gardner Denver, Inc. in its $3.9 billion acquisition by Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co. L.P.
• Valeant Pharmaceuticals International, Inc. in multiple transactions and corporate matters, including its:
  • $8.7 billion acquisition of Bausch + Lomb Holdings Incorporated from Warburg Pincus LLC
  • acquisition of OraPharma Inc. from Water Street Healthcare Partners
• Dean Foods Company in its $1.45 billion sale of its Morningstar Foods division to Saputo Inc.
• Transocean Limited in its proxy contest with Carl Icahn
• EverBank Financial Corp. in its 2012 initial public offering
• IAC’s Match.com in its minority investment in Zhenai Inc.
• financial advisors, including Goldman Sachs & Co. LLC, Centerview Partners LLC, J.P. Morgan Securities LLC, Guggenheim Securities, LLC and Lazard Frères & Co. LLC in numerous transactions

Mr. Barlow has been named one of Lawdragon’s 500 Leading Dealmakers in America, honored as one of MergerLinks’ Top Advisor Lawyers in North America and recognized as a Rising Star by The Deal. He has also provided pro bono legal services to a variety of New York-based clients.