Lee Meyerson is Chairman and Founding Partner of the Firm’s Financial Institutions Practice and previous Head of our global M&A Practice. He has counseled the world’s elite financial and investment firms on a broad range of transactions, including some of the largest and most complex mergers in the financial services industry. Lee is described by Chambers as “one of the most accomplished financial services M&A lawyers of his generation.” He is also praised by Chambers for being someone who “works closely with clients to execute major transactions with seasoned efficiency” and clients laud that “he’s a genius and can translate his genius, giving workable solutions.” Lee’s practice also includes counseling clients on regulatory matters, corporate governance and shareholder activism, as well as a broad range of capital markets transactions, including IPOs, debt, equity and hybrid capital securities offerings.
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Work Highlights
- TD Bank in its $13.4 billion acquisition of First Horizon (terminated) and $1.3 billion acquisition of Cowen Inc.
- U.S. Bancorp in its $8 billion acquisition of MUFG Union Bank
- People's United in its $7.2 billion sale to M&T Bank and four community bank acquisitions, valued at $2 billion
- TCF Financial Corporation in its $22 billion merger with Huntington Bancshares and its $3.5 billion merger of equals with Chemical Financial
- TD Bank in the $26 billion sale of its affiliate TD Ameritrade to Charles Schwab and in more than $33 billion of U.S. acquisitions of banks and other financial services businesses
- KeyCorp in its $4.1 billion acquisition of First Niagara Financial Group
- IBERIABANK in its $3.9 billion merger of equals with First Horizon and prior acquisitions of Sabadell United ($1 billion) and Gibraltar Trust ($220 million)
- Synovus in its $3.8 billion acquisition of Florida Community Bank
- Fifth Third in its $4.7 billion acquisition of MB Financial
- CoBiz in its $1 billion sale to Bank of Oklahoma
- JPMorgan in its $58 billion merger with Bank One Corporation and the $3.5 billion sale of its global physical commodities business
- Mellon Financial in its $16.8 billion merger-of-equals with The Bank of New York
Accolades
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Chambers USA (2003-2023)
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“Hall of Fame" The Legal 500 U.S. (2020-2023)
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“Leading Lawyer" The Legal 500 U.S. (2011-2019)
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"Market Leader" IFLR 1000 (2017-2023)
Education
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New York University School of Law, 1981 J.D.
New York University Law Review, Editor
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Duke University, 1977 A.B.
magna cum laude
Associations
- Association of the Bar of the City of New York
Lee Meyerson is Chairman and Founding Partner of the Firm’s Financial Institutions Practice and previous Head of our global M&A Practice. He has counseled the world’s elite financial and investment firms on a broad range of transactions, including some of the largest and most complex mergers in the financial services industry. Lee is described by Chambers as “one of the most accomplished financial services M&A lawyers of his generation.” He is also praised by Chambers for being someone who “works closely with clients to execute major transactions with seasoned efficiency” and clients laud that “he’s a genius and can translate his genius, giving workable solutions.” Lee’s practice also includes counseling clients on regulatory matters, corporate governance and shareholder activism, as well as a broad range of capital markets transactions, including IPOs, debt, equity and hybrid capital securities offerings.
Selected recent financial services M&A transactions include:
- TD Bank in its $13.4 billion acquisition of First Horizon (terminated) and $1.3 billion acquisition of Cowen Inc.
- U.S. Bancorp in its $8 billion acquisition of MUFG Union Bank
- People's United in its $7.2 billion sale to M&T Bank and four community bank acquisitions, valued at $2 billion
- TCF Financial Corporation in its $22 billion merger with Huntington Bancshares and its $3.5 billion merger of equals with Chemical Financial
- TD Bank in the $26 billion sale of its affiliate TD Ameritrade to Charles Schwab and in more than $33 billion of U.S. acquisitions of banks and other financial services businesses
- KeyCorp in its $4.1 billion acquisition of First Niagara Financial Group
- IBERIABANK in its $3.9 billion merger of equals with First Horizon and prior acquisitions of Sabadell United ($1 billion) and Gibraltar Trust ($220 million)
- Synovus in its $3.8 billion acquisition of Florida Community Bank
- Fifth Third in its $4.7 billion acquisition of MB Financial
- CoBiz in its $1 billion sale to Bank of Oklahoma
- JPMorgan in its $58 billion merger with Bank One Corporation and the $3.5 billion sale of its global physical commodities business
- Mellon Financial in its $16.8 billion merger-of-equals with The Bank of New York
Throughout the Great Financial Crisis, Lee represented a broad spectrum of banks, private investors and government agencies in many of the key transactions during this period. Those included:
- U.S. Treasury in connection with developing, structuring and documenting its $250 billion TARP program for purchasing equity in U.S. financial institutions
- U.S. Treasury's targeted investments in Citigroup and Bank of America and the exchange of $49 billion of Citigroup preferred stock for common stock and trust preferred securities
- Bank bidders, private equity consortiums and other investors in numerous FDIC failed bank auctions, including:
- The Bank of Nova Scotia in its acquisition of R-G Premier Bank of Puerto Rico ($5.6 billion in assets)
- East West Bancorp in its acquisition of United Commercial Bank ($10.4 billion in assets) and concurrent $500 million contingent capital raise
- The Toronto-Dominion Bank in its acquisitions of three failed Florida banks ($4 billion in assets)
- Investors in the FDIC-assisted acquisitions of IndyMac and BankUnited
- Washington Mutual in its $7.2 billion equity issuance to TPG and other investors
- Lead investors in National City's $7 billion equity issuance
Selected fintech, asset management and other non-bank M&A transactions include:
- The Toronto-Dominion Bank in its acquisitions of Chrysler Financial ($6.3 billion) and Target's credit card portfolio ($5.9 billion)
- WMH in its merger with Mr. Cooper ($3.8 billion)
- The Charles Schwab Corporation in its $1 billion acquisition of optionsXpress
- The Carlyle Group in its acquisition of TCW Group ($130 billion AUM)
- Blackstone and Corsair in their acquisition of a majority interest in First Eagle Investment Management ($90 billion AUM)
- Wachovia in its $6.8 billion acquisition of A.G. Edwards
- UBS in its $2.5 billion acquisition of Banco Pactual
- Washington Mutual in its $6.6 billion acquisition of Providian Financial and the sale of its consumer finance group to Citigroup ($1.25 billion)
- Wachovia in its securities brokerage joint venture with Prudential ($4.2 billion)
- Federated Department Stores in the sale of its credit card portfolio to Citigroup ($7.4 billion)
Earlier transactions include:
- Independence Community Bank in its sale to Sovereign Bancorp ($3.6 billion)
- JPMorgan Chase in the sale of its discount broker subsidiary, Brown & Co., to E*Trade ($1.6 billion)
- Washington Mutual in its acquisition of Dime Bancorp ($5.2 billion)
- Wachovia in its merger with First Union ($14.7 billion) and concurrent defense against the hostile takeover bid by SunTrust Banks
- Chase Manhattan's acquisitions of JPMorgan ($34 billion) and Hambrecht & Quist ($1.35 billion)
- BancWest Corporation in its sale to BNP Paribas ($2.49 billion)
- Independence Community Bank in its acquisition of Staten Island Bancorp ($1.5 billion)
- CoreStates in its sale to First Union Corp. ($17 billion)
- Washington Mutual's "white knight" acquisition of Great Western Financial ($10 billion)
- Chemical Bank's acquisition of The Chase Manhattan Corporation ($10 billion)
Lee has been ranked as one of the leading M&A and banking lawyers in the United States in many surveys, including Chambers USA (Financial Institutions M&A-Band 1 for 17 consecutive years), The Legal 500 (Hall of Fame in both Financial Services Regulation and M&A), and The American Lawyer, which selected him as a “Dealmaker of the Year” for both 2008 and 2005.
Lee joined Simpson Thacher in 1981 following his graduation from New York University Law School, where he was an editor of the Law Review. He received his A.B., magna cum laude, from Duke University. Lee is admitted to practice in New York.