William Allen

A Corporate Partner in the Firm’s New York Office, William Allen concentrates his practice on complex public and private mergers and acquisitions and other corporate transactions. He regularly advises strategic clients and private equity sponsors on a broad range of domestic and cross-border mergers and acquisitions, leveraged buyouts, carve-outs, recapitalizations, dispositions, joint ventures and minority investments. William has notable experience representing clients across a variety of sectors, including technology, media & telecommunications, financial services/fintech and asset management. His clients have included both leading private equity firms such as Blackstone and KKR and prominent public and private companies, including Microsoft, Blue Buffalo Pet Products, NN, Inc. and Spotify. William was named a 2019 “Rising Star” by International Financial Law Review (IFLR), a 2021 “Rising Star” for Private Equity by Law360 and a 2021 “Top Rising Star” by The Deal. 

Selected strategic M&A representations on which William has worked include:

• Microsoft Corporation in numerous transactions, including its $75 billion acquisition of Activision Blizzard, its $28.2 billion acquisition of LinkedIn, its $19.7 billion acquisition of Nuance Communications, its $7.5 billion acquisition of ZeniMax Media, its $7.5 billion acquisition of GitHub and the $350 million disposition of its feature phone business to affiliates of Foxconn
• Refinitiv in its $27 billion sale to the London Stock Exchange Group, as well as in its acquisition of Giact Systems, LLC
• NN, Inc., in its strategic review process culminating in the sale of its Life Sciences business to investment funds of American Securities for $825 million
• Blue Buffalo Pet Products, Inc., in its $8 billion sale to General Mills, Inc.
• Spotify in its equity investment transactions with Tencent and its subsidiary, Tencent Music Entertainment Group
• SiriusXM in the acquisition of Automatic Labs
• Sungard in its $9.1 billion sale to Fidelity National Information Services, Inc.
• AXIS Capital in its announced but subsequently terminated “merger of equals” with PartnerRe and the response to the unsolicited proposal for PartnerRe by EXOR

Selected private equity M&A representations on which William has worked include:

• Blackstone in numerous transactions, including its $20 billion partnership with Thomson Reuters for Thomson’s Financial and Risk Business to form Refinitiv and its acquisitions of, and investments in, Clarus, SERVPRO, Vungle, Promontory Interfinancial, DCI, Liftoff Mobile, Inc., International Data Group, Inc., SimpliFi, Ellucian and Sphera Solutions
• A consortium led by Blackstone Inc. in the pending acquisition of a majority stake in Emerson Electric’s Climate Technologies business for $14.0 billion
• Internet Brands, a portfolio company of KKR, in the sale of its Autodata Solutions Group to investment funds of Thoma Bravo and its $2.8 billion tender offer to acquire WebMD Health Corp.
• KKR in multiple transactions, including its acquisitions of Alliance Tire Group and assets of CNL Fund Advisors Company to facilitate KKR’s engagement as sole investment adviser to Corporate Capital Trust, Inc., a business development company
• Blackrock’s Global Energy & Infrastructure fund in the acquisition of Gas Natural, Inc.
• NewStar Financial, Inc. in a $300 million investment in subordinated debt and warrants by business development companies of Franklin  Square Capital Partners