As Simpson Thacher’s Global Head of Private Equity, Elizabeth Cooper is one of the world’s most respected and prolific dealmakers. Her work on transformative and complex transactions has reshaped the global private equity market. The American Lawyer’s 2024 “Corporate Attorney of the Year: Private Equity and M&A,” Elizabeth has guided more than $100 billion in transactions in the past two years alone.
A bold visionary and legal pioneer, Elizabeth has built a broad and dynamic practice, focusing on private equity M&A, joint ventures, investments and other corporate transactions, and has led many landmark and first-of-kind deals. With more than two decades of experience representing private equity and asset management giants including Blackstone, Brookfield, EQT, GTCR, New Mountain, Oaktree, Silver Lake and Stone Point − as well as a number of prominent blue-chip corporations and financial institutions − Elizabeth is a go-to advisor on market-moving transactions, successfully devising innovative legal solutions to pave the way for her clients’ expansions into new territories. Her deal experience spans a wide range of industries, including financial services, insurance, business and professional services, healthcare and life sciences and technology.
Clients rave that she is “brilliant,” a “force of nature” and “responsive, business-savvy and thoughtful in her advice.” Clients also remark that “she is a rockstar and a heavy hitter and is active with the big clients in the market.”
Longtime Executive Committee member and a former Administrative Partner, she brings the collective resources of the Firm to bear to service clients.
Select private equity M&A and asset management M&A transactions on which Elizabeth has advised include:
- Blackstone in more than 50 transactions, including: its acquisitions of, and investments in, Ancestry, Cvent, Enverus, IntraFi, Jersey Mike’s, Renaissance, Spanx, Sphera, Supergoop! and Tropical Smoothie Café, among others; a consortium led by Blackstone in the acquisition of a majority stake in Emerson Electric’s Climate Technologies business and the subsequent sale of Emerson’s remaining interest in the Copeland joint venture; its $20 billion partnership with Thomson Reuters for Refinitiv and Refinitiv in its subsequent $27 billion sale to the London Stock Exchange; its acquisition of a 9.9% equity stake in AIG’s Life & Retirement business; its strategic alliance with Wellington and Vanguard; and its strategic partnership with Legal & General
- Blackstone, Carlyle and Hellman & Friedman in their majority investment in Medline Industries, Inc.; and Medline in its acquisition of the global surgical solutions business of Ecolab and $7 billion IPO, the largest healthcare IPO in history
- Silver Lake in its take-private acquisition of Endeavor at an enterprise value of $25 billion and its acquisition of Zuora; First Advantage in its acquisition of Sterling Check Corp.; Global Blue in its acquisition by Shift4; and Software AG in the sale of its StreamSets and webMethods platforms to IBM
- New Mountain in its acquisitions of, and investments in, Ascensus Specialties Acquisition Corp., Broadcast Music, Citrin Cooperman, Covaris, Datassential, Novacore, NSM Insurance Group’s U.S. commercial insurance division, PerkinElmer and Salute, among others; and Qualus in its acquisition by Clearlake
- Stone Point in its acquisitions of, and investments in, Ascensus, Businessolver (and Businessolver’s subsequent acquisition of The Capstone Group), Beeline, Duff & Phelps (Kroll), HireRight (with General Atlantic), Kestra Holdings, OneDigital, Truist Insurance (n/k/a CRC Group) and Ultimus Fund Solutions; and its sale of Focus Financial
- GTCR in its acquisitions of, and investments in, Solmetex, FMG Suite, Clear Capital, Winged Keel Group and R&T Deposit Solutions; and the acquisition of Paya Holdings by Nuvei Corporation
- Brookfield in its acquisitions of nVent Electric’s Thermal Management business and Antylia Scientific
- Numerous asset management M&A transactions, including: DigitalBridge in its announced acquisition by SoftBank; Oaktree in its sale to Brookfield Asset Management and its acquisition of 17Capital; Baring Private Equity Asia in its acquisition by EQT AB; MassMutual in its announced sale of an 18% equity stake in Barings to MS&AD Insurance Group; Lexington Partners in its sale to Franklin Templeton; and Portfolio Advisors in its merger with FS Investments, creating an alternative investment firm
One of the most highly lauded M&A lawyers in the country, Elizabeth is a two-time American Lawyer “Dealmaker of the Year” − for her work on the majority investment in Medline Industries and for Blackstone’s partnership with Thomson Reuters − and two-time “Private Equity Lawyer of the Year” at The Deal Awards. A Law360 “Private Equity MVP,” Elizabeth was recognized as “Best in M&A” by Euromoney’s Women in Business Law Americas Awards, featured on The Deal’s “Women in M&A: The Powerhouse 20” list, twice acknowledged by Crain’s as a “Notable Woman in Law” and named among “America’s Top M&A Lawyers” by Forbes. Elizabeth has been continuously recognized as a leading lawyer in Chambers USA and in The Legal 500 United States.
She graduated from Columbia Law School in 2001, where she was a James Kent Scholar, and earned an A.B., cum laude, from Harvard University in 1997. Admitted to practice in New York, Elizabeth is a member of the Association of the Bar of the City of New York.