A member of the firm’s Mergers & Acquisitions Group, Chelsea Darnell advises on M&A transactions, corporate governance and activist defense matters. She has significant experience advising public companies and private equity firms on domestic and cross-border M&A transactions, spin-offs and carve-outs, minority investments and securities offerings.
Lawdragon Honors
| Honor | Year | Practice |
|---|---|---|
| The 2026 Lawdragon 500 X – The Next Generation | 2026 | M&A, Governance, Activist Defense |
| The 2026 Lawdragon 500 Leading Dealmakers in America | 2026 | M&A, Corporate Governance |
| The 2025 Lawdragon 500 X – The Next Generation | 2025 | M&A, Governance, Activist Defense |
Darnell’s notable representations include:
- Accenture in multiple transactions, including its over $1 billion acquisition of Novetta
- Capital One in its acquisitions of GE Capital’s Healthcare Finance Business and Cabela’s credit card program
- Chicago Bridge & Iron in its $6 billion merger of equals with McDermott International
- Eli Lilly in its $2.4 billion acquisition of Dice Therapeutics and its up to $2.4 billion acquisition of Orna Therapeutics
- Global Payments in its $45 billion merger of equals with Total System Services
- IonQ in its $1.8 billion acquisition of SkyWater Technology, its $1.075 billion acquisition of Oxford Ionics and its acquisitions of Skyloom Global, Seed Innovations, Capella Space Corporation and Vector Atomic
- Keurig Dr Pepper in its $18.4 billion acquisition of JDE Peet’s, in its planned separation into two independent, U.S.-listed publicly traded companies and in two strategic investments in KDP totaling $7 billion from Apollo and KKR
- KKR in its $1.3 billion acquisition of Chase Corporation and its $1.6 billion acquisition of CIRCOR International
- Sun National Bank in its $475 million acquisition by Ocean First
- United Technologies in its $9 billion sale of Sikorsky Aircraft to Lockheed Martin and in the $1 billion sale of its Taylor Company business to The Middleby Corporation
- WestRock in its $2.5 billion spin-off of its Specialty Chemicals business
- The controlling stockholder of World Wrestling Entertainment in the $21 billion merger of WWE and UFC to form a global live sports and entertainment company
- ZT Systems in its $4.9 billion sale to Advanced Micro Devices (AMD)