A partner in the Paul, Weiss Mergers & Acquisitions Group, Mike Darby primarily advises public and private companies, boards of directors and special board committees on mergers and acquisitions and other significant corporate transactions across a wide range of industries. He brings deep experience in Delaware law, regularly counseling clients on fiduciary issues and other Delaware-law considerations in complex transactions.
Darby’s representations have included:
Life Sciences
- ARCHIMED in its $428 million acquisition of ARK Diagnostics from Soulbrain Holdings
- NAMSA in its strategic acquisition of WuXi AppTec’s U.S. medical device testing operations
- Quest Diagnostics in various transactions, including:
- its acquisition of select assets from Fresenius Medical Care
- its acquisition of select assets from Allina Health
- its acquisition of substantially all the assets of Labtech Diagnostics
Industrials
- Crown Castle in various matters, including a $1 billion offering of senior secured notes
- Hertz Global in its successful $2.6 billion unsolicited offer to acquire Dollar Thrifty Group
- ValueAct Capital in the management buyout of Topcon effected through a tender offer launched by KKR
Financial Services
- Corporate Capital Trust, advised by a partnership between FS Investments and KKR Credit, in the listing of its shares on the NYSE and in its merger with FS Investment Corporation to create a publicly-traded business development company
- Hercules Capital in its acquisition of the venture lending portfolio of Ares Capital
- SHOOK Research in its strategic investment from PPC Enterprises
Consumer and Retail
- B&G Foods in various transactions, including its $420 million sale of its Pirate Brands business to The Hershey Company
- Underwriters in the initial public offering of Boot Barn Holdings
Technology
- Blackboard in its acquisition of Higher One Holdings and the sale of its Transact business unit to Reverence Capital Partners
- GIC in its acquisition alongside Silver Lake Partners of a significant equity stake in Ancestry.com
- Qualcomm in its acquisition of Modular
Energy and Natural Resources
- Energy Harbor in its $6.3 billion sale to Vistra Corp.
- The Williams Companies in its proposed $38 billion combination with Energy Transfer
