Recent Transactions

Advised the Independent Directors of the Board of Kinder Morgan Energy Partners on the acquisition of Tennessee Gas Pipeline, a ~14,000 mile natural gas pipeline system connecting Texas, Louisiana, and the Gulf of Mexico with the northeastern US, and 50% of El Paso Natural Gas, a ~10,000 mile natural gas pipeline system connecting the Permian Basin in Texas / New Mexico with key consumer markets in Arizona, California and Mexico

Advised ISTA Pharmaceuticals, an ophthalmic pharmaceutical company, on its defense against an unsolicited offer from Valeant Pharmaceuticals and on its review of strategic alternatives

Advised the Special Committee of Wesco Financial Corporation in connection with Berkshire Hathaway Inc.'s proposal to acquire the remaining 19.9% of the shares of Wesco’s common stock that it does not presently own

Advised the Independent Director Committee of Alcon, Inc., an ophthalmic pharmaceutical company, on the sale of Alcon’s outstanding publicly held interest to Novartis AG, a global pharmaceutical company

Advised the Affiliated Transaction Committee of Coca-Cola Enterprises Inc. on the sale of its North American bottling operations to The Coca-Cola Company and on its concurrent acquisition of The Coca-Cola Company’s bottling operations in the Nordic region

Advised the Special Committee of the Board of Directors of Barnes & Noble, Inc., the world’s largest bookseller, on its acquisition of Barnes & Noble College Booksellers, Inc.

Advised Chrysler in connection with the chapter 11 proceedings to effectuate the sale of substantially all of its operating assets and certain liabilities to a newly created entity that will be jointly owned by Fiat S.p.A., the VEBA Trust (responsible for the healthcare benefits of current and former employees of Chrysler), the US Treasury and the Canadian government

Advised the special committee of the board of directors in connection with its merger with Triarc Companies, Inc., the operator of the Arby’s franchise. The combined systems will have approximately 10,000 restaurant units and pro forma annual system sales of approximately $12.5 billion, positioning it as the nation’s third largest quick service restaurant company

Acted as sole financial adviser to Ceridian Corporation, an information services provider to the human resource, transportation and retail markets, on its sale to Thomas H. Lee Partners and Fidelity National Financial

Advised the Transaction Committee of the Board of Directors of SLM Corporation, commonly known as Sallie Mae, on the sale to a consortium consisting of J.C. Flowers, Friedman Fleischer & Lowe, Bank of America and JPMorgan Chase

Provided fairness opinion to the Board of Directors of The ServiceMaster Company, a diversified consumer services business whose brands include Terminix, TruGreen and American Home Shield, in connection with its sale to private equity firm Clayton, Dubilier & Rice

Provided advisory services and fairness opinion to the board of directors of Raytheon Company, a market leader in the aerospace and defense industry, on the sale of its Raytheon Aircraft division, which offers aircrafts and services and the renowned Hawker and Beechcraft brand names