Awards & Rankings
Firm Advised on Global Corporate Deal of the Year and Technology M&A Deal of the Year
Awards & Rankings
Press Contacts: Erik Cummins, Matt Hyams, Olivia Thomas
12.18.17
Two corporate transactions on which Pillsbury advised have been recognized as deals of the year by the Global M&A Network. Winners were announced at the M&A Atlas Awards on Nov. 2 at the Intrepid Museum in New York. NTT Data’s $3 billion acquisition of Dell Systems—the technology giant’s IT services division—was honored as the Global Corporate Deal of the Year in the $1-$10 billion category and, in the industry awards segment, Cisco System’s acquisition of Viptela was honored as the Technology M&A Deal of the Year.
Viptela, a Pillsbury client since its inception in 2012, was acquired by Cisco Systems Inc. in a $610 million May 2017 transaction. Viptela is a privately held company specializing in software-defined wide-area networks (SD-WAN), and the acquisition is part of Cisco’s strategic expansion of its SD-WAN portfolio. In advising Viptela, Stanley Pierson, the leader of Pillsbury’s Emerging Growth & Venture Capital group, led a team that included partners Cindy Schlaefer, Brian Wainwright, David Jakopin, George Willman and Michael Sibarium, along with associates Judy Yan, Erin Jennings and Matthew Ryan.
Japan-based NTT Data’s $3.06 billion purchase of Dell Systems was the company’s largest acquisition and supports NTT’s sales expansion strategy in the United States and other foreign markets amid an economic slowdown in Japan. NTT retained Dell Systems’ 28,000 employees, who are primarily located in the U.S. and India. San Francisco Corporate partner Blair White led the Pillsbury team, which also included Corporate partner Patrick Devine and associates Melisa Olmos, Corey Harris and Katherine Vorhis; Tax partner Julie Divola and counsel Nora Burke; Real Estate partner Glenn Snyder, counsel Noa Clark and associate Kevin Webb; Antitrust & Competition senior counsel Chuca Meyer; Intellectual Property partner David Jakopin, counsel Ian Schick and associates Matthew Stephens and Kirsten Gallacher; Executive Compensation & Benefits partners Howard Clemons and Peter Hunt, counsel Kathleen Bardunias and associates Justin Krawitz and Matthew Ryan; Environmental, Land Use & Natural Resources partner Jeffrey Knight and senior law clerk Brendan Hennessey; Government Contracts partners John Jensen and Stephan Becker and associate Selena Brady; Finance partner Philip Tendler; and Litigation partner Andrew Lanphere. Also on the team were Global Sourcing partner Mario Dottori, associates David Johnson, Kelley Bledsoe, Sean Williamson, Rich Jones, Sarah Atkinson and consulting manager Kari Anderson.