David Schwartz

David’s practice focuses on M&A transactions and providing strategic advice to an array of clients and industries. His practice is built on relationships – and he is passionate about working closely with clients to gain a deep appreciation of their business culture, operations, and objectives. David is recognized as a trusted advisor who delivers valued execution and results, and is ranked by BTI Consulting as a Client Service All Star.

Chambers has ranked David for his expertise in M&A, with clients noting he is “on top of cutting-edge trends and ideas", "proactive, engaged and personable", and possesses a “depth of legal expertise” and “creative solutions to thorny problems” that “make him our go-to."

• Engagements

  Public M&A

  • Fisker Inc. in its sale to Spartan Energy Acquisition Corp., a SPAC sponsored by an affiliate of Apollo Global Management, Inc. ($2.9 billion)
  • Controlling stockholder of DryShips in its going private merger ($460 million)
  • Catalyst Biosciences in its reverse merger with GNI Group Ltd. and affiliates by which Catalyst acquired next-generation fibrosis drug assets and a controlling interest in Beijing Continent Pharmaceutical ($335 million) and in its sale of it’s legacy rare bleeding disorders program to GC Biopharma ($6 million)
  • Merck in its acquisition of Cubist Pharmaceuticals ($9.5 billion) and its acquisition of Idenix Pharmaceuticals ($3.85 billion)
  • Catalyst Health Solutions in its sale to SXC Health Solutions ($4.5 billion)
  • Towers Perrin in its “merger of equals” with Watson Wyatt ($3.5 billion)
  • International Securities Exchange in its sale to Deutsche Börse ($2.8 billion)
  • Comverse Technology in its sale to its majority owned subsidiary, Verint Systems ($2 billion)
  • Sovereign Bancorp in its sale to Banco Santander ($1.9 billion)
  • VINCI Airports in its acquisition of a 29.9% stake in Group Aeroportuario del Centro Norte, S.A.B. de C.V., the Mexican airport operator listed on the Mexican Stock Exchange and on NASDAQ
  • Nabors Industries in its acquisition of Superior Wells Services ($1 billion)
  • Cipla, as the largest minority stockholder, in the sale of Chase Pharmaceuticals to Allergan ($1 billion)
  • Goldman Sachs as financial advisor to CEO-led buy-out of Harbin Electric ($770 million)
  • InterMedia Partners in its acquisition of Thomas Nelson ($500 million)
  • Largest stockholder of Online Resources in its sale to ACI Worldwide ($270 million)
  • Global Traffic special committee in its going private merger with GTCR Funds ($200 million)
  • Vector Group in its going private acquisition of New Valley Corporation ($90 million)
  • Teranga Gold in its acquisition of Oromin Explorations ($80 million)

  Private Transactions

  • Shopify Inc. in its acquisitions of 6 River Systems ($450 million), Donde Fashion ($51 million), Tictail ($17 million), Handshake Corp. (terms not disclosed), an acquihire of Patchstack (terms not disclosed), and a creative tech design company (terms not disclosed)
  • Squarespace, Inc. in its acquisition of the assets associated with Google Domains from Google LLC (terms not disclosed)
  • Raine Group’s portfolio company in its sale of the Reigning Champs path-to-college business to Endeavor Group ($200 million) and its acquisition of a youth sports company (terms not disclosed)
  • Sizewise, a global medical equipment manufacturer, in its sale to Agiliti, a service provider to the U.S. healthcare industry ($230 million)
  • Industrious in the sale of 40% interest to CBRE Group, Inc. ($200 million) and an additional convertible preferred-equity investment by CBRE ($100 million)
  • Avaya in its acquisition of CTIntegrations (terms not disclosed) and in its sale of certain European assets (terms not disclosed)
  • Pitney Bowes in its sale of the Tacit Knowledge digital commerce solutions business to Grid Dynamics (terms not disclosed)
  • Maisonette in its acquisition of an e-commerce company (terms not disclosed)
  • Battle Motors in its acquisition of Crane Carrier Company (terms not disclosed)
  • Catalyst Biosciences in its sale to Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated of Catalyst’s portfolio of protease medicines that regulate complement ($60 million)
  • Aledade in its acquisition Iris Healthcare (terms not disclosed)
  • ANI Pharmaceuticals in its acquisition of Amerigen's U.S. generic product portfolio ($77.5 million), WellSpring Pharma Services ($18 million), its acquisition of branded and generic products from Sandoz Inc. (terms not disclosed), its acquisition of an ANDA from a publicly listed health company (terms not disclosed), and its acquisition of ANDAS from Oakrum (terms not disclosed).
  • K Health in its acquisition of a remote mental health company (terms not disclosed)
  • Chiltern in its sale to Laboratory Corp of America ($1.2 billion) and in its acquisition of Theorem Clinical Research ($275 million)
  • Management investment group in the formation of Nassau Re with Golden Gate ($750 million)
  • Epic Pharma in its sale to Humanwell and PuraCap ($550 million)
  • Cipla in its acquisition of InvaGen Pharmaceuticals and Exelan Pharmaceuticals ($550 million)
  • EMC Corporation in its acquisition of Xtreme IO ($450 million) and Silver Tail Systems ($300 million)
  • Eye care company in its cross-border sale (terms not disclosed)
  • Ad hoc committee of first lien lenders in the sale of the Texas Rangers in bankruptcy ($450 million)
  • Ad hoc committee of subordinated note holders in the restructuring of Jason Holdings ($300 million)
  • SEACOR Holdings in its acquisition and contribution of VLGCs and related private placement ($150 million), in the sale of its environmental remediation business to J.F. Lehman ($100 million), and in the combination of its crisis management business with O’Brien’s Response ($90 million)
  • Harbinger in the sale of a minority interest in its portfolio casino company to Pinnacle Entertainment ($100 million)
  • GFI Group in its acquisition of assets of Amerex Energy ($90 million)
  • CyberHeart in its sale to a NYSE-listed medical device company (terms not disclosed)
  • Aksia in its acquisition of TorreyCove Capital Partners (terms not disclosed) and in its acquisition of real estate specialist Alignium LLC (terms not disclosed)
  • Greenbriar Equity in its sale of Grakon Holdings to Industrial Growth Partners (terms not disclosed) and in its acquisition of PetroLiance (terms not disclosed)
  • MediaNews in its acquisition of its California operations and sale to Gannett of 11 media outlets (terms not disclosed)
  • Sony Music in its acquisition of the remaining equity stake in an independent music distributor (terms not disclosed)

  Securities and Capital Markets

  • Sovereign Bancorp and Sovereign Bank in equity and debt offerings ($1.9 billion)
  • Comverse Technology in its spin-off of Comverse, Inc. ($500 million)
  • SEACOR Holdings in its spin-off of ERA Group ($400 million)
  • Assisted with the IPO of International Securities Exchange ($180 million)
  • Wasserstein Estate in its sell down of Lazard stock via underwritten offerings and Rule 144 sales ($150 million)
  • RCN Corporation in its issuer exchange offer of second lien notes for cash and warrants ($125 million)
  • Assisted with the initial public offering of GFI Group ($120 million)
  • Towers Watson in its issuer exchange offer of Class B-1 common stock for newly issued notes ($100 million)
  • Comverse Technology in its proxy contest and defense against Cadian Capital
  • Neuberger Berman Real Estate Income Fund in its defense against a hostile tender offer