Skadden and Simpson Among Firms on Waldorf Deal: Business of Law
Skadden and Simpson Among Firms on Waldorf Deal: Business of Law
Published: Oct 08 2014 00:00:01
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By Ellen Rosen
Oct. 8 (Bloomberg) -- The number of lawyers involved in Hilton Worldwide Holdings Inc.'s $1.95 billion sale of
the historic Waldorf Astoria could fill one of the hotel's ballrooms. The negotiations, however, didn't take place
in the Park Avenue property.
The deal was instead hammered out across town, in the Times Square offices of Skadden, Arps, Slate,
Meagher & Flom LLP, one of the firms representing the buyer, China's Anbang Insurance Group Co.
In addition to Skadden, Anbang relied on Fried, Frank, Harris, Shriver & Jacobson LLP and Greenberg Traurig
LLP.
Simpson Thacher & Bartlett LLP was Hilton's primary outside counsel, along with Dentons US LLP. Gibson
Dunn & Crutcher LLP provided compliance advice.
Skadden's team included real estate partners Audrey Sokoloff and Harvey Uris, along with partners Victor
Hollender, tax; Bruce Goldner, intellectual property and technology; Jamie Boucher, financial institutions
regulation and enforcement; Peter Huang, corporate; Ivan Schlager, cross-border transactions; Gregory Miao,
corporate; and Mark McDermott, corporate restructuring.
From Fried Frank were partners Jon Mechanic, Franz Rassman and David Karnovsky, all real estate, as well
as Robert Cassanos, tax.
From Greenberg Traurig were shareholders Robert Ivanhoe and Samantha Ahuja, both real estate; Nelson
Migdal and Michael Sullivan, real estate and hospitality; Jerrold Goldberg and Eric Sigda, labor and
employment; and Laura Norman and Michael Rishty, real estate.
On the Simpson Thacher team representing Hilton were partners Gregory Ressa and Erik Quarfordt, real
estate; John Hart, tax; Edgar Lewandowski, capital markets; and Greg Grogan, executive compensation and
employee benefits.
From Dentons were partners Meghan Cocci, Rick Ross and Mark Daliere, hotels and leisure; and Carol Anne
Been, intellectual property and technology.
The Gibson Dunn partners serving as outside compliance counsel to Hilton were Michael Diamant, Federal
Corrupt Practices Act; Amy Rudnick, anti-money-laundering; and Judith Lee, Office of Foreign Assets Control.
Under the agreement, Hilton will continue to manage the 1,232-room luxury hotel for 100 years, the McLean,
Virginia- based company said in a statement on Monday.
The deal brought together lawyers who are more accustomed to sitting on opposite sides of the table. Fried
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Skadden and Simpson Among Firms on Waldorf Deal: Business of Law
Frank's Jon Mechanic said of working with Skadden and Greenberg that while "everyone was apprehensive at
how it would work out at first, it turned out to be a fine partnership between three different firms."
In the News
Justice Department's Tony West to Join PepsiCo as Top Lawyer
Former Associate Attorney General Tony West is heading for a job at PepsiCo Inc., the snack and drink
company announced yesterday.
West, who negotiated almost $37 billion in settlements with Wall Street banks over shoddy mortgage practices,
will become the new general counsel of the Purchase, New York-based company Nov. 24.
West, the No. 3 official at the Justice Department after Attorney General Eric Holder and Deputy Attorney
General James Cole, championed a task force created by President Barack Obama aimed at holding banks
accountable for practices leading to the 2008 financial crisis. His efforts during his five-year tenure helped blunt
criticism that prosecutors failed to punish Wall Street after the housing market collapsed.
West will join the largest U.S. snack maker as it fights criticism by activist Nelson Peltz's Trian Fund
Management LP, which wants the company to split its snacks and beverage businesses into two companies to
boost shareholder value.
PepsiCo, along with its rivals, also faces greater scrutiny from regulators and lawmakers concerned with
issues such as obesity and caffeine in energy drinks.
At PepsiCo, West is succeeding another former Justice Department official, Larry Thompson, who is retiring
after serving as executive vice president of government affairs, general counsel and corporate secretary since
June 2012.
Thompson served as deputy attorney general during George W. Bush's first term as U.S. president.
Wall Street Profits Fall as Legal Costs Mount, DiNapoli Says
Wall Street profits fell 13 percent in the first half of the year to $8.7 billion, signaling a potential second straight
annual decline, according to a report from New York Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli.
Legal settlements tied to banks' role in triggering the financial crisis are depressing profits after a 30 percent
decline last year to $16.7 billion, DiNapoli said in the report released yesterday. At the same time, bonuses,
which rose 15 percent on average last year to $164,530 -- the highest since 2007 -- may climb again as a
result of payments deferred from previous years, he said.
"Wall Street remains very profitable, but earnings may be constrained this year as the industry pays a price for
behavior that contributed to the financial crisis," DiNapoli, a 60-year- old Democrat, said in an e-mailed
statement.
Since the beginning of 2009, the six largest bank holding companies, including their securities operations,
have agreed to pay an estimated $130 billion in settlement costs, DiNapoli said. Those expenses will probably
hold down profits in the second half of 2014, he said.
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Skadden and Simpson Among Firms on Waldorf Deal: Business of Law
Bank of America Corp. and Goldman Sachs Group Inc. are among firms paying for legal settlements. In
August, Charlotte, North Carolina-based Bank of America agreed to pay almost $16.7 billion to end federal and
state probes into mortgage-bond sales. The bank will take a charge in the third quarter related to the penalty,
the harshest yet tied to loans that fueled the 2008 market meltdown.
For more, click here.
Related News and Information:
Litigation department news: Click here
Bankruptcy litigation: Click here
Intellectual property litigation: Click here
Securities and compliance litigation: Click here
To contact the reporter on this story: Ellen Rosen in New York at +1-914-833-1886 or
[email protected] To contact the editors responsible for this story: Michael Hytha at +1-415-617-7137
or [email protected] Andrew Dunn, David Glovin
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Skadden and Simpson Among Firms on Waldorf Deal: Business of Law
General Information
Date & Time
Wed Oct 08 2014 00:00:01 EDT
Related Topics
Business News; Law Firms; Legal Morning Updates; Law
Firms Personnel Changes; Who's News - People; Corporate
Actions; Company, Corporate Events; Corporate Finance; The
White House; Financial Services; Industry Statistics; Insurance;
Justice Department; Business of Law; Lodging; Mergers &
Acquisitions; U.S. Government
Related People
Ellen Rosen; Jamie Boucher; Victor Hollender; Peter Huang;
Mark McDermott; Gregory Grogan; Eric Holder; Laura Norman;
Michael Rishty; Eric Sigda; Erik Quarfordt; Michael Diamant;
Meghan Cocci; Richard Ross; Edgar Lewandowski; Samantha
Ahuja; Thomas Dinapoli; David Glovin; Ivan Schlager; Barack
Obama; Audrey Sokoloff; Harvey Uris; Gregory Miao; Franz
Rassman; Judith Lee; Amy Rudnick; John Hart; Gregory Ressa;
Jerrold Goldberg; Jonathan Mechanic; Robert Ivanhoe; James
Cole; Carol Been; Nelson Migdal; Michael Sullivan; Robert
Cassanos; Mark Daliere; Tony West; Bruce Goldner; Andrew
Dunn
Related Regions
Asia, Pacific Rim; Asia ex. Japan, Australia; Brazil, Russia,
India and China; China; Emerging Markets; China, Korea,
Taiwan; North America; United States
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