Paul Hastings Adds Prominent M&A Partner in Chicago

August 13, 2014

Chicago, IL - Paul Hastings LLP, a leading global law firm, announced today that Philip Stamatakos has joined the firm’s Corporate and Mergers & Acquisition practices as a partner in the Chicago office. Mr. Stamatakos joins from Jones Day, where he was a partner.

“Cross-border deals have become increasingly complex, making it even more important for companies contemplating multi-jurisdictional deals to have lawyers who can help them successfully navigate the related legal and business issues,” said Carl Sanchez, chair of the Global M&A practice at Paul Hastings. “Phil possesses extensive experience advising clients on these issues and his skill set will be particularly valuable to Paul Hastings as we continue to build our cross-border merger capabilities,” he added.

“Phil’s addition is an example of our commitment to continuing the growth in our capacity to assist clients with strategic international expansion and their most complicated, cross-border legal issues building on our strong corporate platform,” said Elizabeth Noe, chair of the Corporate practice at Paul Hastings. “His ability to advise clients on a range of legal, compliance, enforcement and business challenges makes him a great match for clients, the firm and the market,” she added.

Mr. Stamatakos is a seasoned corporate lawyer with extensive experience in mergers and acquisitions, joint ventures, recapitalizations, corporate governance, foreign investment transactions and transactions involving financially-distressed companies. He has been the principal lawyer on many complex, multi-country acquisitions and has advised a number of public companies on corporate governance matters, including fiduciary duties, takeover preparedness, shareholder activism and shareholder proposals, shareholder rights plans, internal investigations and whistleblower claims. He counsels several prominent U.S. companies on their non-U.S. operations and non-U.S. companies on their U.S. operations.

Some of Mr. Stamatakos recent transactions include the successful $43.1 billion hostile takeover defense of Potash Corporation of Saskatchewan, Saputo's $1.45 billion acquisition of Morningstar Foods from Dean Foods, and the sale of Viking Group to Minimax in a complex multi-country transaction that created a $1.5 billion company.

Mr. Stamatakos’ arrival follows the recent additions of partners Beni Surpin and David Hernand to the M&A practice. He also joins shortly after the addition of another Chicago partner, Eric Sussman, a former federal prosecutor with a strong FCPA and life science background.

Paul Hastings LLP is a leading global law firm with offices in Asia, Europe, and the United States. We provide innovative legal solutions to financial institutions and Fortune 500 companies. Please visit www.paulhastings.com for more information.