
Warren de Wied is a member of the firm's Mergers and Acquisitions Practice. He is widely recognized as a leading advisor to corporate boards and public companies in M&A transactions, shareholder activism and corporate governance.
For nearly 30 years, Warren has represented corporate boards, public companies, private equity firms and investment banks in major M&A transactions, takeover defense, contested bids, activist shareholder campaigns and corporate governance matters. His corporate board practice has increasingly focused on advising companies in connection with activist campaigns by prominent activist funds, including Elliott Associates, Icahn Management, Pershing Square, Relational Investors, Starboard Value, Third Point and ValueAct. Companies he has advised on activist matters include Applied Materials, Brocade Communications, Electronic Arts, Juniper Networks, NetApp, Netflix, Nuance Communications, Rackspace Hosting and Riverbed Technology.
Work highlights:
Warren de Wied is a member of the firm's Mergers and Acquisitions Practice. He is widely recognized as a leading advisor to corporate boards and public companies in M&A transactions, shareholder activism and corporate governance.
For nearly 30 years, Warren has represented corporate boards, public companies, private equity firms and investment banks in major M&A transactions, takeover defense, contested bids, activist shareholder campaigns and corporate governance matters. His corporate board practice has increasingly focused on advising companies in connection with activist campaigns by prominent activist funds, including Elliott Associates, Icahn Management, Pershing Square, Relational Investors, Starboard Value, Third Point and ValueAct. Companies he has advised on activist matters include Applied Materials, Brocade Communications, Electronic Arts, Juniper Networks, NetApp, Netflix, Nuance Communications, Rackspace Hosting and Riverbed Technology.
Work highlights:
Warren rejoined Fried Frank in 2016 after six years as a partner at Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati. From 2007 to 2009, Warren was a managing director and head of Merrill Lynch's takeover defense and shareholder activist response practice.
Prior to joining Merrill Lynch, Warren was a partner at Fried Frank and co-head of the firm's Mergers and Acquisitions Practice, working on a number of the most high-profile transactions of the past two decades, including representations of BellSouth in its $89 billion merger with AT&T, Burlington Resources in its $35 billion merger with ConocoPhillips, the management of Reckson Associates Realty Corp. in the $6 billion sale of Reckson to SL Green, The Rouse Company in its $12.6 billion merger with General Growth Properties, El Paso Corporation in its acquisitions of Coastal Corp. ($16 billion), Sonat ($4 billion), and Tenneco Energy ($2.6 billion), and Mittal Steel in its successful €26.5 billion unsolicited takeover bid for Arcelor.
Warren frequently writes and speaks on mergers and acquisitions and corporate governance topics. In 2019, Warren was awarded the Law360 Distinguished Legal Writing Award for his article "Recent Trends In Shareholder Activism."
Media mentions |
Fried Frank Attorneys Cited by Washington University Law Review⟶Media mentions |
Warren S. de Wied Quoted by NACD BoardTalk on Looking Ahead to 2022⟶Media mentions |
DealLawyers.com Posts Excerpt from Article by Warren S. de Wied⟶Alerts and newsletters |
M&A/PE Quarterly Newsletter, Winter 2022⟶M&A/PE Briefing |
Important Lessons from the Court of Chancery Regarding PE Sponsors, Portco Operating Agreements, Failed Projections, and More—P3 Health Group⟶Client memorandum |
Court of Chancery Addresses Board Responsibility Under Caremark for Cybersecurity Risk—SolarWinds⟶M&A/PE Briefing |
Drafting Lessons from the Court of Chancery—the Meaning of “Void,” “Subject to,” and “And”⟶Alerts and newsletters |
M&A/PE Quarterly, Fall 2022⟶Speaking engagements |
NACD’s “Leading Minds of Governance”⟶Speaking engagements |
Harvard Corporate Governance Roundtable⟶Speaking engagements |
NACD Leading Minds of Governance Forum⟶Speaking engagements |
Leading Minds of Governance Forum – East⟶Speaking engagements |
Harvard Shareholder Engagement Roundtable⟶Webinars |
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