Richard Climan

Richard Climan

Partner
Silicon Valley

Email richard.climan@​hoganlovells.com

Phone +1 650 463 4074

Fax +1 650 463 4199

Practice groupCorporate & Finance

Richard E. Climan is a preeminent M&A lawyer who has handled some of the most prominent and industry-changing acquisitions in the technology and life sciences sectors over the past three decades. He has been described as "one of the best legal minds in M&A" and a "gold-standard transactional lawyer." He is the Global Head of Hogan Lovells' firmwide technology M&A practice and sits on the firm's global Mergers & Acquisitions Leadership Team.

Rick excels at negotiating and advising multinational clients on all types of acquisition transactions and related matters. In Chambers USA, he has a Band 1 ranking, being described by clients as "the dean of M&A." In 2019, he was recognized by The National Law Journal as one of its inaugural technology law Trailblazers and by The Recorder as one of its inaugural California Trailblazers. In 2020, he was named by the Daily Journal as one of the Top 100 Lawyers in California.

Since bringing the M&A group he leads to Hogan Lovells in 2017, Rick has acted as lead counsel to Walmart in its US$16 billion cross-border acquisition of a 77% stake in Flipkart, lead counsel to Marvell Technology Group in its  pending acquisition of Inphi (valued at approximately US$9 billion) and its acquisition of Cavium (valued at greater than US$6 billion), and lead counsel to Synopsys in its acquisition of Black Duck Software.

 As an adjunct faculty member at UCLA School of Law and a lecturer at UC Berkeley School of Law, Rick co-taught, with former Chief Justice Leo Strine of the Delaware Supreme Court, a course titled "Real World M&A."

For more than 25 years, Rick has been an active member of the ABA Business Law Section's M&A Committee, with over 5,000 members. He served as Chair from 2002 to 2006 and is currently a member of the Committee's Executive Council. He also co-chairs the ABA's annual National M&A Institute, now in its 25th year, and is the former Chair of the Securities Regulation Institute, presented by Northwestern Pritzker School of Law. He is founding Chair of the "Buyer Power Ratio" deal points study, launched in 2017.

Rick lectures around the world on M&A-related matters and has presented at Harvard, Columbia, Stanford, UC Berkeley, and University of Virginia law schools.

"Richard Climan retains an enviable position at the upper echelon of the corporate market. He has an impressive track record acting in transformative transactions in the technology and life sciences sectors. Clients say: 'There's nothing I can throw at him that he hasn't seen before or hasn't a perspective on. He takes the time to understand our business and gets to the crux of the business issue.'"

Chambers USA

Awards and recognitions

2020

Corporate/M&A (Northern California), Band 1
Chambers USA

2020

M&A/Corporate and Commercial: M&A: Large Deals ($1bn+), Leading Lawyer
Legal 500 US

2020

Global Elite Thought Leader, M&A and Corporate Governance
Who's Who Legal

2010-2014, 2018-2020

Top 100 Lawyers in California
Daily Journal

2020

M&A, Highly Regarded - State
IFLR1000

2020

Pharmaceuticals and life sciences, Highly Regarded - State
IFLR1000

2020

Technology and telecommunications, Highly Regarded - State
IFLR1000

2006

100 Most Influential Lawyers in America
The National Law Journal

2019

Technology Law Trailblazer
National Law Journal

2019

California Trailblazer
The Recorder

2011, 2017, 2019

US Innovative Lawyers
Financial Times

Education and admissions

Education

J.D., Harvard Law School, cum laude, 1977

B.A., Harvard College, cum laude, 1974

Bar admissions and qualifications

California

Related industries

Technology & Telecoms Life Sciences and Health Care

Related practices

Mergers and Acquisitions Corporate Governance Joint Ventures Securities and Public Company Advisory

Related areas of focus

Public Company Mergers and Acquisitions Cross-border Mergers and Acquisitions Hostile Takeovers and Takeover Defense Special Committee and Independent Director Representations Carve-outs, Spin-offs, and Split-offs

Representative experience

Lead outside counsel to Walmart in its US$16bn acquisition of a majority stake in Flipkart.

Lead outside counsel to Marvell in its pending acquisition of Inphi in a transaction valued at approximately US$9bn.

Lead outside counsel to Marvell in its acquisition of Cavium in a transaction valued at greater than US$6bn.

Lead outside counsel to Marvell in its acquisition of Aquantia in a transaction valued at approximately US$450m.

Lead outside counsel to Synopsys in its acquisition of Black Duck Software in a transaction valued at approximately US$565m companies.

Lead outside counsel to Illumina in its successful defense against Roche's US$6.2bn hostile takeover attempt.*

 

Lead outside counsel to Sabre Corporation in its acquisition of Radixx, valued at US$110m.

 

Lead outside counsel to Synopsys in its acquisition of Magma Design Automation in a transaction valued at greater than US$500m.*

Lead outside counsel to Aspect Development in its sale to i2 Technologies in a transaction valued at approximately US$9bn.*

Lead outside counsel to Arterial Vascular Engineering on its sale to Medtronic in a transaction valued at greater than US$3.5bn.*

Lead outside counsel to Gilead Sciences in its acquisitions of Myogen for approximately US$2.5bn and CV Therapeutics for approximately US$1.4bn.*

Lead outside counsel on the sale of the Los Angeles Dodgers to a buyout group led by Guggenheim Partners for more than US$2bn.*

Lead outside counsel on the sale of Blackboard to a private equity group led by Providence Equity Partners for more than US$1.6bn.*

Lead outside counsel to Oracle on its acquisition of Responsys for approximately US$1.5bn.*

Lead outside counsel to VeriFone in its sale to Hewlett-Packard in a transaction valued at greater than US$1bn.*

Lead outside counsel to Dell on its acquisition of Compellent Technologies for approximately US$1bn.*

Lead outside counsel to Aspreva Pharmaceuticals in its sale to Galenica Group in a transaction valued at approximately US$915m.*

Lead outside counsel to SEQUUS on its sale to Alza in a transaction valued at approximately US$550m.*

Lead outside counsel to Arterial Vascular Engineering on its acquisition of CR Bard's cardio catheter laboratory business for US$550m.*

Lead outside counsel to Alibaba.com in its acquisition of Auctiva.*

Lead outside counsel to Gilead Sciences in its acquisitions of Triangle Pharmaceuticals and Corus Pharma.*

Lead outside counsel to Ant Financial in its acquisition of EyeVerify.*

Lead outside counsel to Onyx Pharmaceuticals in its acquisition of Proteolix.*

Lead outside counsel to Twilio in its acquisition of Authy.*

Lead outside counsel to Raptor Pharmaceuticals in its acquisition of the rights to Quinsair.*

Lead outside counsel to Dell in its acquisition of SecureWorks.*

Lead outside counsel to Recourse Technologies in its sale to Symantec.*

Lead outside counsel to Bank of America Merrill Lynch and Barclays as financial advisors on various acquisitions in the technology sector.*

*Matter handled prior to joining Hogan Lovells.

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