Awards and Rankings
Three Silicon Valley M&A partners receive 2020 “Top 100” Daily Journal recognition
17 September 2020
Keith Flaum
PartnerSilicon Valley
Email keith.flaum@hoganlovells.com
Phone +1 650 463 4084
Fax +1 650 463 4199
Practice groupCorporate & Finance
Keith Flaum is a leading M&A lawyer with more than 30 years of experience representing publicly traded and privately held companies in domestic and cross-border merger and acquisition transactions and complex joint ventures, with a particular emphasis on representing information technology and life sciences companies. He is a trusted adviser to boards of directors and special committees in the M&A context. Keith serves as the firm’s Co-Head of M&A for the Americas and a member of the firm’s Global M&A Leadership Team.
Keith's recent experience includes more than US$100 billion of M&A activity for some of the world's top technology companies, handling groundbreaking deals throughout the United States, Europe, Asia, the Middle East, and elsewhere.
Legal guides consistently recognize Keith as one of the top legal minds in M&A. Chambers USA ranks him in their highest tier, Band 1, for California Corporate/M&A. In 2020, Who's Who Legal named Keith as one of seven M&A Global Elite Thought Leaders in the U.S. and the Daily Journal named him one of the top 100 lawyers in California. In 2019, the LMG Life Sciences Guide deemed him a "Life Sciences Star." In 2016, The National Law Journal named him a "Trailblazer" in M&A. Law360 has recognized him as both a "Technology MVP" and "M&A MVP."
Keith has been actively involved for more than 15 years in the M&A Committee of the ABA's Section of Business Law, including as Vice Chair of the Committee, Chair of the Market Trends Subcommittee, Co-Chair of the International M&A Subcommittee, and a member of the Subcommittee on Acquisitions of Public Companies.
"Keith Flaum is by far the best M&A lawyer (and actually best lawyer) I've ever worked with. He understands the nuances of my business, and I can always count on him to provide excellent advice. He knows what is relevant, and equally important, what we don't need to spend time on. If I have a bet-the-company deal in the works, Keith is my guy, hands down. He doesn't just look at the legal aspects of the deal. He puts it in the context of how it ties to our business' growth strategy and what it will mean in real terms for the company and its shareholders. In my opinion, Keith is the best in the market – he's a total rock star."
Legal 500, 2020
Awards and recognitions
2019-2020
Acritas Star
Acritas Stars Independently Rated Lawyers
2003-2020
Corporate/M&A (Northern California)
Chambers USA
2017-2020
Corporate M&A (International & Cross-Border) (USA)
Chambers Global
2015, 2019-2020
Top 100 Lawyers in California
Daily Journal
2018-2020
M&A/Corporate and Commercial: M&A: Large Deals ($1bn+), Leading Lawyer
Legal 500 US
2020
Global Elite Thought Leader, M&A
Who's Who Legal
2020
Corporate Governance
Who's Who Legal
2020
M&A, Highly Regarded
IFLR1000
2020
Technology and Telecommunications, Highly Regarded
IFLR1000
2016, 2018-2019
Life Science Star
LMG Life Sciences Guide
2018
Healthcare: Life Sciences
Legal 500 US
2016
Trailblazer in M&A
The National Law Journal
2013, 2015-2016
Technology MVP
Law360
2014
M&A MVP
Law360
Education and admissions
Education
J.D., University of California, Davis School of Law, 1989
B.A., University of California, Los Angeles, 1986
Bar admissions and qualifications
California
Representative experience
Facebook's US$16bn acquisition of WhatsApp.*
The Anschutz Corporation in respect of the US$5.8bn acquisition of Regal Entertainment Group by Cineworld Group plc.
Wise Road Capital in its pending US$1.4bn acquisition of Magnachip Semiconductor.
Autodesk in its pending US$1bn acquisition of Innovyze.
Jazz Pharmaceuticals' US$1bn acquisition of Gentium S.p.A.*
Merz Pharma on its acquisitions of BioForm, Ulthera, OnLight Sciences, Neocutis, and the sale of its medical dermatology business to Sebela Pharmaceuticals.*
Oracle's acquisitions of NetSuite, MICROS Systems, Taleo Corporation, Acme Packet, Inc., Aconex Limited, Eloqua Inc., Textura Corporation, and Opower, Inc. for >US$20bn.*
Reid Hoffman, founder and controlling stockholder of LinkedIn, in LinkedIn's acquisition by Microsoft for US$26.2bn.*
Chewy, Inc. in its US$3.3bn sale to PetSmart in what is reported to be the largest e-commerce deal ever.*
Varian Medical/Varex Imaging Corporation on its purchase of PerkinElmer’s medical imaging business for US$276m.*
XenoPort on its US$446.6m sale to Arbor Pharmaceuticals.*
zulily, inc. in its US$2.4bn sale to Liberty Interactive Corporation.*
Applied Materials' acquisitions of Kokusai Electric Corporation (US$2.2bn) and Varian Semiconductor Equipment (US$4.9bn),* and its merger with Tokyo Electron (US$29bn) (subsequently terminated).
Illumina's successful defense of Roche's US$6.2bn hostile takeover attempt.*
Rosetta Stone on its US$792m sale to Cambium Learning Group.
eBay's acquisitions of GSI Commerce for approximately US$2.4bn, GittiGidiyor (Turkey), and Brands4Friends (Germany).*
eBay's sale of a majority interest in Skype for US$1.9bn and its enterprise business to Sterling Partners and Permira for US$925m.*
RF Micro Devices' US$1.6bn merger of equals with TriQuint Semiconductor.*
Riverbed Technology's acquisition of OPNET Technologies for US$1bn, as well as acquisitions of Zeus Technology in the United Kingdom and Aptimze in New Zealand.*
Opera Software in acquisitions of companies in Brazil, Turkey, Canada, Argentina, and numerous acquisitions in the United States.*
PayPal in its joint venture with SOFTBANK relating to online payment technology in Japan.
Zynga in its joint venture with SOFTBANK relating to online gaming in Japan and its acquisition of Unoh in Japan.
*Matter handled prior to joining Hogan Lovells.
Latest thinking and events
Press Releases
Hogan Lovells Advises Rosetta Stone in sale to Cambium Learning Group
31 August 2020
Webinar
M&A Boot Camp training series
Five weeks: June 22 - July 29, 2020
Events
Silicon Valley M&A Forum: 27 February 2020
27 February 2020 | 11:30 AM - 1:30 PM (PT)
Events
Silicon Valley M&A Forum
5 December 2019 11:30 a.m. - 1:30 p.m. PDT
Hogan Lovells Events
Silicon Valley: Life Sciences and Health Care Horizons 2019
November 13, 2019
