Keith Flaum | Silicon Valley | Hogan Lovells

Keith Flaum
Flaum Keith
  • Overview
  • Experience
  • Credentials
  • Insights and events

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. Who's Who Legal names Keith as a Thought Leader in M&A and Corporate Governance in the U.S. In 2021, the LMG Life Sciences Guide deemed him a "Life Sciences Star." In 2020, the Daily Journal named him one of the top 100 lawyers in California. 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.

quote mark

"[A] source said: 'Climan and Flaum are a destination practice. Everywhere they go their business will go with them, so to me they're the top of the field... Flaum is 'great technically, as well as business practical enough to know the real concerns.'"

Chambers, 2013

Representative experience

Oracle on its US$28bn acquisition of Cerner Corporation.

Meta / Facebook on its US$16bn acquisition of WhatsApp.*

Sovos Brands on its acquisition by Campbell in a deal valued at US$2.7bn.

Equifax on its $US596m acquisition of Boa Vista Serviços in Brazil.

Special committee of the board of directors of NGM Biopharmaceuticals in its pending sale to affiliates of The Column Group, LP in a going-private transaction valued at US$135m.

The Anschutz Corporation in respect of the US$5.8bn acquisition of Regal Entertainment Group by Cineworld Group plc.

Zendesk on its US$4bn acquisition of Momentive, owners of the iconic SurveyMonkey platform (terminated).

Wise Road Capital on its US$1.4bn acquisition of Magnachip Semiconductor (terminated).

Autodesk on its US$1bn acquisition of Innovyze.

Jazz Pharmaceuticals on its 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 on its 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 in its US$446.6m sale to Arbor Pharmaceuticals.*

zulily, inc. in its US$2.4bn sale to Liberty Interactive Corporation.*

Applied Materials on its acquisitions of Kokusai Electric Corporation (US$3.5bn) (terminated) and Varian Semiconductor Equipment (US$4.9bn),* and its merger with Tokyo Electron (US$29bn) (terminated).

Illumina on its successful defense of Roche's US$6.2bn hostile takeover attempt.*

Rosetta Stone on its US$792m sale to Cambium Learning Group.

eBay on its acquisitions of GSI Commerce for approximately US$2.4bn, GittiGidiyor (Turkey), and Brands4Friends (Germany).*

eBay in its 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 on its US$1.6bn merger of equals with TriQuint Semiconductor.*

Riverbed Technology on its acquisition of OPNET Technologies for US$1bn, as well as its acquisitions of Zeus Technology in the United Kingdom and Aptimze in New Zealand.*

Opera Software on its 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.

Credentials

Education
  • J.D., University of California, Davis School of Law, 1989
  • B.A., University of California, Los Angeles, 1986
Bar admissions and qualifications
  • California

Recognition

Corporate M&A (International & Cross-Border) (USA)

Chambers Global

2017-2024
Corporate/M&A: The Elite (California – SF/SV & surrounding areas), Band 1

Chambers USA

2020-2024
Corporate/M&A (Northern California)

Chambers USA

2003-2019
U.S. M&A Powerlist (Inaugural Edition)

Legal 500 US

2024
M&A/Corporate and Commercial: M&A: Large Deals ($1bn+), Leading Lawyer

Legal 500 US

2018-2024
500 Leading Dealmakers in America

Lawdragon

2025
Thought Leader, M&A and Governance

Lexology Index

2025
USA Thought Leader, M&A and Corporate Governance

Who's Who Legal

2024
Global Elite Thought Leader, M&A

Who's Who Legal

2023
M&A, Highly Regarded

IFLR1000

2024
Technology and Telecommunications, Highly Regarded

IFLR1000

2024
Leading Life Sciences Lawyer

LMG Life Sciences

2021
Legends of the 500

Lawdragon

2021
Mergers and Acquisitions Law

Best Lawyers in America

2006-2021
Top 100 Lawyers in California

Daily Journal

2015, 2019-2020
Acritas Star

Acritas Stars Independently Rated Lawyers

2019-2020
Life Science Star

LMG Life Sciences Guide

2016, 2018-2019
Healthcare: Life Sciences

Legal 500 US

2018
Trailblazer in M&A

The National Law Journal

2016
Technology MVP

Law360

2013, 2015-2016
M&A MVP

Law360

2014

Events

Hogan Lovells Events

M&A Boot Camp Homepage | 13 May – 27 June 2025

Hogan Lovells Events

6 November 2024 | 12:00 p.m. - 2:00 p.m. (PT)

Hogan Lovells Events

M&A Boot Camp Homepage | 15 May - 1 July 2024
View more events