Faiza J. Saeed is a partner in Cravath’s Corporate Department. Ms. Saeed advises on mergers and acquisitions, including hostile bids, takeover defense, proxy contests and hedge fund activism. She also counsels boards and special committees on corporate governance and crisis management. Her clients have included CSX, DreamWorks Animation, Hasbro, Kraft Foods, Moody’s, Morgan Stanley, Starbucks, Time Warner and Viacom.

Ms. Saeed has extensive deal experience across many industry sectors, including significant depth in media and technology. Notable matters include advising:

• The board of directors of Morgan Stanley in its conversion to a bank holding company and $9 billion equity investment by Mitsubishi UFJ;
• Pentair in its $10 billion “reverse morris trust” combination with Tyco Flow Control;
• Williams in its $9.4 billion interloper bid for Southern Union;
• Terra Industries in its defense against the hostile bid from CF Industries (which was withdrawn), its subsequent $4.6 billion proposed sale to Yara International ASA and later $5.2 billion topping bid by CF Industries;
• Kraft Foods in its $2.6 billion “reverse morris trust” divestiture of the Post cereals business to Ralcorp, and in its negotiations with Nelson Peltz;
• CSX in its proxy contest with TCI and 3G Capital;
• WuXi PharmaTech in its proposed $1.6 billion merger with Charles River Laboratories;
• TKT in its contested $1.6 billion merger with Shire Pharmaceuticals;
• Johnson & Johnson in its unsolicited $1.8 billion bid for Cordis;
• Vivendi in its $46 billion merger with Seagram and the resulting Vivendi Universal in numerous follow-on acquisitions, including USA Networks, MP3.com and Houghton Mifflin;
• Lycos in its $12 billion merger with Terra Networks;
• Time Warner in numerous transactions, including its defense against Carl Icahn and its merger with AOL;
• DreamWorks SKG from its formation to its $1.6 billion sale to Paramount Pictures;
• DreamWorks Animation in its $4.1 billion spin-off IPO, and in the formation of Oriental DreamWorks with China Media Capital and Shanghai Media Group;
• Steven Spielberg in the formation and financing of his new studio with Reliance ADA Group;
• The family of Charles Schulz in buying back the “Peanuts” brand from E.W. Scripps; and
• Viacom in a joint venture with RealNetworks to create Rhapsody America, and in the acquisition by Rhapsody of Napster.

Ms. Saeed is a recipient of the Outstanding Contribution to the Legal Profession Award from Chambers & Partners (2010), and has been named a Young Global Leader by the World Economic Forum (Davos) (2006). In 2007, The New York Times named her one of “Wall Street’s 100 Masters of the New Universe” and Crain’s New York Business one of the “100 Most Influential Women in NYC Business.” She has also received professional recognition from The American Lawyer magazine (a “Dealmaker of the Year” in 2000, 2005 and 2011, and “45 Under 45” in 2003), The National Law Journal (“40 Under 40” (2005)), as well as New York Magazine (2001), Corporate Board Member magazine (2002) and Dealmaker magazine (2008). She has been repeatedly recognized as one of the country’s leading practitioners in M&A and media and entertainment by Chambers USA: America’s Leading Lawyers for Business, Chambers Global: The World’s Leading Lawyers for Business, The International Who’s Who of Merger & Acquisition Lawyers, The Best Lawyers in America, Lawdragon 500 Leading Dealmakers in America and Lawdragon 500 Leading Lawyers in America.

Ms. Saeed is a Fellow of the American Bar Foundation and she served on the Visiting Committee for Harvard Law School from 2006 to 2011. She speaks frequently on developments in mergers and acquisitions including as a guest lecturer at Harvard Law School and a panelist at Tulane University’s Corporate Law Institute, Penn State’s Institute on Mergers and Acquisitions and the International Bar Association’s International M&A Conference. She is a member of the Editorial Board of M&A Lawyer magazine. Ms. Saeed also serves on the Board of Directors of the March of Dimes (NY Chapter).

Ms. Saeed was born in Walnut Creek, California. She received a B.A. in Economics and Molecular Biology with Highest Distinction from the University of California at Berkeley in 1987, where she was elected to Phi Beta Kappa, and a J.D. magna cum laude from Harvard Law School in 1991. She joined Cravath in 1991 and was elected a partner in 1998.

Ms. Saeed may be reached by phone at 212-474-1454 or by email at fsaeed@cravath.com.