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Cravath’s London Office Moves to 100 Cheapside

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Robert I.
Townsend III

Partner, Corporate

rtownsend@cravath.com
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Robert I. Townsend III is Co-Chair of the Global Mergers and Acquisitions Practice. His practice focuses primarily on all types of M&A transactions, corporate governance matters and activist defense.

Mr. Townsend’s clients have included ADT, altafiber, AmerisourceBergen, Anheuser‑Busch InBev, Aon, Atlas Air, Brink’s, Brunswick, Cable One, Canadian National Railway, City Brewing, Conduent, Crown Castle, DiaSorin, Frontier Communications, GreenSky, J.D. Power, Johnson & Johnson, Light & Wonder, MacAndrews & Forbes, Martin Marietta, Nestlé, Olin, Oshkosh, OUTFRONT Media, Pinnacle Foods, Quest Diagnostics, Stanley Black & Decker, Univision, US Foods and Valvoline.

Recent transactions include representing:

  • Light & Wonder in its acquisition of Grover Charitable Gaming, the sale of SG Lottery to Brookfield and the sale of OpenBet to Endeavor, its acquisition of the remaining stake in SciPlay, the sale of a 34.9% stake to institutional investors including Caledonia, its acquisition of Don Best Sports, its acquisition of NYX Gaming Group and its acquisition of Bally Technologies;
  • Johnson & Johnson in its acquisition of Intra-Cellular Therapies, its acquisition of Ambrx, the separation of Kenvue, its acquisition of Abiomed, its acquisition of Momenta, Janssen Biotech’s acquisition of bermekimab from XBiotech, its acquisition of Auris Health, its acquisition of Ci:z Holdings, the sale of its Advanced Sterilization Products business to Fortive, the sale of its LifeScan business to Platinum Equity, its acquisition of Actelion, the sale of its Codman Neurosurgery business to Integra LifeSciences, its acquisition of Abbott Medical Optics, its acquisition of Novira Therapeutics, the sale of its Cordis business to Cardinal Health, its acquisition of Alios BioPharma, the sale of its Ortho‑Clinical Diagnostics business to The Carlyle Group, its acquisitions of Synthes, Covagen, Crucell, Mentor Corporation, Omrix Biopharmaceuticals and Conor Medsystems, its acquisition of Pfizer’s consumer healthcare businesses, its takeover battle for Guidant and its acquisitions of ALZA and Scios;
  • Frontier Communications in its pending acquisition by Verizon; its sale of operations in Idaho, Montana, Oregon and Washington to WaveDivision Capital in partnership with Searchlight; its acquisition of certain businesses from Verizon; and its interactions with JANA Partners;
  • Martin Marietta in its acquisition of aggregates operations from Blue Water Industries, the sale of its South Texas cement business and related concrete operations to CRH, the proposed sale of its California cement plant and related terminals, the sale of certain West Coast cement and concrete operations to CalPortland, its acquisition of Lehigh West Region and its acquisition of Bluegrass Materials;
  • altafiber in the sale of CBTS to TowerBrook, its acquisition by Macquarie Infrastructure, its combination with Hawaiian Telcom, its acquisition of OnX Enterprise Solutions, the sale of its wireless spectrum licenses to Verizon, its acquisition of CyrusOne, the sale of its directory business and its acquisition of IXC;
  • Aon in its acquisition of NFP;
  • Crown Castle in its cooperation agreement with Elliott Management;
  • ZimVie in the sale of its spine business to H.I.G. Capital;
  • OUTFRONT Media in the divestiture of its Canadian business to Bell Media and the sale of its Latin America business to JCDecaux Latin America / Corameq;
  • Consolidated Communications’ special committee in the acquisition by Searchlight and BCI;
  • ADT in the sale of its commercial business to GTCR and its equity investment from State Farm;
  • Tabula Rasa in its take-private acquisition by Nautic;
  • Oshkosh in its acquisition of the AeroTech business from JBT;
  • Atlas Air in its acquisition by an investor group led by Apollo;
  • Valvoline in the sale of its Global Products business to Aramco;
  • GreenSky in its acquisition by Goldman Sachs;
  • Stanley Black & Decker in its acquisition of Excel Industries, its acquisition of MTD and its acquisitions of the Craftsman brand from Sears and the Tools business of Newell Brands;
  • Canadian National Railway in its proposed combination with Kansas City Southern;
  • DiaSorin in its acquisition of Luminex;
  • City Brewing in an equity investment, as a result of which a consortium of investors acquired 100% ownership of the company, and its acquisition of the Irwindale brewery operations from Pabst Brewing;
  • Cable One in its acquisition of Hargray Communications;
  • US Foods in its convertible preferred equity investment from KKR, its acquisition of Smart Foodservice and its acquisition of SGA Food Group;
  • Univision in its sale of a majority stake to Searchlight and ForgeLight;
  • J.D. Power in its sale to Thoma Bravo;
  • Pinnacle Foods in its acquisition by Conagra Brands and its acquisition of Boulder Brands;
  • Brunswick in the sale of its Fitness business to KPS Capital Partners, its acquisition of Power Products’ Global Marine & Mobile business and its interactions with Owl Creek Asset Management;
  • Conduent in the sale of its commercial vehicle operations business to Alinda Capital Partners and the sale of its U.S.‑based human resource consulting and actuarial business to H.I.G. Capital;
  • Anheuser‑Busch InBev in its acquisition of SABMiller and an asset swap with Ambev in which AB InBev transferred SABMiller’s Panamanian business to Ambev and Ambev transferred its business in Colombia, Peru and Ecuador to AB InBev;
  • UTi Worldwide in its sale to DSV and its negotiations with its shareholder P2 Capital;
  • AmerisourceBergen in its acquisition of PharMEDium, its acquisition of MWI Veterinary Supply and its strategic relationship with Walgreens and Alliance Boots;
  • MarkWest in its merger with MPLX;
  • Olin in its Reverse Morris Trust acquisition of the chlorine value chain business of Dow Chemical and its cooperation agreement with Sachem Head Capital Management;
  • Lender Processing Services in its acquisition by Fidelity National Financial;
  • Arch Chemicals in its acquisition by Lonza;
  • Millipore in its acquisition by Merck;
  • Stanley Works in its acquisition of Black & Decker;
  • Pepsi Bottling Group in its acquisition by PepsiCo;
  • EMBARQ in its merger with CenturyTel;
  • Nestlé in the sale of its stake in Alcon to Novartis and its acquisition of Ralston Purina;
  • Sprint in its merger with Nextel;
  • Brink’s in its shareholder activism contests with Pirate Capital and MMI and its spin‑off of Brink’s Home Security;
  • PricewaterhouseCoopers in the sale of its consulting business to IBM; and
  • Clorox in its repurchase of shares from Henkel.

Mr. Townsend has been cited as one of the country’s leading practitioners in mergers and acquisitions for over a decade by, among others, Chambers USA, Chambers Global, The Legal 500 US, IFLR1000 and The Best Lawyers in America. In 2018, he was selected as a “Mergers & Acquisitions MVP” by Law360 and a Mergers & Acquisitions Trailblazer by The National Law Journal. Mr. Townsend has been consistently named a leading lawyer for his transactional work in the telecoms and broadcast industry by The Legal 500 US. He has also been recognized for his activism defense work and his transactional work in the technology industry by The Legal 500 US. Additionally, Mr. Townsend has been repeatedly named to Lawdragon’s lists of the “500 Leading Dealmakers in America” and “500 Leading Lawyers in America.”

Mr. Townsend was born in New York, New York. He received an A.B. magna cum laude from Harvard College in 1987 and a J.D. magna cum laude from Harvard Law School in 1990, where he was Executive Editor of the Harvard Law Review.

Mr. Townsend joined Cravath in 1990 and was elected a partner in 1997.

Recent transactions include representing:

  • Light & Wonder in its acquisition of Grover Charitable Gaming, the sale of SG Lottery to Brookfield and the sale of OpenBet to Endeavor, its acquisition of the remaining stake in SciPlay, the sale of a 34.9% stake to institutional investors including Caledonia, its acquisition of Don Best Sports, its acquisition of NYX Gaming Group and its acquisition of Bally Technologies;
  • Johnson & Johnson in its acquisition of Intra-Cellular Therapies, its acquisition of Ambrx, the separation of Kenvue, its acquisition of Abiomed, its acquisition of Momenta, Janssen Biotech’s acquisition of bermekimab from XBiotech, its acquisition of Auris Health, its acquisition of Ci:z Holdings, the sale of its Advanced Sterilization Products business to Fortive, the sale of its LifeScan business to Platinum Equity, its acquisition of Actelion, the sale of its Codman Neurosurgery business to Integra LifeSciences, its acquisition of Abbott Medical Optics, its acquisition of Novira Therapeutics, the sale of its Cordis business to Cardinal Health, its acquisition of Alios BioPharma, the sale of its Ortho‑Clinical Diagnostics business to The Carlyle Group, its acquisitions of Synthes, Covagen, Crucell, Mentor Corporation, Omrix Biopharmaceuticals and Conor Medsystems, its acquisition of Pfizer’s consumer healthcare businesses, its takeover battle for Guidant and its acquisitions of ALZA and Scios;
  • Frontier Communications in its pending acquisition by Verizon; its sale of operations in Idaho, Montana, Oregon and Washington to WaveDivision Capital in partnership with Searchlight; its acquisition of certain businesses from Verizon; and its interactions with JANA Partners;
  • Martin Marietta in its acquisition of aggregates operations from Blue Water Industries, the sale of its South Texas cement business and related concrete operations to CRH, the proposed sale of its California cement plant and related terminals, the sale of certain West Coast cement and concrete operations to CalPortland, its acquisition of Lehigh West Region and its acquisition of Bluegrass Materials;
  • altafiber in the sale of CBTS to TowerBrook, its acquisition by Macquarie Infrastructure, its combination with Hawaiian Telcom, its acquisition of OnX Enterprise Solutions, the sale of its wireless spectrum licenses to Verizon, its acquisition of CyrusOne, the sale of its directory business and its acquisition of IXC;
  • Aon in its acquisition of NFP;
  • Crown Castle in its cooperation agreement with Elliott Management;
  • ZimVie in the sale of its spine business to H.I.G. Capital;
  • OUTFRONT Media in the divestiture of its Canadian business to Bell Media and the sale of its Latin America business to JCDecaux Latin America / Corameq;
  • Consolidated Communications’ special committee in the acquisition by Searchlight and BCI;
  • ADT in the sale of its commercial business to GTCR and its equity investment from State Farm;
  • Tabula Rasa in its take-private acquisition by Nautic;
  • Oshkosh in its acquisition of the AeroTech business from JBT;
  • Atlas Air in its acquisition by an investor group led by Apollo;
  • Valvoline in the sale of its Global Products business to Aramco;
  • GreenSky in its acquisition by Goldman Sachs;
  • Stanley Black & Decker in its acquisition of Excel Industries, its acquisition of MTD and its acquisitions of the Craftsman brand from Sears and the Tools business of Newell Brands;
  • Canadian National Railway in its proposed combination with Kansas City Southern;
  • DiaSorin in its acquisition of Luminex;
  • City Brewing in an equity investment, as a result of which a consortium of investors acquired 100% ownership of the company, and its acquisition of the Irwindale brewery operations from Pabst Brewing;
  • Cable One in its acquisition of Hargray Communications;
  • US Foods in its convertible preferred equity investment from KKR, its acquisition of Smart Foodservice and its acquisition of SGA Food Group;
  • Univision in its sale of a majority stake to Searchlight and ForgeLight;
  • J.D. Power in its sale to Thoma Bravo;
  • Pinnacle Foods in its acquisition by Conagra Brands and its acquisition of Boulder Brands;
  • Brunswick in the sale of its Fitness business to KPS Capital Partners, its acquisition of Power Products’ Global Marine & Mobile business and its interactions with Owl Creek Asset Management;
  • Conduent in the sale of its commercial vehicle operations business to Alinda Capital Partners and the sale of its U.S.‑based human resource consulting and actuarial business to H.I.G. Capital;
  • Anheuser‑Busch InBev in its acquisition of SABMiller and an asset swap with Ambev in which AB InBev transferred SABMiller’s Panamanian business to Ambev and Ambev transferred its business in Colombia, Peru and Ecuador to AB InBev;
  • UTi Worldwide in its sale to DSV and its negotiations with its shareholder P2 Capital;
  • AmerisourceBergen in its acquisition of PharMEDium, its acquisition of MWI Veterinary Supply and its strategic relationship with Walgreens and Alliance Boots;
  • MarkWest in its merger with MPLX;
  • Olin in its Reverse Morris Trust acquisition of the chlorine value chain business of Dow Chemical and its cooperation agreement with Sachem Head Capital Management;
  • Lender Processing Services in its acquisition by Fidelity National Financial;
  • Arch Chemicals in its acquisition by Lonza;
  • Millipore in its acquisition by Merck;
  • Stanley Works in its acquisition of Black & Decker;
  • Pepsi Bottling Group in its acquisition by PepsiCo;
  • EMBARQ in its merger with CenturyTel;
  • Nestlé in the sale of its stake in Alcon to Novartis and its acquisition of Ralston Purina;
  • Sprint in its merger with Nextel;
  • Brink’s in its shareholder activism contests with Pirate Capital and MMI and its spin‑off of Brink’s Home Security;
  • PricewaterhouseCoopers in the sale of its consulting business to IBM; and
  • Clorox in its repurchase of shares from Henkel.

Mr. Townsend has been cited as one of the country’s leading practitioners in mergers and acquisitions for over a decade by, among others, Chambers USA, Chambers Global, The Legal 500 US, IFLR1000 and The Best Lawyers in America. In 2018, he was selected as a “Mergers & Acquisitions MVP” by Law360 and a Mergers & Acquisitions Trailblazer by The National Law Journal. Mr. Townsend has been consistently named a leading lawyer for his transactional work in the telecoms and broadcast industry by The Legal 500 US. He has also been recognized for his activism defense work and his transactional work in the technology industry by The Legal 500 US. Additionally, Mr. Townsend has been repeatedly named to Lawdragon’s lists of the “500 Leading Dealmakers in America” and “500 Leading Lawyers in America.”

Mr. Townsend was born in New York, New York. He received an A.B. magna cum laude from Harvard College in 1987 and a J.D. magna cum laude from Harvard Law School in 1990, where he was Executive Editor of the Harvard Law Review.

Mr. Townsend joined Cravath in 1990 and was elected a partner in 1997.

Education

  • J.D., 1990, Harvard Law School
    magna cum laude
  • A.B., 1987, Harvard College
    magna cum laude

Admitted In

  • New York

Professional Affiliations

American Bar Association

New York City Bar Association

  • Special Committee on Mergers, Acquisitions and Corporate Control Contests

New York State Bar Association

Rankings

Best Lawyers in America

  • Corporate Law (2023)
  • Mergers and Acquisitions Law (2025‑2007)

Chambers Global

  • Corporate M&A (International & Cross-Border) - USA (2025‑2007)

Chambers USA

  • Corporate/M&A - New York (2024‑2007)

IFLR1000

  • Mergers and Acquisitions - US (2024‑2006)

Law360

  • Mergers & Acquisitions MVP of the Year (2018)

Lawdragon

  • Legends of the 500 Leading Lawyers in America (2019)
  • 500 Leading Lawyers in America (2025‑2011, 2008, 2007) 
  • 500 Leading Dealmakers in America (2024-2021, 2007)

The Legal 500 Hall of Fame

  • M&A/Corporate and Commercial: Large Deals, $1bn+
  • Telecoms and Broadcast: Transactional

The Legal 500 Latin America

  • Corporate and M&A – Latin America: International Firms (2017)

The Legal 500 US

  • M&A/Corporate and Commercial: Large Deals, $1bn+ (2024-2010)
  • Shareholder Activism: Advice to Boards (2024-2019)
  • Technology Transactions (2016)
  • Telecoms and Broadcast: Transactions (2024‑2010)

The National Law Journal

  • M&A and Antitrust Trailblazers (2018)

Super Lawyers

  • New York (2021‑2011)

Deals & Cases

February 18, 2025

Light & Wonder’s Acquisition of Grover Gaming’s Charitable Gaming Assets

On February 18, 2025, Light & Wonder, Inc. (“Light & Wonder”), the leading cross‑platform global games company, announced that it has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire the charitable gaming assets of Grover Gaming, Inc. and G2 Gaming, Inc. (together, “Grover Gaming”), a leading provider of electronic pull‑tabs for charitable gaming in the U.S., for total consideration of $850 million cash, subject to customary purchase price adjustments, and a four‑year revenue based earn‑out of up to $200 million cash. Cravath is representing Light & Wonder in connection with the transaction.

Deals & Cases

January 13, 2025

Johnson & Johnson’s $14.6 Billion Acquisition of Intra‑Cellular Therapies, Inc.

On January 13, 2025, Johnson & Johnson and Intra‑Cellular Therapies, Inc. announced that they have entered into a definitive agreement under which Johnson & Johnson will acquire all outstanding shares of Intra‑Cellular Therapies, a biopharmaceutical company focused on the development and commercialization of therapeutics for central nervous system (CNS) disorders, for $132 per share in cash for a total equity value of approximately $14.6 billion. Cravath is representing Johnson & Johnson in connection with the transaction.

Deals & Cases

September 05, 2024

Frontier’s $20 Billion Acquisition by Verizon

On September 5, 2024, Verizon Communications Inc. and Frontier Communications Parent, Inc. (“Frontier”), the largest pure‑play fiber provider in the U.S., announced they have entered into a definitive agreement for Verizon to acquire Frontier in an all‑cash transaction valued at $20 billion. Cravath is representing Frontier in connection with the transaction.

Deals & Cases

February 12, 2024

Martin Marietta’s $2.05 Billion Acquisition of Aggregates Operations from Affiliates of BWI Southeast

On February 12, 2024, Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. (“Martin Marietta”) announced that on February 11, 2024, it entered into a definitive agreement to acquire 20 active aggregates operations in Alabama, South Carolina, South Florida, Tennessee, and Virginia from affiliates of Blue Water Industries LLC (“BWI Southeast”) for $2.05 billion in cash. Additionally, on February 9, 2024, Martin Marietta completed its previously announced divestiture of its South Texas cement and related concrete operations to CRH Americas Materials, Inc., a subsidiary of CRH plc, for $2.1 billion in cash. Cravath is representing Martin Marietta in connection with the transactions.

Deals & Cases

February 06, 2024

altafiber’s Sale of IT Services Provider CBTS to TowerBrook Capital Partners

On February 6, 2024, altafiber, provider of integrated communications solutions over its fiber‑optic network to residential and business customers in Ohio, Kentucky, and Indiana, and TowerBrook Capital Partners (“TowerBrook”), the New York and London‑based international investment firm, announced that TowerBrook has agreed to acquire CBTS, a leading North American provider of IT solutions and services, from altafiber. Cravath is representing altafiber in connection with the transaction.

Robert I. Townsend III is Co-Chair of the Global Mergers and Acquisitions Practice. His practice focuses primarily on all types of M&A transactions, corporate governance matters and activist defense.

Mr. Townsend’s clients have included ADT, altafiber, AmerisourceBergen, Anheuser‑Busch InBev, Aon, Atlas Air, Brink’s, Brunswick, Cable One, Canadian National Railway, City Brewing, Conduent, Crown Castle, DiaSorin, Frontier Communications, GreenSky, J.D. Power, Johnson & Johnson, Light & Wonder, MacAndrews & Forbes, Martin Marietta, Nestlé, Olin, Oshkosh, OUTFRONT Media, Pinnacle Foods, Quest Diagnostics, Stanley Black & Decker, Univision, US Foods and Valvoline.

Recent transactions include representing:

  • Light & Wonder in its acquisition of Grover Charitable Gaming, the sale of SG Lottery to Brookfield and the sale of OpenBet to Endeavor, its acquisition of the remaining stake in SciPlay, the sale of a 34.9% stake to institutional investors including Caledonia, its acquisition of Don Best Sports, its acquisition of NYX Gaming Group and its acquisition of Bally Technologies;
  • Johnson & Johnson in its acquisition of Intra-Cellular Therapies, its acquisition of Ambrx, the separation of Kenvue, its acquisition of Abiomed, its acquisition of Momenta, Janssen Biotech’s acquisition of bermekimab from XBiotech, its acquisition of Auris Health, its acquisition of Ci:z Holdings, the sale of its Advanced Sterilization Products business to Fortive, the sale of its LifeScan business to Platinum Equity, its acquisition of Actelion, the sale of its Codman Neurosurgery business to Integra LifeSciences, its acquisition of Abbott Medical Optics, its acquisition of Novira Therapeutics, the sale of its Cordis business to Cardinal Health, its acquisition of Alios BioPharma, the sale of its Ortho‑Clinical Diagnostics business to The Carlyle Group, its acquisitions of Synthes, Covagen, Crucell, Mentor Corporation, Omrix Biopharmaceuticals and Conor Medsystems, its acquisition of Pfizer’s consumer healthcare businesses, its takeover battle for Guidant and its acquisitions of ALZA and Scios;
  • Frontier Communications in its pending acquisition by Verizon; its sale of operations in Idaho, Montana, Oregon and Washington to WaveDivision Capital in partnership with Searchlight; its acquisition of certain businesses from Verizon; and its interactions with JANA Partners;
  • Martin Marietta in its acquisition of aggregates operations from Blue Water Industries, the sale of its South Texas cement business and related concrete operations to CRH, the proposed sale of its California cement plant and related terminals, the sale of certain West Coast cement and concrete operations to CalPortland, its acquisition of Lehigh West Region and its acquisition of Bluegrass Materials;
  • altafiber in the sale of CBTS to TowerBrook, its acquisition by Macquarie Infrastructure, its combination with Hawaiian Telcom, its acquisition of OnX Enterprise Solutions, the sale of its wireless spectrum licenses to Verizon, its acquisition of CyrusOne, the sale of its directory business and its acquisition of IXC;
  • Aon in its acquisition of NFP;
  • Crown Castle in its cooperation agreement with Elliott Management;
  • ZimVie in the sale of its spine business to H.I.G. Capital;
  • OUTFRONT Media in the divestiture of its Canadian business to Bell Media and the sale of its Latin America business to JCDecaux Latin America / Corameq;
  • Consolidated Communications’ special committee in the acquisition by Searchlight and BCI;
  • ADT in the sale of its commercial business to GTCR and its equity investment from State Farm;
  • Tabula Rasa in its take-private acquisition by Nautic;
  • Oshkosh in its acquisition of the AeroTech business from JBT;
  • Atlas Air in its acquisition by an investor group led by Apollo;
  • Valvoline in the sale of its Global Products business to Aramco;
  • GreenSky in its acquisition by Goldman Sachs;
  • Stanley Black & Decker in its acquisition of Excel Industries, its acquisition of MTD and its acquisitions of the Craftsman brand from Sears and the Tools business of Newell Brands;
  • Canadian National Railway in its proposed combination with Kansas City Southern;
  • DiaSorin in its acquisition of Luminex;
  • City Brewing in an equity investment, as a result of which a consortium of investors acquired 100% ownership of the company, and its acquisition of the Irwindale brewery operations from Pabst Brewing;
  • Cable One in its acquisition of Hargray Communications;
  • US Foods in its convertible preferred equity investment from KKR, its acquisition of Smart Foodservice and its acquisition of SGA Food Group;
  • Univision in its sale of a majority stake to Searchlight and ForgeLight;
  • J.D. Power in its sale to Thoma Bravo;
  • Pinnacle Foods in its acquisition by Conagra Brands and its acquisition of Boulder Brands;
  • Brunswick in the sale of its Fitness business to KPS Capital Partners, its acquisition of Power Products’ Global Marine & Mobile business and its interactions with Owl Creek Asset Management;
  • Conduent in the sale of its commercial vehicle operations business to Alinda Capital Partners and the sale of its U.S.‑based human resource consulting and actuarial business to H.I.G. Capital;
  • Anheuser‑Busch InBev in its acquisition of SABMiller and an asset swap with Ambev in which AB InBev transferred SABMiller’s Panamanian business to Ambev and Ambev transferred its business in Colombia, Peru and Ecuador to AB InBev;
  • UTi Worldwide in its sale to DSV and its negotiations with its shareholder P2 Capital;
  • AmerisourceBergen in its acquisition of PharMEDium, its acquisition of MWI Veterinary Supply and its strategic relationship with Walgreens and Alliance Boots;
  • MarkWest in its merger with MPLX;
  • Olin in its Reverse Morris Trust acquisition of the chlorine value chain business of Dow Chemical and its cooperation agreement with Sachem Head Capital Management;
  • Lender Processing Services in its acquisition by Fidelity National Financial;
  • Arch Chemicals in its acquisition by Lonza;
  • Millipore in its acquisition by Merck;
  • Stanley Works in its acquisition of Black & Decker;
  • Pepsi Bottling Group in its acquisition by PepsiCo;
  • EMBARQ in its merger with CenturyTel;
  • Nestlé in the sale of its stake in Alcon to Novartis and its acquisition of Ralston Purina;
  • Sprint in its merger with Nextel;
  • Brink’s in its shareholder activism contests with Pirate Capital and MMI and its spin‑off of Brink’s Home Security;
  • PricewaterhouseCoopers in the sale of its consulting business to IBM; and
  • Clorox in its repurchase of shares from Henkel.

Mr. Townsend has been cited as one of the country’s leading practitioners in mergers and acquisitions for over a decade by, among others, Chambers USA, Chambers Global, The Legal 500 US, IFLR1000 and The Best Lawyers in America. In 2018, he was selected as a “Mergers & Acquisitions MVP” by Law360 and a Mergers & Acquisitions Trailblazer by The National Law Journal. Mr. Townsend has been consistently named a leading lawyer for his transactional work in the telecoms and broadcast industry by The Legal 500 US. He has also been recognized for his activism defense work and his transactional work in the technology industry by The Legal 500 US. Additionally, Mr. Townsend has been repeatedly named to Lawdragon’s lists of the “500 Leading Dealmakers in America” and “500 Leading Lawyers in America.”

Mr. Townsend was born in New York, New York. He received an A.B. magna cum laude from Harvard College in 1987 and a J.D. magna cum laude from Harvard Law School in 1990, where he was Executive Editor of the Harvard Law Review.

Mr. Townsend joined Cravath in 1990 and was elected a partner in 1997.

Recent transactions include representing:

  • Light & Wonder in its acquisition of Grover Charitable Gaming, the sale of SG Lottery to Brookfield and the sale of OpenBet to Endeavor, its acquisition of the remaining stake in SciPlay, the sale of a 34.9% stake to institutional investors including Caledonia, its acquisition of Don Best Sports, its acquisition of NYX Gaming Group and its acquisition of Bally Technologies;
  • Johnson & Johnson in its acquisition of Intra-Cellular Therapies, its acquisition of Ambrx, the separation of Kenvue, its acquisition of Abiomed, its acquisition of Momenta, Janssen Biotech’s acquisition of bermekimab from XBiotech, its acquisition of Auris Health, its acquisition of Ci:z Holdings, the sale of its Advanced Sterilization Products business to Fortive, the sale of its LifeScan business to Platinum Equity, its acquisition of Actelion, the sale of its Codman Neurosurgery business to Integra LifeSciences, its acquisition of Abbott Medical Optics, its acquisition of Novira Therapeutics, the sale of its Cordis business to Cardinal Health, its acquisition of Alios BioPharma, the sale of its Ortho‑Clinical Diagnostics business to The Carlyle Group, its acquisitions of Synthes, Covagen, Crucell, Mentor Corporation, Omrix Biopharmaceuticals and Conor Medsystems, its acquisition of Pfizer’s consumer healthcare businesses, its takeover battle for Guidant and its acquisitions of ALZA and Scios;
  • Frontier Communications in its pending acquisition by Verizon; its sale of operations in Idaho, Montana, Oregon and Washington to WaveDivision Capital in partnership with Searchlight; its acquisition of certain businesses from Verizon; and its interactions with JANA Partners;
  • Martin Marietta in its acquisition of aggregates operations from Blue Water Industries, the sale of its South Texas cement business and related concrete operations to CRH, the proposed sale of its California cement plant and related terminals, the sale of certain West Coast cement and concrete operations to CalPortland, its acquisition of Lehigh West Region and its acquisition of Bluegrass Materials;
  • altafiber in the sale of CBTS to TowerBrook, its acquisition by Macquarie Infrastructure, its combination with Hawaiian Telcom, its acquisition of OnX Enterprise Solutions, the sale of its wireless spectrum licenses to Verizon, its acquisition of CyrusOne, the sale of its directory business and its acquisition of IXC;
  • Aon in its acquisition of NFP;
  • Crown Castle in its cooperation agreement with Elliott Management;
  • ZimVie in the sale of its spine business to H.I.G. Capital;
  • OUTFRONT Media in the divestiture of its Canadian business to Bell Media and the sale of its Latin America business to JCDecaux Latin America / Corameq;
  • Consolidated Communications’ special committee in the acquisition by Searchlight and BCI;
  • ADT in the sale of its commercial business to GTCR and its equity investment from State Farm;
  • Tabula Rasa in its take-private acquisition by Nautic;
  • Oshkosh in its acquisition of the AeroTech business from JBT;
  • Atlas Air in its acquisition by an investor group led by Apollo;
  • Valvoline in the sale of its Global Products business to Aramco;
  • GreenSky in its acquisition by Goldman Sachs;
  • Stanley Black & Decker in its acquisition of Excel Industries, its acquisition of MTD and its acquisitions of the Craftsman brand from Sears and the Tools business of Newell Brands;
  • Canadian National Railway in its proposed combination with Kansas City Southern;
  • DiaSorin in its acquisition of Luminex;
  • City Brewing in an equity investment, as a result of which a consortium of investors acquired 100% ownership of the company, and its acquisition of the Irwindale brewery operations from Pabst Brewing;
  • Cable One in its acquisition of Hargray Communications;
  • US Foods in its convertible preferred equity investment from KKR, its acquisition of Smart Foodservice and its acquisition of SGA Food Group;
  • Univision in its sale of a majority stake to Searchlight and ForgeLight;
  • J.D. Power in its sale to Thoma Bravo;
  • Pinnacle Foods in its acquisition by Conagra Brands and its acquisition of Boulder Brands;
  • Brunswick in the sale of its Fitness business to KPS Capital Partners, its acquisition of Power Products’ Global Marine & Mobile business and its interactions with Owl Creek Asset Management;
  • Conduent in the sale of its commercial vehicle operations business to Alinda Capital Partners and the sale of its U.S.‑based human resource consulting and actuarial business to H.I.G. Capital;
  • Anheuser‑Busch InBev in its acquisition of SABMiller and an asset swap with Ambev in which AB InBev transferred SABMiller’s Panamanian business to Ambev and Ambev transferred its business in Colombia, Peru and Ecuador to AB InBev;
  • UTi Worldwide in its sale to DSV and its negotiations with its shareholder P2 Capital;
  • AmerisourceBergen in its acquisition of PharMEDium, its acquisition of MWI Veterinary Supply and its strategic relationship with Walgreens and Alliance Boots;
  • MarkWest in its merger with MPLX;
  • Olin in its Reverse Morris Trust acquisition of the chlorine value chain business of Dow Chemical and its cooperation agreement with Sachem Head Capital Management;
  • Lender Processing Services in its acquisition by Fidelity National Financial;
  • Arch Chemicals in its acquisition by Lonza;
  • Millipore in its acquisition by Merck;
  • Stanley Works in its acquisition of Black & Decker;
  • Pepsi Bottling Group in its acquisition by PepsiCo;
  • EMBARQ in its merger with CenturyTel;
  • Nestlé in the sale of its stake in Alcon to Novartis and its acquisition of Ralston Purina;
  • Sprint in its merger with Nextel;
  • Brink’s in its shareholder activism contests with Pirate Capital and MMI and its spin‑off of Brink’s Home Security;
  • PricewaterhouseCoopers in the sale of its consulting business to IBM; and
  • Clorox in its repurchase of shares from Henkel.

Mr. Townsend has been cited as one of the country’s leading practitioners in mergers and acquisitions for over a decade by, among others, Chambers USA, Chambers Global, The Legal 500 US, IFLR1000 and The Best Lawyers in America. In 2018, he was selected as a “Mergers & Acquisitions MVP” by Law360 and a Mergers & Acquisitions Trailblazer by The National Law Journal. Mr. Townsend has been consistently named a leading lawyer for his transactional work in the telecoms and broadcast industry by The Legal 500 US. He has also been recognized for his activism defense work and his transactional work in the technology industry by The Legal 500 US. Additionally, Mr. Townsend has been repeatedly named to Lawdragon’s lists of the “500 Leading Dealmakers in America” and “500 Leading Lawyers in America.”

Mr. Townsend was born in New York, New York. He received an A.B. magna cum laude from Harvard College in 1987 and a J.D. magna cum laude from Harvard Law School in 1990, where he was Executive Editor of the Harvard Law Review.

Mr. Townsend joined Cravath in 1990 and was elected a partner in 1997.

Education

  • J.D., 1990, Harvard Law School
    magna cum laude
  • A.B., 1987, Harvard College
    magna cum laude

Admitted In

  • New York

Professional Affiliations

American Bar Association

New York City Bar Association

  • Special Committee on Mergers, Acquisitions and Corporate Control Contests

New York State Bar Association

Rankings

Best Lawyers in America

  • Corporate Law (2023)
  • Mergers and Acquisitions Law (2025‑2007)

Chambers Global

  • Corporate M&A (International & Cross-Border) - USA (2025‑2007)

Chambers USA

  • Corporate/M&A - New York (2024‑2007)

IFLR1000

  • Mergers and Acquisitions - US (2024‑2006)

Law360

  • Mergers & Acquisitions MVP of the Year (2018)

Lawdragon

  • Legends of the 500 Leading Lawyers in America (2019)
  • 500 Leading Lawyers in America (2025‑2011, 2008, 2007) 
  • 500 Leading Dealmakers in America (2024-2021, 2007)

The Legal 500 Hall of Fame

  • M&A/Corporate and Commercial: Large Deals, $1bn+
  • Telecoms and Broadcast: Transactional

The Legal 500 Latin America

  • Corporate and M&A – Latin America: International Firms (2017)

The Legal 500 US

  • M&A/Corporate and Commercial: Large Deals, $1bn+ (2024-2010)
  • Shareholder Activism: Advice to Boards (2024-2019)
  • Technology Transactions (2016)
  • Telecoms and Broadcast: Transactions (2024‑2010)

The National Law Journal

  • M&A and Antitrust Trailblazers (2018)

Super Lawyers

  • New York (2021‑2011)

Deals & Cases

February 18, 2025

Light & Wonder’s Acquisition of Grover Gaming’s Charitable Gaming Assets

On February 18, 2025, Light & Wonder, Inc. (“Light & Wonder”), the leading cross‑platform global games company, announced that it has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire the charitable gaming assets of Grover Gaming, Inc. and G2 Gaming, Inc. (together, “Grover Gaming”), a leading provider of electronic pull‑tabs for charitable gaming in the U.S., for total consideration of $850 million cash, subject to customary purchase price adjustments, and a four‑year revenue based earn‑out of up to $200 million cash. Cravath is representing Light & Wonder in connection with the transaction.

Deals & Cases

January 13, 2025

Johnson & Johnson’s $14.6 Billion Acquisition of Intra‑Cellular Therapies, Inc.

On January 13, 2025, Johnson & Johnson and Intra‑Cellular Therapies, Inc. announced that they have entered into a definitive agreement under which Johnson & Johnson will acquire all outstanding shares of Intra‑Cellular Therapies, a biopharmaceutical company focused on the development and commercialization of therapeutics for central nervous system (CNS) disorders, for $132 per share in cash for a total equity value of approximately $14.6 billion. Cravath is representing Johnson & Johnson in connection with the transaction.

Deals & Cases

September 05, 2024

Frontier’s $20 Billion Acquisition by Verizon

On September 5, 2024, Verizon Communications Inc. and Frontier Communications Parent, Inc. (“Frontier”), the largest pure‑play fiber provider in the U.S., announced they have entered into a definitive agreement for Verizon to acquire Frontier in an all‑cash transaction valued at $20 billion. Cravath is representing Frontier in connection with the transaction.

Deals & Cases

February 12, 2024

Martin Marietta’s $2.05 Billion Acquisition of Aggregates Operations from Affiliates of BWI Southeast

On February 12, 2024, Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. (“Martin Marietta”) announced that on February 11, 2024, it entered into a definitive agreement to acquire 20 active aggregates operations in Alabama, South Carolina, South Florida, Tennessee, and Virginia from affiliates of Blue Water Industries LLC (“BWI Southeast”) for $2.05 billion in cash. Additionally, on February 9, 2024, Martin Marietta completed its previously announced divestiture of its South Texas cement and related concrete operations to CRH Americas Materials, Inc., a subsidiary of CRH plc, for $2.1 billion in cash. Cravath is representing Martin Marietta in connection with the transactions.

Deals & Cases

February 06, 2024

altafiber’s Sale of IT Services Provider CBTS to TowerBrook Capital Partners

On February 6, 2024, altafiber, provider of integrated communications solutions over its fiber‑optic network to residential and business customers in Ohio, Kentucky, and Indiana, and TowerBrook Capital Partners (“TowerBrook”), the New York and London‑based international investment firm, announced that TowerBrook has agreed to acquire CBTS, a leading North American provider of IT solutions and services, from altafiber. Cravath is representing altafiber in connection with the transaction.

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