Morton Pierce

Partner, New York

Biography

Morton Pierce is a “knowledgeable, thorough and insightful lawyer”, who is noted for “the pragmatic outlook he brings to bear on sophisticated transactions.”
Chambers Global 2014

Overview

Mort has more than 40 years of experience advising clients on mergers and acquisitions and related deals. He has represented acquirers, targets, investment bankers and investors across a number of industry sectors, including financial services, healthcare, media, entertainment and telecommunications.

Adept at leading clients through the various stages of highly complex transactions, Mort has been involved in numerous high-profile deals, involving some of the world's best known companies. These transactions include the acquisitions of EMI Music Publishing, MGM and Bilibili Inc. by Sony, the acquisition of CNET by CBS, the acquisitions of Capital Cities/ABC, Fox Family, Pixar and Marvel by The Walt Disney Company, the acquisition of The MONY Group by AXA Financial, and the Wells Fargo acquisition of First Interstate Bank.

Mort also has experience of numerous cross-border and multi-jurisdictional merger and acquisition transactions. These include the acquisition of GTECH by Lottomatica, the Zimmer Holdings acquisition of Centerpulse AG, the Guinness/GrandMet merger, the Luxottica Group S.p.A. acquisition of The United States Shoe Corporation and the Cable & Wireless acquisition of NYNEX CableComms.

Mort has been active in a number of professional, charitable and academic roles. He is currently a Board Member of the GAR Foundation, a not-for-profit organization. He is also on the Board of Advisors of the Institute for Law and Economics at the University of Pennsylvania and the Advisory Board for the Program on Corporate Governance at Harvard Law School. He is a former Board Member of the Legal Aid Society and he also held various committee roles at the American Bar Association.

Bars and Courts
New York State Bar
International Bar Association
Education
JD
University of Pennsylvania Law School
University of Oxford
BA
Yale University
Languages
English

Experience

Recent matters include the representation of:

  • Golden Nugget Online Gaming, Inc. (NASDAQ: GNOG) and the Special Committee of its Board of Directors, in the US$1.56 billion acquisition of GNOG by DraftKings Inc., a leading digital sports entertainment and gaming company.
  • Special Committee of Cellular Biomedicine Group, Inc. in its sale to a consortium including certain members of CBMG management, CBMG stockholders and financial sponsors.
  • Macquarie Infrastructure Corp. (NYSE: MIC) and its related entities in the sale of three businesses, including (i) the US$4.475 billion sale of its Atlantic Aviation business to KKR; (ii) the US$2.685 billion sale of International-Matex Tank Terminals to Riverstone Holdings LLC.; and (iii) the US$514 million sale of the MIC Hawaii businesses to Argo Infrastructure Partners, LP.
  • Zimmer Holdings, Inc. (NYSE and SIX: ZMH), a world leader in musculoskeletal health solutions, in its US$13.35 billion acquisition of Biomet, Inc., one of the world's leading medical device manufacturers;
  • Lantheus Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ: LNTH), a leader in the development, manufacture and commercialization of innovative diagnostic imaging agents and products, in its US$500 million acquisition of Progenics Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ: PGNC), an oncology company developing innovative medicines and artificial intelligence to find, fight and follow cancer;
  • LifePoint Health, Inc. (NASDAQ: LPNT) in its US$5.6 billion merger with fellow healthcare provider RCCH HealthCare Partners (RCCH), which is owned by certain funds managed by affiliates of Apollo Global Management, LLC (NYSE: APO);
  • Calpine Corporation in its US$17 billion sale to Energy Capital Partners, an energy-focused private equity firm, and a consortium of investors including Access Industries and Canadian Pension Plan Investment Board;
  • Sony Corporation of America in its US$2.3 billion acquisition of the equity interests in DH Publishing, L.P. (the parent entity of EMI Music Publishing) held by a group of investors led by Mubadala Investment Company;
  • Sony Corporation of America in its US$400 million investment in Bilibili Inc., a China-based provider of online entertainment services; 
  • Global Infrastructure Partners in its entrance into a strategic joint venture with Hess Corporation through the US$2.675 billion acquisition of a 50 percent interest in the owner of Hess's midstream crude oil and natural gas infrastructure assets located primarily in the Bakken Shale;
  • Omnicare, Inc. in its US$12.7 billion sale to CVS Health;
  • Revel AC Inc., the parent company of Revel Entertainment Group, LLC that owned Revel Casino Hotel in Atlantic City, NJ, in its sale of substantially all of its assets pursuant to a bankruptcy auction process;
  • Special Committee of the Board of Directors of GFI Group Inc., (NYSE: GFIG), the New York brokerage and clearing house, in the successful completion of a tender offer by BGC Partners, Inc. (NASDAQ: BGCP), a leading global brokerage company servicing the financial and real estate markets, for the outstanding shares of GFI, resulting in an equity value of approximately US$780 million and an enterprise value of US$1 billion. The transaction marks one of the most complex hostile M&A transactions;
  • Fisher Communications, Inc. (NASDAQ: FSCI), a Seattle-based communications company that owned and operated television and radio stations in the western United States, in its US$373.3 million sale to Sinclair Broadcast Group, Inc., the largest and one of the most diversified television broadcasting companies in the United States;
  • Fougera Pharmaceuticals and its private equity shareholders, Nordic Capital, DLJ and Avista Capital Partners, in the US$1.525 billion all cash purchase of Fougera Pharmaceuticals by Novartis AG. The acquisition of Fougera makes Sandoz, the generics division of Novartis, the number one generic dermatology medicines company globally and in the United States;
  • The Talbots, Inc. (NYSE: TLB), a leading specialty retailer and direct marketer of women's apparel, shoes and accessories, in its US$369 million sale to an affiliate of Sycamore Partners, a private equity firm based in New York; and
  •  The Walt Disney Company (NYSE: DIS) and ESPN, Inc. in connection with News Corporation's acquisition of ESPN's 50 percent equity interest in ESPN STAR Sports (ESS).
Awards and Recognition

Leading Individual for Corporate Law and Mergers and Acquisitions Law, The Best Lawyers in America, 2021

Leading Individual for M&A in the United States – Euromoney, 2021

Leading Individual for Corporate M&A – Chambers Global, 2021

Leading Individual for Corporate M&A – Chambers USA, 2021

Leading Individual for M&A and Corporate Governance in Who's Who Legal, 2021

Recognized Individual for M&A – The Legal 500 US, 2021

Named "MVP for Mergers & Acquisitions" – Law360, 2015

Named "M&A Legal Advisor of the Year" – M&A Advisor, 2015