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Peter D. Lyons

Senior Counsel

Chemicals | Mergers and acquisitions |

extremely experienced, very pragmatic and great at standing back and giving the big picture

Chambers USA 2016

Profile details

About Peter D. Lyons

Peter is a Senior Counsel in our New York office whose practice focuses on US and cross-border public and private mergers and acquisitions.

Widely considered one of the most prominent M&A lawyers in the United States, Peter represents leading US and global companies in acquisitions and sales of public and private companies, asset acquisition and disposition transactions and joint ventures. Peter advises clients across a range of sectors, including financial services, healthcare, biotechnology, telecommunications and transportation.

Peter has been recognized as a top M&A attorney by many publications including Chambers USA. He is an Adjunct Professor at the University of Virginia School of Law and a member of the faculty & planning committee of the Tulane Corporate Law Institute.

Previously, Peter was a partner with Shearman & Sterling LLP and head of its Global M&A group.

Recent work

  • Advising London Stock Exchange Group on its $27bn acquisition of Refinitiv from a consortium including Blackstone, CPPIB, GIC and Thomson Reuters.
  • Advising BASF, a German chemical company and the largest chemical producer in the world, on its €7.6bn acquisition of significant components of Bayer’s seed and non-selective herbicide businesses.
  • Advising KLX Inc. on the $4.2bn sale of its aviation parts and services business to the Boeing Co. and the spinoff of its energy services business.
  • Advising Unimin Corporation, a wholly owned subsidiary of Sibelco, on its $6bn merger with Fairmount Santrol.
  • Advising Deutsche Bank AG on the sale of its alternative fund businesses to Apex Group Ltd. and Genstar Capital.
  • Advising Henderson Group in connection with its $6bn all stock merger of equals with Janus Capital to form Janus Henderson Global Investors, a leading global active asset manager, with AUM of more than $320bn.
  • Advising London Stock Exchange Group on its $1.15bn sale of Frank Russell Company’s asset management business to TA Associates and Reverence Capital Partners; its $685m acquisition of The Yield Book and Citi Fixed Income Indices; and on its acquisition of Mergent, Inc.
  • Advising Zhongwang USA, a subsidiary of Zhongwang International Group, on its $2.33bn acquisition of Aleris Corporation from a consortium of shareholders.
  • Advising Carlson Hospitality Group on its sale of Carlson Hotels to HNA Tourism Group, a division of HNA Group.
  • Advising Wincor Nixdorf AG on its $1.8bn business combination with Diebold, Inc.
  • Advising AstraZeneca on its $7bn acquisition of a majority equity stake in Acerta Pharma.

Qualifications

Education

  • JD, magna cum laude, Georgetown University Law Center.
  • BA, with honors, University of Virginia.

Professional

  • Admitted to practice in the States of New York and California.
  • Member of the board of editors, The M&A Lawyer.
  • Adjunct Professor: University of Virginia School of Law
  • Member of the faculty & planning committee, Tulane Corporate Law Institute.