Eric J. Friedman, who assumed the role of Executive Partner at Skadden, Arps in April 2009, is an internationally recognized corporate attorney who concentrates in mergers and acquisitions, corporate finance and general corporate law.

Mr. Friedman has been involved in a number of significant transactions in the financial services industry.  For example:

• He represented Citigroup Inc. in its:
  • $11 billion sale of its life insurance and annuities businesses to MetLife, Inc.; and
    
    
  • $3.7 billion sale of its asset management business to Legg Mason, Inc. in exchange for cash and Legg Mason’s private client and capital markets businesses.

• He also represented The NASDAQ Stock Market, Inc. in its:

  • $179 million initial public offering;

  • $3.7 billion acquisition of the Nordic exchange operator OMX and the related sale of a 19.9 percent interest in NASDAQ to Borse Dubai;

  • $1.4 billion acquisition and subsequent disposition of 25.1 percent of the London Stock Exchange plc; and

  • $935 million acquisition of Instinet Group, Inc. and concurrent $208 million disposition of Instinet’s institutional brokerage business to private equity firm Silver Lake Partners.
    
    
• He also represented New York Mercantile Exchange (NYMEX) in its:

  • $135 million sale of a 10 percent stake to private equity firm General Atlantic Partners;

  • $330 million acquisition of the electronic trading rights of Commodity Exchange, Inc. (COMEX); and

  • $384 million initial public offering.

Mr. Friedman also has advised various clients in a number of REIT transactions, including Deutsche Bank AG in its acquisition of MortgageIT, a publicly traded REIT; Record Realty Trust, a publicly traded Australian REIT, managed by Allco Finance, in its acquisition of Government Properties Trust, Inc.; and SEGRO plc, a publicly traded U.K. REIT, in the sale of its U.S. life sciences real estate business to Health Care Property Investors, Inc.

In addition, Mr. Friedman has advised various clients in technology-related transactions, including Centennial Communications Corporation in the sale of its wireless and broadband subsidiary in the Dominican Republic to Trilogy International Partners LLC; Floware Wireless Systems Ltd. in its merger with BreezeCOM Ltd.; and Applied Materials, Inc. in its acquisitions of Israel-based Orbot Instruments Ltd. and Opal, Inc. He also represented Sterling Commerce, Inc. in its acquisition by SBC Communications; its sale of the XcelleNet, Inc. business to the private equity firm Francisco Partners; and its venture capital investments in Satyam Infoway Ltd. and Oberon Software Inc.

Mr. Friedman has been involved in a number of other complex, high-profile transactions, including advising Norfolk Southern Corporation in its unsolicited joint acquisition of Conrail Inc. with CSX Corporation. In addition, Mr. Friedman represented Mars, Incorporated, a producer of confectionary products, food and pet foods, in its acquisition of Doane Pet Care Company from Teachers’ Private Capital, a private equity firm in Canada, and in its concurrent disposition of Doane’s European pet food manufacturing business to a financial buyer.

With respect to general corporate matters, Mr. Friedman has advised many companies — including Citigroup, NASDAQ and Norfolk Southern — with regard to SEC-reporting obligations, board governance and stockholder affairs, and other corporate and securities law matters.

Awards:

Chambers USA: America’s Leading Lawyers for Business 2004-2009

The Best Lawyers in America 2010

IFLR 1000: The Guide to the World’s Leading Financial Law Firms 2007

PLC Which Lawyer? Yearbook 2007