Laura P. Knoll

Ms. Knoll has been named a Rising Star in Life Sciences by Law360 and has been recognized in Chambers USA, The Best Lawyers in America and The Legal 500 U.S. She also has received the Emerging Leaders Award from The M&A Advisor. In addition, Ms. Knoll was ranked among the top 10 female M&A attorneys in North America by deal value in 2023, according to Mergerlinks and reported by The American Lawyer.

Some of her significant representations include:

• the special committee of the board of directors of EngageSmart in its $4 billion sale to Vista Equity Partners
• Mirati Therapeutics in its sale to Bristol Myers Squibb for up to $5.8 billion
• Intercept Pharmaceuticals in its sale to Alfasigma for approximately $800 million
• Iveric Bio in its $5.9 billion sale to Astellas
• Bottomline Technologies in its acquisition by Thoma Bravo for $2.6 billion
• Dicerna Pharmaceuticals in its sale to Novo Nordisk for $3.3 billion
• WeWork in its merger with BowX Acquisition Corp., a special purpose acquisition company, as a result of which WeWork would become a public company with an implied initial enterprise value of $9 billion
• Pandion Therapeutics in its sale to Merck for $1.8 billion
• Kelso & Company in the acquisition of Refresh Mental Health from Lindsay Goldberg, and in its subsequent sale of Refresh Mental Health to Optum, a division of UnitedHealthcare
• Ionis Pharmaceuticals in its acquisition of the remaining outstanding stake of Akcea Therapeutics for $500 million
• CerSci Therapeutics in its sale to ACADIA Pharmaceuticals for up to $939.5 million
• ArQule in its sale to Merck for $2.7 billion
• WeWork in an $8 billion transaction in which SoftBank provided financing to the company and proposed acquiring a majority of its outstanding shares through a tender offer
• Alder in its sale to Lundbeck for up to $1.95 billion
• Array BioPharma in its $11.4 billion acquisition by Pfizer
• Highbridge Capital Management in its acquisition of assets from Pernix Therapeutics, structured as a Chapter 11 credit bid
• WeWork in its $6 billion investment from SoftBank
• United Natural Foods in its acquisition of SUPERVALU for $2.9 billion, including assumption of outstanding debt and liabilities
• Hasbro in its $522 million acquisition of Saban Brands’ Power Rangers and other entertainment assets
• Kelso & Company and affiliates of Blue Wolf Capital Partners in connection with the acquisition of Jordan Health Services from Palladium Equity Partners, and Kelso in connection with the concurrent merger of Jordan Health Services with Great Lakes Caring and National Home Health Care under a combined entity jointly owned with affiliates of Blue Wolf
• WeWork in its $4.4 billion investment from SoftBank Group and SoftBank Vision Fund
• Ultragenyx Pharmaceutical in its successful topping bid for Dimension Therapeutics
• Tobira Therapeutics, Inc. in its sale to Allergan for up to $1.7 billion
• Qlik Technologies Inc. in its $3 billion acquisition by Thoma Bravo, LLC
• EMC Corporation in its $67 billion acquisition by Denali Holding Inc., the parent company of Dell Inc.
• Banco BTG Pactual S.A. in its $1.7 billion acquisition of BSI SA from Assicurazioni Generali S.p.A. and sale of BSI SA to EFG International AG
• Valeant Pharmaceuticals International, Inc. in its $1 billion acquisition of Sprout Pharmaceuticals, Inc., plus a share of future profits based on achievement of milestones
• Dendreon Corporation in its Chapter 11 filing and proposed restructuring of $620 million of convertible notes and in its sale of assets to Valeant Pharmaceuticals International, Inc. for $495 million
• XL Group plc in its $4.1 billion acquisition of Catlin Group Limited
• Arthur T. Demoulas in his and the other Class B shareholders’ acquisition of Demoulas Super Markets, Inc. (Market Basket) of the Class A common stock of Demoulas Super Markets, Inc.
• Savient Pharmaceuticals, Inc. in its Chapter 11 filing and sale of assets to Crealta Pharmaceuticals LLC for $120 million
• OfficeMax Incorporated in its $1.2 billion merger of equals with Office Depot, Inc.
• Kelso & Company and an affiliate of Stone Point Capital in connection with the merger of Progressive Medical, Inc. and PMSI, Inc. to create Helios, and in connection with the subsequent sale of Helios to OptumRx, a division of UnitedHealthcare
• Westport Innovations Inc. in the restructuring of its 50/50 joint venture with Cummins Inc.
• FBL Financial Group, Inc. in its $440 million sale of EquiTrust Life Insurance Company to affiliates of Guggenheim Partners, LLC
• BJ Services Company in its $5.5 billion acquisition by Baker Hughes Incorporated
• Esselte Corporation in its acquisition of American Pad & Paper LLC from affiliates of Arcapita Bank B.S.C.(c)
• Retail Ventures, Inc. in its divestitures of Filene’s Basement and Value City Department Stores
• UGL Limited in its $400 million acquisition of UNICCO Service Company
• Group Dental Service, Inc. in its sale of a controlling interest to Coventry Health Care, Inc.
• Regeneron Pharmaceuticals, Inc. in its $312 million sale of an approximately 15 percent equity stake to Sanofi-Aventis SA
• The Travelers Companies, Inc. in its sale of Mendota Insurance Company to Kingsway America, Inc.
• Textron Inc. in the $630 million sale of its Textron Fastening Systems unit to affiliates of Platinum Equity LLC