Lawyers
Corporate partners Matt Abbott and Marco Masotti were named among The American Lawyer’s 2023 “Dealmakers of the Year,” which honors the lawyers who drove the biggest deals of the past year. The publication recognizes Matt and Marco’s achievements in helping Clearlake Capital successfully execute its acquisition, as a leading member of an investor group, of Chelsea Football Club. Noting that the deal was one of the biggest in the history of sports, the publication describes how the team overcame the challenges of acquiring a football team owned by sanctioned Russian oligarch Roman Abramovich.
“Our counterparty wasn’t just Chelsea, but the U.K. government,” Matt says in the American Lawyer article describing the deal. “A major challenge for our client Clearlake was to make certain that the agreed-upon terms carefully avoided triggering any potential sanction-related concerns.”
Marco adds that, although private equity fund investments typically have finite terms, a key factor that helped the Clearlake consortium prevail among more than 200 bidders was “ensuring that both Chelsea and the U.K. government understood that Clearlake was committed to the team for the long term.”
The recognition marks the ninth time in six years that Paul, Weiss lawyers have been recognized by The American Lawyer for their work on the largest, most important transactions.
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