John M. Newell is a partner in the San Francisco office of Latham & Watkins and is the office's Corporate Department chair. He has been practicing with the firm since September 1985. He is the head of the Mergers and Acquisitions Group, as well as the Emerging Companies Group, in the San Francisco office.
Mr. Newell has practiced primarily in the area of mergers and acquisitions, as well as capital markets and public company representation.
In the area of mergers and acquisitions, he has handled numerous multibillion dollar transactions for highly sophisticated transactional clients. Mr. Newell has represented strategic buyers in the acquisition of public and private targets, as well as private equity firms, target companies and special committees. His transactions include both friendly and hostile acquisitions. He also advises public companies on takeover defense.
Mr. Newell counsels clients in a broad range of businesses and industries including technology, life sciences, financial services, retail, media and hospitality. His clients have recently included Oracle Corporation, LM Ericsson, Pathmark Stores Inc., The Yucaipa Companies, Genstar Capital, LLC, Spectrum Equity Investors, ACE Cash Express, Inc., The Cooper Companies and Hotwire, Inc.
Mr. Newell is cited as a leading attorney in Corporate/M&A by Chambers and Partners USA - America's Leading Business Lawyers (2007). He is also listed as a recommended expert in M&A and corporate finance in PLC's Global Counsel 3000. San Francisco Magazine named him among its Northern California Super Lawyers and Bay Area Lawyer Magazine named him one of the “Best Lawyers” in the Bay Area.