Zachary (Zach) Podolsky

From 2020-2024, Zach led US$209 billion of mergers and acquisitions tracked by the Deal Point Data database, the most of any M&A attorney nationwide.

Zach’s experience includes representing:

Energy — Upstream/E&P

• Viper Energy in: 
  • Its US$4.1 billion acquisition of Sitio Royalties* 
  • Its US$1.1 billion acquisition of certain mineral and royalty interest-owning entities from Tumbleweed Royalty IV*
• EOG Resources in its US$5.6 billion acquisition of Encino Energy*
• ConocoPhillips in: 
  • Its US$22.5 billion acquisition of Marathon Oil* 
  • Its US$13 billion acquisition of Concho Resources*
• Chord Energy in its US$11 billion combination with Enerplus*
• Diamondback Energy in its US$26 billion merger with Endeavor Energy Resources*
• APA Corporation in its US$4.5 billion acquisition of Callon Petroleum*
• Hess Corporation in its US$60 billion acquisition by Chevron Corporation*
• Special committee of the board of directors of Continental Resources in its acquisition by the Hamm family, its 83% shareholder*
• Cimarex Energy in its US$17 billion merger of equals with Cabot Oil & Gas to form Coterra Energy*
• Anadarko Petroleum in its US$60 billion acquisition by Occidental Petroleum*
• Energen in its US$9.2 billion acquisition by Diamondback Energy*
• EQT in its US$6.7 billion acquisition of Rice Energy*
• Freeport-McMoRan in: 
  • Its US$6.9 billion acquisition of Plains Exploration & Production*
  • Its US$3.4 billion acquisition of McMoRan Exploration*

Energy — Midstream / Downstream / MLP

• NuStar Energy in its US$7.3 billion acquisition by Sunoco*
• Pilot Corporation in the US$2.6 billion sale of its remaining interest in Pilot Travel Centers to Berkshire Hathaway*
• CenterPoint Energy in the US$7 billion merger of its majority owned MLP, Enable Midstream Partners, with Energy Transfer*
• EQT on:
  • The US$2.4 billion merger of its publicly traded MLP subsidiaries EQT Midstream Partners and Rice Midstream Partners*
  • Its US$937 million sale of the incentive distribution rights of Rice Midstream Partners LP to EQT GP Holdings LP*
• Conflicts committee of the board of directors of NuStar GP Holdings in its US$780 million acquisition by NuStar Energy and its response to an unsolicited acquisition proposal by Energy Transfer*

Hospitality, Gaming & Leisure 

• PENN Entertainment in numerous transactions, including:
  • Its exclusive strategic alliance with ESPN for US online sports betting*
  • Its acquisition of Score Media and Gaming*
  • Its acquisition of Barstool Sports*
  • Its US$2.8 billion acquisition of Pinnacle Entertainment*
  • Its US$575 million divestiture of four casinos to Boyd Gaming*
  • The separation of its real estate assets into Gaming and Leisure Properties, the first gaming-focused REIT*
• Gaming and Leisure Properties in its US$5.1 billion acquisition of Pinnacle Entertainment’s real estate assets*
• MacAndrews & Forbes in its US$1 billion sale of a 34.9% stake in Scientific Games to institutional investors including Caledonia*
• Full House Resorts in its response to an unsolicited acquisition proposal by Z Capital Partners*
• Mohegan Tribal Gaming Authority in numerous financing and securities transactions*
• Special committee of the board of directors of International Speedway Corporation in its US$2.0 billion acquisition by NASCAR*
• Kroenke Sports & Entertainment in its US$265 million acquisition of Outdoor Channel*
• Kennedy-Wilson Holdings in its US$1.9 billion acquisition of Kennedy Wilson Europe Real Estate Plc*

Retail & Consumer Products

• Altria in numerous transactions, including: 
  • Its joint venture with JT Group for the US marketing and commercialization of heated tobacco stick products*
  • Its US$12.8 billion investment in JUUL Labs* 
  • As SABMiller’s 27% shareholder in SABMiller’s US$104 billion acquisition by AB InBev*
• Special committee of the board of directors of Franchise Group in its US$2.6 billion management buyout*
• Office Depot in its US$1 billion acquisition of CompuCom Systems*
• Harland Clarke, a subsidiary of MacAndrews & Forbes, in:
  • Its US$1.8 billion acquisition of Valassis Communications*
  • Its US$630 million acquisition of RetailMeNot*
• Flavors Holdings, a subsidiary of MacAndrews & Forbes, in its sale of Merisant Company and MAFCO Worldwide to Act II Global Acquisition Corp.*

Industrials 

• Special committee of the board of directors of Diversey in its US$4.6 billion acquisition by Solenis, a portfolio company of Platinum Equity*
• Prysmian in its US$4.2 billion acquisition of Encore Wire, its US$3 billion acquisition of General Cable and its €500 million rights offering*
• Chemours in its divestitures of its Sulfur Products and Clean and Disinfect businesses*
• Alcoa in its US$1.5 billion acquisition of RTI International Metals and its US$3 billion acquisition of Firth Rixson*
• Metals USA in its US$1.2 billion acquisition by Reliance Steel & Aluminum*
• EADS NV in its proposed €35 billion dual-listed company combination with BAE Systems plc*
• PowerSecure in its US$431 million acquisition by Southern Company*

Healthcare & Life Sciences

• Pfizer in numerous transactions, including:
  • Its US$43 billion acquisition of Seagen*
  • Its US$5.4 billion acquisition of Global Blood Therapeutics
  • Its US$48 billion combination of Upjohn and Mylan to form Viatris* 
  • Its US$11.4 billion acquisition of Array BioPharma*
• Encompass Health in its spin-off of Enhabit Home Health & Hospice*
• Medline in its sale of a majority interest to Blackstone, Carlyle, and Hellman & Friedman*
• Abbott Laboratories in its US$4.3 billion sale of its vision care business to Johnson & Johnson*

Technology

• Special transaction committee of the board of DISH Network in its US$22 billion combination with EchoStar*
• CoreSite in its US$10.1 billion acquisition by American Tower*
• Tech Data, a portfolio company of Apollo, in its US$7.2 billion combination with SYNNEX*
• RealPage in its US$10.2 billion acquisition by Thoma Bravo*
• AOL in its US$4.4 billion acquisition by Verizon and its US$1.1 billion sale of its patent portfolio to Microsoft*
• Hewlett-Packard in its spinoff of Hewlett Packard Enterprise*
• Ancestry.com in its US$1.6 billion buyout by a Permira-led investment group*

Financial Institutions 

• Invesco in its US$5.7 billion acquisition of OppenheimerFunds from MassMutual*
• Nasdaq in its US$705 million acquisition of eVestment*
• Hilltop Holdings in its US$315 million acquisition of SWS Group*
• National Bank Holdings in its initial public offering*
• Alleghany Corporation in its US$3.4 billion acquisition of Transatlantic Holdings*

*Matter handled prior to joining Latham