Keith A. Flaum
Partner
Keith Flaum is a partner in the firm’s Mergers and Acquisitions Practice Group. He represents both public and private companies in a wide range of industries, including the information technology and life sciences industries. He has particular expertise in handling acquisitions of publicly-traded companies and in cross-border acquisition transactions. He also has expertise in handling highly complex cross-border joint venture transactions. Some recent transactions handled by Mr. Flaum include:
Applied Materials’ acquisition of Varian Semiconductor Equipment for approximately $4.9 billion;
eBay’s acquisitions of GSI Commerce for approximately $2.4 billion, GittiGidiyor (based in Turkey) and Brands4Friends (based in Germany) – and eBay’s sale of a majority interest in Skype for approximately $1.9 billion;
Riverbed Technology’s acquisitions of Zeus Technology in the United Kingdom and Aptimze in New Zealand; and
Zynga’s acquisitions of XPD Media in China and Unoh Ltd in Japan.
Mr. Flaum has consistently been recognized as a leader in M&A.
Mr. Flaum was recently named one of the “Top 100 Leading Lawyers” in California by The Daily Journal .
Mr. Flaum was recognized in Who’s Who Legal M&A 2010 as a leader in M&A work.
In 2006, Mr. Flaum was named one of a dozen “Dealmakers of the Year” by The American Lawyer for representing eBay, in its acquisition of Skype Technologies for up to $3 billion, and as one of the approximately 45 “California Lawyers of the Year” by California Lawyer magazine for handling three high-profile technology M&A deals: representing Adobe Systems in its acquisition of Macromedia (valued at approximately $3.4 billion); representing Siebel Systems in its sale to Oracle Corporation (valued at approximately $5.85 billion); and representing eBay in its acquisition of Skype.
In 1999, Mr. Flaum was named one of the “Top 20 California Lawyers Under the Age of 40” by California Law Business .
Mr. Flaum is included in the Chambers Guide to the World’s Leading Lawyers for Business , the Chambers Guide to America’s Leading Lawyers for Business and Lawdragon’s “Top 500 Leading Dealmakers.”
Mr. Flaum has been actively involved for more than 10 years in the Mergers and Acquisitions Committee of the American Bar Association’s Section of Business Law, which is composed of more than 4,000 M&A specialists from across the United States, Canada and more than 20 other countries.
He is currently the Vice Chair of the Committee and a member of the Subcommittee on Acquisitions of Public Companies.
Immediately prior to serving as the Vice Chair of the Committee, he served as the Chair of the Committee’s M&A Market Trends Subcommittee, which tracks trends in public company and private company M&A transactions.
Mr. Flaum lectures frequently on M&A-related topics. His speaking engagements include:
Chair, Let’s Make a Deal – Getting to yes with a Private Target Across the Pond (presented in London, England by ABA Section of Business Law);
Co-Chair, The New Era in Technology M&A (presented in Silicon Valley and San Francisco by Law Seminars International);
An Introduction to Basic M&A Legal Principles: The Ten Building Blocks of M&A (UCLA Institute on Corporate Securities and Related Aspects of Mergers and Acquisitions);
Public Company Acquisitions: A Mock Negotiation (UCLA Institute on Corporate Securities and Related Aspects of Mergers and Acquisitions);
Deal Protections (The University of Texas Mergers and Acquisitions Institute in Dallas);
M&A Forum: What’s So Hot About Going Private (ABA Section of Business Law);
Co-Chair – Doing Deals: Understanding the Nuts & Bolts of Transactional Practice in an Uncertain Market (Practising Law Institute – San Francisco);
M&A Forum: Current Trends in Negotiating Indemnification Provisions in Acquisition Agreements (ABA Section of Business Law);
Annual High Tech Mergers & Acquisitions Institute (Glasser LegalWorks – Silicon Valley);
Negotiating Public Company Acquisitions: Understanding the Key Issues (ABA Section of Business Law);
Material Adverse Change Provisions in Acquisition Agreements (ABA Section of Business Law);Confidentiality Agreements in the M&A Process: How to Get Your Deal Started the Right Way (ABA Satellite Seminar Washington, DC); and
M&A-related presentations at Harvard, Columbia, UCLA and Stanford Law Schools, and the Stanford Graduate School of Business.
Mr. Flaum is the author of “First Annual Deal Points Study: Public Targets,” The M&A Lawyer ; “Antitrust Provisions: A Dealmaker’s Guide,” The M&A Law Journal ; and “Some Observations on Drafting Material Adverse Change Provisions in Agreements for the Acquisition of a Business,” American Bar Association (1999). He is the co-author of “Selected Developments in California Corporations Law and Federal Securities Law,” Business Law Section of the State Bar of California (1993-1995).
Selected Activities
Member, American Bar Association
Education
University of California, Davis School of Law, 1989, J.D.
University of California, Los Angeles, 1986, B.A.
Bar Admissions