Aarthi Belani
Biography
Aarthi Belani is a partner in Baker McKenzie's Palo Alto office. Aarthi's practice focuses on M&A and joint ventures in tech and life sciences. She represents buyers and sellers, especially in cross-border deals, joint venturers, venture capital investors, and emerging growth technology companies. She has also advised on health care, financial services, and impact investment deals.
Prior to joining Baker McKenzie, Aarthi was a partner in the M&A practice of a top-tier international law firm. Prior to that, she was on the in-house legal team covering strategic M&A at Credit Suisse in New York, where she was also a member of the initiative to develop impact investment products. At the start of her career, Aarthi was an associate in the New York office of another leading law firm for five years, where she worked on complex strategic M&A and innovative development finance.
Aarthi is a 2025 Honoree of The Recorder (Law.com) in the category “Women Leaders in Tech Law, Corporate/Transactions”; won “Deal of the Year” from Mergers & Acquisitions for leading Uniphore’s simultaneous acquisitions of ActionIQ and Infoworks in 2024; and was named to Silicon Valley Business Journal's 2024 Women of Influence list. Aarthi is a Mentor for the Unreasonable Group (a program for climate tech entrepreneurs); a member of the Silicon Valley Executive Board of How Women Lead, which works to increase the representation of women on corporate Boards and in investment management; and a director of The Flight School, an education innovation organization offering a “bridge year” fellowship providing an education “higher than higher ed.”
Practice Focus
Representative Legal Matters
- Represented Harman in its up to USD 375 million sale of its Digital Transformation Solutions business to Wipro.
- Represented Lyft in its EUR 175 million acquisition of FREENOW.
- Represented Uniphore Technologies Inc., a conversational AI platform providing automation, analytics, assistant and security services, in multiple acquisitions, such as of ActionIQ, InfoWorks, Red Box Recorders, Jacada Ltd. and Emotion Research Labs S.L., and in its Series D Preferred issuance.
- Represented a stealth ed tech venture in its USD 130 million first equity fundraise.
- Represented Synaptics Incorporated in its acquisition of Packetcraft.
- Advised Cadence Design Systems in multiple acquisitions, such as of Cascade Technologies, Inc., Apex Semiconductor, Invecas, Intrinsix, and others.
- Represented Agiloft, Inc. in its sale of majority control to KKR.
- Represented Enovix Corporation in its acquisition of Routejade.
- Represented Arc Research Institute, which advances scientific breakthroughs in complex diseases with investments totaling more than USD 650 million, in its formation and collaboration agreements with Stanford University and the University of California's Berkeley and San Francisco campuses.
- Represented Pronto Money Transfer Inc. (d/b/a USEND), a California-based digital platform that allows users to make international payments quickly and securely and connect to complementary financial services powering cross-border commerce, in its agreement to be acquired by Banco Inter S.A., a publicly-traded bank in Brazil with more than 15 million customers.
- Represented Lyra Health, the leading provider of innovative workforce mental health solutions for employers, in its acquisition and integration of ICAS World, a global employee-assistance program provider with care professionals who support people in more than 155 countries and 66 languages.
- Represented Bristol Myers Squibb in the sale of its manufacturing facility in East Syracuse, NY to LOTTE.
- Advised on multiple venture financings by Global Ventures, Novastar Ventures, Educational Testing Service, Cathay Innovation, family offices, and other investors.
*includes matters before joining Baker McKenzie
Professional Honors
- "Women Leaders in Tech Law, Corporate/Transactions Honorees", The Recorder and Law.com's California Legal Awards, 2025
- "40 Under 40" honoree, Silicon Valley Business Journal, 2018
Professional Associations and Memberships
- How Women Lead - Leadership Committee
- Unreasonable Group - Mentor
Corporate Responsibility
- Active in campaign to diversify corporate Board governance and in mentoring cleantech emerging growth companies.
Admissions
- California~United States (2014)
- New York~United States (2005)
Education
- NYU School of Law Junior Fellowship, Institute for International Law and Justice (LLM) (2005)
- NYU School of Law (JD, cum laude) (2004)
- Stanford University (BA, with honors) (2001)