Matthew Jacobson

Matthew Jacobson

Partner
Baker & McKenzie LLP

Biography

Matt Jacobson is a corporate and securities partner in Baker McKenzie's Palo Alto office with more than 25 years of experience advising some of the world's leading companies and funds in connection with mergers and acquisitions, private equity and venture capital investments, joint ventures, financings and capital markets transactions.

Before joining Baker McKenzie, Matt was a partner in Ropes & Gray’s mergers and acquisitions practice in Northern California, where he held a variety of leadership positions, including serving as co-head of TMT. Matt is highly attuned to the needs of in-house counsel, having previously served as corporate counsel for Hewlett-Packard Company for five years, where he advised on a range of M&A, investment and other transactional matters.

Matt is a recognized thought leader, speaking regularly at industry forums, and has been ranked by the Legal 500 US in the M&A/Corporate and Commercial category for M&A – Middle Market, M&A/Corporate & Commercial – M&A – Large Deals (USD 1 billion) and Media, Technology and Telecoms – Technology – Transactions, and was named a "Stand-Out Lawyer" by Thomson Reuters in 2022.

Practice Focus

Matt is known for his versatile skill set and depth of knowledge in steering complex cross-border and multijurisdictional transactions, complex corporate divestitures and spin-offs. Matt has particular extensive experience in the technology, life sciences, automotive and financial services sectors.

Representative Legal Matters

  • Advised HP Inc. in connection with various acquisitions, including its USD 3.3 billion acquisition of Poly, its USD 425 million acquisition of Kingston’s HyperX business, its acquisition of Bromium, and its USD 25 billion acquisition of Compaq.
  • Advised Hudson’s Bay Company in connection with the separation of the Saks Fifth Avenue digital business and related financing from Insight Partners, and the separation of the Saks Fifth Avenue Off 5th digital business and related financing from Insight Partners.
  • Advised Thermo Fisher in connection with its investment in IonPath and related purchase option.
  • Advised Change Healthcare in connection with the sale of its connected analytics business to Kaufman Hall.
  • Advised Silver Lake Partners in connection with its USD 550 million investment in Qualtrics Advised ServiceMax (an SLP portfolio company) in connection with various transactions, including its acquisition of LiquidFrameworks; its agreement to merge with Pathfinder Acquisition Corp (later terminated); its strategic collaboration with Salesforce and USD 75 million financing from Salesforce.
  • Advised Advent International in connection with its USD 2.7 billion acquisition of the NielsenIQ from Nielsen.
  • Advised TPG in connection with the separation of DirecTV from AT&T and its USD 7.8 billion investment in DirecTV.

Professional Honors

  • Ranked by the Legal 500 US in the M&A/Corporate and Commercial category for M&A – Middle Market, M&A/Corporate & Commercial – M&A – Large Deals (USD 1 billion) and Media, Technology and Telecoms – Technology – Transactions
  • Named "Stand-Out Lawyer" by Thomson Reuters, 2022

Admissions

  • New York
  • District of Columbia
  • California

Education

  • University of California, College of the Law, San Francisco (formerly University of California, Hastings College of the Law) (JD) (1997)
  • Stanford University (BA) (1994)
  • Quoted, "Technology Group of the Year: Ropes & Gray," Law360, February 17, 2022
  • Quoted, "U.S. Leisure M&A Trend Report," Mergermarket, April 15, 2021
  • Quoted, "Fintech's 2020 M&A Boom Shifts To Consumer-Facing Targets," Law360, February 26, 2020
  • Quoted, "Like 'an Episode of Homeland': Fintech and the New CFIUS Rules," Corporate Counsel and Law.com, February 25, 2020
  • Quoted, "Digital Payments Deal-Making Shows No Signs Of Slowing," Law360, June 5, 2019