Ariel J. Deckelbaum

Ariel Deckelbaum is a deputy chair of the Corporate Department and a member of the Mergers and Acquisitions Group, the Private Equity Transactions Group and the Canadian Practice Group. Ariel’s practice is diverse with extensive experience in mergers and acquisitions, joint ventures, alternative asset management and restructuring transactions. In each of his practice areas, he helps clients develop and protect their long-term interests and investment strategies.

Experience

Ariel's mergers and acquisitions work includes going-private transactions, special committee representations, merger proxies, tender offers and hostile proxy contests. His recent mergers and acquisitions experience includes:
PUBLIC COMPANY REPRESENTATIONS:

• Time Warner Cable:
  • in its $78.7 billion merger with Charter Communications (pending);
  • in its terminated $45.2 billion stock-for-stock merger with Comcast Corporation;
  • in its response to unsolicited acquisition proposals by Charter Communications;
  • in its acquisition of Insight Communications Company;
  • in its long-term affiliation agreement to be the charter distributor for SportsNet LA, the new regional television network for the Los Angeles Dodgers;
  • together with Comcast and Brighthouse Networks, the sale of spectrum to Verizon Wireless for $3.2 billion;
  • in its acquisition of Navisite;
  • in its separation from Time Warner; and
  • in its joint bid with Comcast Corporation to acquire the assets of Adelphia Communications Corporation.
• EXOR in its $6.9 billion successful unsolicited cash bid for PartnerRe Ltd., which had previously entered into an Amalgamation Agreement with AXIS Capital Holdings Limited.
• A major international investment bank:
  • in the sale of a 50% interest in a popular television program and its related intellectual property rights; and
  • together with a large hedge fund in the sale of their interests in a private REIT to a foreign investor.
• Universal American:
  • in its acquisition of APS Healthcare from GTCR; and
  • in the sale of its Medicare Part D Business to CVS/Caremark for $1.25 billion.
• RSC Holdings in its $4.2 billion merger with United Rentals.
• The Special Committee of the Board of Directors of Kerzner International Limited in connection with the $3.8 billion sale of Kerzner to an investment group that included management, Istithmar PJSC, Whitehall Street Global Real Estate Limited Partnership 2005, Colony Capital LLC, Providence Equity Partners and The Related Companies, L.P.

PRIVATE COMPANY AND PRIVATE EQUITY REPRESENTATIONS:

• Wesley R. Edens, a Founder and Co-Chairman of the Board of Directors of Fortress Investment Group LLC, and Marc Lasry, Chairman, Chief Executive Officer and a Co-Founder of Avenue Capital Group, in their $550 million purchase of the Milwaukee Bucks of the National Basketball Association from Senator Herbert H. Kohl.
• Oak Hill Capital Partners:
  • in its acquisition of ViaWest and subsequent sale to Shaw Communications;
  • in its acquisition of WaveDivision Holdings; and
  • in its investment in Duane Reade and subsequent sale to Walgreens.
• TowerBrook Capital Partners:
  • in its investment in Wilton Brands and the subsequent acquisition by Wilton Brands of Simplicity Creative Group; and
  • in its investment in Broadlane, and sale to MedAssets.

CROSS BORDER REPRESENTATIONS:

• Grupo Salinas in its $2.5 billion sale of Iusacell to AT&T.
• Grupo Posadas in the sale of its South American hotel portfolio to Accor for $275 million.
• Grupo Elektra in its $780 million acquisition of Advance America.
• Dainippon Sumitomo Pharma Co. in its acquisition of Sepracor.
• Sumitomo Metal Industries (now Nippon Steel & Sumitomo Metal Corporation):
  • along with Sumitomo Corporation, in the acquisition of Pennsylvania-based steel company Standard Steel from private equity firm Trimaran Fund Management;
  • as it partnered with Vallourec S.A., in the merger of two premium joint companies, VAM USA Company and V&M Atlas Bradford LLC, to establish a new premium joint threading joint venture, VAM USA LLC; and
  • in an agreement with Vallourec Group to form Vallourec & Sumitomo Tubos do Brasil Ltda., a joint venture company in Brazil that will manufacture steel billets and seamless pipes.
• Nomura Holdings, Inc. in its acquisition of a 15 percent, $888 million stake in Fortress Investment Group.

Ariel is the Chair of the Board of Directors of The Lawyers Alliance for New York and is a member of the Board of Advisors of the Faculty of Law at McGill University.

Ariel is recognized as a leading M&A lawyer by Chambers USA. In 2015, Ariel was one of only 11 attorneys named a Mergers & Acquisitions MVP by Law360. He was also one of 32 M&A attorneys named by BTI Consulting Group Inc. as a "Client Service All-Star," an award that identifies "rare, exceptional attorneys standing out above all others serving the most influential legal decision makers." In 2010, Ariel was recognized as one of Crain's "40 Under 40," a list of a "dynamic group of New Yorkers who have excelled in their respective fields."

Practices

• Corporate
• Media & Entertainment
• Private Equity Transactions
• Canada
• Mergers & Acquisitions
  

Education

• LL.B., McGill University Faculty of Law, 1998
  with distinction
• B.C.L., McGill University Faculty of Law, 1998
  with distinction
• B.A., McGill University, 1993
  first class joint honours

Bar Admissions

• New York

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