profile image

Gary Friedman

Debevoise & Plimpton LLP 

Gary M. Friedman is a tax partner whose practice focuses on the U.S. and international tax aspects of complex, multijurisdictional mergers, acquisitions and financings. Mr. Friedman is recommended as a leading tax practitioner by Chambers USA where he is praised by clients for “his knowledge of tax matters, particularly in structuring and client protection, is outstanding,” while others find him to be “careful, patient and understanding of all of the business issues,” and Chambers Global where clients have described him as a “tenacious advocate for clients,” as well as “hard-working and through.”

He is also recognized as a leading lawyer for international tax by The Legal 500 US, where sources have noted he is “very strong and provides excellent global advice.” Mr. Friedman is listed as one of the world’s top 250 tax advisers by the Tax Directors Handbook (2014) and is recommended in Euromoney’s Guide to the World’s Leading Tax Advisers as a leading tax lawyer.

Mr. Friedman is author of “The Discreet Charm of the Inversion Rules,” Tax Notes (September, 2014); “Lot Of Inversion Talk, But Do You Know The Basics?,” Law360 (August, 2014) and “Covering The Capital Structure: The Seller Note,” The M&A Lawyer (March, 2012). He is also a contributing author to the Debevoise & Plimpton Private Equity Report.

Mr. Friedman has contributed to the New York State Bar Association Reports on transfer pricing, the U.S. foreign tax credit and passive foreign investment companies. He was also a member of the Executive Committee of the Taxation Section of the New York State Bar Association from 2000 to 2003 and the Co-Chair of the Committee on U.S. Activities of Foreign Taxpayers for 2003. Mr. Friedman is a member of the New York Tax City Club.

Mr. Friedman graduated from Princeton in 1979 and earned a J.D. from the University of Chicago Law School in 1983, where he served as comments editor of The University of Chicago Law Review.

From 1983 to 1984 he served as a law clerk to the Hon. Wilber F. Pell, Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit. In 1990, Mr. Friedman earned an LL.M. in Taxation at New York University.

Mr. Friedman is proficient in German.

Experience:

  • Atlas Merchant Capital in its investment in Ascensus, the largest independent recordkeeping services provider, third-party administrator, and government savings facilitator in the United States.
  • Japan Post Holdings in its purchase of a strategic stake of approximately 7% of outstanding common shares of Aflac.
  • Jackson National Life Insurance in its agreements to reinsure John Hancock Life Insurance’s Group Payout Annuity business.
  • Providence Service Corporation and LogistiCare in LogistiCare’s acquisition of Circulation, a provider of technology-enabled logistics solutions and analytics for managing non-emergency transportation across healthcare.
  • The Carlyle Group in its acquisition of an outstanding interest in NEP Group from Crestview Partners.
  • TPG Capital and Welsh, Carson, Anderson & Stowe, with Humana, in their $1.4 billion acquisition of Curo Health Services.
  • P2 Capital, alongside Silver Lake, in the $3.5 billion acquisition of Blackhawk, a global financial technology company.
  • Precision Medicine Group in a new $275 million investment.
  • TPG Capital and Welsh, Carson, Anderson & Stowe in the $4.1 billion acquisition of Kindred Healthcare.
  • Cornell Capital as a leading investor in the $2.05 billion acquisition of Talcott Resolution, The Hartford’s run-off life and annuity businesses.
  • Sawai Pharmaceutical in the sale of a minority stake of its U.S. subsidiary, Upsher-Smith Laboratories, to Japanese trading house Sumitomo.
  • Mitsui in its acquisition of an additional 10% limited partnership interest in Penske Truck Leasing from subsidiaries of GE Capital Global Holdings.
  • Clayton, Dubilier & Rice in its $500 million preferred stock investment in Beacon Roofing Supply’s $2.625 billion acquisition of Allied Building Products.
  • Discovery Communications in its $14.6 billion acquisition of Scripps Networks Interactive.
  • Prudential Financial in its life insurance joint venture with CT Corp in Indonesia.
  • Two investors in their joint acquisition of Chesapeake Asset Management, a New York-based investment advisor.
  • Sawai Pharmaceutical in its $1.5 billion acquisition of the generic pharmaceuticals business of Upsher-Smith Laboratories.
  • Schneider Electric in its $900 million divestiture of Telvent DTN, a leader in providing information services, supply chain connectivity tools and decision support solutions to the agricultural, energy and environmental industries, to TBG AG, a private Swiss holding company.
  • Clayton, Dubilier & Rice and Brand Energy and Infrastructure Services in the merger of Brand Energy and Safway Group, forming the leading global industrial service business with over $5 billion in revenue.
  • Clayton, Dubilier & Rice in its $2.3 billion sale of Mauser Group, a leading global supplier of industrial rigid packaging products and reconditioning services, to Stone Canyon Industries.
  • Allergan in its $2.47 billion acquisition of ZELTIQ, a medical technology company focused on utilizing its proprietary CoolSculpting controlled-cooling technology platform, the sales leader in the fast-growing body contouring segment of medical aesthetics.
  • Allergan in its $2.9 billion acquisition of LifeCell Corporation, a regenerative medicine business.
  • Clayton, Dubilier & Rice and Temasek Holdings (Private) Limited as selling shareholders and Univar in the $315.6 million secondary offering of common stock of Univar.
  • Brand Energy & Infrastructure Services in its buyout of Harsco Corporation’s 26% interest in Brand, a leading single-source provider of specialized industrial services to the worldwide energy and infrastructure sectors.
  • Allergan in its $639 million acquisition of Vitae Pharmaceuticals, a clinical-stage biotechnology company.
  • Evercore Group as financial advisor to EMC Corporation in its $67 billion sale to Dell.
  • American Coastal Insurance Company and its parent, RDX Holding Corp., in its merger with United Insurance Holdings Corp.
  • Hertz in its $2.5 billion spin-off of its equipment and rental business.
  • Nestlé Skin Health in its $1 billion acquisition of Guthy Renker’s worldwide Proactiv business, the world’s leading non-prescription acne brand.
  • Hussmann, a Clayton, Dubilier & Rice portfolio company, in its $1.5 billion sale to Panasonic.
  • Evercore Group as financial advisor to DuPont in its $130 billion merger with The Dow Chemical Company.
  • American Securities and P2 Capital Partners in their $855 million acquisition of Blount International.
  • Discovery Communications in its $195 million investment in Lions Gate Entertainment.
  • Activision Blizzard in its $5.9 billion acquisition of King Digital Entertainment.
  • J.C. Flowers and Ascensus in the sale of Ascensus to Genstar Capital and Aquiline Capital Partners.
  • Lannett in its acquisition for $1.23 billion in cash, plus additional contingent consideration, of Kremers Urban Pharmaceuticals, the U.S. specialty generic pharmaceuticals subsidiary of global biopharmaceuticals company UCB.
  • Providence Equity Partners and SRA in the merger of SRA with the government services unit of CSC, creating the largest pure-play IT services provider serving the U.S. government sector.
  • Alliance Laundry Systems, an Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan portfolio company, in the sale of majority interest to BDT Capital Partners.
  • Exor as insurance M&A counsel in its contested $6.9 billion acquisition of PartnerRe, a Bermuda-based reinsurance company.
  • Roofing Supply Group, a Clayton, Dubilier & Rice portfolio company, in its $1.1 billion sale to Beacon Roofing Supply.
  • Actavis in the sale of Aptalis Pharmaceutical Technologies, a pharmaceutical outsourcing and R&D business in the U.S., to TPG.
  • Univar in its $885 million initial public offering and concurrent private placement of $350 million of shares to Temasek and the additional purchase of 5 million shares of Univar common stock from selling stockholders by Temasek.
  • AXA in its agreement with SulAmérica to acquire 100% of its Large Industrial and Commercial risks insurance business in Brazil.
  • J.C. Flowers in its acquisition of AmeriLife Group.
  • Actavis in the sale of its branded respiratory business in the U.S. and Canada to AstraZeneca for $600 million, and an additional payment of $100 million in connection with certain other agreements.
  • Catlin Group Limited in its sale to XL Group for approximately £2.79 billion. The combined business is expected to have a leading presence in the global specialty insurance and reinsurance markets.
  • Prudential Financial in its acquisition of a 40% interest in Administradora de Fondos de Pensiones Habitat, a leading provider of retirement services in Chile, for a total purchase price of approximately $550 million.
  • Toyota in its collaboration with Air Liquide to develop and supply 12 state-of-the-art hydrogen stations in five states in the northeast in connection with Toyota’s rollout of new hydrogen fuel cell vehicle, Mirai.
  • Actavis in its acquisition of Nasdaq-listed Durata Therapeutics, a pharmaceutical company focused on the development and commercialization of therapeutics for patients with infectious diseases and acute illnesses, for $675 million plus contingent value rights.
  • Nestlé in its $1.4 billion acquisition of the aesthetic dermatology business of Valeant Pharmaceuticals.
  • Forest Laboratories in its $2.9 billion acquisition of Aptalis, a gastrointestinal and cystic fibrosis company, from TPG.
  • Goldman Sachs and Global Atlantic in the separation of Goldman Sachs’ insurance and reinsurance businesses from Goldman Sachs.
  • AXA in its acquisition of 51% of Mercantil Colpatria’s insurance operations in Colombia for COP 672 billion.
  • Tower Group in tax matters relating to its investment in Canopius Group.
  • J.C. Flowers and Crump Group in the sale of the life and property and casualty insurance divisions of Crump to BB&T Corporation.
  • Highland Capital Management in its sale of Communications Corporation of America and White Knight Broadcasting to Nexstar Broadcasting Group and Mission Broadcasting.
  • Hertz Global Holdings in its $2.3 billion acquisition of Dollar Thrifty Automotive Group.
  • Mitsui in a variety of financing transactions.
  • Clayton, Dubilier & Rice in its acquisition of Roofing Supply Group, a distributor of residential and non-residential roofing materials.
  • Ambev S.A. in its $1.24 billion acquisition of indirect control of Cerveceria Nacional Dominicana (CND) and its strategic alliance with E. León Jimenes to create the leading brewer in the Caribbean.
  • Mitsui in its joint venture with Codelco to acquire 29.5% of Anglo American Sur.
    Prudential Financial in its sale of Afore XXI, a Mexican private pension manager, to Banorte.
  • Providence Equity Partners in its $1.9 billion going private acquisition of SRA International, a provider of technology and strategic consulting services.
  • General Electric in the repurchase of Vivendi’s stock of NBC Universal for $5.8 billion along with advice to NBC Universal on certain corporate matters related to the formation of the NBC Universal – Comcast joint venture valued at $37.5 billion.
  • Clayton, Dubilier & Rice in its acquisition of a 42.5% stake in Univar, a global distributor of commodity and specialty chemicals, in a sponsored recapitalization transaction valuing Univar at $4.2 billion.
  • Pernod Ricard in its €5.6 billion acquisition of the Vin & Sprit Group, makers of Absolut vodka, from the Kingdom of Sweden in one of the largest cross-border privatizations of 2008.
  • Prudential Financial in its $4.8 billion acquisition of Japan-based AIG Star Life Insurance and AIG Edison Life Insurance from American International Group.
  • Sithe Global Power in a strategic partnership with subsidiaries of Chubu Electric Power and Toyota Tsusho including the sale of an aggregate 50% interest in Goreway station, an 875MW combined cycle power generating facility in 2009, followed by the sale of its remaining interest in the plant to its strategic partners.
  • Hisamitsu Pharmaceutical, a leading transdermal patch manufacturer listed on the Tokyo stock exchange, in its $428 million acquisition of Nasdaq-listed Noven Pharmaceuticals via an all-cash tender offer.
  • Culligan in the sale of its vended water business owned and operated by Culligan Store Solutions, LLC, to Primo Water Corporation.
  • Tower Group in its $107 million acquisition of Specialty Underwriters’ Alliance.
  • Pernod Ricard in its $575 million sale of the Wild Turkey business to Gruppo Campari.
    The special committee of Tower Group’s board of directors in Tower’s $530 million acquisition of CastlePoint Holdings.
  • Providence Equity Partners and its portfolio company US Investigations Services in the acquisition of HireRight, a NASDAQ-listed company that provides employee screening and other information services.
  • EDO Corporation in its $1.7 billion acquisition by ITT Corporation.
  • Domtar in its $6 billion combination with Weyerhaeuser’s fine paper business in a “reverse Morris Trust” transaction; at the time of the transaction, the new Domtar became the largest manufacturer of uncoated freesheet paper in North America.
  • Clayton, Dubilier & Rice, The Carlyle Group and Merrill Lynch Private Equity in the senior credit and high yield financings of the $15 billion acquisition of The Hertz Corporation.

Education:

  • New York University, 1990, LL.M.
  • University of Chicago Law School, 1983, J.D.
  • Princeton University, 1979, A.B.

Bar Admissions:

  • New York

Cost

Rate : $$$

What types of cases Attorney Gary Friedman & Debevoise & Plimpton LLP  can handle?
Debevoise & Plimpton LLP  can handle cases related to laws concerning Tax, Mergers & Acquisitions, International Law. We manually verify each attorney’s practice areas before approving their profiles and reviews on our website.
Where is Debevoise & Plimpton LLP  located?
Debevoise & Plimpton LLP  is located at 919 Third Avenue, New York, NY 10022, USA. You can reach out to Debevoise & Plimpton LLP  using their phone line 212 909 6261. You can also check their website debevoise.com or email them at gmfriedman@debevoise.com.
How much would it cost to hire Debevoise & Plimpton LLP ?
Gary Friedman lawyer charges are specific to each case. However, they work with contingency fees and its ranges from $$ to $$$. They also provide free consultation [and no obligation quotes] if you are interested to hire.
Are Gary Friedman reviews trust-able?
We have the ratings and reviews moderation team who checks and verifies every review submitted on our website manually. You can trust all the reviews you see on Gary Friedman lawyer profile listing.

Rate and write a review

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Is this your profile?Claim it now.

Make sure your information is up to date.
Debevoise & Plimpton LLP 
919 Third Avenue, New York, NY 10022, USA
Get directions
diamond elite badge
profile image

Robert L. McKenna III

4.8
Huntington Beach, California, US
Advertisement
diamond elite badge
profile image

Tyler Nicoll

0.0
Naples, Florida, US
Advertisement
diamond elite badge
profile image

Lina Stillman

4.9
New York, New York, US
Advertisement
diamond elite badge
profile image

David Centeno

4.5
New York, New York, US
Advertisement