Jonathan E. Levitsky is a corporate partner and member of the firm’s Mergers & Acquisitions, Technology, Media & Telecommunications and Private Equity Groups. His practice focuses primarily on public and private mergers and acquisitions and joint ventures. He has led transactions across many industries but has a particular focus in the technology, media and telecommunication sectors. Mr. Levitsky was named Entertainment & Media Lawyer of the Year by leading M&A publication The Deal (2018).
Mr. Levitsky was chosen by the New York Times as a member of the next generation of leading deal makers, and was included in its “Facebook of Wall Street’s Future.” He is recommended by The Legal 500 US (2018), where clients call him “absolutely terrific,” and is ranked as a leading M&A lawyer by IFLR1000 (2018).
Mr. Levitsky is a frequent author and speaker on mergers and acquisitions. His publications include “The Art of Spinning Off,” The M&A Lawyer (August 2014), “A Hard Case Makes Good Law: Meso Scale Diagnostics, LLC v. Roche Diagnostics GmbH,” The M&A Lawyer (April 2013) and “Del Monte: Staple Remover?” The Deal Pipeline (January 2012). His recent speaking engagements include “Acquiring Control of a US Public Company: Recent Trends and Developments,” Public Company M&A: Current Trends in North America, UK and Russia (April 2012) and “Ethical Issues in Going Private Transactions,” Going Private 2012: Doing the Deal Right (February 2012).
Mr. Levitsky joined Debevoise in 2001 and became a partner in 2007. He received his A.B. magna cum laude from Brown University in 1990; an M.Phil. from Oxford University in 1992, where he was a Marshall Scholar; and his J.D. from Yale Law School in 1995, where he was a member of the Yale Law Journal. Prior to joining Debevoise, Mr. Levitsky served as a law clerk to the Hon.
John Paul Stevens, U.S. Supreme Court and the Hon. Pierre N. Leval, U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit. Mr. Levitsky served as Counselor to Ambassador Richard C. Holbrooke at the U.S. Mission to the United Nations, and as a Member of the State Department’s Policy Planning Staff. He is a life member of the Council on Foreign Relations.
Experience:
- Technology, Media & Telecommunications
- Tribune Media Company in its $6.4 billion sale to Nexstar Media.
- The Carlyle Group in its sale of a majority stake in Getty Images to the Getty family.
- The Carlyle Group in its acquisition of an outstanding interest in NEP Group from Crestview Partners.
- Discovery Communications in its $14.6 billion acquisition of Scripps Networks Interactive.
- Tribune Media Company in its $6.6 billion sale, later terminated, to Sinclair Broadcast Group.
- Tribune Media Company in the $560 million sale of Gracenote, a leading entertainment data provider, to the Nielsen Company.
- The Carlyle Group in its investment in NEP Group. NEP serves the world’s leading content producers and owners, providing services vital to the broadcast of live sports and entertainment events.
- Discovery Communications in its $195 million investment in Lions Gate Entertainment.
- Evercore Group as financial advisor to EMC Corporation in its $67 billion sale to Dell.
- Standard General in its acquisition of over 1,700 RadioShack stores in alliance with Sprint as part of RadioShack’s Chapter 11 bankruptcy case.
- Lazard as financial advisor to AT&T in its $67 billion acquisition of DIRECTV.
- Tribune Media Company in its spin-off of Tribune Publishing Company.
- Tribune Media Company in its acquisition of Gracenote, the global leader in music technology and metadata, from Sony Corporation of America.
- New Young Broadcasting in its $2.2 billion merger with Media General to combine the two local broadcast television and digital media companies.
- Tribune Media Company in its $2.7 billion acquisition of Local TV Holdings.
- The Carlyle Group in its $3.3 billion acquisition of Getty Images.
- Verizon communications in the $2.72 billion spin-off and merger of Verizon’s local exchange business in Maine, New Hampshire and Vermont with Fairpoint Communications.
- The Carlyle Group in its $2.1 billion going private acquisition, with the company’s controlling shareholders, of Insight Communications.
- Industrials
- Evercore Group as financial advisor to DuPont in its $130 billion merger with The Dow Chemical Company.
- Clayton, Dubilier & Rice in its acquisition of Roofing Supply Group, a distributor of residential and non-residential roofing materials.
- Clayton, Dubilier & Rice in its 46% investment in JohnsonDiversey, a transaction valued at $2.6 billion.
- International Paper in its $6 billion acquisition of Weyerhaeuser’s packaging business.
- 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.
- Bain Capital, The Carlyle Group and Clayton, Dubilier & Rice in their $8.5 billion acquisition of HD Supply from The Home Depot, which Private Equity Analyst named “LBO Deal of the Year.”
- VWR International, a portfolio company of Clayton, Dubilier & Rice, in its $4 billion sale to Madison Dearborn Partners.
- Phelps Dodge in obtaining merger control approval in the EU, and various other jurisdictions globally, in respect of in its $26 billion merger with Freeport-McMoRan Copper & Gold, forming the world’s largest publicly traded copper company.
- Domtar in its $6 billion combination with Weyerhaeuser’s fine paper business in a “reverse Morris Trust” transaction; the new Domtar became the largest manufacturer of uncoated freesheet paper in North America.
- Consumer
- Hertz Global Holdings in its $2.3 billion acquisition of Dollar Thrifty Automotive Group.
- Diamond Castle in the acquisition by its portfolio company Beacon Health of ValueOptions, the largest independent behavioral healthcare and wellness company in the U.S.
- Healthcare
- TPG Capital and Welsh, Carson, Anderson & Stowe in the $4.1 billion acquisition of Kindred Healthcare.
- Providence Service Corporation in a strategic partnership with Frazier Healthcare Partners in Matrix Medical Network.
- Diamond Castle in the acquisition by its portfolio company Beacon Health of ValueOptions, the largest independent behavioral healthcare and wellness company in the U.S.
- Clayton, Dubilier & Rice in its $3.2 billion acquisition of Emergency Medical Services Corporation.
Education:
- Yale Law School, 1995, J.D.
- University of Oxford, 1992, M.Phil.
- Brown University, 1990, A.B.
Bar Admissions:
- New York
- District of Columbia
Cost
Rate : $$$
