Thomas J. Ivey

Mr. Ivey is a frequent adviser to boards of directors on corporate governance and activist situations. He regularly represents underwriters, placement agents and financial advisors in technology-related transactions.

Mr. Ivey is recognized annually as a leading lawyer in Chambers USA, in which Skadden’s Palo Alto M&A practice is the only Corporate/M&A practice in the San Francisco Bay Area to be ranked in the publication’s prestigious Band 1. Clients in the 2022 edition of Chambers USA describe him as “great to work with … very practical and … takes a reasonable approach to complex matters.” Mr. Ivey also repeatedly has been recognized in Chambers Global and has been named in IFLR1000 and Best Lawyers in America. He was a key member of the deal teams recognized in connection with several of The Recorder’s Corporate Department of the Year contests, in which Skadden’s California corporate team took top honors in a number of categories.

Mr. Ivey’s representative transactions include advising:

• more than two dozen companies on SPAC IPOs and de-SPAC transactions, including:
  • Schwartz Capital Group, the founder and manager of Opportunity Financial, LLC (OppFi), in OppFi’s merger with FG New America Acquisition Corp.;
  • Tech and Energy Transition Corporation, a SPAC sponsored by Macquarie, in its $385 million initial public offering; and
  • WL Ross Holding Corp. in its $1.6 billion acquisition of Nexeo Solutions Holdings, LLC and its $500 million initial public offering;
• McClatchy Company, the nation’s second-largest newspaper company, in the $312 million sale of substantially all of its assets to its largest bondholder Chatham Asset Management;
• ServiceNow, Inc. in its acquisition of Lightstep and its $1.5 billion offering of 1.400% notes due 2030; 
• Autodesk, Inc. in numerous matters, including its inaugural $1 billion sustainable bond offering of 2.4% senior notes due 2031 and its $500 million offering of 2.850% notes due 2030;
• 8x8, Inc. in its:
  • $250 million acquisition of Fuze, Inc.; and
  • $75 million Rule 144A/Regulation S offering of 0.50% convertible senior notes due 2024;
• the special committee of the SolarCity board of directors in the company’s $2.6 billion sale to Tesla Motors, Inc.;
• The Public Investment Fund of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia in its $3.5 billion investment in Uber Technologies Inc.;
• Lattice Semiconductor Corporation in its proposed $1.3 billion acquisition by Canyon Bridge Capital Partners Inc.; and in its $600 million acquisition of Silicon Image, Inc.;
• Yahoo! Inc. in connection with Alibaba Group Holding Limited’s $25 billion initial public offering and listing on the New York Stock Exchange. Pursuant to the IPO, Yahoo! sold a portion of its stake in Alibaba for more than $9 billion;
• Azure Power Global Limited (India) in its initial public offering of equity shares and listing on the New York Stock Exchange and in its concurrent private placement, raising a combined $136 million;
• the underwriters of SolarCity Corporation in its initial public offering and subsequent financings;
• the joint bookrunning managers in the IPO of American Depositary Shares and listing on Nasdaq of Mesoblast Limited (Australia);
• VMware, Inc. in its $1.1 billion initial public offering and in investments in VMware by Cisco Systems and Intel Capital;
• TiVo Inc. in its $1.1 billion sale to Rovi Corporation and its $230 million Rule 144A offering of 2% convertible senior notes due 2021;
• Broadcom Corporation in its $600 million offering of senior notes and tender offers to repurchase $1.6 billion of notes;
• Hitachi Global Storage Technologies in connection with its $4.3 billion sale to Western Digital Corporation as well as two prior acquisitions;
• Micrus Endovascular Corporation in connection with its $432 million sale to Johnson & Johnson; and
• Trimble Navigation Limited (now Trimble, Inc.) in its acquisition of @Road Inc. for $500 million, its joint venture with Nikon Corporation and Caterpillar Inc., public offering of common stock and convertible notes, and its acquisitions of SECO Manufacturing Company Inc.; Tru-Count, Inc.; Crain Enterprises, Inc.; Spacient Technologies, Inc.; Meridian Project Systems Inc.; XYZ Solutions, Inc.; BitWyse Solutions, Inc.; Eleven Technology, Inc.; Quantm International, Inc.; XYZs of GPS, Inc.; Applanix Corporation; Pacific Crest; Tracer Net; Apache Technologies; Mobile Tech Solutions, Inc.; and the utility center assets of UAI, Inc.

Mr. Ivey regularly counsels public companies, including Autodesk; LendingClub; Netflix; NetApp; ServiceNow; Trimble; Western Digital; and 8x8 in general corporate matters, which may include reviewing Exchange Act reports, corporate governance issues, activists situations and takeover preparedness.