NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Sidley Austin LLP is pleased to announce that Kai Haakon Liekefett has joined the firm’s New York office as a partner in its M&A group. Mr. Liekefett will lead Sidley’s shareholder activism practice in New York. Mr. Liekefett was formerly with Vinson & Elkins LLP, where he founded and led its shareholder activism practice.
Mr. Liekefett has more than 15 years of experience practicing in corporate law in New York, London, Germany, Hong Kong and Tokyo. His practice focuses on shareholder activism, in particular on proxy contests. He is prominent in advising clients on director-election contests, withhold-the-vote campaigns, shareholder opposition to M&A transactions, and other activism campaigns. In the last two years alone, Mr. Liekefett has been involved in more than 20 proxy contests, more than any other defense lawyer in the country.
“Shareholder activism is at record levels, both here in the U.S. and worldwide,” said Scott Freeman, co-leader of Sidley’s global M&A and Private Equity groups. “Kai’s extensive experience advising large and small-cap companies as well as investors on these matters will be a great resource to our clients.”
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