Partner, Los Angeles Phone +1-310-712-6600 Fax +1-310-712-8800 Add to Address Book

Alison S. Ressler joined Sullivan & Cromwell in 1984 and became a partner of the Firm in 1991. She is responsible for the Firm’s practice in California, is a member of the Firm’s management committee, and serves as co-head of the Private Equity Group.

A leading authority on mergers and acquisitions, corporate governance, and capital markets, Alison Ressler provides advice to domestic and international corporations, private equity investors, boards of directors, and financial advisors for a wide range of transactions in regulated and unregulated industries.

Selected Deals

Significant M&A transactions in which she is currently involved or has been involved in recent years include:

• the pending acquisition of Clear Channel Communications by a private equity group comprised of Thomas H. Lee Partners and Bain Capital Partners (as counsel to the financial advisor to Clear Channel)
• the equity investment in Westwood One Inc. by The Gores Group, LLC (as counsel to Chairman of the Board of Westwood One)
• the acquisition of Hilton Hotels Corporation by The Blackstone Group (as counsel to Hilton)
• the acquisition of Kaman Music Corporation by Fender Musical Instruments Corporation (as counsel to Fender Musical Instruments Corporation)
• the acquisition of Central Parking by Chrysalis Capital Partners, L.P. and Lubert-Adler, L.P. (as counsel to Chrysalis and Lubert-Adler)
• the acquisition of Asurion Corporation by an investor group including Canada Pension Plan Investment Board (as counsel to CPPIB)
• the acquisition of an equity interest in SandRidge Energy by Ares Corporate Opportunities Fund (as counsel to Ares)
• the acquisition of CNL Retirement Properties by Health Care Property Investors (as counsel to HCP)
• the acquisition of Radica Games Limited by Mattel Inc. (as counsel to Radica)
• the acquisition of Freescale Semiconductor by a consortium led by The Blackstone Group (as counsel to the financial advisor to Freescale)
• the acquisition of the hotel business of Hilton Group plc by Hilton Hotels Corporation (as counsel to Hilton)
• the acquisition of Chiron Corporation by Novartis AG (as counsel to Chiron)
• the acquisition of American Medical Instruments by Angiotech Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (as counsel to Angiotech)
• the acquisition by Occidental Petroleum Corporation of Vintage Petroleum Corporation (as counsel to Occidental Petroleum)
• the acquisition of Westcorp by Wachovia (as counsel to the Chairman, CEO and controlling shareholder of Westcorp)
• the acquisition of Telephony@Work, Inc. by Oracle Systems Corporation (as counsel to Telephony@Work)
• the acquisition of Savers Inc.(interests held by Berkshire Partners LLC) by Freeman Spogli & Co. (as counsel to the founder)
• the acquisition of National Bedding (Serta Mattress) by Ares Corporate Opportunities Fund and Ontario Teachers (as counsel to the investor group)
• the merger of Sprint Corporation and Nextel Communications, Inc. (as counsel to the financial advisors to Sprint)
• the acquisition by Talecris Holdings, LLC of Bayer AG's worldwide plasma business (as counsel to Cerberus, as lead investor)
• the acquisition by Ares Corporate Opportunities Fund of Marietta Corporation (as counsel to Ares)
• the acquisition of CB Bancshares by Central Pacific Financial Corp. (as counsel to Central Pacific)
• the acquisition of Vans, Inc. by VF Corporation (as counsel to Vans)
• the acquisition of PayPal, Inc. by eBay, Inc. (as counsel to eBay)
• the acquisitions of Pathogenesis Corporation and Matrix Pharmaceutical, Inc. by Chiron Corporation (as counsel to Chiron)
• the acquisition of The Grass Valley Group by Thompson Multimedia (as counsel to Grass Valley)
• the acquisition of Spieker Properties by Equity Office Properties (as counsel to Spieker)
• the acquisition of SDL, Inc. by JDS Uniphase Corp (as counsel to SDL)
• the acquisition by SDL, Inc. of Photonic Integration Resources, Inc. (as counsel to SDL)
• the acquisition by NTT DoCoMo of a 16% equity interest in AT&T Wireless (as counsel to NTT DoCoMo)

Rankings and Recognition

Mrs. Ressler has been recognized for her expertise by numerous publications, including being named a leading lawyer:

• for Capital Markets: Debt & Equity (2007) in Chambers Global: The World’s Leading Lawyers for Business (Chambers and Partners);
• Capital Markets (2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008) and Mergers & Acquisitions (2006, 2007) in Chambers USA: America’s Leading Lawyers for Business (Chambers and Partners);
• in Corporate Governance law in the 2006 editions of The International Who’s Who of Business Lawyers and The International Who’s Who of Corporate Governance Lawyers and for Corporate Governance and M&A in Who’s Who Legal: California 2007 (Law Business Research);
• for Private Equity (2005, 2006) in Guide to the World’s Leading Private Equity Lawyers (Euromoney) and in The Legal 500, United States, Volume 1 (2007);
• in M&A and Private Equity (2006) in The Lawdragon 500: New Stars, New Worlds, in M&A, Private Equity and Securities (2007) in The Lawdragon 500: Leading Dealmakers in America, and Overall in The Lawdragon 500 Leading Lawyers in America (2007) in both Corporate and M&A work (2006, 2008) by PLC Which Lawyer? Yearbook (Practical Law Company);
• for M&A work in Global Counsel Mergers & Acquisitions Handbook (2003-2004, 2004-2005, 2005) and PLC Cross-border Mergers & Acquisitions Handbook (2006-2007, 2007-2008, 2008-2009) (Practical Law Company);
• in Mergers & Acquisitions (2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008), in Securities & Corporate Finance (2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008) and among the Top 50 Women Lawyers (2008) in Southern California Super Lawyers;
• among California's Top 100 Leading Lawyers (2006, 2007) in the Los Angeles and San Francisco Daily Journal;
• in Corporate, M&A, and Securities Law (2005-2006) in The Best Lawyers in America (Woodward White);
• in Corporate Law and M&A Law (2006) in The Best Lawyers in America (Woodward White);
• in Corporate Governance and Compliance Law, Corporate Law, M&A Law and Securities Law (2007) in The Best Lawyers in America (Woodward White);
• in Corporate Governance and Compliance Law, M&A, Securities and Overall (2007) in The Los Angeles Area’s Best Lawyers; and
• Overall (2008) in The Lawyer Transatlantic Elite: "Introducing the Sweet Sixteen" and "The M&A Elite".

Professional Activities and Community Involvement

• Columbia Law School – member of the Dean's Council
• Brown University – Trustee
• Harvard-Westlake School – Trustee