December 09, 2016
Head of Weil’s Environmental practice, Annemargaret Connolly has been named an MVP for Environmental by Law360. This honor comes in recognition of her leadership in advising on environmental issues on $250 billion in mergers and acquisitions, including The Dow Chemical Company’s pending $130 billion merger of equals with E.I. du Pont de Nemours and Company.
Recently, Ms. Connolly has advised clients on a variety of transactions ranging from a divesture of assets exceeding $50 billion for General Electric to a pending $25 billion exchange of businesses for Sanofi SA. She has also counseled Progressive Waste Solutions in its $2.67 billion merger with Waste Connections, American Securities in the $1.37 billion sale of Arizona Chemical Co. LLC, and GDF Suez Energy North America in one pending $3.3 billion sale of 16 fossil-fuel-fired power plants and another $1.2 billion sale of FirstLight Power Resources.
Ms. Connolly’s focus is often on assessing the risk posed by environmental matters and concerns and advising clients as they begin to structure their transaction. She notes that environmental work in M&A has increased saying, “It has become institutionalized, and that’s a positive term … I used to get calls as they were getting close to signing a contract; now I get a call when they’re starting to look at a transaction.” She attributes her success in this field to her ability to bridge the gap between data gathered by experts who figure out environmental liabilities and clients that have specific business needs.
Ms. Connolly’s practice is not limited to M&A as she also advises on bankruptcy cases. She advised on the sale of the hundreds of grocery store properties in the chapter 11 bankruptcy filing of The Great Atlantic Pacific Tea Company, which was an essential component of the restructuring.
