Michael J. Aiello is co-head of the firm's New York Private Equity and Mergers & Acquisitions Department, and a member of the firm’s Management Committee. Mr. Aiello regularly represents companies in connection with mergers, acquisitions and divestitures involving public companies. He also advises clients on corporate governance issues.
He regularly represents acquirors, targets, buyout groups, boards of directors, special committees, investment banks, investors and shareholder groups in complex domestic and international negotiated and unsolicited transactions, including AIG, Willis Group Holdings, MGM Mirage, NYMEX, The Walt Disney Company, Sony Corporation of America, GE Commercial Finance, Actavis Group h.f., Associated British Foods plc, Sumitomo Corporation of America, Goldman Sachs Capital Partners, Lazard Freres and Merrill Lynch / Bank of America.
Mr. Aiello has counseled clients on a broad range of corporate, securities and business-related matters, including directors’ duties and responsibilities and other aspects of corporate governance, disclosure issues and compliance matters, as well as defensive measures and takeover tactics.
Mr. Aiello was selected as one of Crain's New York Business “40 Under 40” honorees for 2008. He was recently named one of the "40 Business People Under 40 to Watch in 2009" by The Investment Dealers Digest. In 2005, he was named one of The National Law Journal’s “40 Under 40” for his work in the mergers and acquisitions area. He was recognized in 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009 and 2010 in Chambers USA - America’s Leading Lawyers for Business as a leader in the field of mergers and acquisitions.
Mr. Aiello has authored several articles discussing the fiduciary duties of corporate directors and officers, recent developments in the areas of mergers and acquisitions and corporate compliance matters, including Sarbanes-Oxley and the related rules adopted by the SEC and the securities exchanges, and is a frequent lecturer in these areas. In 2006, Mr. Aiello received a Burton Award for Legal Achievement for his article, "Taking a Hard Look at Poison Pills" (New York Law Journal, November 7, 2005).