Weil Mergers & Acquisitions partner Sachin Kohli has been named one of Law360’s 2017 “Rising Stars” for M&A in recognition of his work advising companies in some of the highest-valued mergers and acquisitions of the past few years.

Law360’s profile article highlighted Mr. Kohli’s role advising Dow Chemical in its pending $130 billion merger with DuPont, stating that the deal is notable not just because of its sheer size, but because the plan is for the DowDuPont company to spin off into three focused and independent publicly traded companies. Mr. Kohli explained, “It is uncommon to go into an M&A transaction with an intent to separate the combined company post-closing. In this case, the strategic rationale for doing so is compelling, but in order to satisfy the business objectives, we had to come up with a governance mechanism that will facilitate the separations, which required a fair amount of creative thinking from all parties involved.”

The profile also highlighted other noteworthy deals on which Mr. Kohli has advised in recent years, including his role advising Kinder Morgan in its $76 billion deal to acquire three of its subsidiaries, noted as one of the biggest energy deals on record, advising DIRECTV in its $67.1 billion acquisition by AT&T and advising JAB Holding Co. in its $13.9 billion take-private acquisition of Keurig Green Mountain, Inc.

When asked why he was drawn to M&A work, Mr. Kohli explained that he enjoys being at the center of the transaction. “From dealing with different industries to different business objectives to different transaction structures, without fail, there is always some novel issue on every deal that requires creative thinking,” he said. “It’s what keeps the job interesting and fun.”

With regard to advice he would provide young attorneys, Mr. Kohli stressed the importance of finding a mentor early in your career: “The importance of having a mentor to help with your development cannot be overstated. I’ve been fortunate in my career to have great mentors … It’s been instrumental in my development as an attorney.”

A team of Law360 editors selected the 2017 Rising Stars winners after reviewing more than 1,200 submissions. Mr. Kohli is among the attorneys under the age of 40 whose legal accomplishments belie their age.

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