Olivia M. George

Accenture said Tuesday it will acquire Ookla, a Seattle-based provider of internet data products, from Ziff Davis, in a deal that Accenture said will give customers insights into network metrics that are increasingly critical in the age of artificial intelligence. Both Accenture and Ziff Davis announced the deal, with the latter company stating the purchase price as $1.2 billion in cash. Ookla's network intelligence and analytics include data products like Speedtest, Downdetector, Ekahau and RootMetrics. Accenture said the acquisition will help communications service providers, or CSPs, hyperscalers and enterprises "optimize the mission-critical Wi-Fi and 5G networks that power their digital core." "Network data is no longer just a lifeline for the telecoms industry; it now creates significant value across all sectors," according to Accenture. "As AI scales, the insights captured at the network, device, and application layers are essential to enhance fraud prevention in banking, smart home analytics in utilities, and traffic optimization in retail." Ookla comes with a team of approximately 430 experts specializing in software engineering, radio frequency engineering and data science, Accenture said. By comparison, Accenture, which "helps the world's leading enterprises reinvent by building their digital core and unleashing the power of AI to create value at speed across the enterprise," said it has approximately 784,000 personnel. The acquisition is subject to customary closing conditions, including the receipt of required regulatory approvals, Accenture said. In a statement, Vivek Shah, CEO of Ziff Davis, called the deal transformative, "representing a significant realization of value for our shareholders and a concrete illustration of the quality of the businesses in our portfolio." Evercore Group LLC and Citi served as Ziff Davis' financial advisers. Kirkland & Ellis LLP advised Ziff Davis, led by partners David Klein, Andrew Norwich and Daniel Wolf. Counsel information for Accenture was not immediately available.

Mar 3

1 min

Kirkland & Ellis advised Cypress Creek Renewables on a $125 million holdco syndicated debt financing comprised of working capital loans and letters of credit, backed by a 1.6 GW portfolio of operating utility-scale and distributed facility solar assets. The Kirkland team was led by debt finance associates Olivia George and Paul Roberts, with support from debt finance partner Rohit Chaudhry; tax partner Michael Masri; energy regulatory partner Drew Stuyvenberg; government & internal investigations partner Nick Niles; and investment funds associate Tim Nolan.

May 5

1 min

Kirkland & Ellis counseled Ares Management Infrastructure Opportunities funds in an investment in a partnership with ENGIE North America holding a 2.7 GW portfolio consisting of 15 projects in operation across ERCOT, MISO, PJM and SPP, of which 53% is solar, 25% wind and 22% co-located battery storage capacity. This transaction is one of the largest sales completed in the renewables sector based on total capacity. ENGIE will retain a controlling share in the portfolio and will continue to operate and manage the assets. In connection with the investment, Kirkland also advised Ares on securing a new backleveraged first lien credit facility, which was jointly arranged by MUFG Bank, Ltd. and BNP Paribas. Read the transaction press release The Kirkland team was led by corporate partners Rob Goodin, Michael Cline and Daniel Cadis and associates Alexandra David and Brad Johnson; debt finance partners Rohit Chaudhry and Olivia George; tax equity partners William Nicholson, Michael Masri and Sophia Han; tax partners Bill Dong and Jacob Walley; and energy regulatory partner Drew Stuyvenberg.

Sep 13

1 min

Kirkland & Ellis closed two recent solar financings for Cypress Creek Renewables.  Kirkland advised Cypress Creek on a $200 million mezzanine syndicated debt financing backed by a 1.6 GW portfolio of operating utility-scale and distributed solar assets.  Investec acted as the lead arranger for the financing.  This financing closed on October 30, 2020.  In addition, Kirkland advised Cypress Creek on a senior debt financing for a portfolio of 14 solar projects, allowing Cypress Creek to pay off existing project-level debt and complete a series of tax equity buyouts for sole ownership of the portfolio projects. BNP Paribas acted as the primary lender and lead arranger for the transaction, which includes potential incremental facility capacity of up to $650 million.  This financing closed on October 16, 2020. Read Cypress Creek’s press release On both matters, the Kirkland team was led by debt finance partner Rohit Chaudhry,  associates Olivia George and Raghav Gupta, with support from tax partner Scott Cockerham; energy regulatory partners Brooksany Barrowes and Drew Stuyvenberg; derivatives partner Drue Santora;  environmental transactions partner Alex Farmer and associate Jim Dolphin; employee benefits partners Elizabeth Dyer and Melissa Grim; government & internal investigations partner Nick Niles; and investment funds associate Tim Nolan.

Nov 4

1 min

Kirkland & Ellis LLP is pleased to announce that 193 attorneys have been promoted to partner effective October 1, 2022. Austin Name Practice Area Sean McClay Debt Finance Bay Area Name Practice Area Katya Boyko M&A and Private Equity Kyle Calhoun Intellectual Property Litigation Andrew Chan Tax Courtney Chen Investment Funds Zeke Couch Investment Funds Michael Hanna M&A and Private Equity Jared Maher M&A and Private Equity Ankur Sharma M&A and Private Equity Jessica Tjang Debt Finance Beijing Name Practice Area Justin You Zhou Capital Markets Boston Name Practice Area Brian Allen Investment Funds S. Grant Bowen Debt Finance Larissa Cespedes-Yaffar M&A and Private Equity Charles Chen Investment Funds Alexander Flynn-Tabloff Employment & Labor Tiffany M. Knapp Intellectual Property Litigation Scott Lenahan Investment Funds Alisha Patterson Investment Funds Chicago Name Practice Area Amelia Bailey Litigation Michael F. Black Investment Funds Kelsey Bleiweiss Litigation Cassandra Catalano Litigation Chris Chase Employee Benefits Bernadette Coppola Technology & IP Transactions Lee Discher Debt Finance Hannah Ehrenberg Real Estate Cot Eversole Capital Markets Cameron Ginder Litigation Jessica Giulitto Litigation Emily Hogan Debt Finance Kevin Jacobsen Technology & IP Transactions Nathan Jimenez Investment Funds Justin Joffe M&A and Private Equity Deidre Kalenderian Executive Compensation James Kestler Litigation Dan Latona Restructuring Michael LeFevour Litigation Patrick Loughery Debt Finance Caroline Lourgos Intellectual Property Litigation Kevin McClelland Restructuring Ryan McNish Investment Funds Taylor Melching M&A and Private Equity A.J. Million Capital Markets Patricia Radkowski Litigation Bruce Ratain Intellectual Property Litigation Tricia Schwallier Collins Restructuring Ashley Sinclair Capital Markets Kevin Stocks M&A and Private Equity Andrew Struckmeyer M&A and Private Equity Eric Sweigard M&A and Private Equity Julia Trotta Investment Funds Jordan Turban Miles M&A and Private Equity Patrick Valenti Investment Funds Daniella Vespoli M&A and Private Equity Neil Vohra M&A and Private Equity Kate Walling Litigation Andrew Walter Intellectual Property Litigation Jenny Warfield Real Estate Nicholas Warther Tax Michael Wester Investment Funds Margaret Yeager Private Equity/Private Investment & Family Office Ziyad Ziyadzade M&A and Private Equity Dallas Name Practice Area Victoria Acuff Real Estate Noah Allen Capital Markets Layton Bell Debt Finance Rudgee S. Charles Asset Finance & Securitization William C. Eiland II M&A and Private Equity Rebecca Fine Tax Ruben Garcia Litigation Catharine Hansard M&A and Private Equity Sable Hodson Litigation Randall W. Miller Litigation Hong Kong Name Practice Area Ryan Choi Capital Markets Min Lu M&A and Private Equity Stacey Shen M&A and Private Equity Shinong Wang Investment Funds Ling Zhu Investment Funds Houston Name Practice Area Jennifer Cornejo Environmental Transactions Patrick Corrigan M&A and Private Equity Alia Heintz M&A and Private Equity Ieuan List Capital Markets Rex Manning Litigation Patrick Y. Moneypenny M&A and Private Equity Ryan Phelps Tax Scott Reid Debt Finance Anthony Sanderson Capital Markets Zach Savrick M&A and Private Equity Shainee Shah Litigation Billy Vranish Capital Markets Camille Walker M&A and Private Equity Fraser Wayne M&A and Private Equity London Name Practice Area Gabriella Bornstein Intellectual Property Litigation Aisling Campbell Investment Funds Jacqueline Clover Technology & IP Transactions Chris Connolly M&A and Private Equity Daniel D’Ambrosio ESG and Impact Sion Davies Antitrust & Competition John de Rohan-Truba Intellectual Property Litigation Jack Donelan M&A and Private Equity Emma Faulkner-Hill Tax Joel Gory Antitrust & Competition Ben Hai M&A and Private Equity Rehan Hanif Debt Finance Gabe Harley Restructuring Hamesh Khatkar M&A and Private Equity Victoria Legg M&A and Private Equity Chrystel Marincich Capital Markets Patrick Navein Litigation Jiri Peterka M&A and Private Equity Lorenza Prelz Oltramonti Investment Funds David Pritchett Investment Funds Emma Reid Financial Services Regulatory Oscar Robinson Intellectual Property Litigation Claire Rushton M&A and Private Equity Shahrzad Sadjadi Antitrust & Competition Noah Stewart-Ornstein Litigation Jamie Thomson Investment Funds Los Angeles Name Practice Area Yvonne Beeler Intellectual Property Litigation Matthew Benedetto M&A and Private Equity Sam Blake Intellectual Property Litigation Yungmoon Chang Intellectual Property Litigation Eric Cohen M&A and Private Equity Caroline Epstein Debt Finance Amelia Gordon Debt Finance Andrew Hurley Debt Finance Garry Padrta M&A and Private Equity Ingrid Petersen Intellectual Property Litigation Christopher Raidy Debt Finance Michael Rosenberg Litigation Matthew Summers Litigation Munich Name Practice Area Marlene Ruf Restructuring New York Name Practice Area Sara Allawi Investment Funds Rachael Bentley Restructuring Guillemette Chamayou Investment Funds Jacob Clark Real Estate Linda Dahl Investment Funds Nathaniel DeLucia Intellectual Property Litigation Samuel Dykstra Environmental Transactions Vera Esses Litigation Ciara Foster Restructuring Peter C. Fritz M&A and Private Equity Asaf Gamzo Investment Funds J. Todd Garcia, Jr. Antitrust & Competition Olivia George Debt Finance Zoey Hitzert Capital Markets Timothy Hughes Debt Finance Derek Hunter Restructuring Rex Hupy M&A and Private Equity Jake Jung Tax Olga Kamensky Investment Funds Jennifer Karinen Capital Markets Kim Kaufman Investment Funds Katy Kim Investment Funds John Kleinjan Executive Compensation Jenny Lee Litigation Christie Mok Capital Markets Thomas Norelli Trusts & Estates Eugene Park Debt Finance Leila Ravi Debt Finance Brittany Roger Debt Finance Joanna Schlingbaum Technology & IP Transactions Fishel Schreiber Executive Compensation Ned Schultheis M&A and Private Equity Allyson Smith Restructuring Dominic Spence Real Estate Haley Stern Litigation Amanda Katlowitz Strickler Investment Funds David M. Towarnicky M&A and Private Equity Charles Wehbe M&A and Private Equity Colin Zelicof M&A and Private Equity Salt Lake City Name Practice Area Paul Hendrickson Tax Cameron Leishman M&A and Private Equity Matthew Pinegar Investment Funds Elena Simion M&A and Private Equity Spencer Topham M&A and Private Equity Shanghai Name Practice Area Sally Han Litigation Nelson Ni M&A and Private Equity Washington D.C. Name Practice Area Patrick Arnett Intellectual Property Litigation David Branham Executive Compensation Erin Cady Litigation Katherine Canning Litigation Steven Cantor Tax Michelle Sliwinski DeMaio Environmental Transactions Katie Drummonds Antitrust & Competition Lucie Duvall Antitrust & Competition/Consumer Protection Don Hong Litigation Mary Miller Litigation Karthik Ravishankar Intellectual Property Litigation Emily Scott Intellectual Property Litigation Ben Wallace Litigation Sally Ye Executive Compensation Note: For certain partners, admission will take effect when any necessary regulatory requirements have been satisfied.

Oct 3

4 min