Mr Barshay is known as one of Wall Street's most prolific dealmakers, having worked on nearly $300bn worth of transactions last year alone. Among Mr Barshay's accolades are advising on beverage giant Anheuser-Busch InBev's $100bn-plus acquisition of SAB Miller and Heinz's takeover of Kraft, for which he provided counsel to Brazilian private equity firm 3G Capital Partners. Also among Mr Barshay's top-tier clients are cosmetics group Avon Products, global conglomerate Honeywell International and most recently Starwood Hotels and Resorts, for which there was a fierce bidding war between rival suitors Marriott Hotels and Chinese insurance giant Anbang before a $13.6bn takeover offer was accepted from the former.
'Scott Barshay is widely recognised as one of the country's leading M&A lawyers, advising the world's companies on their most complex corporate transactions and governance issues,' commented Paul Weiss chairman Brad Karp.
Mr Barshay's departure is a significant blow for Cravath. The 50-year-old lawyer has spent the vast majority of his career with the firm, joining up as a first-year associate in 1991. As a trusted adviser to CEOs of some of the biggest businesses in the US, Mr Barshay may take a long and carefully cultivated list of prolific legal clients with him to his new firm. Mr Barshay's decision to switch to Paul Weiss comes at a time when smaller New York firms are haemorrhaging market share to their monolithic rivals.
Sources: Wall Street Journal; Financial Times
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