Edward J. Lee, P.C.

Kirkland is advising Uber Technologies, Inc. (NYSE: UBER) on an agreement to acquire industry-leading parking reservation app SpotHero, bringing parking reservations onto the Uber app. Since launching in 2011, SpotHero has helped millions of drivers easily find affordable parking at more than 13,000 garages, lots, and valets across more than 400 cities in the U.S. and Canada. Uber plans to offer a native, in-app parking reservation experience, powered by SpotHero, with a focus on parking for commuters, as well as at events, venues, and airports. In time, Uber One members can also expect to see parking benefits as part of their membership. In turn, parking operators working with SpotHero will benefit from access to Uber’s large consumer base and network of vehicle charging and fleet partners. The acquisition is subject to the receipt of regulatory approval and satisfaction of other customary closing conditions and is expected to close in the first half of 2026. Read the transaction press release The Kirkland team included corporate lawyers Edward Lee, Steven Choi, Arjun Mocherla, Hayley Haggard, Anne Hicks and Hayley Hollender; executive compensation lawyers Rohit Nafday, Anthony Ji and Sooah Kim; tax lawyers Sara Zablotney and Margot Solmssen; technology & IP transactions lawyers Seth Traxler and Kevin Jacobsen; employment & labor lawyers Jackie Heffernan and Jon Link; employee benefits lawyers Justin Coddington and Amin Hamza; and antitrust & competition lawyers Andrea Murino and Sadé Harper.

Feb 23

1 min

Kirkland & Ellis advised BAE Systems (LSE: BA) on the $5.5 billion acquisition of Ball Corp.’s (NYSE: BALL) defense and commercial space unit Ball Aerospace. The deal was announced August 17, 2023. Ball Aerospace specializes in spacecraft, mission payloads, optical systems, conformal antennas, and electronically steered arrays. The acquisition will help BAE accelerate its space strategy. Read the BAE Systems press release The Kirkland team was led by corporate partners Sarkis Jebejian, Edward J. Lee and Steven Li and associates David Jean-Baptiste, Eli Markham and Christian Eckel; antitrust & competition partners Ian John, Peter McCormack and Paula Riedel and associate Emily Hsu; technology & IP transactions partners Seth Traxler and Kevin Jacobsen and associate Seth Pritchard; employee benefits partner Matthew Antinossi and associate Caitlyn Pyrce; executive compensation partners Rob Fowler and John Kleinjan and associate James Sprague; government contracts partner Boyd Greene and associate Ashley Pincock; tax partners Sara Zablotney, William Dong and Rebecca Fine; employment & labor partner Christie Alcala and associate Jaime Wamble; environmental transactions partner Michael Saretsky and associate Max Anderson; real estate partner Ian Craig and associate Shawn Lee; and litigation partner Lisa Esayian.

Aug 17

1 min

Kirkland & Ells advised Ziff Davis, Inc. (Nasdaq: ZD) on a definitive agreement to sell its Connectivity division to Accenture (NYSE: ACN) for $1.2 billion in cash. Ziff Davis’ Connectivity brands are globally recognized in fixed broadband, mobile and Wi-Fi network design, intelligence, insights, testing and incident detection. These brands, including Ookla, Speedtest, Ekahau, Downdetector and RootMetrics, empower organizations to optimize networks, elevate digital experiences and ensure faster, more reliable connectivity. The transaction is currently expected to close in the coming months, subject to the satisfaction of certain closing conditions and receipt of required regulatory approvals. Read the transaction press release The Kirkland team included corporate lawyers David Klein, Andrew Norwich and Daniel Wolf; tax lawyer Sara Zablotney; executive compensation lawyer Rob Fowler; capital markets lawyers Sophia Hudson and Zoey Hitzert; antitrust & competition lawyer Daniel Zach; and technology & IP transactions lawyer Daisy Darvall.

Mar 3

1 min

Westchester Surplus Lines Insurance Co. and multiple Florida homeowners associations have ended their dispute in Florida federal court over the associations' more than $230 million insurance claim for Pensacola Beach condominiums damaged by Hurricane Sally. According to their joint dismissal stipulation filed Monday, Westchester Surplus and the homeowners associations have agreed to permanently dismiss their claims against each other. The insurer and the homeowners associations initially told the court in February that they decided to settle their dispute and planned to file a joint dismissal stipulation. Westchester Surplus and 15 other insurers began their suit against the homeowners associations in January 2023. According to their amended suit, an appraiser picked by the defendants filed "an egregiously overinflated" hurricane damages claim for more than $230 million. The insurers alleged that the defendants asked for an appraisal after Hurricane Sally hit and filed a more than $6.4 million sworn proof of loss claim. But, according to the insurers, this claim eventually "ballooned to an amount wholly detached from any actual damage resulting from the hurricane." "In particular, the defendants' selected appraiser submitted estimates to the appraisal panel that include charges that are wholly improper, overstated, unrelated, duplicative, and attempt to turn the defendants' legitimate loss into a once-in-a-lifetime windfall at plaintiffs' expense," the insurers alleged. "Defendants' appraiser increased the value of the claim from the unsolicited sworn proof of loss by over $225 million when he submitted an outrageous $233,030,601.80 claim to the appraisal panel, which raises significant questions concerning the appraiser's interest and honesty, as well as the fraudulent nature of the claim and its supporting documentation," they further alleged. In September 2023, the defendants filed counterclaims against the insurers, alleging that the insurers breached their insurance policies by wrongfully refusing to pay for the appraised hurricane damage. However, in September 2025, the presiding court nixed the defendants' $187 million appraisal award, ruling that the defendants' appraiser failed to properly state how much the condominiums were damaged by Hurricane Sally. Counsel for Westchester Surplus and the defendants didn't respond to requests for comment Tuesday. Westchester Surplus Lines Insurance Co. and multiple other insurers are represented by Alexandra J. Schultz, Juan P. Garrido and John D. Dickenson of Cozen O'Connor. The Portofino defendants are represented by Edward P. Fleming, Matthew A. Bush and Aaron T. McCurdy of McDonald Fleming LLP, Kurtis J. Keefer of Goede DeBoest & Cross PLLC and Charles F. Beall Jr. of Moore Hill & Westmoreland PA. The case is Westchester Surplus Lines Insurance Co. et al. v. Portofino Masters Homeowners Association Inc. et al., case number 3:23-cv-00453, in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Florida.

Mar 3

2 min

Kirkland & Ellis is advising KKR in its definitive agreement, announced today, to acquire CIRCOR International, Inc. (NYSE: CIR), one of the world’s leading providers of mission critical flow control products and services for the Industrial and Aerospace & Defense markets, in an all cash transaction valued at approximately $1.6 billion, including the assumption of debt. Under the terms of the agreement, KKR will acquire all outstanding shares of CIRCOR common stock for $49 per share in cash, representing a 55% premium to the company’s closing stock price on June 2, 2023. The transaction is expected to close in the fourth quarter of 2023, subject to approvals and satisfaction of customary closing conditions. Read CIRCOR’s press release The Kirkland team is led by corporate partners Jennifer Perkins, Edward J. Lee, Chelsea Darnell and Lukas Richards, along with corporate associate Steven Choi; executive compensation partners Scott Price and John Kleinjan; and debt finance partners Eric Wedel, Matthew Leist and Caroline Epstein.

Jun 5

1 min