Bathiya Sheriffdeen

Paul, Weiss is advising General Atlantic in its all-cash take-private acquisition of European Wax Center, Inc., a leading franchisor and operator of out-of-home body waxing services in the United States. Under the agreement, General Atlantic, which initially invested in European Wax Center in 2018 and owns 42% of its common stock, will acquire all outstanding shares of Class A common stock that it doesn’t already own. European Wax Center shareholders will receive $5.80 per share in cash for an implied equity value of approximately $330 million. The transaction, announced on February 10, is expected to close in mid-2026, subject to customary closing conditions. The Paul, Weiss team is led by corporate partners Matthew Abbott and Cullen Sinclair, and includes partners Suhan Shim, Charles Pesant, Chris Cummings, Conrad van Loggerenberg and David Sobel, and counsel Bathiya Sheriffdeen and Matthew Burton; tax partner Lindsay Parks; executive compensation partner Jarrett Hoffman; antitrust partner Ross Ferguson and counsel Todd Hahn; and litigation partners Andre Bouchard and Andrew Gordon, and counsel Audrey Paquet.

Feb 10

1 min

Paul, Weiss is advising Arizona Sonoran Copper Company on its all-stock take-private acquisition by Hudbay Minerals Inc., a copper-focused mining company with operations in Canada, Peru and the United States. Under the agreement, Hudbay will acquire all ASCU shares that it doesn’t already own for a consideration of 0.242 of a Hudbay common share per ASCU common share, an equity value of $1.5 billion. Upon closing, expected in the second quarter of 2026, Hudbay will own all of ASCU’s Cactus project in Arizona and ASCU will be delisted from the Toronto Stock Exchange. The Paul, Weiss team is led by corporate partner Ian Hazlett and associate Aaron Abramson, and includes executive compensation partner Christopher Gonnella; tax partner Matthew Jordan; litigation partner Nathan Mitchell; and antitrust counsel John Magruder.

Mar 2

1 min

Jennifer Gasser A month after launching a new Houston office, Paul Weiss Rifkind Wharton & Garrison LLP expanded the location with the addition of a corporate attorney who moved her practice from Kirkland & Ellis LLP. Jennifer Gasser has been welcomed this week to Paul Weiss as a partner in the M&A group in the corporate department at the Houston office, the firm announced Tuesday. Gasser said in a prepared statement she has "long been impressed" by Paul Weiss' M&A platform. "I look forward to collaborating with my new colleagues and expanding the firm's leading capabilities within Houston, a hotbed of activity for energy and infrastructure," Gasser said. The Houston office opened at the beginning of February when former Kirkland attorneys Sean T. Wheeler and Debbie P. Yee joined Paul Weiss. Wheeler leads the Houston location, with Yee joining as a partner in the M&A group. "Jennifer is a highly skilled M&A lawyer specializing in energy and infrastructure," Wheeler said in a prepared statement. "Her proven track record advising clients in these spaces on their most important transactions makes her an invaluable addition to our growing Houston team." Gasser's practice counsels clients, primarily in the energy and infrastructure industries, on matters related to mergers and acquisitions, divestitures, and joint ventures, according to the firm's announcement. Her notable transactions over the past several years include assisting EQT Corp. with forming a $3.5 billion joint venture with Blackstone Credit & Insurance and with EQT's $35 billion merger with Equitrans Midstream Corporation. "Jennifer's arrival marks another key step in the continued buildout of our Houston team, and we are excited to welcome her to the firm," Scott A. Barshay, chairman of Paul Weiss, said in a prepared statement. Gasser earned her law degree from the University of Texas School of Law in 2015.

Mar 3

2 min

Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison has added a third Kirkland & Ellis M&A partner to its new office in Houston, a market experiencing heavy interest and hiring from Big Law firms this year. Kirkland partner Jennifer Gasser joined Paul Weiss on Tuesday as a partner in the M&A group within the corporate department. Her practice focuses on M&A, divestitures and joint ventures in the energy and infrastructure sectors. In early February, Paul Weiss announced its move into Houston and the hiring of Kirkland M&A partner Sean Wheeler, who will serve as co-chair of global M&A and head of the Houston office, and Wheeler's longtime colleague, Kirkland M&A partner Debbie Yee. “Jennifer’s arrival marks another key step in the continued buildout of our Houston team, and we are excited to welcome her to the firm,” Paul Weiss chairman Scott Barshay wrote in a press release. Wheeler wrote that Gasser's "proven track record" advising clients in energy and infrastructure on important transactions makes her an "invaluable addition" to the team in Houston. “Jennifer is a highly skilled M&A lawyer," he wrote. Gasser could not immediately be reached for a comment on her move. In a press release, she wrote that she has been impressed for a long time by the caliber of work her new firm handles. “I look forward to collaborating with my new colleagues and expanding the firm’s leading capabilities within Houston, a hotbed of activity for energy and infrastructure,” she wrote. According to Paul Weiss, Gasser has recently represented EQT Corp. in multiple transactions, including a midstream joint venture with Blackstone Credit & Insurance and a merger with Equitrans Midstream Corp.; Sandbrook Capital in its acquisition of Bernhard Capital Partners’ equity interests in United Utility Services and Electro Rent Corp.’s equity interests in Intellirent; Cloverleaf Infrastructure in its sale of powered land to Vantage Data Centers for development of a data center campus; Celanese in the divestment of its Micromax portfolio of products to Element Solutions,; and ONEOK, Inc. in its acquisition of Global Infrastructure Partners’ equity interests in Medallion Midstream. A spokesperson for Kirkland provided this comment on Gasser's departure: “We wish Jennifer well in her new role.”

Mar 3

2 min

Paul, Weiss advised Greater Sum Ventures, an entrepreneurial family office that invests in middle market software and tech-enabled service companies, on its preferred equity investment, alongside Blackstone Tactical Opportunities, into Inhabit, a global leader in property management solutions. With this investment, GSV and Blackstone join institutional investors Goldman Sachs, Insight Partners and PSG as shareholders in Inhabit. The Paul, Weiss team was led by corporate partners Ted Ackerman and Megan Spelman, and associate Bathiya Sheriffdeen, and included partners Lindsey Wiersma and Christodoulos Kaoutzanis; tax partner Anne McGinnis and counsel Patrick Karsnitz; executive compensation partner Rebecca Coccaro and counsel Meghan Fox; and antitrust counsel Todd Hahn and Chad de Souza.

Dec 2

1 min