Josh Birenbaum, P.C.

U.S. Senate and U.S. House Democrats have launched a congressional inquiry exploring why the U.S. Department of Justice allowed residential real estate brokerage firm Compass Inc. to expedite its $1.6 billion merger and acquisition of rival company Anywhere Real Estate Inc. “The fact pattern reported in the Compass-Anywhere deal is deeply disturbing,” several U.S. senators and House members wrote in a seven-page letter addressed to U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi. “[I]t may be another example of well-connected industries and lobbyists obtaining inside access to high-level Trump Administration DOJ officials, and using this access to pervert the antitrust process to obtain approval of anticompetitive mergers that will reduce competition and harm the public,” the lawmakers added. Compass under the legal advice of Kirkland & Ellis originally announced it would consummate its planned acquisition of Anywhere “in the second half of 2026” before racing to close the transaction Jan. 9, according to the public statements of the merging parties. Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz advised Madison, New Jersey-based Anywhere in the residential real estate brokerage’s combination with New York-based Compass. “Because of their potential impact on costs and markets, reviews of proposed mergers must be guided by an evenhanded process that applies the same scrutiny to all parties—especially in cases like the Compass-Anywhere merger, where consolidation may raise risks of reduced competition, diminished transparency, and higher housing costs for millions of Americans,” Democratic lawmakers wrote in their joint letter to Bondi. The bicameral-congressional inquiry requests answers from Bondi by March 5 addressing whether the DOJ’s Antitrust Division identified any competition concerns with the Compass-Anywhere merger and why the Justice Department avoided further investigation when approving the deal. Compass, a tech-enabled real estate services company, fully acquired Anywhere’s assets and brands, including Century 21, Coldwell Banker and Sotheby’s International Realty, in an all-stock combination. The Compass-Anywhere merger closed months ahead of schedule and five weeks before Gail Slater departed as the DOJ’s top antitrust enforcer. U.S. Sens. Elizabeth Warren, D-Massachusetts; Chuck Schumer, D-New York; Bernie Sanders, I-Vermont; and Amy Klobuchar, D-Minnesota, are among the 18 federal lawmakers asking Bondi to answer multiple questions regarding Compass’ speedy acquisition of Anywhere and Slater’s sudden Feb. 12 exit as the DOJ’s assistant attorney general for antitrust. Slater and several of her former top deputies left the DOJ’s Antitrust Division after voicing internal dissent, according to court documents filed by 12 states and the District of Columbia intervening in the DOJ’s divestiture settlement proceedings with Hewlett Packard Enterprise Co. and Juniper Networks. A DOJ spokesperson did not immediately respond to a request for comment. The Kirkland team that advised Compass, including corporate lawyer Joshua Kogan, antitrust & competition lawyer Andrea Murino, capital markets lawyer Ross Leff, debt finance lawyer Jason Kanner, executive compensation lawyer Scott Price, litigation lawyer Lindsey Weiss Harris and technology & IP transactions lawyer Seth Traxler did not respond to requests for interviews Wednesday. Steven A. Rosenblum, of counsel at Wachtell Lipton, served as the lead legal adviser for Anywhere. He did not immediately respond to a request for an interview.

Feb 25

2 min

Kirkland & Ellis advised HGGC, a leading middle-market private equity firm with over $6.9 billion of cumulative capital commitments, and its portfolio company Marmic Fire & Safety on the sale of Marmic to investment funds managed by KKR. Marmic specializes in the inspection and maintenance of fire protection equipment, including sprinklers, suppression systems, alarms and special hazard systems. Terms of the private sale were not disclosed. Read HGGC’s press release The Kirkland team was led by corporate partners Marc Browning, Josh Birenbaum and Javier Oliver-Keymorth; and tax partner Bill Dong.

Jul 26

1 min

Kirkland & Ellis is excited to announce that Josh Birenbaum has rejoined the Firm as a partner in the Corporate Practice Group. “Josh is a talented lawyer with a unique combination of skills gained from his time in the military, consulting and private practice that give him a distinctive perspective for our private equity clients,” said Jon A. Ballis, Chairman of Kirkland’s Executive Committee. “We are thrilled to have him on board.” Mr. Birenbaum represents private equity funds and their portfolio companies, public and private companies, and financial institutions on complex mergers and acquisitions, leveraged buyouts, joint ventures and other strategic transactions. His clients are active in areas including technology, consumer products, manufacturing, aerospace, defense and residential and commercial services. Prior to becoming an attorney, Mr. Birenbaum worked as a senior consultant for IBM Global Business Services and served as an officer in the U.S. Army. He was previously an associate at Kirkland from 2012 to 2014. Mr. Birenbaum joins Kirkland from Allen & Overy’s Los Angeles office. He earned his bachelor’s degree in economics and was a Distinguished Honor graduate from the United States Military Academy at West Point, advancing to the rank of second lieutenant in the U.S. Army. He earned his law degree from the University of Southern California Gould School of Law. Kirkland has the largest and most active private equity practice in the world, serving more than 500 private equity sponsors and generating the largest deal flow of any law firm. Kirkland has continually ranked first among legal advisors both for number of private equity buyouts and fund formations.

Dec 4

1 min

Kirkland & Ellis represented Alterra IOS, a leading owner and manager in the industrial outdoor storage (IOS) sector, on its strategic minority investment from Almanac, the private real estate arm of Neuberger. The investment will support Alterra’s rapidly growing IOS platform, further institutionalizing the industrial outdoor storage asset class. Read Alterra’s press release The Kirkland team included investment funds lawyers Pete Vaglio and Josh Morgan; corporate lawyer Brittany Scheier; and tax lawyer Stephen Butler.

Feb 27

1 min