Profile: Faiza J Saeed

Mergers and Acquisitions

Biography: Mergers and Acquisitions

Faiza J Saeed is a partner in the Cravath, Swaine & Moore LLP corporate department. She specialises in mergers and acquisitions, including takeover defence, proxy contests and corporate governance matters. Faiza has advised on many significant media deals over the past decade, including representing DreamWorks SKG since its formation, and most recently in its US$1.6 billion sale to Paramount Pictures; DreamWorks Animation in its US$4.1 billion spin-off IPO; Lycos in its US$12 billion merger with Terra Networks; Time Warner in numerous transactions, including most recently its divestiture of Time Warner Telecom and in its Icahn Group defence; Viacom and its MTV Networks in a joint venture with RealNetworks to create Rhapsody America; and Vivendi in its US$46 billion merger with Seagram and the resulting Vivendi Universal in numerous follow-on acquisitions. She also has extensive deal experience in many other sectors, including advising Kraft Foods in its US$2.6 billion divestiture of the Post cereals business; Morgan Stanley in its acquisition of FrontPoint Partners; VeraSun Energy in its US$1.5 billion merger with US BioEnergy; and White Mountains in its US$1.4 billion acquisition of the life insurance businesses of Safeco. Faiza has advised many targets of hedge fund activism, including CSX in its proxy contest with The Children's Investment Fund and 3G Capital; Kraft Foods in its negotiations with Nelson Peltz and the Trian Group; Time Warner in its defence against Carl Icahn; and TKT in its contested US$1.6 billion merger with Shire Pharmaceuticals.

In 2006, Faiza was named a Young Global Leader by the World Economic Forum (Davos). She has also received professional recognition from Corporate Board Member magazine; Crain's New York Business ("100 Most Influential Women in NYC Business"); Dealmaker magazine, New York magazine, The New York Times ("Wall Street's 100 Masters of the New Universe"), The National Law Journal ("40 Under 40") and The American Lawyer magazine ("45 Under 45" and a "Dealmaker of the Year" in 2000 and 2005). She is cited as one of the country's leading lawyers in the M&A and media arenas in Chambers USA 2008 and Chambers Global 2008.

Faiza received a BA in Economics and Molecular Biology, with highest distinction, from the University of California at Berkeley in 1987, where she was elected to Phi Beta Kappa, and a JD, magna cum laude, from Harvard Law School in 1991. She joined Cravath in 1991 and was elected a partner in 1998. Faiza currently serves on the visiting committee for Harvard Law School.