Alan F. Denenberg

Early in his career, Denenberg figured he’d be a litigator. Then he noticed where all of the young litigators spent most of their time.

“They were in the library doing research,” he said. “And I thought, ‘Gosh I don’t want to sit in the library doing research. ... Maybe I’ll go try this corporate thing and see how that goes.’”

That choice has panned out well for Denenberg, who graduated from Columbia Law School in 1987 and has practiced corporate law for most of his 30-year career.

“Litigation is adversarial, and it’s a zero-sum game,” he said. “But on the corporate side, whether you’re handling an acquisition or raising money, ... it isn’t a zero-sum game. Everybody, in the best deals, gets enough of what they want.”

A standout deal Denenberg worked on recently involved Equinix’s $3.6 billion acquisition of Verizon Communications Inc.’s 24 data center sites in the United States, Brazil and Colombia. The deal closed this spring, according to Denenberg.

“There were multiple bidders, and Verizon is a very tough seller,” he said. “So it was a very tough negotiation — the kind where it gets very contentious at times.”

The deal was also complicated, Denenberg reported, requiring leasebacks and a number of post-closing arrangements as well as a large equity and high-yield raise by Equinix to pay for everything.

“There were a lot of things going on — financing, M&A, contractual arrangements,” Denenberg said. “It was a good healthy set of work for a law firm.”

Denenberg noted that for him, the more complicated deals are usually far more fun, but he also enjoys the relationships he makes with clients over the course of shoring up all the details. And it turns out Equinix is a business he’s worked with for several years, watching the firm grow from a small player into quite a large organization.

“Because you know the company so well and you know what they’re trying to achieve, you sort of feel like part of the team,” he explained. “So with a deal like this, which meant a lot to them, as a result it means a lot to you. ... That’s kind of what makes it all worthwhile.”

— Shane Nelson