Joshua M. Zachariah

Over the last two years, Zachariah has handled nine merger and acquisition transactions totaling about $12 billion. A partner at Kirkland & Ellis LLP, his practice also focuses on corporate finance, securities and general corporate matters. He is currently the only Kirkland partner on the West Coast advising private equity firms on the acquisition of public companies.

His clients include Acorda Therapeutics Inc., Del Frisco's Restaurant Group Inc., Fortress Credit Corp., GI Partners LP, Golden Gate Capital, HGGC, True Wind Capital Management LP, Vista Equity Partners Management LLC and Vector Capital.

Zachariah, who was working in New York, moved to Kirkland in 2010 from Skadden, Arps, Slate Meagher & Flom LLP and Affiliates. Kirkland needed his skills across the country. "It was a little difficult to peel away from friends and family on the East Coast, but it has been great to explore the West Coast and Hawaii with my family," he said.

After getting his J.D. from Georgetown University Law Center and a B.S. in economics summa cum laude from Duke University, Zachariah said, "I debated whether I wanted to be a lawyer or an investment banker. I was fascinated by mergers; I really enjoyed getting into the nuts and bolts. I learned there weren't many doing public M&A and that I had a set of skills that were highly valued. So going into the law in that area was a unique opportunity for me."

For Vista Equity, he was lead counsel in its $2 billion take-private acquisition of Apptio Inc., a provider of cloud-based and hybrid business management software. He also led the client's $1.9 billion acquisition of Mindbody Inc., a leading technology platform for the fitness, beauty and wellness services industries. And he was lead counsel in Vista's acquisition for $1.55 billion of The Advisory Board Co.'s education business, EAB, a best practices firm that improves the performance of more than 1,200 educational institutions.

"Mindbody is the app a lot of gyms and fitness studios use," he said. "Fortunately, I'm able to use the gym in my building."

For Del Frisco, owner of the Double Eagle Steakhouse, Del Frisco's Grille, Barcelona Wine Bar and bartaco brands, Zachariah represented the board of directors on the execution of a cooperation agreement with Engaged Capital LLC, Del Frisco's third largest shareholder. Zachariah is also advising the group on its $32 million sale of the Sullivan's Steakhouse brand to Romano's Macaroni Grill.

He represented True Wind on its acquisition of ARI Network Services Inc., a provider of software-as-a-service tools and marketing services, in an all-cash transaction representing an enterprise value of about $140 million. It was the fund's first take-private acquisition.

"I try to work as a generalist," Zachariah said. "I became educated on how the Bay Area tech companies operate and what IP issues are likely to come up in deals."

He's happy he found Kirkland. "This firm values young talent that is driven and entrepreneurial," he said. "You become known quickly. The firm rewards collaboration with partners whose clients need your expertise. Some firms have partners who hoard clients. Here our view is that you put your best out there for your clients."

-- John Roemer