Kirsten J. Jensen

Jensen, a founding member of Simpson Thacher’s Palo Alto office, which opened in 1999, has watched small startups in Silicon Valley become iconic brands. And after nearly three decades of mergers and acquisitions work, she still enjoys the challenge of the work.

“People come to us with the hard stuff, and every day I do something new and different,” Jensen said. “I’ve always found it extremely challenging, and I love doing a deep dive into a company’s business. M&A has that wonderful strategic aspect where you’re their lawyer, but you’re also working on something that will impact their business long after you’re gone.”

Jensen represented Cypress Semiconductor in a $10 billion acquisition by Germany-based Infineon Technologies. Cypress provides advanced embedded solutions for innovative companies in the automotive, industrial, smart home appliances, consumer electronics and medical markets. The acquisition makes Infineon one of the world’s top 10 semiconductor manufacturers.

Cypress signed the deal in June 2019.

“I’m very proud that we were able to get that $10 billion deal closed in April 2020, mid-COVID, after having gotten CFIUS approval and China anti-trust approval. We got it closed without any hiccups,” Jensen said. “Obviously people have read about the many deals that fell victim to COVID or unexpected issues because of trade tensions between the U.S. and China. I’m particularly proud of my team’s work in getting that deal closed smoothly and on time.”

All parties worked closely together to make sure nothing slipped through the cracks, and understood that things would take a little longer than anticipated due to the shutdown. As an example, Jensen said her team checked daily with the Delaware secretary of state to make sure the filing procedure for the certificate of merger hadn’t changed.

“Things you might, under normal circumstances, only check once, you rechecked and rechecked and rechecked, just making sure all the i’s were dotted and t’s were crossed,” she said.

Jensen also serves as a mentor to current associates and lawyers from other firms. She hopes to help increase diversity among future lawyers by serving as a member of the firm’s recruiting committee.

“I’m often aware, when someone meets me, that I may be the only black female partner they’ve ever met – or ever will meet,” Jensen said. “It’s incredibly important for me to be there as a role model to existing and potential lawyers.”

— Jennifer Chung Klam