Sharon Flanagan

Flanagan, managing partner of Sidley Austin’s San Francisco office, is recognized for her dealmaking skills in consequential tech, cybersecurity, biotech, health care and life sciences transactions.

She regularly represents Swiss-based global pharmaceutical company Hoffmann-La Roche and its subsidiaries in their U.S. acquisitions. Earlier this year, she helped Roche in its $1.8 billion acquisition of GenMark Diagnostics in an all-cash transaction. Molecular diagnostic company GenMark was one of the first companies to receive Emergency Use Authorization from the FDA for its Covid-19 test.

Flanagan also represented Roche in its acquisition last year of Stratos, an early-stage gene sequencing technology company. Stratos’ technology provides a cheaper and faster way to sequence DNA, helping to address demands for personalized health care.

“The Holy Grail of gene sequencing is speed, because DNA is very data-rich, and a lot of investments are being made in the ability to process data quickly,” she said. “Gene sequencing is extremely interesting because it is the answer to so many mysteries, and if you can process DNA faster and more accurately, that’s how we get cures more quickly.

“I really enjoy working in life science because you feel like you’re helping to save lives and improve quality of life. That’s really gratifying.”

In a deal that closed recently, Flanagan represented ServiceTitan in its acquisition of Aspire Software. ServiceTitan builds software used by more than 100,000 service contractors to manage their work, and the acquisition will add a landscaping vertical to the platform. The company began with residential plumbing, HVAC and electrical, areas founders Ara Mahdessian and Vahe Kuzoyan knew from their own family businesses, but soon expanded into areas such as garage door, chimney and commercial properties.

“ServiceTitan is a unicorn, a private company founded by the sons of Armenian immigrants who had trade services businesses. The two sons wanted to help their fathers, who needed software to run their small businesses. So they created this software for their fathers, and now they’ve reached all of these small businesses around the country,” Flanagan said. “It’s a wonderful origin story, and I’ve been lucky enough to work with them in acquiring the business to support customers in landscaping.”

With her leadership position, Flanagan is a role model for the firm’s women attorneys, and aims to mentor and develop the next generation of talented women.

-- Jennifer Chung Klam