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    Home /  Lawyers /  Matthew G. Hurd

    Matthew G. Hurd

    Partner

    Matthew G. Hurd Headshot Photo Portrait backdrop

    New York

    +1-212-558-4000

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    hurdm@sullcrom.com

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    Recognized three times as The American Lawyer’s “Dealmaker of the Year,” Matt Hurd advises clients of all types on high-value strategic combinations; hostile takeovers and activist scenarios; and sensitive corporate governance and executive transition matters. Now in his fourth decade with our firm, he has led diverse teams of S&C lawyers on the largest cash transactions on which we have been engaged – both sellside and buyside.

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    Spotlight

    S&C Advises Merck in Its Acquisition of SpringWorks Therapeutics

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    S&C Partners Crofton, Hurd and Sawyer Author USA Chapter for Chambers Corporate Governance Guide 2024

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    Keith Pagnani and Matt Hurd Discuss S&C’s Top Ranking for 2023 Healthcare Deals with Bloomberg Law

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    Jeff Wall, Judd Littleton, Dustin Guzior and Matt Hurd Discuss Collaboration in Bayer Win with Delaware Business Court Insider

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    Matt Hurd Receives Sixth Law360 MVP Award for Life Sciences

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    • Experience
    • Rankings and Recognitions
    • News
    • Publications, Videos and Podcasts
    • Credentials
    • Related Practices
    Experience

    Experience

    Representative Engagements

    Recently, Hurd led S&C teams in:

    • The largest ever all-cash change of control in the biopharma space – Seagen’s sale to Pfizer
    • The largest ever all-cash change of control in the medtech space – Abiomed’s sale to Johnson & Johnson
    • The largest ever sale of a private life science company – StemCentrx’s sale to AbbVie

    • The largest ever purchase of a U.S. company by a non-U.S. company – Bayer’s unsolicited takeover of Monsanto
    • AbbVie’s unsolicited takeover of Shire – which, prior to the transaction termination resulting from U.S. Treasury Department rulemaking, would have been the largest ever takeover by U.S. company of a non-U.S. company
    • The first super-premium deals in the biopharma space – Pharmasset’s sale to Gilead, and SynaGeva’s sale to Alexion
    • Numerous complex divestitures for European clients, including Bayer’s $8 billion divestiture of crop science assets to BASF – the largest ever forced divestiture of assets; Bayer’s $6.9 billion sale of animal health assets to Elanco – which created the world’s second largest animal health company; and The Weir Group in its $405 million sale of its entire oil and gas division to Caterpillar
    • Incyte’s acquisition of MorphoSys’ tafasitamab, a humanized Fc-modified CD19-targeting immunotherapy marketed in the U.S. as Monjuvi® and outside of the U.S. as Minjuvi®
    • Nexus Pharmaceuticals’ sale of its injectable medicine manufacturing facility to Eli Lilly and Company
    • Italian biopharmaceutical company Alfasigma in its acquisition of Intercept Pharmaceuticals, which extends Alfasigma’s platform into North America
    • A number of transactions for Amgen between 2005 and 2020 – including its $13.4 billion acquisition from Celgene of worldwide rights to Otezla® (apremilast) in a forced divestiture by Celgene in connection with its acquisition by Bristol-Myers
    • Novartis’s $10 billion acquisition of The Medicines Company
    • A number of transactions for Merck KGaA, including its $3.9 billion pending acquisition of SpringWorks Therapeutics and its unsolicited takeover of Versum Materials – which broke up Versum’s previously agreed merger transaction with Entegris
    • Standard Industries’ unsolicited takeover of W. R. Grace
    • Sprout’s sale to Valeant for cash and a lucrative earnout right – and the Sprout shareholders’ subsequent one-dollar repurchase of the company from Valeant, in a distressed sale
    • All of Philips’ significant U.S. acquisitions – including the largest M&A transactions in its corporate history
    • All of Signify’s significant U.S. acquisitions, including the largest M&A transactions in its corporate history
    • Blockchain innovator ConsenSys Software in numerous financings from 2020 to 2022 – which took the company’s valuation from $50 million to over $7 billion
    • Numerous financial crisis transactions, including the 2005 Adelphia bankruptcy, the 2008 Morgan Stanley rescue and the 2008 sale of ABC Learning’s U.S. businesses

    Other Professional and Philanthropic Interests

    In 2000, Hurd relocated to co-found our Palo Alto office with three other young partners. From 2006 through 2020, he and another partner mentored hundreds of beginning lawyers through Sullivan & Cromwell’s rigorous associate development program. Hurd is a contributor to S&C’s active pro bono practice, working on projects both for young individual refugees and for world-class opera companies, such as the Washington National Opera. His philanthropic and cultural interests include longtime service on the boards of the Metropolitan Opera and International Women’s Health Coalition and current service on the board of Episcopal Charities of the Diocese of New York.

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    Rankings and Recognitions

    Rankings and Recognitions

    • Recognized by The National Law Journal as an Emerging Therapies & Life Sciences Trailblazer (2023)
    • Recognized as a Law360 Life Sciences MVP (2014, 2015, 2017, 2018, 2020, 2023)
    • Named “Dealmaker of the Year” (2024) by The American Lawyer for his role as counsel to Seagen in its acquisition by Pfizer
    • Named “Dealmaker of the Year” (2017) by The American Lawyer for his role as counsel to Bayer in its acquisition of Monsanto
    • Named “Dealmaker of the Year” (2015) by The American Lawyer for his role as counsel to Bayer in its acquisition of the consumer care business of Merck
    • Named “Dealmaker of the Week” (May 2015) by The American Lawyer for his role as counsel to Synageva in its acquisition by Alexion

    • Named “Dealmaker of the Week” (November 2011) by The American Lawyer for his role as counsel to Pharmasset in its acquisition by Gilead
    • Sullivan & Cromwell Named Life Sciences Group of the Year by Law360 (2014, 2017, 2023)
    • Recognized by The National Law Journal as a Mergers & Acquisitions and Antitrust Trailblazer (2017)
    • Recognized by The Best Lawyers in America as a leading lawyer in mergers and acquisitions (2007–2022)
    • New York Super Lawyers (2012–2021)
    • Recognized in The Legal 500 United States in M&A (2014–2018)
    • Recognized as one of the Lawdragon 500 Leading Lawyers in America (2011–2013, 2017, 2018) and 500 Leading Dealmakers in America (2024, 2025)
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    News

    News

    • S&C Advises Merck in Its Acquisition of SpringWorks Therapeutics

      May 2, 2025
    • Keith Pagnani and Matt Hurd Discuss S&C’s Top Ranking for 2023 Healthcare Deals with Bloomberg Law

      December 28, 2023
    • S&C Helps Seagen Obtain Global Antitrust and Regulatory Clearances for $43 Billion Acquisition by Pfizer

      December 19, 2023
    • Jeff Wall, Judd Littleton, Dustin Guzior and Matt Hurd Discuss Collaboration in Bayer Win with Delaware Business Court Insider

      December 1, 2023
    • S&C Advises Italy’s Alfasigma in Acquisition of Intercept Pharmaceuticals and Expansion into U.S. Market

      October 4, 2023
    • S&C Advises Seagen in $43 Billion Acquisition by Pfizer

      March 15, 2023
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    Publications, Videos and Podcasts

    Publications, Videos and Podcasts

    • S&C Partners Crofton, Hurd and Sawyer Author USA Chapter for Chambers Corporate Governance Guide 2024

      Books July 11, 2024
    • Matt Hurd, Melissa Sawyer and Scott Crofton Co-Author Chapter in Chambers Corporate Governance Guide 2023

      Articles July 13, 2023
    • S&C Hosts Webinar on M&A Trends in the Pharmaceutical Industry

      Webinars May 24, 2023
    • A Look at the Current U.S. Antitrust Landscape

      Webinars August 5, 2021
    • 2021 Corporate Governance Trends – U.S. Biopharmaceutical Industry

      S&C Memos June 2021
    • Industry and Regulatory Trends in Pharmaceutical M&A

      Podcasts March 24, 2021
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    Credentials

    Credentials

    Education

    • UC Berkeley School of Law, J.D., 1991
    • University of California, Los Angeles, B.A., 1988

    Bar Admissions

    • California
    • New York
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    Related Practices

    Related Practices

    • General Practice
    • Artificial Intelligence
    • Consumer & Retail
    • Financial Services
    • Healthcare & Life Sciences
    • India
    • Latin America
    • Mergers & Acquisitions
    • National Security
    • Private Equity
    • Securities & Commodities Investigations
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