Lawyers

Rita O’Neill is a partner in Sullivan & Cromwell’s Los Angeles office and serves as co-head of the Firm’s Global Private Equity Group. She has a broad-based practice that includes advising clients on mergers and acquisitions and securities offerings, and providing general corporate advice on disclosure and governance. She has advised clients in a wide range of industries, including consumer and retail, financial institutions, healthcare and life sciences, industrials, telecommunications and transportation.

SELECTED REPRESENTATIONS

• Oaktree Capital in Aspiration’s $315 million equity financings from Oaktree and affiliates of Steve Ballmer; its up to $600 million investment in TPI Composites; its $250 million investment in Priority Power Management; its investment in Albertsons alongside funds affiliated with Apollo Global Management and other investors for an aggregate of $1.75 billion; its investments in Healthy Spot and Thrasio; and the underwriters in its IPO and follow-on offering
• Ares Management in its acquisition of a majority interest in Kuecker Pulse Integration; the senior preferred equity financing in connection with Ferrellgas Partners’ restructuring transactions; in connection with Macquarie Infrastructure and Real Assets’ acquisition of Cincinnati Bell; as a member of a consortium co-led by Ares and Leonard Green & Partners in the acquisition of Press Ganey; its $1.45 billion strategic partnership with DuPage Medical Group; and its acquisition of a significant stake in American Tire Distributors
• Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan in its strategic investment in Mitratech, acquisition of a minority stake in Epic Games, acquisitions of PODS and SeaCube Container Leasing; and PODS and SeaCube in ongoing corporate advice
• Parkland Corporation in its acquisition of Conrad & Bischoff and its related companies
• Arconic Corporation in its $300 million senior secured second lien notes offering; Rule 144A/Reg S offering of $700 million senior secured first lien notes; and in ongoing corporate advice
• Ares Management and Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan in their acquisition of a majority interest in TricorBraun and acquisition of CPG International (The AZEK Company); and The AZEK Company in its acquisitions of Versatex and UltraLox; its IPO, Rule 144A/Reg S offering of $350 million senior notes, $956 million secondary offering of common stock; and in ongoing corporate advice
• Royal Philips in its acquisition of BioTelemetry and acquisitions of the Healthcare Information Systems business of Carestream Health, Respiratory Technologies, The Spectranetics Corporation, Electrical Geodesics, Wellcentive and Volcano Corporation; and its participation in a private placement by Corindus Vascular Robotics
• Juniper Networks in its acquisition of Apstra
• Delaware Life Insurance Company in the debt recapitalization of Sculptor Capital
• PowerA in its $395 million acquisition by ACCO Brands
• Crescent Capital in Sun Life Financial’s $338 million acquisition of a majority stake in Crescent
• Lion Capital in its affiliate’s DIP financing for and acquisition of John Varvatos in a Section 363 sale process; and its acquisition of a minority interest in Authentic Brands Group from certain existing shareholders
• MUFG Union Bank in its acquisition of Intrepid Investment Bankers
• CapGen Capital, as a 22% holder of Xenith Bankshares, in Xenith’s acquisition by Union Bankshares; and in the sale of its shares in Seacoast Banking Corporation of Florida, the parent company of Seacoast National Bank
• Pabst Brewing on general corporate and strategic advice
• Ares Management and Ascribe Capital as creditors in Boart Longyear’s restructuring
• SPO Partners in the $900 million sale of Aggregates USA to Vulcan Materials; and its agreement with Liberty Media to invest $1.55 billion in subscriptions for newly issued shares of Series C Liberty Media common stock in Liberty’s acquisition of Formula 1
• 1st Century Bancshares in its acquisition by Midland Financial
• FilmYard Holdings in MIRAMAX’s acquisition by beIN MEDIA GROUP
• Tinicum Capital in its sale of Enesco to Balmoral Funds
• Versa Capital in the acquisition of Sport Chalet; Versa and Lubert-Adler in their acquisition of Central Parking; and in the sale of Central Parking to Standard Parking
• Optimer Pharmaceuticals in its acquisition by Cubist Pharmaceuticals
• Goldman Sachs as financial adviser to AveXis in its $8.7 billion acquisition by Novartis
• Houlihan Lokey as financial adviser to:
  • Vine Energy’s Board of Directors in its $2.2 billion acquisition by Chesapeake Energy Corporation
  • Committee of Landcadia Holdings II, a publicly traded SPAC co-sponsored by Fertitta Entertainment and Jefferies Financial Group, in its $745 million acquisition of Golden Nugget Online Gaming
  • Board of Directors of Machine Zone in Machine Zone’s acquisition by AppLovin 
  • Special Committee of Standard Diversified in its acquisition by Turning Point Brands
  • Return Path in its acquisition by Validity
  • Special Committee of HomeFed Corporation in HomeFed’s acquisition by Jefferies
  • Special Committee of Hanwha Q CELLS in its acquisition by Hanwha Solar Holdings, a subsidiary of Hanwha Chemical Corporation

​Professional Activities and Community Involvement

​Rita serves as vice chair of the ABA M&A Committee and co-chair of the ABA Acquisition of Public Companies Subcommittee. She is the former chair of its M&A Market Trends Subcommittee and its Deal Points Study on Carveout Transactions. Rita is a member of S&C’s Women’s Initiative Committee and is the co-founder and co-chair of a national Women in M&A Network (WiMA), a network of senior women dealmakers focused on business generation. She is the immediate past co-chair of the ABA’s Women in M&A Subcommittee, which was formed to promote the recruiting, retention, and promotion of women lawyers in M&A. Rita is co-chair of the Tulane Corporate Law Institute, and regularly participates on panels and guest teaches classes at law schools related to substantive M&A topics, as well as on gender diversity and women in the legal profession. Rita is also an active provider of pro bono legal services with a particular focus on education, foster youth and animal rights.