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Kirkland & Ellis buying a supressor in texasand Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz are advising on the proposed $74 billion acquisition by pharmaceutical giant Bristol-Myers Squibb of New Jersey-based biotechnology firm Celgene Corp.

The deal, which would unite the resources of two of the world's pioneers in the treatment of cancer, cardiovascular disease and other maladies, is expected to close in the third quarter of 2019, subject to antitrust and regulatory approval.

Kirkland is advising Bristol-Myers Squibb on the deal, while Wachtell acts as counsel to Celgene.

The Kirkland team includes corporate partners David Fox, Daniel Wolf, Jonathan Davis and Ryan Brissette, debt finance partners Linda Myers and Jessica Woolf, capital markets partner Sophia Hudson, intellectual property partner Lisa Samenfeld, antitrust partners Matthew Reilly and Paula Riedel, tax partners Dean Shulman and Sara Zablotney, and executive compensation partner Scott Price.

Wachtell's team includes corporate partners Steven Cohen, David Lam and Edward Lee, restructuring and finance partners Michael Benn and John Sobolewski, executive compensation and benefits partner Andrea Wahlquist, antitrust partner Nelson Fitts, and tax partner Joshua Holmes.

A large in-house Bristol-Myers Squibb legal team also worked on the matter.

"Based on the closing price of Bristol-Myers Squibb stock on January 2, 2019, the cash and stock consideration to be received by Celgene shareholders is valued at $102.43 per share," Bristol-Myers Squibb said in a statement. "When completed, Bristol-Myers Squibb shareholders are expected to own approximately 69 percent of the company, and Celgene shareholders are expected to own approximately 31 percent."

If the deal is approved, it would rank as one of the biggest mergers in the biopharma space, exceeding Sanofi's $73.5 billion acquisition of Aventis in 2008 and coming up just short of Glaxo Wellcome's $76 billion merger with SmithKline Beecham in 2000. However, it would fall well behind Pfizer's $111.8 billion acquisition of Warner-Lambert in 2000.

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