Robert T. Ishii
Partner
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Leader of Mergers and Acquisitions Group
Rob's M&A practice focuses on contests for corporate control and other complex strategic transactions, including divestitures and joint ventures.
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Experienced Practitioner
Rob's transactional experience includes recent M&A transactions valued over $100 billion.
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Represents Leading Companies
Rob has represented the likes of Microchip, Lumentum, Pacific Biosciences, Omnivision, Varian, Logitech, Google, and Twitter.
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Other Roles
Rob is involved in the management of the firm and San Francisco office, and has served on the firm's Compensation Committee, Policy Committee, and Nominating Committee.
Robert Ishii is a partner in Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati's San Francisco office and is the leader of the firm's mergers and acquisitions group. His practice focuses on mergers and acquisitions, contests for corporate control, and other complex strategic transactions, including divestitures, joint ventures, and other transformative transactions.
He has represented public and private companies, private equity funds, and financial advisors in negotiated and hostile transactions in the technology, medical technology, biotechnology, media, telecommunications, and other industries.
Rob is active in the management of the firm and the San Francisco office. He has served on the firm’s Compensation Committee, Policy Committee, and Nominating Committee.
Experience
Robert Ishii is a partner in Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati's San Francisco office and is the leader of the firm's mergers and acquisitions group. His practice focuses on mergers and acquisitions, contests for corporate control, and other complex strategic transactions, including divestitures, joint ventures, and other transformative transactions.
He has represented public and private companies, private equity funds, and financial advisors in negotiated and hostile transactions in the technology, medical technology, biotechnology, media, telecommunications, and other industries.
Rob is active in the management of the firm and the San Francisco office. He has served on the firm’s Compensation Committee, Policy Committee, and Nominating Committee.
Education
- J.D., University of Chicago Law School
- A.B., Cornell University
Honors
- Named in the 2023-2026 editions of Chambers USA: Leading Lawyers for Business as a top corporate/M&A attorney in San Francisco, Silicon Valley, and Surrounds
- Selected for inclusion in the 2016-2023 editions of Who's Who Legal: M&A
- Recognized as a "Life Science Star" in the finance and transactional section of LMG Life Sciences in 2013-2023
- Recognized in the 2012-2019 editions of Northern California Super Lawyers
Admissions
- State Bar of California
- State Bar of New York
Credentials
Education
- J.D., University of Chicago Law School
- A.B., Cornell University
Honors
- Named in the 2023-2026 editions of Chambers USA: Leading Lawyers for Business as a top corporate/M&A attorney in San Francisco, Silicon Valley, and Surrounds
- Selected for inclusion in the 2016-2023 editions of Who's Who Legal: M&A
- Recognized as a "Life Science Star" in the finance and transactional section of LMG Life Sciences in 2013-2023
- Recognized in the 2012-2019 editions of Northern California Super Lawyers
Admissions
- State Bar of California
- State Bar of New York
Select Transactions
- Pismo in its $1 billion acquisition by Visa
- MaxLinear in its pending $3.8 billion acquisition of Silicon Motion
- Sierra Oncology in its $1.9 billion acquisition by GSK
- Bungie in its $3.6 billion acquisition by Sony Interactive Entertainment
- DoorDash in its $8 billion acquisition of Wolt Enterprises
- Lumentum in its $920 million acquisition of NeoPhotonics
- Talend in its $2.4 billion acquisition by Thoma Bravo
- Lyft in the $550 million sale of its autonomous vehicle division to Toyota
- Gogoro in its $2.35 billion de-SPAC merger with Poema Global
- Lumentum in its $6.9 billion aborted acquisition of Coherent, after public bidding war
- Microchip in its $10.2 billion acquisition of Microsemi
- Lumentum in its $1.8 billion acquisition of Oclaro
- Pacific Biosciences in its $1.2 billion acquisition by Illumina (aborted)
- Neotract in its acquisition by Teleflex for up to $1.1 billion
- Microchip in its $3.6 billion acquisition of Atmel, after the termination of its existing transaction with Dialog Semiconductor
- HomeAway in its $3.9 billion acquisition by Expedia
- Pharmacyclics in its $21 billion acquisition by AbbVie
- Stemcentrix' founder and principal stockholder in its $6 billion acquisition by AbbVie
- Apigee in its $625 million acquisition by Google
- Microchip Technology in its $840 million acquisition of Micrel
- Integrated Silicon Solution Inc. (ISSI) in its $800 million acquisition by a Chinese investment group led by SummitView Capital, after a public bidding war with Cypress Semiconductor
- Yodlee in its $660 million acquisition by Envestnet
- Technicolor in its $600 million acquisition of Cisco's Connected Device Division
- Seragon Pharmaceuticals in its acquisition by Roche for up to $1.7 billion
- Omnivision in its pending $1.9 billion acquisition by an investment group led by Hua Capital
- PneumRx in its acquisition by BTG for up to $475 million
- Aragon Pharmaceuticals in its acquisition by Johnson & Johnson for up to $1 billion, and in the related spinoff of Seragon Pharmaceuticals
- Verinata Health in its acquisition by Illumina for up to $450 million
- Wright Medical in its acquisition of Biomimetic for $380 million in cash, stock and contingent value rights
- Outdoor Channel in its $270 million acquisition by Kroenke Sports, after termination of its previously announced acquisition by Intermedia Partners
- SARcode Bioscience in its acquisition by Shire for up to $685 million
- Microchip Technology in its $940 million acquisition of Standard Microsystems Corp.
- Quanticel Pharmaceuticals in its strategic R&D collaboration with Celgene (including an option to acquire the company)
- Rambus in its $340 million acquisition of Cryptography Research
- Calistoga Pharmaceuticals in its acquisition by Gilead Sciences for up to $600 million
- Ardian in its acquisition by Medtronic for up to $1.5 billion
- Actel in its $590 million acquisition by Microsemi
- Microchip Technology in its $300 million acquisition of Silicon Storage Technology via unsolicited bid after a previously announced transaction
- Varian in its $1.5 billion acquisition by Agilent Technologies
- Acclarent in its $785 million acquisition by Ethicon (a Johnson & Johnson company)
- Logitech in its $405 million acquisition of Lifesize Communications
- Wind River Systems in its $900 million acquisition by Intel
- CoreValve in its $775 million acquisition by Medtronic
- Francisco Partners in $720 million sale of Metrologic Instruments
- Google in multiple acquisitions
- Twitter in multiple acquisitions
- Fluidigm in its $210 million acquisition of DVS Sciences
- Mindspeed in its $270 million acquisition by M/A-Com, and in the related sale of its wireless division to Intel
- Concentric Medical in its $135 million acquisition by Stryker
- Advanced Analogic Technologies in its $260 million acquisition by Skyworks Solutions
- Align Technology in its $190 million acquisition of Cadent
- FoxHollow Technologies in its $780 million merger with ev3
- St. Francis Medical Technologies in its $725 million acquisition by Kyphon (now part of Medtronic)
- Francisco Partners in its announced, and subsequently terminated, $1 billion acquisition of Aeroflex
- Dolby Laboratories in its $250 million acquisition of Coding Technologies
- Multiple transactions opposite Microsoft, Cisco Systems, and Medtronic
- Numerous investment banks in their capacity as financial advisor in M&A transactions
- Occam Networks in its $170 million acquisition by Calix
- SenoRx in its $215 million acquisition by CR Bard
- The founding stockholders of Rae Systems in its pending leveraged buyout by Vector Capital, after numerous topping bids and termination of a previous buyout by Battery Ventures
Matters
Select Transactions
- Pismo in its $1 billion acquisition by Visa
- MaxLinear in its pending $3.8 billion acquisition of Silicon Motion
- Sierra Oncology in its $1.9 billion acquisition by GSK
- Bungie in its $3.6 billion acquisition by Sony Interactive Entertainment
- DoorDash in its $8 billion acquisition of Wolt Enterprises
- Lumentum in its $920 million acquisition of NeoPhotonics
- Talend in its $2.4 billion acquisition by Thoma Bravo
- Lyft in the $550 million sale of its autonomous vehicle division to Toyota
- Gogoro in its $2.35 billion de-SPAC merger with Poema Global
- Lumentum in its $6.9 billion aborted acquisition of Coherent, after public bidding war
- Microchip in its $10.2 billion acquisition of Microsemi
- Lumentum in its $1.8 billion acquisition of Oclaro
- Pacific Biosciences in its $1.2 billion acquisition by Illumina (aborted)
- Neotract in its acquisition by Teleflex for up to $1.1 billion
- Microchip in its $3.6 billion acquisition of Atmel, after the termination of its existing transaction with Dialog Semiconductor
- HomeAway in its $3.9 billion acquisition by Expedia
- Pharmacyclics in its $21 billion acquisition by AbbVie
- Stemcentrix' founder and principal stockholder in its $6 billion acquisition by AbbVie
- Apigee in its $625 million acquisition by Google
- Microchip Technology in its $840 million acquisition of Micrel
- Integrated Silicon Solution Inc. (ISSI) in its $800 million acquisition by a Chinese investment group led by SummitView Capital, after a public bidding war with Cypress Semiconductor
- Yodlee in its $660 million acquisition by Envestnet
- Technicolor in its $600 million acquisition of Cisco's Connected Device Division
- Seragon Pharmaceuticals in its acquisition by Roche for up to $1.7 billion
- Omnivision in its pending $1.9 billion acquisition by an investment group led by Hua Capital
- PneumRx in its acquisition by BTG for up to $475 million
- Aragon Pharmaceuticals in its acquisition by Johnson & Johnson for up to $1 billion, and in the related spinoff of Seragon Pharmaceuticals
- Verinata Health in its acquisition by Illumina for up to $450 million
- Wright Medical in its acquisition of Biomimetic for $380 million in cash, stock and contingent value rights
- Outdoor Channel in its $270 million acquisition by Kroenke Sports, after termination of its previously announced acquisition by Intermedia Partners
- SARcode Bioscience in its acquisition by Shire for up to $685 million
- Microchip Technology in its $940 million acquisition of Standard Microsystems Corp.
- Quanticel Pharmaceuticals in its strategic R&D collaboration with Celgene (including an option to acquire the company)
- Rambus in its $340 million acquisition of Cryptography Research
- Calistoga Pharmaceuticals in its acquisition by Gilead Sciences for up to $600 million
- Ardian in its acquisition by Medtronic for up to $1.5 billion
- Actel in its $590 million acquisition by Microsemi
- Microchip Technology in its $300 million acquisition of Silicon Storage Technology via unsolicited bid after a previously announced transaction
- Varian in its $1.5 billion acquisition by Agilent Technologies
- Acclarent in its $785 million acquisition by Ethicon (a Johnson & Johnson company)
- Logitech in its $405 million acquisition of Lifesize Communications
- Wind River Systems in its $900 million acquisition by Intel
- CoreValve in its $775 million acquisition by Medtronic
- Francisco Partners in $720 million sale of Metrologic Instruments
- Google in multiple acquisitions
- Twitter in multiple acquisitions
- Fluidigm in its $210 million acquisition of DVS Sciences
- Mindspeed in its $270 million acquisition by M/A-Com, and in the related sale of its wireless division to Intel
- Concentric Medical in its $135 million acquisition by Stryker
- Advanced Analogic Technologies in its $260 million acquisition by Skyworks Solutions
- Align Technology in its $190 million acquisition of Cadent
- FoxHollow Technologies in its $780 million merger with ev3
- St. Francis Medical Technologies in its $725 million acquisition by Kyphon (now part of Medtronic)
- Francisco Partners in its announced, and subsequently terminated, $1 billion acquisition of Aeroflex
- Dolby Laboratories in its $250 million acquisition of Coding Technologies
- Multiple transactions opposite Microsoft, Cisco Systems, and Medtronic
- Numerous investment banks in their capacity as financial advisor in M&A transactions
- Occam Networks in its $170 million acquisition by Calix
- SenoRx in its $215 million acquisition by CR Bard
- The founding stockholders of Rae Systems in its pending leveraged buyout by Vector Capital, after numerous topping bids and termination of a previous buyout by Battery Ventures
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