Mark Skerry is a Partner in Simpson Thacher’s National Security Regulatory Practice. Mark has more than a decade of experience practicing national security law, including having served as an attorney within the Office of the General Counsel of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security. Mark regularly advises some of the largest private equity asset managers and international corporations on their most sophisticated and high-profile transactions before the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS). Mark has counselled clients and successfully secured CFIUS approvals across a variety of industries considered sensitive to national security, including technology and software, social media platforms, aerospace and defense manufacturing, classified government contracting, semiconductors, telecommunications, airports and seaports, energy infrastructure, financial services, and life sciences, among others. Mark has also successfully negotiated commercially acceptable mitigation on behalf of clients before the Committee, secured CFIUS approval for hostile takeovers, and advised on investigations initiated by the Committee with respect to non-notified transactions. Mark has been recognized by The Legal 500 and Chambers, and named a Rising Star for International Trade by Law360 and a Litigation Star by Benchmark Litigation.
Mark’s recent representations include:
- Blackstone, The Carlyle Group and Hellman & Friedman in securing worldwide foreign investment approvals for the private equity consortium’s $34 billion acquisition of a majority interest in medical supplier Medline Industries, named “Deal of the Year in North America” by Private Equity International
- Microsoft in securing worldwide foreign investment approvals for its $19.7 billion acquisition of Nuance Communications
- Cisco Systems in securing worldwide foreign investment approvals for its $28 billion acquisition of Splunk
- Versum Materials in connection with CFIUS approval of its acquisition by Merck KGaA, Darmstadt, Germany for $6.5 billion, which garnered the “Cross-border Deal of the Year” from The Deal
- Oaktree Capital Group, LLC in securing necessary regulatory approvals before CFIUS, DDTC, and DCSA in connection with a proposed $4.7 billion merger with Brookfield Asset Management, Inc., resulting in one of the world’s largest asset managers with approximately $475 billion in combined assets under management
- Melrose Industries PLC in securing CFIUS and other national security regulatory approvals for its unsolicited £8 billion offer to acquire GKN PLC, an automotive, aerospace and defense manufacturing giant
- Refinitiv in connection with CFIUS and worldwide foreign investment approvals relating to its blockbuster $27 billion acquisition by the London Stock Exchange Group plc
Prior to joining Simpson Thacher, Mark clerked for the Honorable Reggie B. Walton, United States District Judge for the District of Columbia and a former Presiding Judge of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court. He received his J.D., magna cum laude, from Case Western Reserve University, where he was elected to the Order of the Coif, and his B.Sc. from Cornell University.
Updated Oct 2024
