Kimberly Franko

Kimberly Franko Lower

Partner
Baker & McKenzie LLP

Biography

Kim Franko is a partner in the Employment & Compensation Practice Group in Baker McKenzie’s New York office and advises clients on labor and employment issues in connection with US and cross-border corporate transactions.

Practice Focus

Kim’s practice focuses on advising public and private companies, as well as private equity funds, on all labor, employment and immigration issues arising out of mergers, acquisitions, spin-offs and other corporate transactions.

Kim counsels companies in a variety of industries on the implementation of employment policies, reductions in force and pre-litigation matters, including enforcement of restrictive covenants. Kim also advises clients with respect to the negotiation and drafting of sophisticated employment, consulting, separation and restrictive covenant agreements.

Representative Legal Matters

Prior to joining the Firm, Kim advised on the following transactions:

  • Represented Spotify in its USD 235 million acquisition of Megaphone and its more than USD 200 million acquisition of The Ringer

  • Represented Red Hat Inc. in its USD 34 billion acquisition by IBM Corp.

  • Represented Amicus Therapeutics Inc. in the USD 400 million sale of its gene therapy business to a special purpose acquisition company ARYA Sciences Acquisition Corp.

  • Represented Goldfinch Partners LLC and The Baupost Group LLC in its USD 910 million acquisition of The Western Union Co.’s business solutions unit

  • Represented nThrive in the acquisition of its technology solutions group to Clearlake

  • Represented ZeniMax Media Inc. in its USD 7.5 billion acquisition by Microsoft Corporation

Professional Associations and Memberships

  • Seton Hall University School of Law Alumni Council
  • American Immigration Lawyers Association

Admissions

  • New York~United States (2013)
  • New Jersey~United States (2012)

Education

  • Seton Hall University (JD, magna cum laude) (2012)
  • Seton Hall University (BA) (2009)

Languages

  • English

Contributor, The Employer Report

Moderator, "The Recruiters Speak," Women Corporate Directors BoardNext New York Webinar, 2 March 2023