Derek Liu

Partner

Baker & McKenzie LLP

San Francisco

T + 1 415 984 3841

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Biography

Derek Liu is a partner in Baker McKenzie's San Francisco office. Derek handles mergers and acquisitions, and other complex corporate transactions, and has signed transactions with an aggregate transaction value of more than USD 110 billion. Prior to joining Baker McKenzie, Derek practiced at two top-tier firms in San Francisco and New York.

Practice Focus

Derek has extensive experience in all forms of mergers and acquisitions, representing clients from strategic acquirers to private equity sponsors to venture-backed start-ups. He has handled a range of transactions from public company sale processes to asset carve-outs to SPAC acquisitions to purchases of distressed companies. He also has experience with minority investments, joint ventures and shareholder activism. His primary focus is in the technology and life sciences sectors.

Representative Legal Matters

Advised Jinjiang Hotels in its sale of the Radisson Hotel Group Americas to Choice Hotels for USD 675 million
Advised MyTheresa's reorganization in connection with Neiman Marcus's Chapter 11 bankruptcy proceedings
Advised Bandcamp in its sale to Epic Games
Advised Aurora Acquisition Corp. in its de-SPAC acquisition of Better.com at a USD 6.9 billion valuation
Advised Okada Manila in its de-SPAC with 26 Capital at a USD 2.6 billion valuation
Advised Salesforce, Alphabet, ServiceNow, LiveRamp and Zynga, each in one or more acquisitions
Advised Salesforce Ventures, Gradient Ventures and Temasek in venture capital financing transactions

Prior to joining the Firm, Derek handled the following matters:

Advised CA Technologies in its USD 19 billion sale to Broadcom
Advised WageWorks in its hostile defense and subsequent USD 2 billion acquisition by HealthEquity.
Advised Pharmacyclics in its USD 21 billion sale to AbbVie

Professional Honors

Rising Star in Northern California, Super Lawyers, 2015-2021

Professional Associations and Memberships

American Bar Association - Member

Admissions

California~United States (2014)

Education

Columbia University School of Law (JD)
Harvard College (BA)

Languages

English

Publications

Co-Author, "Serial Acquirers’ Five Secrets for Success," Bloomberg Law, 19 August 2022
Co-Author, "United States: SEC proposes rules for further disclosure and enhanced investor protections regarding SPACs," Baker McKenzie Client Alert, 5 April 2022
Co-author, "Lessons for APAC de-SPACs," Asia Business Law Journal, December 2021
Co-author, "How SPACs Can Avoid Failed China Reverse Mergers 2.0," Law360, 27 April 2021
Author, "Buying Distressed Tech Start-ups," Bloomberg Law, April 2020

Presentations

Speaker, "The Healthtech Sector’s Spectacular Surge in SPACs and de-SPACS", FT Big Deal Series, Baker McKenzie Webinar

Baker & McKenzie LLP is a Limited Liability Partnership organized under the laws of the State of Illinois (USA) and is a member of Baker & McKenzie International, a Verein organized under the laws of Switzerland.