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Tigist Kassahun
Tigist Kassahun
Partner — Technology Transactions & Intellectual Property
E: tkassahun@velaw.com T: +1.202.639.6726
VCard BIO PDF
Partner — Technology Transactions & Intellectual Property

Tigist Kassahun

Tigist Kassahun
Washington, D.C.
T: +1.202.639.6726

2200 Pennsylvania Avenue NW
Suite 500 West
Washington, D.C. 20037

E: tkassahun@velaw.com
VCard BIO PDF
Tigist Kassahun

Tigist Kassahun is a partner in the Technology Transactions & Intellectual Property group. Tigist is experienced in leading intellectual property and technology transactions and advising clients on the intellectual property, technology, data privacy and cybersecurity aspects of mergers and acquisitions, private equity investments, joint ventures and other strategic transactions. She also regularly counsels clients on structuring and negotiating commercial arrangements for the development, licensing, and commercialization of IP, artificial intelligence, data and technology assets. She represents a broad range of clients across the technology, financial services, arts, media, private equity, manufacturing, consumer products, healthcare and insurance industries. The following experience includes matters handled prior to joining Vinson & Elkins.

Technology

  • Roku, a U.S. streaming platform, in its acquisition of Frndly TV, a subscription streaming service

  • Presidio, a Clayton, Dubilier & Rice portfolio company, in its acquisition of a majority stake in Contender Solutions, an Elite ServiceNow partner

  • Konica Minolta, a Japanese multinational equipment and materials manufacturer operating in the healthcare and industrial industries, in the $600 million sale of its subsidiary, Ambry Genetics, to Tempus AI

  • The Standard in its acquisition of The Allstate Corporation’s Employer Voluntary Benefits business in a transaction valued at approximately $2 billion

  • Konica Minolta, a Japanese multinational equipment and materials manufacturer operating in the healthcare and industrial industries, in the sale of its subsidiary Invicro to Calyx, a portfolio company of CapVest and leading technology-enabled provider

  • Clayton, Dubilier & Rice in its acquisition of a majority stake in the industrial businesses of Roper Technologies, which operates market-leading businesses that design and develop vertical software and application-specific products, in a transaction valued at $3.7 billion

  • Carestream Dental, a Clayton, Dubilier & Rice portfolio company and leading provider of dental technology, in the $600 million carve-out sale of its Scanning Technology business to Envista, a leading global dental products company

  • Carlyle, as majority owner of Syniverse, in Syniverse’s $2.85 billion merger, later terminated, with special purpose acquisition company M3-Brigade Acquisition II Corp. resulting in Syniverse becoming a publicly traded company

  • Discovery, Inc. in the acquisition of WarnerMedia from AT&T in a Reverse Morris Trust transaction that values the combined entity at approximately $130 billion

  • Blackstone in its investment in Ginger, a leader in on-demand behavioral healthcare

  • Carlyle, as majority owner of Syniverse, in Twilio’s $750 million investment in Syniverse

  • Toyota Motor Corporation, as an investor in Uber Technologies’ self driving unit Advanced Technologies Group (Uber ATG), in its sale of Uber ATG to Aurora

  • Gogo, the leading inflight Internet company, in the successful sale of its commercial aviation business to Intelsat, which was in Chapter 11 at the time of the transaction

  • Toyota Motor Corporation in its $394 million investment in Joby Aviation, an aerospace company that is developing and commercializing all-electric vertical takeoff and landing aircraft to enable the deployment of fast, quiet and affordable air taxi services

  • Prudential Financial in its $2.35 billion acquisition of Assurance IQ

  • Amazon as strategic partner to Yankee Global Enterprises in the acquisition of the YES Network from The Walt Disney Company at a total enterprise value of $3.47 billion

  • Centerbridge Partners in its investment in GoHealth

  • Toyota Motor Corporation in its joint investment, with DENSO Corporation and SoftBank Vision Fund, in Uber’s Advanced Technologies Group

  • Providence Service Corporation and LogistiCare in LogistiCare’s acquisition of Circulation, a provider of technology-enabled logistics solutions and analytics for managing non-emergency transportation across healthcare

  • Carlyle in its strategic minority investment in DiscoverOrg, the leading global sales and marketing intelligence platform

  • Verizon in its $3.1 billion acquisition of Straight Path Communications, a leading wireless spectrum holder

  • Ambac in the $420 million sale of its legacy financial guarantee businesses, Ambac Assurance Corporation and Ambac UK, to funds managed by Oaktree Capital Management

  • StanCorp Financial Group in its acquisition of the Life & Disability business from Elevance Health

  • An international insurer in its 15-year exclusive bancassurance distribution agreement with Hang Seng Bank

  • Constellation, backed by institutional investors Caisse de depOt et placement du Quebec and Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan Board, in its acquisition of and $500 million capital contribution to Ohio National, as part of Ohio National’s demutualization process

  • Nassau Financial Group, a Golden Gate Capital portfolio company, in the sale of its life insurance and annuity distribution company, Saybrus Partners, to AmeriLife Group

  • Constellation, backed by institutional investors Caisse de depot et placement du Quebec and Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan Board, in its acquisition of Columbian Mutual Life Insurance Company, as part of Columbian’s demutualization process

  • MassMutual in its $3.5 billion acquisition of Great American Life, a wholly owned subsidiary of American Financial Group

  • MetLife in the $3.94 billion sale of its auto and home business to Zurich Insurance Group subsidiary Farmers Group

  • Prudential Financial in its $1.9 billion sale of Prudential Life Insurance of Korea to KB Financial Group

  • J.C. Flowers and AmeriLife Group in the sale of AmeriLife to Thomas H. Lee Partners

  • AXA Equitable Holdings in its agreement to sell U.S. Financial Life Insurance Company & MONY Life Insurance Company of the Americas

  • AmTrust Financial Services in a strategic transaction with Madison Dearborn for a portion of AmTrust’s U.S. fee businesses valued at $1.15 billion

  • International Paper in its sale of its Global Cellulose Fibers business for $1.5 billion, including the issuance of preferred stock with an aggregate initial liquidation preference of $190 million, to American Industrial Partners

  • Wilsonart, a Clayton, Dubilier & Rice portfolio company and engineered surfaces company, in its acquisition of Virginia Tile’s woodworking business

  • International Paper, a global producer of renewable fiber-based packaging and pulp products, in the separation and spin-off of its global printing papers business, Sylvamo, and related financing arrangements

  • Domtar in its $3 billion sale to Paper Excellence

  • Individual FoodService, a Kelso & Company portfolio company, in its merger with Brady Industries

  • Reynolds Group and Closure Systems International (CSI) in their sale of CSI businesses and facilities to Cerberus Capital Management

  • SouthernCarlson, a Kelso & Company portfolio company, in its sale to Kyocera Corporation

  • Dealer Tire in its significant investment in SimpleTire

  • Solenis, a Clayton, Dubilier & Rice portfolio company and a leading global producer of specialty chemicals, in its combination with BASF’s paper and water chemicals business

  • International Paper in the $1.8 billion combination of its North America Consumer Packaging business with Graphic Packaging

  • Dover Corporation in its $780 million acquisition of Wayne Fueling Systems from Riverstone Holdings

  • International Paper in its $2.2 billion acquisition of Weyerhaeuser’s pulp business

  • Nuveen, the investment manager of TIAA, in its strategic partnership with Hunter Point Capital and Temasek

  • KKR in its acquisition of a majority ownership stake in HealthCare Royalty Partners, a leading biopharma royalty acquisition company

  • J.C. Flowers in its acquisition of Admiral Group’s U.S. motor insurance business, including Elephant Insurance Company and Elephant Insurance Services

  • BTG Pactual in its acquisition of Greytown Advisors, a multifamily office located in Miami

  • Clayton, Dubilier & Rice in its acquisition of Shearer’s Foods, a leading contract manufacturer and private label supplier in the snack industry in North America

  • TPG Growth in its acquisition of a majority stake in Crowe Healthcare Consulting, establishing it as an independent entity

  • Providence Equity Partners in its minority investment of up to $500 million in the formation of The North Road Company

  • Kelso & Company and its portfolio company, Eagle Family Foods Group, in their acquisition of General Mills’ Helper main meals and Suddenly Salad side dishes businesses, in a transaction valued at approximately $6io million

  • Kelso & Company in its acquisition of a majority interest in Inovar Packaging Group, a full-service provider of pressure sensitive labels, shrink sleeves and flexibles for a wide range of industries

  • Morgan Stanley Capital Partners in its acquisition of Fairway Lawns, a residential lawncare services provider

  • TA Associates, in its acquisition of TouchTunes, an in-venue, interactive music and entertainment platform, from funds advised by Searchlight and Newlight

  • Blackstone as lead investor in DNAnexus’ $200 million financing round

  • Smartly.io, a Providence Equity Partners portfolio company and a leading social advertising platform, in its acquisition of Ad-Lib.io, the creative optimization platform

  • DoubleVerify, a Providence Equity Partners portfolio company and a leading software platform for digital media measurement and analytics, in its acquisition of OpenSlate, a content-focused measurement and analytics company

  • Clayton, Dubilier & Rice and its portfolio company, Solenis, a leading global producer of specialty chemicals, in the sale of Solenis to Platinum Equity at an implied enterprise value of $5.25 billion

  • Kelso & Company in its acquisition of a majority interest in C.L. Smith and its combination of C.L. Smith with Inmark

  • Morgan Stanley Capital Partners in the sale of Manna Pro Products, a recognized leader in pet care, to Carlyle

  • CoAdvantage, a Morgan Stanley Private Equity portfolio company, in its acquisition of Progressive Employer Management Company

  • Clayton, Dubilier & Rice in its $2.5 billion acquisition of HD Supply’s Waterworks Division, the largest distributor of waterworks products in the United States

  • Clayton, Dubilier & Rice in its acquisition of a controlling stake in Drive DeVilbiss Healthcare, a leading global manufacturer of medical products

  • Clayton, Dubilier & Rice in its $415 million acquisition of High Ridge Brands, the largest North American consolidation platform focused on acquiring orphaned personal care brands, from Brynwood Partners

Credentials

  • University of California at Berkeley, 2015, J.D.
  • Pomona College, 2010, B.A.
  • New York
  • District of Columbia
  • Hebrew (conversational)
  • Portuguese (conversational)