People

Overview

Avner Bengera is the co-head of the firm's cross-border M&A practice. He is an experienced practitioner focusing on public and private mergers and acquisitions, private equity, joint ventures, venture capital, securities, capital markets and distressed assets/Section 363 transactions, corporate governance and general corporate matters.

Mr. Bengera serves a diverse set of U.S. and non-U.S. clients. His experience spans a variety of industries and sectors with a particular focus on life sciences, technology, energy, consumer goods, and transportation.

Avner has deep experience working on cross-border deals, frequently representing clients on transactions involving clients, counterparties or assets in the United States, Europe, Asia and Latin America.

Mr. Bengera has lived on three continents and is fluent in English, Dutch, French, German and Hebrew. His cross-cultural experience enables him to effectively execute complicated deals and best serve his clients’ objectives.

Admissions & Affiliations

  • New York State Bar
  • International Bar Association
  • J.D., New York University School of Law 1999
    Article & Note Editor, Journal of International Law and Policy
  • LL.M., Tax, University of Antwerp 1996
  • M.S., Economics, University of Antwerp 1995
  • B.S., Economics, University of Antwerp 1993

Experience

  • Philips in its sale to ICON plc of its business providing certain medical imaging and cardiac monitoring services
  • Antin Infrastructure Partners in its pending takeover of renewable energy company Opdenergy
  • Saudi Arabian Mining Company (Ma’aden) in its acquisition of a 9.9% stake in Ivanhoe Electric
  • TechsoMed Medical Technologies in its transactions with GE Healthcare and Fraunhofer Institute for Digital Medicine MEVIS
  • Aquiline Capital Partners in its investment in Smart Pension
  • Cipla Limited in its investment transaction, proposed merger, termination transaction and divestment transaction with Avenue Therapeutics
  • Johnson Matthey in the sale of its health business to Altaris Capital Partners
  • Cartamundi in its acquisition of The United States Playing Card Company from Newell Brands
  • ANI Pharmaceuticals in its acquisition of Novitium Pharma
  • CF Finance Acquisition III in its SPAC transaction with AEye, Inc.
  • DNB Bank and Skandinaviska Enskilda Banken in its acquisition of assets of Hermitage Offshore Services in a Section 363 transaction
  • Dakota Midstream in its acquisition of assets of New Emerald Energy in a Section 363 transaction
  • GFG Alliance in its acquisition of assets of Bayou Steel in a Section 363 transaction
  • Roku in its acquisition of Nielsen's Advanced Video Advertising business
  • Zoetis in multiple acquisitions
  • TerraForm Power in its merger and sponsorship transaction with Brookfield Asset Management and settlement arrangements with SunEdison
  • Brambles Limited in its joint venture with First Reserve relating to their oil and gas containers solutions businesses
  • Heartland Food Products Group in its acquisition of the Splenda brand business from Johnson & Johnson subsidiary McNeil Nutritionals and its related joint venture with Centerbridge Partners
  • American Tower, in various acquisitions, finance, commercial and reorganization transactions
  • Daimler AG in multiple investment rounds in, the IPO of, strategic cooperation with, and sale of its stake in, Tesla Motors
  • KPMG Capital in multiple equity investments, including in the cyber-security, trend intelligence and data aggregation sectors
  • Represented the Special Committee of Chindex International, Inc. in its going private sale to Shanghai Fosun Pharma, TPG and the CEO of Chindex
  • Galaxy Brands, a company co-owned by The Carlyle Group, in various acquisitions of consumer brands and companies and its sale to Sequential Brands Group
  • Mark Cuban Companies in the joint venture relating to AXS TV (formerly, HDNet) among Mark Cuban Companies, Anschutz Entertainment Group, Creative Artists Agency and Ryan Seacrest Media, and later in the addition of CBS Corporation to the AXS TV joint venture
  • Benihana Inc. in its sale to Angelo Gordon & Co.
  • Innovative Power Solutions in its sale to Zodiac Aerospace
  • Wipro Limited in its acquisition of the global oil and gas information technology business of Science Applications International Corporation's Commercial Business Services business unit
  • Fortune Tobacco Corporation, in creating a joint venture with Philip Morris International that combined the companies' operations in the Philippines
  • The joint administrators for Nortel Networks Europe, Middle East and Africa in the sale of (i) all of Nortel's remaining patents and patent applications to a consortium consisting of Apple, EMC, Ericsson, Microsoft, Research In Motion and Sony (ii) Nortel's Enterprise Solutions business to Avaya (iii) Nortel's Optical Networking and Carrier Ethernet businesses to Ciena Corporation (iv) Nortel's North American GSM business to Ericsson and the portion of Nortel's GSM business outside of North America and Nortel's GSM-R business to Kapsch Carrier Com and (v) Nortel's Carrier VoIP and Application Solutions business to GENBAND, Inc.
  • Merck in entering into a settlement agreement relating to U.S. product liability claims
  • e2v technologies plc in its acquisition of QP Semiconductor, a U.S.-based designer and supplier of semiconductor components used in aerospace and military applications
  • Cablevision in its acquisition of 4Connections LLC, an Ethernet dark fiber provider
  • Loews Corporation in its sale of Bulova, a leading distributor of watches and clocks, to Citizen Watch Co.
  • Sealed Air in its acquisition of Alga Plastics, a manufacturer of thermoformed packaging
  • East Coast Warehouse & Distribution Corp., a warehouse, distribution and customs examination company, in their sale of the company to Fenway Partners
  • TheStreet.com, in its acquisition of the 50.1% stake in Stockpickr.com that it did not already own from former partner A.R. Partners LLC
  • Northwest Airlines in its acquisition, through a reorganization under the Bankruptcy Code, of Mesaba Aviation, a regional U.S. airline
  • AmSouth Bancorporation in its merger of equals transaction with Regions Financial, creating a Top 10 U.S. bank holding company
  • Montana municipalities in their attempted acquisition of Northwestern Corporation, a public utility company with operations primarily in the North and Mid West
  • R.R. Donnelley in its acquisition of OfficeTiger Holdings, a leading provider of integrated onsite-offshore business process outsourcing services
  • The board of directors of Albertson’s in its break-up and sale to a SUPERVALU, CVS and Cerberus
  • CVC Capital Partners in its acquisition of Flint Ink, the then largest privately held ink manufacturer in the world
  • Carter-Wallace, a manufacturer of consumer and healthcare products, in its break-up and sale to Church & Dwight, a manufacturer of consumer goods, Kelso & Company and MedPointe Capital Partners
  • Hogg Robinson plc, an international leader in providing travel management and related services, in its acquisition of Seagate Travel Group, one of the largest independently owned providers of corporate travel management and related services in the United States
  • UBS AG in its acquisition of (i) the North American private banking business of Bank Julius Baer, a leading Swiss private bank, and (ii) the capital markets business of The Charles Schwab Corporation
  • Prudential Financial in its acquisition of the retirement business of CIGNA
  • Pharmacia & Upjohn in its merger with Monsanto and in the combined company's subsequent IPO and spin-off of its agricultural business
  • Anthem in its (i) merger of equals with WellPoint Health Networks and (ii) acquisition of Trigon Healthcare, a regional healthcare benefits company
  • Reuters Group PLC in its acquisition of Multex.com, a leading U.S. provider of financial information
  • Koninklijke Philips Electronics in (i) the sale of its consumable medical film and devices business to Platinum Equity, (ii) the sale of its broadband business to C-COR.net, a provider of integrated network solutions for broadband networks, (iii) the acquisition of ADAC Laboratories, a producer of nuclear medicine imaging systems and (iv) the acquisition of a majority interest in MedQuist, a leading provider of electronic medical transcription services
  • Goldman, Sachs & Co. in Its acquisition of Epoch Partners, an Internet-based investment bank, and in the formation and termination of its joint venture with Constellation Energy, a leading public utility company based in Maryland
  • Allianz AG, a leading German provider of insurance, banking and asset management products worldwide, in its acquisition of Nicholas-Applegate Global Holdings, a U.S. asset manager
  • Investment banks in private and public mergers, acquisitions and other business combinations


Awards and Community

Recognized in The Legal 500 U.S. for Mergers & Acquisitions: Middle Market, 2012-2020

Recognized in Who's Who Legal for M&A and Governance, 2017-2020