Sam Kahane
Director
Sam provides strategic counsel and communications support to companies across industries in a broad range of special situations and high-profile events, including mergers and acquisitions, shareholder activism defense, restructurings and bankruptcies, leadership changes, cybersecurity incidents and general corporate crises. He also supports companies with ongoing investor and public relations, media relations and corporate communications matters.
Recent Highlights
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M&A / Transactions
Sam has advised on a variety of transaction types. Notable assignments include: Roku’s pending acquisition by Fox Corporation; Johnson & Johnson’s pending separation of its Orthopaedics business, DePuy Synthes; Black Hills Corp. and NorthWestern Energy’s pending merger of equals; MARA Holdings’ pending acquisition of Long Ridge Energy & Power; Herc Holdings’ acquisition of H&E Equipment; Broadcom’s acquisition of VMWare; HashiCorp’s sale to IBM; and Rio Tinto’s acquisition of Turquoise Hill Resources.
Shareholder Activism Defense
Sam has supported companies in public and private activist situations opposite some of the most notable activist investors, including JANA, Trian, Third Point, D.E. Shaw, Irenic, Rubric Capital and HoldCo Asset Management.
Restructuring and Bankruptcy
Sam has assisted companies involved in out-of-court financial restructurings and in-court Chapter 11 reorganizations. Notable assignments include: Air Pros, American Tire Distributors, Big Lots, FTX, LTL Management, Mallinckrodt, Prospect Medical Holdings, Rite Aid and Vice Media Group.
Crisis Communications
Sam has worked with clients to prepare for and respond to a full spectrum of crisis scenarios including management succession, unplanned leadership changes, cybersecurity incidents, short attack campaigns, federal investigations, regulatory inquiries, facility disasters and workforce reductions.
In Conversation
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Credentials
Sam joined Joele Frank in 2022. He holds a Master of Management Studies from Duke University – The Fuqua School of Business, and a BA in Public Policy from Duke University.