Smartsheet’s $8.4 billion take-private—among the largest deals of its kind last year—has earned Fenwick The American Lawyer’s prestigious Dealmakers of the Year award.
ALM announced the honor Wednesday in a feature profile on corporate chair Alan Smith, antitrust partner Thomas Ensign, and M&A partner David Michaels, highlighting how Fenwick’s relationship with Smartsheet since its formation in 2005 “uniquely positioned” the team to secure advantageous terms amid less-than-stellar market conditions.
Smartsheet’s decision to go private was driven by “a strategy to re-accelerate growth” and “increase value over time,” Smith shared with ALM.
The transaction itself had “a number of aspects to it, each of which individually may not be all that unusual, but it's rare to see all of them in combination in a single deal,” commented Michaels.
ALM pointed out the transaction’s 45-day “go shop” period for Smartsheet not frequently seen in take-private deals—as well as unique concessions for Smartsheet if a more advantageous buyer emerged. The deal balanced Smartsheet’s interests with the acquirers’ while managing extensive regulatory compliance, employee relations, and government requirements across borders, since Smartsheet operates in more than 190 jurisdictions.
“The transaction was different from many that have similarly high profiles in that in other transactions, you might have one or two jurisdictions that become the center of focus… Here, the issue was the breadth,” added Ensign, who alongside regulatory partner Mark Ostrau, guided Smartsheet in successfully developing an effective strategy for clearance.
The $8.4 billion deal between Smartsheet and investors Blackstone and Vista Equity Partners, which was announced in September 2024 and closed in January 2025, was the second-largest private equity transaction of its kind last year, with more than 30 Fenwick attorneys who worked to make it a reality, ALM noted.
Fenwick represented Smartsheet in its 2018 initial public offering, as well as its acquisition of TernPro the following year and Brandfolder in 2020.