William R. Skinner

Office

Silicon Valley

Practices

Industries

Education & Admissions

J.D., with distinction
Stanford Law School

B.A., History
University of California, Berkeley

Admitted to practice in California

Will focuses on tax-efficient structuring of business transactions and corporate tax planning, particularly in the cross-border area. He supports U.S. inbound and outbound clients in solving critical tax issues, ranging from Fortune 500 companies to venture-backed and other closely held companies. He brings both significant tax planning and tax controversy experience to bear in developing and implementing defensible solutions to client problems.

During his 19 years of tax practice, Will has led the tax structuring and execution of numerous high-stakes corporate transactions, ranging from representing publicly traded corporations on mergers, acquisitions, divestitures and joint ventures, planning legal entity rationalizations and other internal restructurings, and helping U.S. multinationals optimize their foreign tax credit or subpart F positions.

Prior to entering private practice, Will clerked for the Honorable Carlos T. Bea, on the night Circuit Court of Appeals. He is a frequent writer and speaker on corporate and international tax topics, and is the author of Bloomberg BNA Tax Management Portfolio - CFCs : Sections 959 – 965 and 1248.

He's a highly sophisticated professional with a broad tax vision."

Chambers USA, Client Quote

2023 Edition

Represented Morphic Holdings, Inc., in its $3.2 billion acquisition by Eli Lilly and Company, Smartsheet in its pending $8.4 billion acquisition by Blackstone and Vista Equity Partners, Redfin in its pending $1.7 billion acquisition by Rocket, Cupertino Electric in its $1.53 billion acquisition by Quanta Services, Model N in its $1.25 billion acquisition by Vista Equity Partners, Wonder Group in its $650 million acquisition of Grubhub, and Embracer Group AB in its $450 million divestiture of Gearbox Software.
Represented Coinbase Global, Inc. in its $1.1 billion convertible debt offering and Bill.com in its $1.4 billion convertible debt offering.
Represented Coreweave in $650 million and $642 million minority investment transactions and Metropolis Technologies Inc. in $1.7 billion financing for its acquisition of SP Plus.
Represented public company in complying with Tax Matters Agreement following a § 355 spin, including issuing several tax opinions.
Significant experience with partnerships, including profits interests plans and LLC TopCos, and financial products tax issues, such as equity hedging, equity and FX derivatives, debt recapitalizations, and debt offerings.
Provided tax advice to debtors in corporate bankruptcies.

Represented Morphic Holdings, Inc., in its $3.2 billion acquisition by Eli Lilly and Company, Smartsheet in its pending $8.4 billion acquisition by Blackstone and Vista Equity Partners, Redfin in its pending $1.7 billion acquisition by Rocket, Cupertino Electric in its $1.53 billion acquisition by Quanta Services, Model N in its $1.25 billion acquisition by Vista Equity Partners, Wonder Group in its $650 million acquisition of Grubhub, and Embracer Group AB in its $450 million divestiture of Gearbox Software.
Represented Coinbase Global, Inc. in its $1.1 billion convertible debt offering and Bill.com in its $1.4 billion convertible debt offering.
Represented Coreweave in $650 million and $642 million minority investment transactions and Metropolis Technologies Inc. in $1.7 billion financing for its acquisition of SP Plus.
Represented public company in complying with Tax Matters Agreement following a § 355 spin, including issuing several tax opinions.
Significant experience with partnerships, including profits interests plans and LLC TopCos, and financial products tax issues, such as equity hedging, equity and FX derivatives, debt recapitalizations, and debt offerings.
Provided tax advice to debtors in corporate bankruptcies.

Representative Experience

Representative Experience

Chambers USA

Chambers USA