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San Francisco

Heather Brookfield

Partner
heather.brookfield@freshfields.com
San Francisco: +1 415 400 2114
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About

Heather’s practice focuses on the executive compensation aspects of public and private company M&A and capital markets transactions, as well as executive compensation and employee benefits matters for private and public companies throughout the corporate lifecycle. She has considerable experience advising founders, general counsels and boards of companies on executive compensation issues arising in the context of financings, mergers and acquisitions, initial public offerings, liquidity programs and other corporate transactions.

Heather’s work includes counseling on the design, drafting, implementation and maintenance of equity and phantom equity plans, retention, change in control and other incentive compensation plans and programs, nonqualified deferred compensation plans, employment agreements and severance programs and agreements.

Heather counsels public and private companies of all sizes regarding a wide range of compensation-related legal, regulatory and governance issues arising under the Internal Revenue Code (including Section 409A and 280G), federal and state securities laws, stock exchange listing standards, institutional investor voting policies and ERISA. Heather assists public companies with compensation and equity plan disclosures for proxy and other applicable securities filings, employee communications and public announcements.

While in private practice, Heather completed a secondment at Uber’s headquarters as in-house compensation and benefits counsel to negotiate and resolve compensation-related issues arising in numerous significant acquisitions, investments and divestitures.

Capabilities

Employment, incentives and pensions

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Additional Information

  • Salesforce on its pending acquisition of Convergence.ai and its announced acquisition of Qualified
  • CK Life Sciences on the sale of Polynoma to TransCode Therapeutics and a concurrent strategic financing in TransCode
  • Atlassian on its pending $610m acquisition of The Browser Company of New York and its acquisition of Cycle
  • Strava on its acquisition of Runna
  • Beazley plc on its acquisition of kWh Analytics, Inc.
  • Carta on its acquisition of ListAlpha
  • Uber on its announced acquisition of the delivery portfolio of Getir in Türkiye from Mubadala Investment Company
  • HV Capital on its investment in Nabla as part of the company’s $70m Series C funding round
  • RPT Realty in its acquisition by Kimco Realty in a $2b all-stock transaction*
  • Ironshore Therapeutics in its acquisition by Collegium Pharmaceutical for $52m, with the potential for an additional $25m commercial milestone payment*
  • Synaptics on its $549m acquisition of DSP Group*
  • Advanced Biologics on its merger with Thompson Street Capital Partner’s Isto Biologics*
  • A global venture and growth equity investment firm on investment into and acquisitions of numerous portfolio companies*
  • The management team of a home maintenance business in its sale by private capital investors to new investors*
  • Qwilt on its $70m Series E funding round led by Cisco Systems and including the company’s existing investors, valuing the company at $80m*
  • Carbon Revolution in a business combination with Twin Ridge Capital Acquisition Corp.*
  • The underwriter on the initial public offering of Fractyl Health*
  • The underwriter on the initial public offering of Real Good Foods*

    *Prior to joining Freshfields

Heather Brookfield

Partner
heather.brookfield@freshfields.com

T +1 415 400 2114

San Francisco Office

One Bush Street

17th Floor

San Francisco 94104
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