Awards & Rankings
Awards & Rankings
Press Contacts: Erik Cummins, Matt Hyams, Taina Rosa, Olivia Thomas
02.10.25
Pillsbury won the Canada M&A Deal of the Year for its representation of leading global children’s entertainment company Spin Master Corp.’s, $950 million acquisition of Melissa & Doug, a well-recognized and trusted brand in early childhood play, at the 16th Annual Americas M&A Atlas Awards Gala. The awards were announced on February 6 in New York City, and honor the best value-creating deals, outstanding firms and legendary leaders-dealmakers from the North and Latin America corporate, investor and transactional communities.
The acquisition bolstered Spin Master’s position as a leader in the children’s entertainment sector, enhancing its portfolio with Melissa & Doug’s complimentary product line of high-quality, open-ended, creative and developmental toys. The transaction was funded through a mix of approximately $450 million in balance sheet cash and $500 million in debt financing. The deal closed in January 2024.
The Pillsbury deal team was led by Corporate partners Jonathan Russo and Veronica Nunn and included counsel Nina Bakhtina. Additional team members included Executive Compensation & Benefits partners Jessica Lutrin and Mark Jones; Employment Law partners Paula Weber and Rebecca Carr Rizzo and associate Laura Killalea; Intellectual Property partners Ed Cavazos and Sandro Serra; Tax partner Nora E. Burke; Finance partner Michael Reese; Insurance Recovery & Advisory partner Alex Lathrop; Antitrust & Competition partner Michael Sibarium and attorney Evan Storm; Regulatory partner Nancy Fischer and counsel Zachary Rozen; Environmental & Natural Resources partner Reza Zarghamee; Real Estate partners Rachel Horsch and Noa Clark, senior associate Samantha Sharma and associate Cara M. MacDonald; and Cybersecurity, Data Protection & Privacy partner Aimee Ghosh.
Recognized among the “Top 20” world’s leading M&A advisors by Bloomberg, FactSet, and Refinitiv, Pillsbury draws upon its significant experience in sophisticated markets to deliver integrated strategic advice and innovative solutions to clients on complex transactions. With more than 150 lawyers advising on mergers & acquisitions globally, Pillsbury has advised clients on some of the most sophisticated and innovative transactions in the market. In the last five years, the team has advised on over 800+ M&A transactions totaling $450 billion across a wide range of sectors and geographies. The lawyers are market leaders in their field, which is in part why Pillsbury is ranked Tier 1 for M&A by Best Lawyers/U.S. News & World Report and recognized for M&A excellence by both Chambers and The Legal 500.