Sally A. Thurston advises multinational clients on a wide range of tax matters, including the tax aspects of mergers and acquisitions, joint venture formations, restructurings, divestitures and spin-offs, with a particular focus on the U.S. tax aspects of cross-border transactions, ash repatriation techniques and investment structures.
Ms. Thurston has advised Marubeni Corporation in its pending acquisition of Gavilon Group LLC; Pfizer Inc. in the proposed spin-off of its animal health business into a separate publicly traded company via an initial public offering and in the divestiture of its infant-nutrition business to Nestlé S.A.; Merck KGaA in its acquisition of Millipore Corporation; Harbor Point Limited in its merger-of-equals with Max Capital Group Limited; GlobalSantaFe Corporation in its merger with Transocean; Compagnie Financière Alcatel in its acquisition of Lucent Technologies Inc.; NASDAQ in its acquisition of OMX, and its investment in and takeover attempt of the London Stock Exchange; Banco Pactual S.A. in its acquisition by UBS; and BTG Investments L.P. in its acquisition of Banco UBS Pactual S.A. In addition to her experience in mergers and acquisitions, Ms. Thurston regularly represents multinational pharmaceutical and medical device companies in connection with general tax planning matters. She also advises clients in connection with international debt and equity offerings, and has substantial experience representing offshore insurers and reinsurers and their shareholders.
In the United States, Ms. Thurston advises clients on taxable and tax-free acquisitions and divestitures and has significant experience in the partnership taxation area. She also regularly counsels private equity clients in connection with acquisitions and divestitures of portfolio companies.
Ms. Thurston lectures frequently on various international and U.S. tax matters. She has been selected for inclusion in Chambers Global: The World’s Leading Lawyers for Business, Chambers USA: America’s Leading Lawyers for Business, Tax Directors Handbook, PLC Which lawyer?, and The Best Lawyers in America.
Education
- J.D., Harvard Law School, 1986 (cum laude)
- B.S., Chemical Engineering, Cornell University, 1983 (with distinction)
Bar Admissions