Benet O'Reilly

Benet J. O’Reilly is a leading M&A lawyer who advises clients on complex, high-stakes transactions, with a focus on public and private M&A, cross-border deals, carve-outs, divestitures and restructuring-related matters. With more than two decades of experience, he is known for bringing strategic judgment, practical advice and steady execution to transactions involving significant business, regulatory and timing pressures.

Benet’s practice is particularly focused on technology, life sciences, healthcare and other innovation-driven sectors, where clients rely on him to navigate transformative transactions and complex deal dynamics. His recent matters include representing Shionogi in its $2.5 billion acquisition of global rights to RADICAVA ORS and IV RADICAVA and its acquisition of Qpex Biopharma; GSK in its acquisitions of Aiolos Bio and Boston Pharmaceuticals’ lead asset efimosfermin; Synopsys in its $35 billion acquisition of Ansys; Atlassian in its $975 million acquisition of Loom; American Tower in its $10.1 billion acquisition of CoreSite and $3.5 billion acquisition of InSite; and IFF in its $45.4 billion Reverse Morris Trust merger with DuPont’s Nutrition & Biosciences business.

As a founding partner of Cleary’s San Francisco office, Benet helps lead the firm’s West Coast M&A work for technology, life sciences and other innovation-driven companies. Other clients have included Alphabet/Google, Asahi Kasei, FullBeauty Brands, Goodyear, Hewlett-Packard, Juul Labs, Levi Strauss & Co., Post Holdings, Schibsted and Surescripts.