Eric T. McCrath is the Chair of Morrison Foerster.
Eric has been a trusted advisor on hundreds of public and private M&A, private equity, and financing transactions over the course of his career. As part of his market-leading M&A practice, he counsels strategic acquirers and targets in a variety of industries, including technology (semiconductors, software, AR/VR, FinTech, AI), healthcare, consumer products, financial institutions, media, gaming, and transportation. He represents leading U.S. and global companies and regularly advises on complex cross–border transactions.
Eric is regularly recognized by leading publications, including Legal 500 US and Chambers USA, with client sources describing him as “greatly skilled at advising on the most complex and high–profile M&A transactions,” and noting that he “combines strong technical skills and a flair for complexity with commercial awareness, pragmatism and sound judgment.”
Eric joined Morrison Foerster as a partner in 2007. He has held multiple leadership roles at the firm prior to being elected chair in June 2022. He has been a member of Morrison Foerster’s Executive Committee since 2016, the Compensation Committee since 2019, has served as Global Co-Chair of the firm’s Corporate Department of over 400 lawyers since 2018, and has also held a number of practice leadership roles.
A diverse lawyer of Asian heritage, Eric is also one of the longest-standing members of Morrison Foerster’s Diversity Strategy Committee, having served since 2010.
SoftBank Corporation
Advised SoftBank Group Corp. and SoftBank Vision Fund in the proposed $65 billion sale of UK-headquartered multinational semiconductor and software design company Arm Limited to U.S. chip company NVIDIA.
Advised SoftBank Group Corp. as the largest investor in WeWork in connection with WeWork’s merger with BowX Acquisition Corp. (NASDAQ: BOWX, BOWXU and BOWXW), a special purpose acquisition company (SPAC), which took the company public.
Advised SoftBank Corporation in its $8.6 billion sale of its controlling stake in Finnish gaming company Supercell Oy to Chinese Internet company Tencent Holdings, Ltd, a global leader in personal computer and mobile games.
Advised SoftBank Group Corp. on its acquisition of U.S.-based semiconductor design company Ampere Computing Holdings LLC for US$6.5 billion.
Advised SoftBank Group Corp., in its $2.8 billion acquisition of 40% of AutoStore, a leading global robotics and software company headquartered in Norway, from funds affiliated with Thomas H. Lee Partners, L.P. and EQT Private Equity, among other shareholders.
Advised SoftBank Group Corp. in connection with its $375 million acquisition of Berkshire Grey (Nasdaq: BGRY), a robotic automation company that went public via a SPAC merger in 2021.
Advised SoftBank Group Corp. in the sale of a majority of its stake in robotics company Boston Dynamics to South Korean automaker Hyundai Motor Company.
Advised SoftBank Group Corp. in the establishment of GreenBox Systems LLC, a joint venture with Symbotic Inc. (Nasdaq: SYM) to focus on the warehouse-as-a-service market.
onsemi
Advised onsemi (NASDAQ: ON) in its acquisitions of Fairchild Semiconductor for $2.4 billion, Quantenna Communications for $1.1 billion, Sanyo Semiconductor for $600 million, GLOBALFOUNDRIES’ East Fishkill, NY manufacturing facility for $430 million, GT Advanced Technologies for $415 million, Aptina Imaging for $400 million, and Cypress Semiconductor’s image sensor business unit for $31.4 million, and in its divestiture of the Ignition IGBT Business and its sale of the Transient Voltage Suppressor and Thyristor Business to Littelfuse.
Uber Technologies
Advised Uber Technologies (NYSE: UBER) in its $3.1 billion acquisition of Dubai-based Careem Inc., a leading provider of ride hailing, delivery, and payment services in the Middle East, South Asia, and Northern Africa.
Unity
Advised Unity (NYSE: U) in connection with its approximately $4.4 billion acquisition of ironSource (NYSE: IS), a leading business platform that empowers mobile content creators to turn their apps into scalable, successful businesses.
Advised Unity (NYSE: U) in connection with an asset carve-out acquisition from Weta Digital, for certain assets including its audio-visual effects development and management software tools for a purchase price of $1.625 billion.
Advised Unity (NYSE: U) in its acquisitions of Artomatix, Codice Software, deltaDNA, Finger Food Advanced Technology Group, Interactive Data Visualization, Mercer Road, Monarch Media, Multiplay (UK), Obvioos, OTO, Parsec, RestAR, SyncSketch, Visual Live 3D, and Ziva Dynamics.
Infineon Technologies
Advised Infineon Technologies AG (FSE: IFX / OTCQX: IFNNY) on its $2.5 billion acquisition of Marvell Technology’s automotive ethernet business (NASDAQ: MRVL).
Divvy
Advised Divvy, a leader in spend management, in its $2.5 billion sale to Bill.com (NYSE: BILL), a provider of cloud-based software that simplifies, digitizes, and automates complex back-office financial operations for small and midsize businesses (SMBs).
BlackBerry
Advised BlackBerry (NYSE: BB) in its $1.4 billion acquisition of artificial intelligence and cybersecurity leader Cylance.
Autodesk
Advised Autodesk (NASDAQ: ADSK) in its acquisitions of BuildingConnected for $275 million, Spacemaker AS for $240 million, Socialcam for $60 million, Aether Media, Bestech Systems, FlexSim, Moxion, Pype, and Savoy Consulting Services.
ShowingTime
Advised ShowingTime.com, a leading showing software and market stats service provider for the residential real estate industry, in its $500 million acquisition by Zillow Group.
Gemini Trust
Advised Gemini Trust, a cryptocurrency exchange and custodian, in is acquisitions of Bitria and Omniex.
eBay
Advised eBay (NASDAQ: EBAY) in connection with its acquisitions of 3PM Shield, KnownOrigin, myFitment, and Sneaker Con Digital.
Kahoot!
Advised Kahoot! in its acquisition of Clever, a U.S. venture-backed edtech company.
Astroscale
Advised Astroscale U.S., the U.S. unit of Astroscale Holdings, the market leader in securing long-term orbital sustainability, in its acquisition of certain the intellectual property and other assets of Effective Space Solutions R&D Ltd., an Israeli satellite life-extension and servicing company.
IDIQ
Advised Identity Intelligence Group (IDIQ), provider of a range of services in the areas of security, including identity theft protection, credit scores and reports, data breaches, and security awareness training, and its members in the sale of 51% of IDIQ to affiliates of Corsair Capital.
Iovation
Advised iovation, a provider of device-based information, in its acquisition by TransUnion, a leading global risk and information solutions provider to businesses and consumers.
NerdWallet
Advised NerdWallet (NASDAQ: NRDS) in its acquisition of Fundera, a financial resource for 28 million small and medium-sized businesses (SMBs) operating in the United States.
Unilever
Advised Unilever (NYSE: UL), one of the world’s leading suppliers of food, home, and personal care products, in its acquisition of Dollar Shave Club. This was one of the largest ever deals for an e–commerce company.
Visa
Advised Visa (NYSE: V) in its acquisition of YellowPepper, a fintech pioneer with proprietary technology and partnerships supporting leading financial institutions and startups across nine Latin American and Caribbean countries.
Vontier
Advised Vontier Corporation in its $107 million sale of Global Traffic Technologies, LLC to Miovision.
Named to the 2021 Dealmakers Impact Report
Ranked for Corporate/M&A
Recommended for M&A: Large Deals ($1bn+)
Recommended for TMT: Technology Transactions
Legal 500 US 2023-2024