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Noreen R. Weiss
US Founding Partner
Corporate, M&A, Commercial, Finance
BIO Details
Download Noreen's CVAccolades
Expertise
Noreen is an entrepreneurial lawyer with deep expertise in corporate, M&A, securities and commercial law, specializing in cross border expansion and transactions, capital formation, and the evolving law around cutting- edge technology, with a unique blend of expatriate, in-house and founder experience.
As Founding Partner of the New York office, Noreen was instrumental in opening the firm’s first office in the United States.
She has a decade of founder and law firm leadership experience as the co-founder of MacDonald Weiss PLLC, a boutique corporate and commercial firm. Combined with her early career as a capital markets and M&A lawyer in the New York, London and Tokyo offices of Cleary, Gottlieb, Steen and Hamilton, and followed by years as Senior Counsel for International Corporate Development for HBO (Home Box Office), she has a diverse global, client and founder perspective.
Noreen embraces disruption and marries her deep specialization with the curiosity of a generalist, advising clients on the cutting edge of law and technology, and assisting clients with navigating a global marketplace.
Noreen advises
- Growth companies and founders in the tech space including blockchain, tokens and NFT, and SaaS matters
- Investors, venture capital and private equity funds and family offices
- Multinational private and public companies in an array of industries including cosmetics and health & beauty products; fashion; media; advertising and branding; FinTech; financial services; investment funds.
Career history
- Co-Founder and Partner, MacDonald Weiss, PLLC, New York (2014–22)
- Senior Counsel for International Corporate Development and Network Operations, Home Box Office (HBO, a Division of Time Warner), New York (1995–2003)
- Associate, Cleary, Gottlieb, Steen & Hamilton, London, New York, Tokyo (1988–95)
- Bar Admission: New York, 1988
Education
- Fordham University School of Law, J.D. cum laude, 1988
- Pennsylvania State University, Schreyer Honors College, B.S. Accounting summa cum laude, Evan Pugh Scholar, 1985
- L’Institut Universitaire de Technologie de Nice, France, 1984
Other appointments
- International Bar Association: Senior Vice Chair, Closely Held and Growing Business Enterprises Committee
- Indigenous Peoples Education Fund: Executive Director, Board Member
- Brooklyn Museum of Art: Advisory Board
Representative Matters — M&A
- Lead counsel for a purchaser in an acquisition representing a Danish strategic buyer of a US operating and R&D company in the food and pharma business. Deal was structured as a merger to address post-closing governance and tax matters.
- US lead counsel representing sellers in a 3-phase sale of a US holding company of German-based operating subsidiary in the industry of computer vision technology for robotic navigation driven by artificial perception software programming. Purchaser was a Japanese publicly-traded strategic buyer. Deal included convertible notes, rationalization of voting Delaware law voting trusts, stock option plans and an equity purchase in three separate phases with three closings.
- Lead US counsel collaborating with Danish deal counsel representing a Danish buyer in the purchase of US entity from a Swedish seller. The transaction included an asset sale spin-off of a line of business financed by mezzanine debt collateralized by the target’s shares.
- A team of gunnercooke US and UK partners represented a US publicly-traded holding company of a multinational enterprise in the automobile data and AI industry operating through a principal subsidiary in the UK, with additional operations in Germany, France and Japan. Our team assisted the client to navigate a distressed situation and included holistic restructuring advice including private equity funding and management of the transaction in the context of a UK administration proceeding and the applicability of US chapter 11 relief, US securities law disclosure compliance, and navigating complex employment law issues in Germany.
Expertise
Back to topNoreen is an entrepreneurial lawyer with deep expertise in corporate, M&A, securities and commercial law, specializing in cross border expansion and transactions, capital formation, and the evolving law around cutting- edge technology, with a unique blend of expatriate, in-house and founder experience.
As Founding Partner of the New York office, Noreen was instrumental in opening the firm’s first office in the United States.
She has a decade of founder and law firm leadership experience as the co-founder of MacDonald Weiss PLLC, a boutique corporate and commercial firm. Combined with her early career as a capital markets and M&A lawyer in the New York, London and Tokyo offices of Cleary, Gottlieb, Steen and Hamilton, and followed by years as Senior Counsel for International Corporate Development for HBO (Home Box Office), she has a diverse global, client and founder perspective.
Noreen embraces disruption and marries her deep specialization with the curiosity of a generalist, advising clients on the cutting edge of law and technology, and assisting clients with navigating a global marketplace.
Noreen advises
Back to top- Growth companies and founders in the tech space including blockchain, tokens and NFT, and SaaS matters
- Investors, venture capital and private equity funds and family offices
- Multinational private and public companies in an array of industries including cosmetics and health & beauty products; fashion; media; advertising and branding; FinTech; financial services; investment funds.
Career history
Back to top- Co-Founder and Partner, MacDonald Weiss, PLLC, New York (2014–22)
- Senior Counsel for International Corporate Development and Network Operations, Home Box Office (HBO, a Division of Time Warner), New York (1995–2003)
- Associate, Cleary, Gottlieb, Steen & Hamilton, London, New York, Tokyo (1988–95)
- Bar Admission: New York, 1988
Education
- Fordham University School of Law, J.D. cum laude, 1988
- Pennsylvania State University, Schreyer Honors College, B.S. Accounting summa cum laude, Evan Pugh Scholar, 1985
- L’Institut Universitaire de Technologie de Nice, France, 1984
Other appointments
- International Bar Association: Senior Vice Chair, Closely Held and Growing Business Enterprises Committee
- Indigenous Peoples Education Fund: Executive Director, Board Member
- Brooklyn Museum of Art: Advisory Board
Representative Matters — M&A
Back to top- Lead counsel for a purchaser in an acquisition representing a Danish strategic buyer of a US operating and R&D company in the food and pharma business. Deal was structured as a merger to address post-closing governance and tax matters.
- US lead counsel representing sellers in a 3-phase sale of a US holding company of German-based operating subsidiary in the industry of computer vision technology for robotic navigation driven by artificial perception software programming. Purchaser was a Japanese publicly-traded strategic buyer. Deal included convertible notes, rationalization of voting Delaware law voting trusts, stock option plans and an equity purchase in three separate phases with three closings.
- Lead US counsel collaborating with Danish deal counsel representing a Danish buyer in the purchase of US entity from a Swedish seller. The transaction included an asset sale spin-off of a line of business financed by mezzanine debt collateralized by the target’s shares.
- A team of gunnercooke US and UK partners represented a US publicly-traded holding company of a multinational enterprise in the automobile data and AI industry operating through a principal subsidiary in the UK, with additional operations in Germany, France and Japan. Our team assisted the client to navigate a distressed situation and included holistic restructuring advice including private equity funding and management of the transaction in the context of a UK administration proceeding and the applicability of US chapter 11 relief, US securities law disclosure compliance, and navigating complex employment law issues in Germany.