Andrew Blau is Counsel in the Executive Compensation and Employee Benefits Practice at Simpson Thacher & Bartlett LLP. Andrew advises clients on compensatory and benefit arrangements, such as equity-based incentives, cash-based incentives, deferred compensation, retirement plans and retention and severance agreements, with particular emphasis on issues arising in mergers and acquisitions, initial public offerings, and new and joint ventures.

Andrew also advises on employment and consulting arrangements, the applicability of federal securities and tax law to employers and employees, corporate governance issues and general employment-related matters.

Transactions on which Andrew has worked include the representation of:

Alvogen and Pamplona Capital Management in connection with Pamplona's sale of a controlling stake in Alvogen, an international pharmaceuticals company, to a consortium of investors led by CVC Capital Partners
Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co. L.P. in connection with its investment in Privilege Underwriters, Inc., the holding company for the PURE Group of Insurance Companies
Blackstone in connection with its acquisition of Excel Trust, Inc., a publicly-traded real estate investment trust, in an all-cash transaction valued at approximately $2 billion
Blackstone Real Estate Partners in connection with its agreement to acquire the Willis Tower (formerly known as the Sears Tower) for $1.3 billion
NXP Semiconductors in its announced merger with Freescale Semiconductor, a transaction which values the combined enterprise at just over $40 billion
Hilton Worldwide’s $1.95 billion sale of the Waldorf Astoria New York
Digital Bridge Holdings, LLC and Stonepeak Infrastructure Partners in the announced recapitalization of ExteNet Systems, Inc. for over $1 billion
Vestar Capital Partners and its portfolio company, DeVilbiss Holdings LLC, in connection with the sale of DeVilbiss Healthcare LLC to Drive Medical