Rob Kindler, Partner at Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison LLP
In this episode of the M&A Science podcast, Kison Patel sits down with Rob Kindler, a uniquely positioned dealmaker whose career has spanned both sides of the M&A table—law and investment banking. Rob previously led global M&A at Morgan Stanley and is now a senior partner at Paul Weiss. With 44 years of experience, he’s seen firsthand how the roles of lawyers and bankers have evolved, what makes a deal succeed or fail, and how today’s regulatory, activist, and valuation pressures are reshaping M&A execution.
Things you will learn:
-
Why legal advisors are now the first call in M&A, not the last
-
How corporate development teams have replaced bankers in early-stage deal sourcing
-
Why regulatory strategy and shareholder approval planning can make or break a deal
-
How to negotiate effectively by predicting “the end of the movie”
________________________
Sponsored by DealRoom—where M&A chaos meets its match.
Still stuck in spreadsheet hell?
DealRoom helps corporate development teams take control—streamlining diligence, syncing integration, and eliminating the back-and-forth.
👉 Learn how you can run a repeatable, buyer-led process
________________________
Episode Chapters
[00:01:00] Rob’s career arc from lawyer to banker and back again
[00:04:30] Why Rob left law for investment banking in 2000
[00:06:00] How corporate dev teams changed the role of bankers
[00:11:30] Structuring deals to avoid shareholder approval pitfalls
[00:14:30] The rise of activism and merger arbitrage in public M&A
[00:16:00] How buyer-led M&A has transformed deal strategy
[00:22:30] Impact of regulatory regimes in U.S. vs. Europe
[00:27:00] Lessons in negotiation and predicting deal dynamics
[00:36:00] Why intrinsic value matters more than financial engineering
[00:48:30] What top CEOs understand about using M&A to drive strategy
[00:51:00] How to spot a bad deal—and the red flags bankers sometimes ignore
[00:53:00] Rob’s funniest moment: 300 pounds of turnips on a conference table
Questions, comments, concerns?
Follow Kison Patel for behind-the-scenes insights on modern M&A.
Popular Podcasts
Stuff You Should Know
If you've ever wanted to know about champagne, satanism, the Stonewall Uprising, chaos theory, LSD, El Nino, true crime and Rosa Parks, then look no further. Josh and Chuck have you covered.
Dateline NBC
Current and classic episodes, featuring compelling true-crime mysteries, powerful documentaries and in-depth investigations. Special Summer Offer: Exclusively on Apple Podcasts, try our Dateline Premium subscription completely free for one month! With Dateline Premium, you get every episode ad-free plus exclusive bonus content.
On Purpose with Jay Shetty
I’m Jay Shetty host of On Purpose the worlds #1 Mental Health podcast and I’m so grateful you found us. I started this podcast 5 years ago to invite you into conversations and workshops that are designed to help make you happier, healthier and more healed. I believe that when you (yes you) feel seen, heard and understood you’re able to deal with relationship struggles, work challenges and life’s ups and downs with more ease and grace. I interview experts, celebrities, thought leaders and athletes so that we can grow our mindset, build better habits and uncover a side of them we’ve never seen before. New episodes every Monday and Friday. Your support means the world to me and I don’t take it for granted — click the follow button and leave a review to help us spread the love with On Purpose. I can’t wait for you to listen to your first or 500th episode!