Bill Choe is recognized as one of the technology industry’s top M&A dealmakers. For nearly 30 years, he has represented prominent public and private technology companies in a wide range of domestic and cross-border buy-and sell-side M&A transactions, including stock and assets sales and purchases, tender offers, spin-ins, and divestitures and divisional sales. Bill’s practice spans such innovative sectors, such as artificial intelligence, digital media streaming, voice and vision technologies, autonomous vehicles, and the Internet of Things. He also has significant experience advising high-technology companies at early-through-exit stages of their growth cycle, as well as venture capital and private equity funds that focus on investing in such companies.
Prior to joining Arnold & Porter, Bill was a partner in the Corporate Department of a leading Am Law 100 firm and served as Global Head of Technology M&A and co-head of the Global Technology Industry group at another international law firm. He has also served as Vice President of Legal at a publicly traded information and analytics company, where he oversaw the department’s M&A, securities, and corporate governance matters.
Bill has been praised by clients in Chambers USA for his ability to successfully navigate and marry the legal with the commercial in complex deals. Recent client comments include:
“He is a remarkable deal lawyer [who] is excellent in negotiations and… a master problem solver.”
“Bill can blend legal excellence, strategic advice, and commercial problem solving, making him an exceptional legal talent.”
“Bill is…peerless in distilling the essence of a problem and giving you advice for a clear path forward.”
Experience
Bill has represented Intel as lead counsel in numerous M&A transactions, including:
- Acquisition of Silicon Mobility SAS, a fabless silicon and software company specializing in software-defined vehicle system-on-chips for intelligent electric vehicle energy management;
- Acquisition of Screenovate Technologies Ltd., an Israel-based wireless device virtualization platform company;*
- Sale of Intel's drone-light show business to Kimbal Musk affiliated Nova Sky Stories, LLC;*
- Acquisition of Linutronix GmbH, a German developer of Linux-based kernel architecture;*
- Acquisition of Codeplay Software Limited, a Scottish opensource AI-software developer;*
- Acquisition of Habana Labs Ltd., an Israel-based developer of programmable deep learning accelerators for the data center;*
- Acquisition of an Israel-based artificial intelligence company providing an all-in-one machine learning platform;*
- Acquisition of Barefoot Networks, Inc., an emerging leader in Ethernet switch silicon and software for use in the data center;*
- Acquisition of eASIC Corporation, a developer of FPGA-like design tools to roll out structured ASICs;*
- Acquisition of Nervana Systems, Inc., an AI/deep learning software company;*
- Acquisition of Rivet Networks LLC, a provider of accelerated networking products and analysis tools;*
- Acquisition of eBrisk Video Inc., a Canadian video encoding and compression company;*
- Acquisition of Ineda Systems, an Indian-based Level-5 Autonomous Driving systems technology company;*
- Acquisition of Telaris Inc., a laser/Lidar technology company;*
- Acquisition of Eonite Perception Inc., a high-definition mapping company that provides mapping technology, data, and software for autonomous driving;*
- Acquisition of 1026 Labs, Inc. (Vertex.AI), a company focused on deep learning compilation tools and associated technology;*
- Acquisition of Ascending Technologies GmbH, a German drone company with autopilot and anti-collision technologies;*
- Acquisition of Itseez, Inc. (and affiliated companies and assets), a Computer Vison software company;*
- Acquisition of MAVinci GmbH, a German drone company with flight planning technologies;*
- Acquisition of Yogitech S.P.A., an Italian provider of functional safety features and IP for semiconductors used in automotive and other safety-critical markets;*
- Asset purchase of pan-Asian mobile chip business from VIA Telecom;*
- Acquisition of HICAMP Systems, Inc., a developer of memory efficiency circuitry and technologies (and founded by Intel Fellow David Cheriton);*
- Asset purchase of appMobi, Inc., an HTML5 developer tools business;*
- Acquisition of Indisys, S.A., a developer of natural language processing technologies;* and
- Acquisition of Mashery, Inc., a provider of technology solutions for API management and monetization.*
Bill has also led representations in the following tech M&A transactions, among many others:
- Agile Software Corporation in its proposed $2.55 billion sale to Ariba, Inc., including termination of the transaction*
- Silicon Spice, Inc., in its $1.2 billion sale to Broadcom Corporation*
- Link_A_Media Devices Corporation in its $260 million sale to SK Hynix, Inc., SK Hynix’s first U.S. acquisition*
- Autodesk, Inc., in its agreement to acquire SeeControl*
- Mykonos Software, Inc., in its sale to Juniper Networks, Inc.*
- VMware, Inc., in its acquisition of Desktone, Inc.*
- DataPath Systems, Inc., in its $535 million sale to LSI Logic, Inc.*
- Valicert, Inc., in its sale to Tumbleweed Communications Corp.*
- Instraspect Software, Inc., in its sale to Vignette Corporation*
- McAfee in its asset purchase of a leading malware analysis software business*
*Reflects experience at previous employer.
Perspectives
Recognition
Credentials
Education
- M.B.A., Columbia University, 1995
- J.D., Notre Dame Law School, 1991
- B.A., University of Michigan, 1988
Admissions
- California