Fashion, retail industry dealmaker jumps to Katten in NYC

Katten Muchin Rosenman has added a partner with a focus on retail and fashion industry transactions to its roster of New York M&A lawyers, as more shoppers venture out and a late-pandemic deal boom continues.

Ilana Lubin, who was a partner in Crowell & Moring’s corporate and advertising & media groups, arrives at Katten’s New York office nearly a year after the firm expanded its M&A and private equity team in Chicago, Dallas and New York with at least nine attorneys from Sidley Austin, Paul Hastings, Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom and other firms.

As a partner in Katten’s M&A and private equity practice, Lubin will advise on M&A transactions, divestiture and joint venture transactions and strategic corporate and commercial matters, the firm said. She specializes in working with clients in the retail, apparel, footwear, accessory and beauty space.

She said Katten’s fit with her industry focus attracted her to the firm.

“(Katten’s) strategic focus and representation of clients in the retail, fashion and entertainment sectors together with their client-first values are what ultimately set them apart as a firm whose pragmatic approach would resonate with my client base,” Lubin said.

Lubin and Katten both declined to identify her clients in the retail and fashion industries, and her Crowell bio described several of her deals in the sector for a “Hong Kong Stock Exchange-listed global consumer goods company” without naming the client. Outside of consumer and retail, Lubin worked on deal teams representing semiconductor and software solutions firm GigPeak Inc in its 2016 underwritten public offering and its $250 million sale to Integrated Device Technology Inc in 2017.

“We thank Ilana for her contributions to the firm and wish her well as she continues her career,” a spokesperson for Crowell said in a statement.

Lubin, who also represents celebrity clients on endorsement deals, said pandemic lockdowns forced retailers to reevaluate their business models and to utilize technology solutions. She said stay-at-home orders also helped accelerate the pre-pandemic trend of celebrities using social media under endorsement deals.

Lubin said that she hopes to do more work focused on celebrity branding and deals at Katten.

“Ilana’s reputation for excellence precedes her,” Kimberly Smith, Katten’s corporate department global chair and co-chair of the firm’s global M&A and private equity practice, said in a statement. “She is an exceptional attorney whose outstanding skills and pragmatic approach will deepen our industry-leading client services.”

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