John G. Finley is a member of the mergers and acquisitions group of Simpson Thacher & Bartlett LLP.  Recent transactions he has handled include Lehman Brothers’s sale of its North American investment banking and capital markets businesses to Barclays Capital (2008), representation of the outside directors of Anheuser-Busch in connection with its combination with InBev (2008), Mars’s acquisition of Wrigley (2008), the sale of Claire’s Stores to a private equity firm (2007), the sale of VNU to a private equity consortium (2006), CBS’s sale of Paramount Parks to Cedar Fair (2006), the sale of Neiman Marcus to a private equity consortium (2005), the sale of Toys R Us to a private equity consortium (2005), Kmart’s business combination with Sears (2005), the sale of Grey Global to the WPP Group (2005), the acquisition of Time Warner’s Warner Music Group by a private equity consortium consisting of Edgar Bronfman, Jr., Bain Capital, Providence Equity Partners and Thomas H. Lee Partners (2003) and the acquisition of Neuberger Berman by Lehman Brothers (2003).  Other notable transactions have included the sale of Harcourt General to Reed Elsevier (2001) and Seagram’s business combination with Vivendi and Canal Plus (2000).  He has also represented financial advisors in connection with mergers and acquisitions matters, including Evercore and Goldman Sachs.

Mr. Finley was featured in the American Lawyer’s "Dealmakers of the Year" in 2008, 2005 and 1999. He was recently recognized as one of 15 of the "Most Highly Regarded Individuals" in global M&A by The International Who’s Who of Business Lawyers and was also named in "The Best of the Best 2009" in a survey by International Financial Law Review listing the top 25 M&A and private equity lawyers in the United States. He has been named one of the leading M&A lawyers in the United States and abroad in a number of recent surveys, including Chambers USA 2009, Chambers Global 2009, The Best Lawyers in America, Law Business Research’s The International Who’s Who of Merger and Acquisition Lawyers and Euromoney’s Guide to the World’s Leading M&A Lawyers. He was also named in Law Business Research’s The International Who’s Who of Corporate Governance Lawyers and in International Financial Law Review’s Guide to the World’s Leading Corporate Governance Lawyers. In 1995, Mr. Finley was featured in the American Lawyer’s "45 under 45: Forty Five young lawyers who are making their mark today and will lead the profession tomorrow."

Mr. Finley is a member of the Advisory Board of the Harvard Law School Program on Corporate Governance and a Trustee of the Jewish Board of Family and Children’s Services.  He is also a guest lecturer at Harvard Law School.  He has served on the Committee on Securities Regulation of the New York State Bar Association, the Board of Directors of the Lawyer’s Committee for Human Rights and the Board of Advisors of the Knight-Bagehot Fellowship for Economics and Business Journalism at Columbia University.  He has also served as Chairman of the Annual International Mergers & Acquisitions Conference of the International Bar Association.  

Mr. Finley has a BS in Economics, summa cum laude, from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania (1978), a BA in History, summa cum laude, from the College of Arts and Sciences of the University of Pennsylvania (1978), and a JD, cum laude, from Harvard Law School (1981).

Publications

•	Change in RiskMetrics Group Governance Ratings
•	SEC Signals that New Proxy Access Rules Will Likely Not Be Effective for 2010 Proxy Season
•	Evolving Agreements Offer Flexibility in Credit Crunch
•	SEC Releases Updated Guidance Regarding Going Private Transactions
•	Rights Plans Offer Special Benefits for Companies Whose Market Capitalization Has Declined to $500 Million or Below
•	RiskMetrics Policy Updates Suggest Increased Risk of Withhold/Against Vote Due to Poor Performance
•	Majority Voting in Director Elections: A Look Back and A Look Ahead
•	The Meaning of the Disney Case, UCLA Law Second Annual Institute on Corporate, Securities, and Related Aspects of Mergers and Acquisitions (October 2005)
•	A Primer On Share Repurchases In Connection With Mergers and Acquisitions (February 2005)
•	Delaware Supreme Court's NCS Healthcare Decision May Limit Effectiveness of Voting Agreements From Majority Stockholders as Deal Protection Measures (December 2002)
•	Corporate Governance Issues Related to Strategic Investments in Public Companies, University of Miami Business Law Review (Winter/Spring 2002)
•	Disclosure Controls and Procedures (October 2002)
•	SEC Issues Order Requiring Senior Officers to Provide Sworn Statements Concerning the Accuracy and Completeness of Filed Periodic Reports and Proxy Statements
•	Governance and Other Selected Topics Arising from the Formation and Operation of a Joint Venture, University of Miami School of Law Center for Continuing Legal Education, Sixth Annual Institute on Mergers and Acquisitions (January 2002)
•	A New Roadmap For Going-Private Transactions (December 2001)
•	Delaware Chancery Court Orders Specific Performance of Merger Agreement: An Analysis of the IBP-Tyson Litigation (August 2001)
•	Executive Compensation in the Context of Tender Offers (June 2001)
•	The Rise of the Hostile Bid in Continental Europe - A Comparative Analysis, University of Miami School of Law Center for Continuing Legal Education, Fourth Annual Institute on Mergers and Acquisitions (January 2000)
•	Recent SEC International Finance Initiatives (with Glenn Reiter and D. Rhett Brandon), Journal of International Banking Law (December 1991)
•	Defensive Recapitalizations (with Nancy L. Eisenschmeid), Structuring Leveraged Buyouts, Prentice Hall Law & Business, 1989
•	US Perspective on Mergers and Acquisitions in Europe, Prepared in Connection with the 9th Biennial Conference of the Section on Business Law of the International Bar Association, 1989

Speaking Engagements

•	Simpson Thacher Partner John Finley Speaks on Harvard Law Panel on Private Equity January 11, 2010
•	John Finley to Speak at the University of Texas School of Law's 5th Annual Mergers and Acquisitions Institute October 9, 2009
•	John Finley to Participate in Harvard Law School's Proxy Access Roundtable September 18, 2009
•	John Finley Chairs, and Alan Klein Co-Chairs, International Bar Association M&A Conference June 16, 2009
•	John Finley to Speak at 5th Annual Institute on Corporate Related Aspects of Mergers and Acquisitions September 22, 2008
•	John Finley Chairs International Bar Association M&A Conference; Alan Klein Moderates Panel May 28, 2008

Admissions

•	New York 1982

Education

•	Harvard Law School, 1981 J.D. cum laude
•	Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania, 1978 B.S. summa cum laude
•	University of Pennsylvania College of Arts and Sciences, 1978 B.A. summa cum laude; Phi Beta Kappa