M&A Lawyers vs. Bankers: What's Changed and What Still Matters with Rob Kindler

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.