Cooley’s Business Czar Navigates AI Deals ‘Unmoored’ to Numbers
Peter Werner, Cooley partner, chair of the firm’s global business department and co-chair of the firm’s global emerging companies and venture capital practice group, was featured in a Bloomberg Law article discussing how fast-moving AI deals are reshaping M&A, with buyers increasingly valuing talent and technology over traditional financial metrics and using creative structures such as licensing agreements and earnouts to manage risk. Werner also cautioned that licensing structures may not necessarily avoid antitrust scrutiny for significant transactions. Cooley was mentioned for ranking 10th among legal advisors by M&A deal volume in H1 2026, and noted for working on key AI deals including Confluent's $11 billion acquisition by IBM in December 2025, io Products on its $6.5 billion acquisition by OpenAI in May 2025, Menlo Ventures' $3 billion in new capital to back AI companies in June 2026 and General Catalyst in Anthropic’s $30 million Series G financing in February 2026.
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