Democratic Official Turns Dealmaker

The man who will be responsible for the smooth running of the 2004 Democratic National Convention, Joseph J. Andrew, will split his time between those duties and doing deals as an m&a partner at Cadwalader, Wickersham & Taft. Andrew, who is chairman of the 2004 Democratic convention and is also the former chairman of the Democratic National Committee, joined the law firm in June as a partner in the firm’s corporate m&a group. He will also serve as chairman of its global public affairs group. Andrew spoke with Mergers & Acquisitions about his dual passions – politics and dealmaking. “With 15 years of corporate m&a experience and with my political background, I believe I am well suited to make a contribution to the firm’s clients in the area between the transactional services and regulatory issues. This is a gray area -which isn’t entirely political, nor is it cut-and-dried regulatory work.” Andrews, who has advised on deals for such clients as Cinergy Corp., Conseco Inc., and Cummings Engine Corp., says that the things that keep CEOs up at night on the eve of deals are what they don’t know about a situation. Often these details, which don’t show up in conventional due diligence, can be ferreted out by attorneys who understand the nuances of the intersection of public and commercial realms. He says that the increasingly early and public involvement of elected officials in a deal’s life confirms his view that m&a practitioners need to be attentive to a larger audience than the people who will be looking at reps and warranties. The Indiana native, who in 1995 became the youngest elected chairman of the Indiana Democratic Party, says that although his time will in theory be split between Cadwalader’s New York and Washington, D.C., offices, he will continue to travel extensively. Andrew was most recently a corporate partner in the law offices of Johnson Smith LLC. As chairman of the Democratic National Committee from 1999 to February 2001, he directed a reorganization that resulted in new efficiencies in communications systems and infrastructure. Andrew holds a BA and a JD from Yale University and served as a clerk in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit. Beyond his government work, much of Andrews’ private-sector career has been spent negotiating deals in regulated industries, such as energy, telecommunications, pharmaceuticals, and technology. On energy, Andrews notes that despite the market turmoil going on in California, he doesn’t expect to see a slowdown in the deregulation of utilities. Rather, he expects to see people in the industry reevaluating their goals and putting more resources into the use of technology in energy. “From putting in practice our ability to read meters electronically to finding new and more efficient ways to deliver energy, there’s a lot of activity in energy technology.” The Democratic politician adds that the energy sector now is about where the telecommunications industry was in the early 1990s – that is, a center of action for investors and dealmakers.