Veteran Dallas M&A tax partner Adam Arikat is parting ways with Kirkland & Ellis to join Simpson Thacher & Bartlett’s Houston office.
A former lawyer for ExxonMobil, Arikat specializes in tax issues involving energy and infrastructure transactions, including oil and gas, renewables, energy transition and other sectors likely to be impacted by the IRA and other sources of tax credits.
Arikat had worked for Kirkland for just two years, and was involved in two recent billion-dollar deals.
In November, Arikat worked on tax issues in the $1.385 sale by Communications & Power Industries of its Electron Device business to TransDigm.
In December, he was part of the Kirkland team advising TG Natural Resources in its $2.7 billion purchase of Rockcliff Energy II, a portfolio company of Quantum Energy.
Prior to Kirkland he worked as counsel in the Dallas offices of Weil, Gotshal & Manges.
David Lieberman, managing partner of Simpson Thacher’s Houston office, said, “The firm’s Houston office is home to a broad transactional practice and Adam’s tax experience will be a perfect complement to our team in helping our clients across the oil and gas, power and renewables, energy transition, infrastructure and real estate sectors, on their most significant and complex transactions.”
“Simpson Thacher is recognized for its preeminent tax practice and its collegial culture. That, combined with its deep roots in the energy, infrastructure and real estate sectors, makes it a wonderful fit for my practice,” said Arikat. “I am excited to join this exceptional team.”
After earning a double B.A. in economics and applied mathematics from the University of California, Arikat attended the University of Texas School of Law where he earned his J.D. and the Marvin Key Collie Endowed Presidential Scholarship in Tax Law.
While at UT Law, he clerked in the tax department at ExxonMobil and the Ryan Law Firm in Houston before returning to ExxonMobil as a tax attorney while attending New York University School of Law, where he earned his LLM.