Frank J. Aquila

Francis J. (Frank) Aquila (born February 3, 1957, New York City, New York, United States) is a corporate lawyer whose practice focuses on mergers & acquisitions and corporate governance matters. Following graduation from Columbia University (BA, 1979) and Brooklyn Law School (JD, 1983), Aquila joined Sullivan & Cromwell LLP and he became a partner of the firm in 1992.

Aquila received the prestigious Burton Award for Legal Achievement in 2005 for his article “Back to the Future! Recent Hostile Bids Make Takeover Defenses Relevant” (The M&A Lawyer, June 2004). Aquila has been consistently ranked as one of the top m&a lawyers by Chambers and Partners and by The Best Lawyers in America. Frank Aquila has been featured twice in The American Lawyer, “Daddy’s Weekend on the Phone” (January 2002) and “Supersonic Lawyers” (May 2004); and once in the Wall Street Journal, "Business Trips Leave Little Time for Luxuries" (May 31, 1996).

Aquila regularly appears as a guest on CNBC, Fox Business News,Bloomberg Television and Bloomberg Radio discussing topics relating to mergers, acquisitions and corporate governance. A frequent writer and speaker on these topics, Aquila has chaired a number of Practicing Law Institute programs focused on private equity and going private transactions.

Frank Aquila generally represents large multinational corporations in significant transactions and has represented British Airways, Diageo, Amgen, Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley, EchoStar, InBev, Sainsbury, Pharmacia, Burger King, Pillsbury and Medtronic. Mr. Aquila served as lead counsel to InBev in their successful unsolicited bid for Anheuser-Busch [1], the largest all-cash acquisition ever according to Dealogic.

Aquila is the Chair-elect of the Board of Trustees of the NALP Foundation for Law Career Research and Education; he also serves on the Board of Directors of Dress for Success Worldwide and the Advisory Board of the Salvation Army of Greater of New York, he has previously served as a member of the Democratic National Committee and the Education and Training Council of the Democratic Party.