Paul Sieben

Partner

Paul Sieben is a partner in O’Melveny’s Silicon Valley office and a member of the Corporate and Mergers and Acquisitions Practices. Paul focuses on corporate and securities law. He has extensive experience with various types of transactions, including representing issuers, investors and underwriters in venture capital financings, mergers and acquisitions, spin-off and buyout transactions, recapitalizations, public equity offerings and private debt offerings.

In 2010, the International Financial Law Review 1000 named Paul as one of its leading lawyers for private equity, and in 2011 and 2009, the Legal 500 US recognized Paul as a leading lawyer in its Venture Capital and Emerging Companies category, citing the "extraordinary support" he provides to clients, and his ability to "produce very high-quality work on short timelines." In addition, in 2011 and 2012, Paul was named to Super Lawyers’ “Rising Stars” list of Northern California’s best young attorneys in the area of Mergers & Acquisitions.

Paul counsels both private and public technology and emerging growth companies and boards of directors with respect to securities law and Sarbanes-Oxley compliance and other corporate governance matters, including securities offerings, equity restructuring, buybacks, formation, and founders’ agreements. He also represents a large number of venture capital firms and investment banks in various securities and transactional matters.

Paul has served as lead counsel on over 300 venture capital, angel and private-equity financings, over 75 merger and acquisition transactions ranging in size from $1 million to over $2 billion and a large number of recapitalizations, public offerings and other transactions. Many of such transactions have been on behalf of, or opposite, today’s largest technology companies. Certain of his recent transactional matters have included: 

• Formation, financing, and ultimate $260 million sale of cyber-security company; 
• $800 million financing and related tender offer of private social media company 
• $200 million financing of a leading mobile payments company; 
• $200 million sale of advanced authentication company 
• Formation, financing and ultimate sales of multiple social media, e-commerce and enterprise software companies to the world’s largest public and private internet and software companies 
• Spin-out, financing, public offering and sale of authentication device and software provider 
• Private-equity buyouts of international and domestic data center switching, healthcare services, solar and telecommunications companies 
• Multiple joint venture transactions involving clean technology companies 
• $350 million sale of private data-loss prevention company 
• Multiple Nasdaq public offerings of flash memory companies 
• $270 million Nasdaq initial public offering of a U.K. automation company 
• Multiple PIPE transactions and Nasdaq public offerings for storage and data backup company

Paul’s clients include companies in a wide range of technology markets. He has substantial experience with companies in the security, storage, mobile, media, social, internet, gaming, clean technology and software markets. Paul also has significant experience cross-border experience, particularly with Cayman entities doing business in China.

Prior to joining O’Melveny, Paul was an associate in the Palo Alto office of Brobeck, Phleger & Harrison.

Professional Activities

Member,  California Bar Association
Speaker, Silicon Valley Association of General Counsel (SVAGC): “Trends in Technology Mergers & Acquisitions” (2012); Dow Jones VentureWire Technology Showcase, “Finding an Exit”; VentureBeat, “Downturn Roundtable” (2008); Entrepreneurs Forum, North America Chinese Semiconductor Association (NACSA) (2007)