A Partner in the Firm’s Tax Practice, Sophie Staples advises clients on tax matters in a variety of transactions, including mergers, acquisitions, dispositions, joint ventures, financing transactions and securities offerings. She has advised private equity sponsors, as well as their portfolio companies and other strategic clients, on the tax aspects of numerous investments, acquisitions and divestitures. Her clients have included, among others, Blackstone, Apax Partners, KKR, Centerbridge and BC Partners.
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Work Highlights
- Blackstone in multiple transactions, including in its acquisitions of Ancestry, Vungle, Tradesmen International, TaskUs, and a majority stake in MagicLab, and its sales of Optiv, AlliedBarton and GCA Services
- Blackstone-led consortium in the investment, together with CPPIB and GIC, in Refinitiv (formerly Thomson Reuters’ Financial & Risk Business) and the acquisition of Refinitiv by the London Stock Exchange Group
- Apax Partners in various transactions, including in its acquisitions of MyCase, Cadence Education, Authority Brands, Tosca Services, Vyaire Medical, and Syneron Candela, its investment in KAR Global, its investment in Accurate Background in connection with the acquisition of CBES and its sale of Acelity
- KKR in its acquisitions of The Bay Club Company, Mills Fleet Farm, RBmedia, Envision Healthcare, BMC Software, Heartland Dental, PetVet Care Centers, Covenant Surgical Partners, The Nature’s Bounty Co., and PharMerica and its acquisitions and dispositions of Epicor Software and Mitchell International
Accolades
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The Legal 500 U.S.
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Law360 Rising Star
Education
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Columbia Law School, 2012 J.D.
John Ordronaux Prize; Ruth Bader Ginsburg Prize; James Kent Scholar; Columbia Law Review, Notes Editor
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University of Virginia, 2009 B.A.
With Distinction; Jefferson Scholar
Sophie Staples is a Partner in Simpson Thacher’s Tax Practice in New York. Sophie advises clients on tax matters in a variety of transactions, including mergers, acquisitions, dispositions, joint ventures, financing transactions and securities offerings. She has advised private equity sponsors, as well as their portfolio companies and other strategic clients, on the tax aspects of numerous investments, acquisitions and divestitures. Her clients have included, among others, Blackstone, Apax Partners, KKR, Centerbridge and BC Partners.
Sophie has been recognized by The Legal 500 U.S. as a next generation tax partner and named a 2022 “Rising Star” for Tax by Law360.
Sophie’s representative transactions have included:
- Blackstone in multiple transactions, including in its acquisitions of Ancestry, Vungle, Tradesmen International, TaskUs, and a majority stake in MagicLab, and its sales of Optiv, AlliedBarton and GCA Services
- Blackstone-led consortium in the investment, together with CPPIB and GIC, in Refinitiv (formerly Thomson Reuters’ Financial & Risk Business) and the acquisition of Refinitiv by the London Stock Exchange Group
- Apax Partners in various transactions, including in its acquisitions of MyCase, Cadence Education, Authority Brands, Tosca Services, Vyaire Medical and Syneron Candela, its investment in KAR Global, its investment in Accurate Background in connection with the acquisition of CBES and its sale of Acelity
- KKR in its acquisitions of The Bay Club Company, Mills Fleet Farm, RBmedia, Envision Healthcare, BMC Software, Heartland Dental, PetVet Care Centers, Covenant Surgical Partners, The Nature’s Bounty Co., and PharMerica, and its acquisitions and dispositions of Epicor Software and Mitchell International
- KKR’s portfolio companies National Vision and Academy Sports & Outdoors in their initial public offerings
- Centerbridge in its acquisitions of TriMark USA, Syncsort, and Acoustic, and its sale of a controlling interest in Great Wolf Resorts
- BC Partners, Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan and other investors in their recapitalization of GFL Environmental Holdings and GFL in its acquisition of Waste Industries and its initial public offering
- GardaWorld in its recapitalization by BC Partners and its acquisitions of Whelan Security and WorldAware
- Oaktree Capital Management in its sale of approximately 62% of the Oaktree business to Brookfield Asset Management
Sophie received her J.D. from Columbia Law School, where she was a James Kent Scholar, received the John Ordronaux Prize for class valedictorian and was a notes editor of the Columbia Law Review. She received her B.A., with distinction, from the University of Virginia.