7-Eleven Inc.'s $21 billion acquisition of a convenience retail competitor was notable for its price tag and because a young, Black deal lawyer led it.
Dawud Crooms, 38, 7-Eleven’s senior counsel, worked for months to shepherd the Irving, Texas-based company’s purchase of Speedway’s more than 3,000 stores in states across the country.
“This was extra complicated because convenience retail is a complex market, and the business underwent a change last year,” Crooms said in an interview. “We just had to negotiate through and overcome.”
African American M&A lawyers leading transactions of such magnitude have been rare in the legal industry. ...