The Billion-Dollar Deal Maker Who Sees M&A as a Puzzle

According to Forbes, Catherine Dargan serves as global chair of Covington’s Corporate Practice and heads their M&A team, overseeing multibillion-dollar mergers and cross-border acquisitions. She’s built her practice over 25 years, working with major clients including Merck, Bristol Myers, AbbVie, Gilead and Novartis. Dargan recently led Novartis’ massive $12 billion acquisition of Avidity Biosciences, expanding her cross-industry expertise beyond life sciences into technology, manufacturing and gaming. Her career began at Covington’s DC headquarters where regulatory work provided a natural edge for life sciences deals. This consistent performance landed her on Forbes’ inaugural Top M&A Lawyers List, recognizing her nimble, knowledgeable approach to massive corporate transactions.

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The Puzzle Mentality

What’s fascinating about Dargan’s approach is how she frames deal-making. She describes it as “putting together a puzzle” that requires both creativity and resourcefulness. That’s a refreshing departure from the typical corporate lawyer speak. Most people think of M&A as just number crunching and contract drafting, but she’s emphasizing the strategic problem-solving aspect. “I wake up every day thinking about how to solve problems and how to execute more efficiently,” she says. Basically, she’s treating each billion-dollar deal like a complex game where anticipating the next obstacle is half the battle.

Why M&A Isn’t Slowing Down

Despite all the economic uncertainty and geopolitical instability we’re seeing, Dargan expects M&A activity to remain brisk. Here’s the thing – companies are still desperate for innovation, particularly in medical technology and AI. They’re racing to acquire promising products and pipelines before their competitors do. In this environment, her role has evolved beyond just legal counsel to becoming a trusted advisor who helps clients assess risks in an unpredictable world. That shift from pure legal work to strategic partnership is probably why she’s been so successful at maintaining her elite status.

The Collaboration Edge

Dargan gives significant credit to her colleagues and Covington’s collaborative culture. “We want to make sure to have the right expertise at our fingertips,” she notes. In today’s complex cross-border deals, no single lawyer can possibly know everything. The ability to tap into specialized knowledge across regulatory, international, and industry-specific domains becomes crucial. It’s interesting that someone at her level still emphasizes teamwork rather than individual brilliance. Maybe that’s the real secret sauce – building a network of experts you can deploy strategically rather than trying to be the expert on everything yourself.

Purpose in the Pressure

After 25 years in high-stakes deal-making, what keeps her motivated? Dargan points to working with innovative clients who are solving complex global problems. There’s something compelling about that perspective – she’s not just moving money around, but facilitating breakthroughs that could actually help people. The pressure of billion-dollar transactions must be immense, but finding purpose in that pressure seems to be her sustaining force. And let’s be honest – when you’re enjoying what you do while working on deals that reshape entire industries, that’s a pretty powerful combination.