Mr. Bason is head of Davis Polk & Wardwell’s mergers and acquisitions practice. His practice is devoted primarily to the merger, acquisition and joint venture areas, with a special focus on merchant banking. He also has experience in cross-border transactions, restructurings, takeover defenses and corporate governance issues, as well as in providing general corporate and securities law advice.

He has been involved in numerous and varied acquisition transactions. They include the proposed acquisition of Sallie Mae by an investor group, the acquisition of IPSCO by SSAB Svenskt Stal, Heinz’s director election contest in 2006, Gillette’s acquisition by Procter & Gamble, J.P. Morgan’s $38.6 billion merger with Chase, DLJ’s acquisition by Credit Suisse First Boston, Exxon’s $81 billion merger with Mobil, Ford’s acquisition of Volvo Cars, Procter & Gamble’s acquisition of Iams and management’s attempted leveraged buyout of RJR Nabisco.

He has represented DLJ Merchant Banking Partners and its affiliates in their merchant banking activities, and J.P. Morgan Securities in its merger and acquisition advisory activities.

Mr. Bason joined Davis Polk in 1978 and became a partner in 1986. He practiced in the Paris office from 1980 to 1983 and again from 1989 to 1991. He became an Avocat B la Cour de Paris in 1992.

Mr. Bason graduated, magna cum laude, from Harvard College in 1975 and in 1978 received his J.D., cum laude, from Harvard Law School.

He is a member of the American Bar Association and the New York City Bar Association.

Mr. Bason is listed as a leading lawyer in several legal industry publications, including Chambers Global: The World’s Leading Lawyers for Business; Chambers USA: America’s Leading Lawyers for Business; Practical Law Company’s Cross-border: Private Equity Handbook, Governance Handbook and Mergers and Acquisitions Handbook; Law Business Research’s Who’s Who Legal: International Who’s Who of Business Lawyers, International Who’s Who of Mergers and Acquisitions Lawyers and International Who’s Who of Corporate Governance Lawyers; Legal Media Group’s Expert Guide to the World’s Leading Lawyers: The Best of the Best, Leading M&A Lawyers and Leading Private Equity Lawyers; Euromoney’s IFLR1000: The Guide to the World’s Leading Financial Law Firms and American Lawyer Media’s Corporate Counsel: Best Lawyers in Corporate, Mergers & Acquisitions and Securities Law.