Cambridge Forum on U.S. Public Company M&A

Andrew Glass is the Vice President, Deputy General Counsel and Secretary for Nestle S.A.’s U.S. businesses. In this role, Andrew leads Nestle’s Acquisitions, Business Development & Commercial Transactions team (the ABC Team). This legal team supports Nestlé’s $39.7 Billion U.S. and Canadian businesses across a broad range of transactions, including, M&A, business development of all types, IP licensing, Co-Manufacturing, software/IT, marketing, construction, corporate secretary functions, real estate and Nestle’s commercial paper program. The ABC Team provided legal support on more 1,200 transactions in 2024 and led over $32 Billion of M&A transactions since 2017.

Andrew is a graduate of the University of Virginia School of Law class of 2000. He has practiced in the M&A departments of Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom and O’Melveny & Myers before joining Nestle in 2008.

Melissa Sawyer is Global Head of Sullivan & Cromwell LLP’s Mergers & Acquisitions Group and is co-head of the Firm’s Corporate Governance Practice. In addition to advising clients on public and private M&A transactions, joint ventures and strategic alliances, she also regularly advises clients on corporate governance, activism and takeover defense matters. Melissa’s experience spans multiple industries, including consumer and retail, TMT, technology, industrials and life sciences. 

A three-time winner of The American Lawyer’s “Dealmaker of the Year” (in 2020, 2022 and 2024), Melissa has been repeatedly recognized as a leading M&A adviser. She is ranked by Chambers USA in Corporate/M&A, where clients describe her as “an absolute superstar,” and was named a Client Service All-Star by BTI. She was also named to The Deal’s “Top Women in Dealmaking” and “Women in M&A: The Powerhouse 20” for shaping the industry with her novel approach to transactions and has been recognized as a Law360 MVP in Mergers & Acquisitions and Food & Beverage, one of Crain’s “Leading Women Lawyers in New York City,” “Dealmaker of the Week” by The American Lawyer and one of Lawdragon’s “500 Leading Dealmakers in America” for her work in corporate governance, M&A and activism defense. Additional accolades include receiving a Burton Award for Legal Achievement and being chosen as an Empire State Counsel Honoree by the New York State Bar Association.

Melissa has recently advised: American Equity Investment Life Holding Company, Apollo Education, AT&T, Baxter International, BBA Aviation, Benefitfocus, Boeing, Carlyle Secured Lending, CONMED, Cornerstone Building Brands, CPPIB, CSM Bakery, Diageo, Diversified Healthcare Trust, Dos Hombres, DS Smith, FGS Global, FXI, GameStop, The Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company, Integra LifeSciences, Kering, Neiman Marcus Group, Novartis, OTPP, Seagen, Sotheby’s, Subway, Tien Tzuo (CEO of the Board of Zuora), Tiffany & Co., UnitedHealth and Weber. 

Melissa serves on the board of advisors for NYU School of Law’s Institute for Corporate Governance & Finance, is an adviser on the American Law Institute’s Corporate Governance Restatement project, is a member of the Editorial Board of Insights: The Corporate and Securities Law Advisor and serves on the board of directors for the French-American Foundation. She is currently a member of the American Law Institute, a member of the Council on Foreign Relations and a Fellow of the American Bar Foundation. Melissa has participated in numerous panels for the Practising Law Institute and regularly writes for The M&A Lawyer, The Deal Pipeline and LexisNexis.

Education
University of Virginia Law School, J.D. 2000
Washington and Lee University, B.A. 1997
 

Shóna holds a Bachelor’s Degree in English and Spanish Literature from University College Dublin. Relocating to Canada from Ireland in 2018, Shóna joined Cambridge Forums, where she sparked a passion for event planning and management. 

Leveraging her extensive experience in client relations from previous roles in insurance and finance, Shóna thrives in orchestrating high-profile events and delivering memorable experiences for her clients. 

When not traveling around the world hosting Cambridge events, Shóna is based in Vancouver where she enjoys getting out in nature as much as possible – hiking the local trails, running along the seawall, or taking her paddle board out on the water.