Biography

Andrew Bednar is the Chief Executive Officer of Perella Weinberg Partners and has been a Partner since its founding in 2006 and was Co-Head of the Firm’s U.S. Advisory Business until 2013. He previously was Head of U.S. Mergers & Acquisitions at Bank of America and a member of the Investment Banking Executive Committee and was a Managing Director in Mergers and Acquisitions at Goldman Sachs. Mr. Bednar began his career at Cravath, Swaine & Moore.

Mr. Bednar has led consolidation in Market Infrastructure for more than a decade. Representative transactions include advising NYSE on its $10.2 billion sale to Intercontinental Exchange; Deutsche Boerse on its $30 billion announced merger with LSE; NYSE on its $25 billion announced merger with Deutsche Boerse; NYSE on its defense of a $10 billion unsolicited joint bid from NASDAQ and Intercontinental Exchange; Deutsche Boerse on its combination of Stoxx with Axioma; and Deutsche Boerse on its $1 billion sale of International Securities Exchange to NASDAQ.

Mr. Bednar also has been a leading advisor in sales of retail consumer brands. Representative transactions include advising Kate Spade & Co. on its $2.4 billion sale to Coach; J Crew on its $3 billion sale to TPG and Leonard Green; Fifth and Pacific on the sale of Lucky Brands to Leonard Green and on the sale of Juicy Couture to Authentic Brands; Collective Brands on the sale of Payless to Golden Gate Capital and on the sale of Sperry, Saucony and Keds to Wolverine Worldwide; Liz Claiborne on the sale of Mexx to Gores Group; Talbots on its SPAC merger and on its sale to Sycamore Partners; Express on its takeover defense; U.S. Tobacco on its $11.7 billion sale to Altria; and Office Depot on its $3 billion merger with OfficeMax.

Additionally, Mr. Bednar has advised clients in a wide range of other industries, including Transportation, Healthcare, and Technology. Selected transactions include advising Royal Caribbean Cruises on its $2 billion acquisition of Silversea Cruises and on its sale of Azamara to Sycamore Partners; Norwegian Cruise Line on its $3 billion acquisition of Prestige Cruises; OMI Corporation on its $2.2 billion sale to Teekay & Torm; Scorpio Tankers on its $1.1 billion acquisition of Navig8 Product Tankers; Merck on its $7.2 billion acquisition of Millipore; Cypress Bioscience on its sale to Royalty Pharma, Visiprise Software on its sale to SAP, Frictionless Software on its sale to SAP; and CSC on its acquisition of iSoft.

Mr. Bednar has been actively involved in SPAC transactions as both sponsor and advisor. He was part of the sponsor of BPW Acquisition Corp. which completed its business combination in 2010 and part of the sponsor of PWP Forward Acquisition Corp. I, a mission-oriented SPAC focused on women-led and women-founded businesses that completed its IPO in March 2021. Mr Bednar also led the team in connection with Perella Weinberg Partner’s business combination with FinTech Acquisition Corp. IV.

Mr. Bednar received a Bachelor of Science and a Masters in Business Administration from Cornell University, and also received a Juris Doctor from Columbia University. He previously served as a member of the Board of Trustees of The Juilliard School.