On July 16, 2018, Alexei Cowett was quoted in Profile magazine in an article about how Panasonic, under the guidance of Elizabeth Sanders who is the chief counsel for transactions and mergers and acquisitions, is directing its focus away from consumer product to B2B businesses with an M&A strategy focused around AI, data, and the internet of things.
Venable works with Panasonic on a variety of M&A matters, and Mr. Cowett has been working with Ms. Sanders for the past two years.
Commenting on the complexities of M&A in large corporations, such as Panasonic, Cowett said, "One of the things that sometimes happens is that people don’t get full information, or they don’t have a chance to think about the issues appropriately. Ensuring that the team is well informed provides input and understanding, which is really important because if you don’t have that, then people are left out of the loop."
Cowett adds it's this type of transparency and communication from Sanders that has been instrumental in reducing complexity surrounding M&A matters.
"Liz is incredibly good at what she does, and she not only manages the project from the legal perspective, but she also has a great business sense as well," he says. "She views herself as a business person at Panasonic who is responsible for managing the legal function on projects."
"Panasonic is a company that is doing some great things, and Liz is helping them do that."