Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom Palo Alto partner Michael Mies represented PayPal in its $2.2 billion acquisition of Sweden-based payments provider iZettle AB. Palo Alto partner Amr Razzak teamed up with underson Dettmer Stough Villeneuve Franklin & Hachigian’s Brooks Stough to represent San Francisco-based cryptocurrency company Ripple Labs in its strategic $50 million partnership with MoneyGram International to provide cross-border payment and foreign exchange settlement using digital assets. And Palo Alto partners Ken King and Sonia Nijjar represented private equity firm Silver Lake Partners in its purchase of 90% of ServiceMax from GE Digital.

That slate of deals landed Skadden a place a finalist for Tech Deal Department of the Year as part of The Recorder’s California Leaders in Tech Law and Innovation Awards. The Recorder recently discussed with Thomas Ivey, Skadden’s Palo Alto corporate/mergers and acquisitions leader, about why he believes the firm has the “most nimble, creative group of dealmakers anywhere.”