Arielle Rothstein
Partner
Arielle provides strategic communications support for clients across industries and in a wide range of special situations. In addition, she works with clients to develop and refine their investor and public relations programs.
Recent Highlights
Select Experience
Transactions
She helps prepare clients to effectively communicate around friendly transactions, ranging from friendly to unsolicited M&A and spin-off and divestiture transactions. Notable assignments include: eBay’s pending acquisition of Depop from Etsy; James Hardie’s acquisition of AZEK; Catalent’s go-private transaction; Macy’s defense to Arkhouse and Brigade’s unsolicited bid; Broadcom’s acquisition of VMware; BorgWarner’s separation of its Fuel Systems and Aftermarket segments; MDU Resource’s separation of Knife River; Thermo Fisher Scientific’s acquisitions of PPD, Patheon and Affymetrix; HP’s defense to Xerox’s unsolicited bid; BorgWarner’s acquisition of Delphi Technologies; Broadcom‘s acquisitions of Symantec’s Enterprise Security Business and CA Technologies; Broadcom’s proposal to acquire Qualcomm; General Electric’s combination of GE, Oil & Gas with Baker Hughes; Symantec’s acquisition of Blue Coat Systems; and Altera’s merger with Intel.
Shareholder Activism and Defense Preparedness
She has experience in activism situations, both public and private, and proxy contests. Notable assignments include: Performance Food Group (Sachem Head); Macy’s (Barington Capital); Janus Henderson Group (Trian); Perspecta (JANA); HP (Icahn), Bed Bath & Beyond (Legion, Macellum, Ancora), Procter & Gamble (Trian), TeamHealth (JANA), Citrix (Elliott), Abercrombie & Fitch (Engaged Capital), lululemon (Chip Wilson), Mondelez International (Trian), and Microsoft (ValueAct).
Crisis Communications
Her assignments include management succession and unplanned leadership changes, cybersecurity related situations, earnings surprises, litigation, investigations, regulatory issues and reputational attacks, among others.
Investor Relations and Public Relations
She assists public companies in communicating their overall strategy, including through corporate positioning, quarterly earnings preparation, investor day support and employee communications. She also provides communications support to private equity firms, including Sycamore Partners, at both the sponsor and portfolio company level.
In Conversation
Personal Side
Credentials
Arielle joined Joele Frank in 2013. She was a founding member of the firm’s San Francisco office, which opened in September 2014. After spending two years on the West Coast, Arielle returned to the New York office in the fall of 2016. In December 2020, Arielle was recognized as a “Rising Star” in the PR Industry by The Observer in its annual list. In 2025, Arielle was recognized with an "Emerging Leader" award from The M&A Advisor. She received a BA from Washington University in St. Louis with a major in women and gender studies and minors in political science and writing.