Mergers & Acquisitions

  • October 15, 2024

    Finnish Sports Biz Wins Asset Freeze In $1.2M NHL Deal Suit

    A Massachusetts federal judge on Tuesday granted a Finland-based sports management company's request to freeze the assets of the American owner behind a shuttered agency that represented hockey players while it pursues litigation seeking more than $1.2 million owed from a deal to represent Finnish players in the NHL.

  • October 15, 2024

    Chancery Urged To Toss Smart & Final $1.1B Sale Challenge

    An attorney for funds of Ares Alternative Management Corp. told Delaware's chancellor on Tuesday a stockholder suit alleging breaches of fiduciary duty and corporate waste in a $1.1 billion sale of Smart & Final Stores Inc. failed to show disabling conflicts among company principals or advisers.

  • October 15, 2024

    4 Firms Steer Ownership Shakeup At 'Dune' Movie Maker

    Legendary Entertainment has completed a buyout of Chinese company Wanda Group's remaining equity interest in the movie studio behind "Dune" and "Dune: Part Two," a deal that gives sole ownership of the company to Legendary's management and funds managed by affiliates of Apollo.

  • October 15, 2024

    Three Cos. Combine On $3.4B Texas Data Center Complex

    Blue Owl Capital, infrastructure firm Crusoe Energy Systems and investor Primary Digital Infrastructure said Tuesday they are pooling $3.4 billion to build a 1 million-square-foot data center campus in Abilene, Texas.

  • October 15, 2024

    Frontier May Be Worth 2 Times Verizon's Bid, Investor Warns

    Frontier Communications Parent Inc. stockholder Cooper Investors Pty Ltd. on Tuesday expressed "strong opposition" to Verizon Communications Inc.'s planned $20 billion deal to absorb the company, arguing Frontier could be worth nearly double the $38.50 per share that Verizon plans to pay.

  • October 15, 2024

    Simpson Thacher, Milbank Guide $2B DataBank Equity Raise

    Data center developer and operator DataBank announced on Tuesday it has raised $2 billion in equity, led by AustralianSuper's $1.5 billion commitment, in an investment round arranged by Simpson Thacher and Milbank.

  • October 15, 2024

    Law Firms Diverge As Anti-ESG Pushback Continues

    A continuing onslaught of legislation and litigation opposing corporate environmental, social and governance actions has created a fork in the road for law firms, with some choosing to scale back efforts and others pushing ahead with their internal ESG and diversity, equity and inclusion goals.

  • October 15, 2024

    The 2024 Law360 Pulse Social Impact Leaders

    Check out our Social Impact Leaders ranking, analysis and interactive graphics to see which firms stand out for their engagement with social responsibility and commitment to pro bono service.

  • October 15, 2024

    Wheel Pros Gets OK For $1.4B Equity-Swap Ch. 11 Plan

    A Delaware bankruptcy judge on Tuesday approved automotive wheel company Wheel Pros LLC's prepackaged Chapter 11 plan to swap $1.4 billion in senior secured debt for controlling equity in the company.

  • October 15, 2024

    FTC Wants More Info On $1.36B Home Healthcare Deal

    The Federal Trade Commission has requested more information about healthcare solutions company Owens & Minor Inc.'s planned $1.36 billion purchase of home-based care business Rotech Healthcare Holdings Inc., extending the agency's merger review.

  • October 15, 2024

    True Value Hardware Hits Ch. 11 With $153M Asset Sale Plan

    The 75-year-old hardware retailer True Value Co. LLC filed for Chapter 11 protection in Delaware bankruptcy court, with its plan to sell all assets to industry rival Do It Best Corp.

  • October 15, 2024

    Banknotes Maker Agrees To Sell Unit For £300M

    Banknotes maker De La Rue said Tuesday that it has agreed to sell its authentication division and related entities to a U.S. company for £300 million ($390 million) in a deal steered by Bird & Bird, Slaughter and May and Freshfields.

  • October 14, 2024

    Permira Wraps $7.2B Deal For Squarespace Amid Litigation

    Private equity firm Permira said Monday that it has successfully bought the outstanding stock of Squarespace Inc. in its proposed $7.2 billion deal to take the website builder private, amid ongoing shareholder litigation in the U.S. challenging the transaction.

  • October 14, 2024

    Baker McKenzie Leads Lundbeck's $2.6B Deal For US Pharma

    Lundbeck said Monday that it has agreed to buy Longboard, a U.S. biopharmaceutical business, for $2.6 billion in cash as the Danish drug giant aims to capture a drug with "blockbuster potential" to treat a rare form of epilepsy.

  • October 14, 2024

    Pulp Giant Int'l Paper Shareholders Back £5.8B DS Smith Buy

    International Paper Co. said Monday that its shareholders have "overwhelmingly" supported the planned £5.8 billion ($7.6 billion) all-share purchase of DS Smith PLC, its smaller U.K. rival, as the packaging giant eyes overseas expansion.

  • October 11, 2024

    IBM Unit Wants To Undo 'Troubling' Defamation Case Ruling

    An IBM unit has asked the Fourth Circuit to revive its lawsuit alleging a former executive's defamatory statements nearly killed a major acquisition, arguing that a lower court attempted to inject a new standard into its analysis.

  • October 11, 2024

    New Squarespace Suit Filed For Take-Private Docs

    A second shareholder of website builder Squarespace Inc. has sued in the Delaware Court of Chancery for books and records on the company's proposed $7.2 billion take-private deal with private equity giant Permira Advisors LLC, less than two weeks after the sidelining of an earlier books suit focusing on the same deal, which is set to expire late Oct. 11.

  • October 11, 2024

    M&A Dispute Triggers Could Shift Moving Into 2025

    Legal disputes are a fact of life when it comes to mergers and acquisitions, but the deal provisions seen as the most likely to spur conflict have shifted since the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic have subsided, according to attorneys surveyed in a new report from Berkeley Research Group. 

  • October 11, 2024

    Fintech-Focused Cohen SPAC Leads 2 IPOs Worth $250M

    Cohen Circle Acquisition Corp. I, a special purpose acquisition company founded by financial services industry veteran Betsy Cohen, began trading Friday, one of two SPACs that completed initial public offerings for a combined $250 million.

  • October 11, 2024

    FTC's Republicans Take Aim At Agency Merger Data

    The Federal Trade Commission's two Republican members criticized a long-standing agency policy of reporting "abandoned" transactions that were never notified to the antitrust agencies as wins, while dissenting from an annual congressional report on merger reviews.

  • October 11, 2024

    Cable Co. CEO Says Buyer Fired Him In Violation Of Deal

    An owner of a Colorado aerospace manufacturing company is suing a buyer in state court for allegedly violating the terms of their asset purchase deal, claiming the buyer fabricated a reason to fire him as CEO in order to avoid paying half a million dollars that it would otherwise owe to his company.

  • October 11, 2024

    Sports Biz Seeks To Freeze Assets In Suit Over NHL Deal

    A Finland-based sports agency has asked a federal judge to enjoin a Massachusetts man from transferring or disposing of any assets while a lawsuit proceeds over a scheme he allegedly carried out to avoid paying roughly $1 million awarded to the company through arbitration.

  • October 11, 2024

    Cannabis Biz Ex-Partners Spar Over $6.4M Judgment Payout

    Two former business partners are sparring in Colorado federal court over a proposed order to hold assets related to a cannabis company to satisfy a $6.4 million judgment and whether that order can be granted in compliance with the federal Controlled Substances Act.

  • October 11, 2024

    BurgerFi Creditors Blast DIP, Bidding Procedures In Ch. 11

    Unsecured creditors of restaurant chain BurgerFi Inc. are challenging the terms of its post-bankruptcy financing package and some of the details of its planned asset sale, saying the provisions will unfairly leave creditors with little to nothing in recoveries.

  • October 11, 2024

    Kirkland, Skadden Compete Atop M&A Adviser League Tables

    The two firms at opposite ends of the bargaining table on the largest merger announced this year — Mars' $36 billion agreement to purchase Kellanova — are also running neck-and-neck in the mergers and acquisitions league tables when measured by dollar volume, according to data provided by Dealogic. 

Expert Analysis

  • Series

    Being A Luthier Makes Me A Better Lawyer

    Author Photo

    When I’m not working as an appellate lawyer, I spend my spare time building guitars — a craft known as luthiery — which has helped to enhance the discipline, patience and resilience needed to write better briefs, says Rob Carty at Nichols Brar.

  • Lead Like 'Ted Lasso' By Embracing Cognitive Diversity

    Author Photo

    The Apple TV+ series “Ted Lasso” aptly illustrates how embracing cognitive diversity can be a winning strategy for teams, providing a useful lesson for law firms, which can benefit significantly from fresh, diverse perspectives and collaborative problem-solving, says Paul Manuele at PR Manuele Consulting.

  • Preparing For Increased Scrutiny Of Tech Supply Chains

    Author Photo

    The U.S. Department of Commerce's recent action prohibiting sales of a Russia-based technology company's products in the U.S. is the first determination under the information technology supply chain rule, and signals plans to increase enforcement of protections that target companies in designated foreign adversary jurisdictions, say attorneys at Debevoise.

  • SVB Ch. 11 Shows Importance Of Filing Proof Of Claim Early

    Author Photo

    After a New York bankruptcy court’s recent ruling in SVB’s Chapter 11 case denied late claims filing requests related to post-bar date events, parties with potential claims against a debtor may need to seriously consider filing protective proofs of claim, says Kyle Arendsen at Squire Patton.

  • Del. Dispatch: 27.6% Stockholder Not A Controller

    Author Photo

    The Delaware Court of Chancery's recent decision in Sciannella v. AstraZeneca — which found that the pharma giant, a 26.7% stockholder of Viela Bio Inc., was not a controller of Viela, despite having management control — shows that overall context matters when challenging transactions on breach of fiduciary duty grounds, say attorneys at Fried Frank.

  • The Good, The Bad And The Ugly Of Healthcare's PE Boom

    Author Photo

    While an influx of capital may provide access to new resources and innovative technologies, the private equity model's method of funding may be fundamentally at odds with patient-first healthcare, and in recent years that inherent tension has gotten ugly, say Eva Gunasekera and Jaclyn Tayabji at Tycko & Zavareei.

  • Opinion

    A Way Forward For The US Steel-Nippon Deal And Union Jobs

    Author Photo

    Parties involved in Nippon Steel's acquisition of U.S. Steel should trust the Pennsylvania federal court overseeing a key environmental settlement to supervise a way of including future union jobs and cleaner air for the city of Pittsburgh as part of a transparent business marriage, says retired judge Susan Braden.

  • Opinion

    Now More Than Ever, Lawyers Must Exhibit Professionalism

    Author Photo

    As society becomes increasingly fractured and workplace incivility is on the rise, attorneys must champion professionalism and lead by example, demonstrating how lawyers can respectfully disagree without being disagreeable, says Edward Casmere at Norton Rose.

  • A Look At State AGs Supermarket Antitrust Enforcement Push

    Author Photo

    The ongoing antitrust intervention by state attorneys general in the proposed Kroger and Albertsons merger suggests that states are straying from a Federal Trade Commission follow-on strategy in the supermarket space, which involved joining federal investigations or lawsuits and settling for the same divestment remedies, say attorneys at Troutman Pepper.

  • How To Survive Shareholder Activism

    Author Photo

    In an era where shareholder activism is on the rise, companies must identify weaknesses, clearly communicate strategies, update board composition and engage with shareholders consistently in order to avoid disruptive shareholder activism and safeguard the interests of both the company and its shareholders, say J.T. Ho at Orrick and Greg Taxin at Spotlight Advisors.

  • 'Outsourcing' Ruling, 5 Years On: A Warning, Not A Watershed

    Author Photo

    A New York federal court’s 2019 ruling in U.S. v. Connolly, holding that the government improperly outsourced an investigation to Deutsche Bank, has not undercut corporate cooperation incentives as feared — but companies should not completely ignore the lessons of the case, say Temidayo Aganga-Williams and Anna Nabutovsky at Selendy Gay.

  • Series

    Serving In The National Guard Makes Me A Better Lawyer

    Author Photo

    My ongoing military experience as a judge advocate general in the National Guard has shaped me as a person and a lawyer, teaching me the importance of embracing confidence, balance and teamwork in both my Army and civilian roles, says Danielle Aymond at Baker Donelson.

  • Big Business May Come To Rue The Post-Administrative State

    Author Photo

    Many have framed the U.S. Supreme Court’s recent decisions overturning Chevron deference and extending the window to challenge regulations as big wins for big business, but sand in the gears of agency rulemaking may be a double-edged sword, creating prolonged uncertainty that impedes businesses’ ability to plan for the future, says Todd Baker at Columbia University.

  • Equity Rights Offering Considerations As Maturity Cliff Looms

    Author Photo

    Current market uncertainties make an equity rights offering — involving affiliate backstop investors — a cost-effective, capital-raising transaction for distressed companies looking to manage their leverage ahead of the impending maturity of a substantial number of COVID-era debt issuances, say attorneys at Winston & Strawn.

  • A Midyear Forecast: Tailwinds Expected For Atty Hourly Rates

    Author Photo

    Hourly rates for partners, associates and support staff continued to rise in the first half of this year, and this growth shows no signs of slowing for the rest of 2024 and into next year, driven in part by the return of mergers and acquisitions and the widespread adoption of artificial intelligence, says Chuck Chandler at Valeo Partners.

Want to publish in Law360?


Submit an idea

Have a news tip?


Contact us here
Can't find the article you're looking for? Click here to search the Mergers & Acquisitions archive.
Hello! I'm Law360's automated support bot.

How can I help you today?

For example, you can type:
  • I forgot my password
  • I took a free trial but didn't get a verification email
  • How do I sign up for a newsletter?
Ask a question!