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Mergers & Acquisitions
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July 16, 2024
AI Robotics Investor Sues In Delaware For Duty Breaches
A shareholder of a special purpose acquisition company that took artificial intelligence robotics company Berkshire Grey Inc. public filed a putative class action in Delaware's Court of Chancery late Monday against the company's officers and directors, seeking damages for breaches of fiduciary duty.
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July 16, 2024
UK's Probe Of Microsoft-Inflection AI Deal Moves Ahead
The U.K.'s antitrust enforcer launched a formal merger inquiry on Tuesday into Microsoft Corp.'s relationship with Inflection AI after asking for public input earlier this year on several artificial intelligence investments made by Microsoft and Amazon.
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July 16, 2024
Stradley Ronon Hires 2 Corporate Attorneys In DC
Stradley Ronon Stevens & Young LLP has hired two corporate partners in Washington, D.C., and one of those new additions will co-lead the firm's private investment funds practice, according to a Monday announcement.
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July 16, 2024
Kirkland-Led Blue Owl Buys Atalaya Capital For Up To $800M
Kirkland & Ellis LLP-advised private-equity shop Blue Owl Capital Inc. on Tuesday unveiled plans to buy alternative credit manager Atalaya Capital Management LP, led by Cravath Swaine & Moore LLP, for up to $800 million, continuing a trend seen earlier in the year of private-equity firms merging with or acquiring other asset managers.
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July 16, 2024
Starboard Demands Change At Tinder Owner Match
New York-based activist investor Starboard Value LP has amassed a 6.6% stake in Match Group Inc. and is pushing the company to go private if it can't make "value-enhancing" gains after its stock plummeted from its 2021 heyday, according to a letter published Tuesday by Starboard.
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July 16, 2024
The 2024 Diversity Snapshot: What You Need To Know
Law firms' ongoing initiatives to address diversity challenges have driven another year of progress, with the representation of minority attorneys continuing to improve across the board, albeit at a slower pace than in previous years. Here's our data dive into minority representation at law firms in 2023.
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July 16, 2024
Rising Star: Wachtell's Eric M. Feinstein
Eric Feinstein of Wachtell Lipton Rosen & Katz has advised various companies on highly complex M&A transactions, including Fidelity National Information Service's $18.5 billion carve-out sale of its Worldpay merchant solutions business to private equity giant GTCR, earning him a spot among the mergers and acquisitions law practitioners under age 40 honored by Law360 as Rising Stars.
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July 16, 2024
These Firms Have The Most Diverse Equity Partnerships
Law360’s law firm survey shows that firms' efforts to diversify their equity partner ranks are lagging. But some have embraced a broader talent pool at the equity partner level. Here are the ones that stood out.
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July 16, 2024
Gibson Dunn, Kirkland Steer $737M KBR-LinQuest Deal
Gibson Dunn is steering Houston-based defense and space contractor KBR on a new deal to buy LinQuest Corp., a provider of defense analytics to the U.S. government represented by Kirkland & Ellis, for $737 million, according to a statement from KBR on Tuesday.
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July 16, 2024
Precision Tools Supplier To Buy US Rival For Up To $683M
Spectris said Tuesday that it has agreed to buy rival U.S.-based Micromeritics in a deal worth up to $683 million as the British precision tools supplier looks to improve its advanced materials analysis division and grow into the clean technology sector.
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July 15, 2024
T-Mobile Broke Price-Lock Promise After Merger, Suit Says
T-Mobile's promise to federal regulators not to raise prices for three years after its megamerger with Sprint has now expired and it's hiking prices, even on plans that it told customers it would never raise the rates on, according to a new proposed class action.
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July 15, 2024
JetBlue-Spirit Flyers Seek $20M Atty Fees Following DOJ Win
The private plaintiffs who challenged the failed JetBlue-Spirit merger asked a Massachusetts federal judge to award their counsel at least $20 million in fees, saying they "substantially contributed" to the U.S. Department of Justice successfully squashing the deal and are the prevailing party in their case.
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July 15, 2024
CD&R Tells Del. Court Covetrus Sale 'Fully Informed'
An attorney for private equity firm Clayton Dubilier & Rice LLC told a Delaware vice chancellor Monday that stockholders of animal health company Covetrus Inc. were fully informed when they approved a $21-per-share takeover by CD&R and TPG Capital in 2022, disputing allegations of knowing standstill agreement violations and disclosure failures.
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July 15, 2024
Pump Co. Execs Must Face Trustee's $59.7M Transfer Suit
A Connecticut federal judge won't toss a Chapter 7 bankruptcy trustee's lawsuit claiming that three former engineering company executives transferred $59.7 million to a holding entity and sent the company into ruin to avoid paying asbestos claims, ruling Monday that the suit plausibly alleges that the executives had conflicts of interest and concealed their conduct.
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July 15, 2024
Cybersecurity Investor Sues For Docs On PE Merger Wipeout
California-based cybersecurity company Exabeam Inc. has been hit with a books and records request by a shareholder seeking to halt the company's private stock-for-stock merger with competitor LogRhythm, which is owned by private equity firm Thoma Bravo.
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July 15, 2024
Chancery Finds Truth Social SPAC Should Get Docs
The sponsor of the special purpose acquisition company that took former President Donald Trump's Truth Social public must turn over most of the documents the SPAC sought as part of the parties' Delaware litigation, a Chancery Court judge ruled Monday, teeing the case up for trial on July 29.
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July 15, 2024
Calif. Man Avoids Prison For Lumentum Insider Trading
A California man who pled guilty to trading on tips from a former executive of laser company Lumentum Holdings Inc. avoided prison Monday in light of his assistance to the government's investigation.
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July 15, 2024
Towers Watson Asks 4th Circ. To Find Merger Dispute Covered
Towers Watson's insurers must pay out $54 million in remaining directors and officers coverage to help fund a $75 million settlement in a shareholder suit over the company's merger with Willis, Towers Watson told the Fourth Circuit, saying a so-called bump-up exclusion does not apply.
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July 15, 2024
B. Riley, Others Sued In Del. After Franchise Group Buyout
Four Franchise Group LLC stockholders sued the company's principals and top investors in Delaware's Court of Chancery Friday, alleging that they and others were shortchanged by an insider-controlled $2.8 billion take-private sale of the business after an allegedly sham marketing effort and undisclosed conflicts.
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July 15, 2024
$6.4B IBM-HashiCorp Deal Gets FTC Second Request
The Federal Trade Commission is taking a deeper look at IBM's planned $6.4 billion acquisition of HashiCorp Inc., about one month after IBM voluntarily reset a 30-day initial review period for the transaction, a Monday securities filing shows.
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July 15, 2024
Unilever Sells Water Purification Biz To AO Smith For $120M
Water technology company A.O. Smith has agreed to buy residential water purification solutions provider Pureit from Unilever for roughly $120 million in cash, the two parties announced in separate Monday statements.
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July 15, 2024
Catching Up With Delaware's Chancery Court
Chancery Court news was full of fees and settlements last week, with three multimillion-dollar deals getting a court OK, and a daylong discussion over a potentially multibillion-dollar fee award for attorneys who got Tesla CEO Elon Musk's astronomical pay package thrown out. The court also banged the gavel in cases involving e-payment venture SwervePay and managed care company Centene Corp., and heard arguments from software company SAP SE and biotech Renmatix Inc.
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July 15, 2024
Health Services Spinoff Leads 3 IPO Launches Totaling $1.1B
Occupational health services provider Concentra Group Holdings Parent Inc. unveiled a price range Monday for an estimated $551 million initial public offering, leading a trio of companies that launched plans for new listings that would exceed $1.1 billion combined.
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July 15, 2024
Rising Star: Covington's Andrew Fischer
Covington & Burling LLP M&A partner Andrew Fischer has spent a large chunk of his career fostering relationships with his clients to help lead them through complex deals, including Merck's $11.5 billion acquisition of Acceleron and Bristol Myers Squibb's $14 billion purchase of Karuna Therapeutics, making him one of the law practitioners under 40 honored by Law360 as Rising Stars.
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July 15, 2024
TPG Real Estate Buys MHC Portfolio In $740M Deal
Canadian Apartment Properties Real Estate Investment Trust on Monday revealed it has agreed to sell its manufactured-home community portfolio to private equity giant TPG's real estate platform for $740 million.
Expert Analysis
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Del. Dispatch: Chancery's Evolving Approach To Caremark
Though Caremark claims are historically the least likely corporate claims to lead to liability, such cases have been met in recent years with increased judicial receptivity — but the Delaware Court of Chancery still expressly discourages the reflexive filing of Caremark claims following corporate mishaps, say attorneys at Fried Frank.
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Series
Teaching Yoga Makes Me A Better Lawyer
Being a yoga instructor has helped me develop my confidence and authenticity, as well as stress management and people skills — all of which have crossed over into my career as an attorney, says Laura Gongaware at Clyde & Co.
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A Vision For Economic Clerkships In The Legal System
As courts handle increasingly complex damages analyses involving vast amounts of data, an economic clerkship program — integrating early-career economists into the judicial system — could improve legal outcomes and provide essential training to clerks, say Mona Birjandi at Data for Decisions and Matt Farber at Secretariat.
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Standardizing Early Case Appraisal In Securities Class Actions
While an initial economic assessment of securities class action litigation is far too often not undertaken, it's an important step in planning the defense strategy that can provide counsel, clients and insurers with a much clearer view of the case, and can be simplified through standardized analyses, says Assen Koev at SCA iPortal.
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Del. Ruling Highlights M&A Deal Adviser Conflict Disclosures
The Delaware Supreme Court recently reversed the Court of Chancery's dismissal of challenges to Nordic Capital's acquisition of Inovalon, demonstrating the importance of full disclosure of financial adviser conflicts when a going-private merger seeks business judgment rule review, say attorneys at Debevoise.
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Key Antitrust Class Certification Questions Remain Unclear
The U.S. Supreme Court, by recently rejecting certiorari in Visa v. National ATM, turned down the opportunity to clarify how to analyze disputed evidence bearing on the certification of antitrust class actions, leaving the applicable standards unclear instead of resolving this split of authority, says Jonathan Berman at Jones Day.
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E-Discovery Quarterly: Recent Rulings On Text Message Data
Electronically stored information on cellphones, and in particular text messages, can present unique litigation challenges, and recent court decisions demonstrate that counsel must carefully balance what data should be preserved, collected, reviewed and produced, say attorneys at Sidley.
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Dual-Track IPO-M&A Exit Strategies For Life Science Cos.
A dual-track process for life sciences companies offers a proven path to securing favorable deal terms for an exit, and strategic moves can include running a crossover financing round in the lead-up, say attorneys at McDermott.
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How New Rule Would Change CFIUS Enforcement Powers
Before the May 15 comment deadline, companies may want to weigh in on proposed regulatory changes to enforcement and mitigation tools at the disposal of the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States, including broadened subpoena powers, difficult new mitigation timelines and higher maximum penalties, say attorneys at Venable.
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PE In The Crosshairs Of Public And Private Antitrust Enforcers
A series of decisions from a California federal court in the recently settled Packaged Seafood Products Antitrust Litigation, as well as heightened scrutiny from federal agencies, serve as a reminder that private equity firms may be exposed to liability for alleged anti-competitive conduct by their portfolio companies, say attorneys at Axinn.
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Series
Swimming Makes Me A Better Lawyer
Years of participation in swimming events, especially in the open water, have proven to be ideal preparation for appellate arguments in court — just as you must put your trust in the ocean when competing in a swim event, you must do the same with the judicial process, says John Kulewicz at Vorys.
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A Recipe For Growth Equity Investing In A Slow M&A Market
Carl Marcellino at Ropes & Gray discusses the factors bolstering appetite for growth equity fundraising in a depressed M&A market, and walks through the deal terms and other ingredients that set growth equity transactions apart from bread-and-butter venture capital investing.
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PE-Healthcare Mergers Should Prepare For Challenges
State and federal regulators are increasingly imposing new requirements on healthcare transactions involving private equity partners, with mergers that would have drawn little scrutiny a few years ago now requiring a multijurisdictional risk analysis during the deal formation process, say attorneys at Stinson.
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Why RWI Insurers Should Consider Excluding PFAS
As regulation of per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances escalates, carriers providing representations and warranties insurance should reconsider providing PFAS coverage on a case-by-case basis, say Dave Bartoletti and Ina Avalon at Taft Stettinius.
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Don't Use The Same Template For Every Client Alert
As the old marketing adage goes, consistency is key, but law firm style guides need consistency that contemplates variety when it comes to client alert formats, allowing attorneys to tailor alerts to best fit the audience and subject matter, says Jessica Kaplan at Legally Penned.