Private Equity

  • October 24, 2024

    Cigna, Frontier Renew Stalled Merger Bids, Plus Other Rumors

    Cigna Group and Frontier Airlines have both restarted once-stalled bids to acquire smaller rivals, rekindling merger rumors spanning the healthcare and airlines industries, while Sports Illustrated's secondary ticket platform wants to borrow up to $50 million to acquire competitor Anytickets. Here, Law360 breaks down these and other notable deal rumors from the past week.

  • October 24, 2024

    UK Probes Sonoco's $3.9B Bid For Eviosys

    The antitrust watchdog said Thursday that it is investigating U.S.-based Sonoco Products Co.'s proposed $3.9 billion acquisition of European food can-maker Eviosys from private equity shop KPS Capital Partners.

  • October 24, 2024

    Oakley Capital To Sell Dach Tutor Biz Stake To PE Firm

    European mid-market investor Oakley Capital said Thursday it has agreed to sell its majority stake in a tutoring service in Germany, Austria and Switzerland to U.S. private equity firm Levine Leichtman Capital Partners.

  • October 23, 2024

    Chancery Mulls Call To Toss $7B Focus Financial Merger Suit

    An attorney for private equity firm Stone Point Capital told Delaware's chancellor Wednesday that there was no control group formed before the $7 billion August 2023 go-private merger between Focus Financial Partners Inc. and Clayton Dubilier & Rice LLC, and that a ruling otherwise would "lower the bar" for control allegations.

  • October 23, 2024

    DOJ Bolsters Defense In Pork Price-Fixing Case, Cos. Say

    Hormel, Tyson, JBS and other pork producers told a Minnesota federal court that a Justice Department intervention into a private price-fixing litigation actually backs their defense, even though the government took no position on the merits of the case.

  • October 23, 2024

    SEC's Peirce Calls For Compliance Advisory Committee

    The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission's Hester Peirce on Wednesday detailed her vision for a compliance advisory committee that would give the agency a way to collect and evaluate concerns about new rules from in-house compliance staff.

  • October 23, 2024

    PE-Backed Cheerleading Co. Sued Over Data Breach Failures

    Varsity Brands Inc., a cheerleading apparel company, faces a proposed class action in Texas federal court over its handling of a data breach that put personal information of customers in the hands of hackers.

  • October 23, 2024

    Judge Says Ex-Steward Hospital Nurse Row Out Of His Hands

    A Texas bankruptcy judge Wednesday declined to order the new owner of former Steward Health Care hospitals in Massachusetts to take back changes to nurses' union contracts it assumed under his sale order, saying it wasn't up to him to make the call.

  • October 23, 2024

    Merck Bets More Than $1B On Yale Cancer Treatment Spinout

    Pharmaceutical giant Merck has purchased New Haven, Connecticut-based Modifi Biosciences Inc. for $30 million upfront, plus potential milestone payments to shareholders totaling up to $1.3 billion, Modifi said Wednesday. 

  • October 23, 2024

    Veteran Boies Schiller Atty Starts Next Chapter At Sterlington

    After nearly a quarter of a century at Boies Schiller Flexner LLP, litigation attorney Jonathan Sherman says he is ready to begin his third act helping Sterlington PLLC build out a competitive litigation department.

  • October 23, 2024

    Where Harris, Trump Stand On Housing, Wall Street Landlords

    In the run-up to the November presidential election, Kamala Harris has made housing one of the keystones of her campaign platform as she seeks to take on Wall Street landlords and tackle a nationwide housing affordability crisis, while Donald Trump believes illegal immigration is largely to blame for rising home prices.

  • October 23, 2024

    Ex-SEC Atty, Fintech GC Joins Stradling's Securities Team

    Stradling Yocca Carlson & Rauth PC has added a former fintech general counsel and U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission attorney, reinforcing the firm's offerings for companies facing enforcement investigations or grappling with other compliance issues. 

  • October 23, 2024

    Foley & Lardner Adds Burr & Forman Corporate Duo In Fla.

    Foley & Lardner LLP has ramped up its innovative technology sector and transactions practice group with two former Burr & Forman LLP partners in Jacksonville, Florida, where a Foley & Lardner leader said their arrival aligned with the firm's strategic focus on four key sectors of the economy. 

  • October 23, 2024

    Kirkland Adds Freshfields Atty To Boost Private Credit Bench

    Kirkland & Ellis LLP has welcomed an expert in leveraged finance from Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer LLP, saying Wednesday that his diverse practice will strengthen the firm's liability management and opportunistic credit practices and support its position in the growing private credit sector.

  • October 23, 2024

    Top Frontier Investor Calls $20B Price Tag A 'Steal' For Verizon

    Frontier Communications shareholder Glendon Capital Management sent a letter to Frontier's board on Wednesday stating the company is currently worth at least $26 billion, 30% higher than the $20 billion value implied by Verizon's planned buyout, as Glendon aims to prevent Verizon from "walking away with a steal."

  • October 23, 2024

    Chemical Co. GC Fires Back At Pregnancy Bias Claims In NJ

    Arxada and its general counsel struck back at a former in-house attorney's claims in a New Jersey state court lawsuit that the specialty chemicals company unlawfully dismissed her in the days after she talked about taking leave to recover from a miscarriage.

  • October 23, 2024

    AirAsia's Planned SPAC Merger Will Not Take Place

    The parent company of Malaysian airline AirAsia on Wednesday called off its planned special purpose acquisition company merger that would have resulted in the business being publicly listed in the U.S., while also disclosing plans for a capital reduction to strengthen its financial position.

  • October 23, 2024

    UK Investor Patria Private Equity Sells Portfolio For £180M

    Patria Private Equity Trust PLC said Wednesday it has completed the sale of 14 fund investments for approximately £180 million ($234 million) as the investor looks to boost its balance sheet and refocus its portfolio.

  • October 22, 2024

    Activist Short Seller's Associate To Pay $1.8M In SEC Fraud Suit

    The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission announced Tuesday that an associate of Andrew Left, founder of popular trading advice website Citron Research, has agreed to pay more than $1.8 million to resolve allegations that he negligently took part in a scheme to defraud readers through two trading recommendations.

  • October 22, 2024

    Legatum Exec Wins $8M Libel Trial Against D.C. Investigator

    A D.C. federal jury has awarded the founder of Dubai-based investment company Legatum more than $8 million in his defamation case against a private investigator accused of preparing and disseminating a bogus "background report" falsely stating the executive was a Russian asset.

  • October 22, 2024

    Hertz Board Panel Takes Control Of Shareholder Buyback Suit

    Delaware's chancellor has granted a Hertz Global Holdings Inc. board special committee's request to investigate stockholder-filed derivative claims challenging the fairness of $4 billion in stock buybacks in 2022 that vaulted a private equity-based shareholder into a controlling position, in a ruling that also sidelined related direct damage claims.

  • October 22, 2024

    Morgan Stanley Investment Management Clinches $2B Fund

    Morgan Stanley Investment Management, advised by Simpson Thacher & Bartlett LLP, on Tuesday announced that it wrapped its second tactical value fund and affiliated funds after securing roughly $2 billion of committed capital.

  • October 22, 2024

    Day Trader Seeks Early Win In Verifone Insider Trading Suit

    A day trader moved for an early win in a U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission insider trading case alleging the trader was tipped off by a former Francisco Partners consultant about the firm's $3.4 billion purchase of Verifone Systems Inc., arguing there is no evidence that he knew he received material nonpublic information, let alone traded on it.

  • October 22, 2024

    Blakes, Wachtell Lead JM Smucker In $305M Cookie Biz Sale

    American food manufacturing giant The J.M. Smucker Co., advised by Blake Cassels & Graydon LLP and Wachtell Lipton Rosen & Katz, on Tuesday announced that it has agreed to sell its Voortman cookie brand to private equity-backed Second Nature Brands in a $305 million cash deal.

  • October 22, 2024

    Latham Leads Hyundai's Indian Biz On Record $3.3B IPO

    Hyundai Motor India Ltd. dipped in debut trading Tuesday after it raised India's largest ever initial public offering at $3.3 billion, represented by Latham & Watkins LLP and Shardul Amarchand Mangaldas & Co., marking a key milestone in the Korean automaker's overseas expansion.

Expert Analysis

  • A Preview Of AI Priorities Under The Next President

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    For the first time in a presidential election, both of the leading candidates and their parties have been vocal about artificial intelligence policy, offering clues on the future of regulation as AI continues to advance and congressional action continues to stall, say attorneys at Mintz.

  • How Companies Are Approaching Insider Trading Policies

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    An analysis of insider trading policies recently disclosed by 49 S&P 500 companies under a new U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission rule reveals that while specific provisions vary from company to company, certain common themes are emerging, say attorneys at Gibson Dunn.

  • How Methods Are Evolving In Textualist Interpretations

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    Textualists at the U.S. Supreme Court are increasingly considering new methods such as corpus linguistics and surveys to evaluate what a statute's text communicates to an ordinary reader, while lower courts even mull large language models like ChatGPT as supplements, says Kevin Tobia at Georgetown Law.

  • Navigating New Enforcement Scrutiny Of 'AI Washing'

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    The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission's recent lawsuit against Joonko Diversity, its first public AI-focused enforcement action against a private company, underscores the importance of applying the same internal legal and compliance rigor to AI-related claims as other market-facing statements, say attorneys at Fried Frank.

  • Increased Scrutiny Raises Int'l Real Estate Transaction Risks

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    Recently proposed regulations expanding the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States' oversight, a White House divestment order and state-level legislative efforts signal increasing scrutiny of real estate transactions that may trigger national security concerns, say Luciano Racco and Aleksis Fernández Caballero at Foley Hoag.

  • How Fund Advisers Can Limit Election Year Pay-To-Play Risks

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    With Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz now the Democratic candidate for vice president, politically active investment advisers should take practical steps to avoid triggering strict pay-to-play rules that can lead to fund managers facing mutli-year timeouts from working with public funds after contributing to sitting officials, say attorneys at Dechert.

  • FTC Focus: What Access To Patent Settlements Would Mean

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    Settling parties should adopt a series of practice tips, including specifying rationales to support specific terms, as the Federal Trade Commission seeks to expand its access to settlements before the Patent Trial and Appeal Board, say Shannon McGowan and David Munkittrick at Proskauer.

  • Why Attorneys Should Consider Community Leadership Roles

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    Volunteering and nonprofit board service are complementary to, but distinct from, traditional pro bono work, and taking on these community leadership roles can produce dividends for lawyers, their firms and the nonprofit causes they support, says Katie Beacham at Kilpatrick.

  • 9 Liability Management Tips As Debt Maturity Cliff Looms

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    As the debt maturity cliff swiftly approaches in this challenging environment, attorneys at Winston & Strawn highlight the top considerations for boards of directors and finance professionals to think about when structuring and executing liability management transactions, including reviewing capital structure, evaluating debt covenants, and more.

  • Firms Must Offer A Trifecta Of Services In Post-Chevron World

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    After the U.S. Supreme Court’s Loper Bright Enterprises v. Raimondo decision overturning Chevron deference, law firms will need to integrate litigation, lobbying and communications functions to keep up with the ramifications of the ruling and provide adequate counsel quickly, says Neil Hare at Dentons.

  • 5 Tips To Succeed In A Master Of Laws Program And Beyond

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    As lawyers and recent law school graduates begin their Master of Laws coursework across the country, they should keep a few pointers in mind to get the most out of their programs and kick-start successful careers in their practice areas, says Kelley Miller at Reed Smith.

  • Series

    Being An Opera Singer Made Me A Better Lawyer

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    My journey from the stage to the courtroom has shown that the skills I honed as an opera singer – punctuality, memorization, creativity and more – have all played a vital role in my success as an attorney, says Gerard D'Emilio at GableGotwals.

  • How Law Firms Can Avoid 'Collaboration Drag'

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    Law firm decision making can be stifled by “collaboration drag” — characterized by too many pointless meetings, too much peer feedback and too little dissent — but a few strategies can help stakeholders improve decision-making processes and build consensus, says Steve Groom at Miles Mediation.

  • Opinion

    Litigation Funding Disclosure Key To Open, Impartial Process

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    Blanket investor and funding agreement disclosures should be required in all civil cases where the investor has a financial interest in the outcome in order to address issues ranging from potential conflicts of interest to national security concerns, says Bob Goodlatte, former U.S. House Representative for Virginia.

  • What NFL Draft Picks Have In Common With Lateral Law Hires

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    Nearly half of law firm lateral hires leave within a few years — a failure rate that is strikingly similar to the performance of NFL quarterbacks drafted in the first round — in part because evaluators focus too heavily on quantifiable metrics and not enough on a prospect's character traits, says Howard Rosenberg at Baretz+Brunelle.

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