Mergers & Acquisitions

  • April 18, 2024

    Ex-Autonomy CEO Wanted Whistleblower Fired, Ex-GC Says

    Former Autonomy CEO Michael Lynch thought a finance department whistleblower was "trying to destroy the company" and wanted him fired, the software company's former U.S. general counsel testified Thursday in a criminal fraud trial over claims Lynch conned HP into buying the British company at an inflated price of $11.7 billion.

  • April 18, 2024

    Lack Of Process Delays CFIUS Enforcement, Watchdog Says

    The interagency committee tasked with ensuring that foreign investments do not jeopardize national security lacks a formal process for launching enforcement actions against companies that run afoul of their commitments, according to a watchdog report made public Thursday.

  • April 18, 2024

    EU Antitrust Chief Says Merger Tool Not A 'Power Grab'

    The European Commission's top competition enforcer said Thursday the agency has taken a measured approach to using its newly asserted power to review mergers that fall short of local thresholds, as the European trading bloc's high court mulls a challenge of that authority from DNA sequencing company Illumina.

  • April 18, 2024

    Lebanese Bank To Face Victims' Hezbollah Terrorism Suit

    New York's highest court ruled Thursday that an entity that acquires another entity's liabilities and assets inherits its status for purposes of personal jurisdiction even if there is no merger, greenlighting litigation targeting a Lebanese bank over its predecessor's alleged assistance to Hezbollah.

  • April 18, 2024

    T-Mobile, Others Rip 'Hodgepodge' Forced Store Closings Suit

    T-Mobile says it doesn't belong in a suit accusing it and another company of misleading store owners by promising it would open hundreds of new stores in the wake of its $26 billion merger with Sprint in 2020 only to turn around and shut the plaintiffs down.

  • April 18, 2024

    Investors In Failed Manila Casino Deal Sue For SPAC Shares

    Shareholders in a blank-check company that failed to take a Philippines casino public have intervened in two Delaware Chancery Court lawsuits to recoup their failed investments, with one seeking to litigate damages from the busted $2.6 billion deal and the other pushing for the company's liquidation.

  • April 18, 2024

    Coventry Building Society Makes £780M Offer For Co-Op Bank

    The Coventry Building Society is offering to buy the Co-operative Bank for £780 million ($970 million) in a move that comes after the two revealed in December that they were in exclusive talks to merge.

  • April 18, 2024

    23andMe Taps Dechert To Review CEO Buyout Proposal

    A special committee of genetic testing company 23andMe has engaged Dechert LLP as its legal adviser and Wells Fargo as its financial adviser as it looks to review an anticipated buyout offer from its co-founder and CEO Anne Wojcicki, according to a statement Thursday.

  • April 18, 2024

    Ariz. Coyotes Deactivated In Deal Giving Utah New NHL Team

    The National Hockey League's governing board on Thursday afternoon approved the transfer of the Arizona Coyotes franchise to the owners of the NBA's Utah Jazz and shuttered the Arizona team for now, according to a statement.

  • April 18, 2024

    Biotech Co. NanoString Lands $393M Bid At Ch. 11 Auction

    Scientific instrument maker Bruker Corp. is set to acquire insolvent biotechnology company NanoString for roughly $393 million in cash that would be used to repay creditors under the debtor's recently proposed Chapter 11 plan, a notice filed in Delaware's bankruptcy court shows.

  • April 18, 2024

    Deals Rumor Mill: Tapestry-Capri, StubHub IPO, Salesforce

    The FTC is preparing to sue to block Tapestry's $8.5 billion takeover of designer brands' owner Capri, StubHub is eyeing a summer IPO at an estimated $16.5 billion valuation, and Salesforce is making a play to acquire data-management software firm Informatica. Here, Law360 breaks down these and other notable deal rumors from the past week.

  • April 18, 2024

    AGBA, Triller Combine To Form $4B Digital Content Co.

    Asia-based financial services company AGBA Group Holding and artificial intelligence-driven social video platform Triller Corp. on Thursday announced plans to merge in a deal that would create a combined entity valued at roughly $4 billion on a pro forma basis and will establish "new benchmarks" at the intersection of technology, finance and media.

  • April 18, 2024

    Crowell & Moring Adds Corporate Partners From Neal Gerber

    Crowell & Moring LLP has added two longtime partners and practice group leaders from Chicago-based firm Neal Gerber & Eisenberg LLP to help bolster its corporate, mergers and acquisitions and capital markets services and expand its services in the Windy City.

  • April 18, 2024

    Insurance Broker Jensten Builds £170M Acquisition War Chest

    Private equity-backed insurance broker Jensten Group said Thursday it has secured £170 million ($211 million) in funding for a series of planned acquisitions.

  • April 18, 2024

    Kirkland, Weil-Guided Apax To Buy HR Payroll Co. For €36M

    Investment group Apax Global Alpha Ltd. said Thursday that a fund it advises has agreed to buy Zellis UK Ltd., a prominent provider of payroll and HR software in the U.K. for approximately €36 million ($38.4 million), financed via one of its funds.

  • April 18, 2024

    Hipgnosis Agrees To $1.4B Takeover By US Rival Concord

    Concord Chorus has agreed to buy its British music royalties rival Hipgnosis Songs Fund in an all-cash transaction worth $1.4 billion, as the U.S. company looks to add 1.2 million more songs to its portfolio, the companies said in joint statement Thursday.

  • April 17, 2024

    Ex-JPMorgan Analyst Liked 'Winding Up' Autonomy CEO, Jury Told

    A former JPMorgan stock analyst testifying Wednesday in the criminal fraud trial of former Autonomy CEO Michael Lynch said that he "took pleasure in winding up Lynch" and once even used a Hitler analogy to describe his performance, but said his critical coverage was never personal.

  • April 17, 2024

    New TikTok Bill Gives More Time For Divestment

    A bill requiring ByteDance Ltd. to divest TikTok or face a ban in the U.S. was included in the package of national security bills House Republicans introduced on Wednesday, which gives a longer runway to sell the app than the one the House previously passed in March.

  • April 17, 2024

    RTX Investor Sues Brass In Del. For Better Antitrust Oversight

    A shareholder of RTX has sued the aerospace and defense giant's current and former officers and directors in Delaware's Court of Chancery, accusing them of failing over a period of at least eight years to prevent antitrust violations in the company's hiring practices.

  • April 17, 2024

    DC Judge Questions 7-Eleven Position On FTC Constraints

    A D.C. federal judge on Wednesday pressed counsel for 7-Eleven on the company's claims that only the U.S. attorney general can seek civil penalties on behalf of the Federal Trade Commission, questioning how the commission itself can be limited when the FTC Act gives it the right to take up actions if the U.S. Department of Justice does not.

  • April 17, 2024

    Don't Ignore Problematic Merger Docs, FTC Comp Chief Says

    The Federal Trade Commission's top antitrust enforcer urged merging parties Wednesday to be fully open and transparent with reviewing staffers, warning that trying to get enforcers to ignore potentially problematic material just makes their jobs more difficult.

  • April 17, 2024

    Karuna Investor Ends Suit After Bristol-Myers Seals $14B Deal

    A Karuna Therapeutics shareholder has dropped her proposed class action after Bristol-Myers Squibb Co. completed its $14 billion purchase of the biotechology company, a deal the suit alleged was brought about by misrepresentations to investors to gain their support.

  • April 17, 2024

    MoFo Advises Southwest Gas Carve-Out Centuri's $260M IPO

    Southwest Gas Holdings Inc.'s infrastructure services unit Centuri Holdings Inc. on Wednesday priced a $260.4 million initial public offering at the top of its range, enabling Centuri to become a standalone public company, represented by Morrison Foerster LLP and underwriters' counsel Skadden Arps Slate Meagher & Flom LLP.

  • April 17, 2024

    Lawmaker Says New Merger Guides Hurt Small Businesses

    The head of the House Small Business Committee has sent letters to the U.S. Department of Justice and Federal Trade Commission, contending enforcers did not fully consider how new merger guidelines will impact the small business community.

  • April 17, 2024

    Jury Says Caterpillar's Interference Cost Equipment Co. $100M

    A jury in Delaware has rejected antitrust claims against Caterpillar but found that the equipment maker caused a defunct importer $100 million in damages by interfering with its contract to sell equipment through an online sales platform.

Expert Analysis

  • How Law Firms Can Use Account-Based Marketing Strategies

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    Amid several evolving legal industry trends, account-based marketing can help law firms uncover additional revenue-generating opportunities with existing clients, with key considerations ranging from data analytics to relationship building, say Jennifer Ramsey at stage LLC and consultant Gina Sponzilli.

  • Strategic Succession Planning At Law Firms Is Crucial

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    Senior partners' reluctance to retire, the rise of the nonequity partner tier and generational differences in expectations are all contributing to an increasing number of departures from BigLaw, making it imperative for firms to encourage retirement among senior ranks and provide clearer leadership pathways to junior attorneys, says Laura Leopard at Leopard Solutions.

  • The Impact Of Proposed HSR Form Changes On Agency Staff

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    The Federal Trade Commission's recent proposed changes to the Hart-Scott-Rodino Notification and Report Form will have the unintended effect of drastically increasing the burden on agency staff without an appreciable increase in their ability to detect potentially anti-competitive transactions, say Amanda Wait and Andrew Eklund at Norton Rose.

  • FTC's Health Co. Suit Indicates Agency's Private Equity Focus

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    The Federal Trade Commission's latest lawsuit against an anesthesia company and its private equity investor highlights the agency's willingness to regulate the health care industry even when relevant acquisitions are relatively dated or when the controlling entity's economic interest is under 50%, say attorneys at Simpson Thacher.

  • Top 4 Antitrust Enforcement Issues In Health Care Today

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    The Federal Trade Commission's recent lawsuit against U.S. Anesthesia Partners exemplifies antitrust enforcement authorities' efforts to aggressively reshape the health care industry, ranging from new proposed rules to withdrawals of previous guidance, say attorneys at Fried Frank.

  • Maximizing Law Firm Profitability In Uncertain Times

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    As threats of an economic downturn loom, firms can boost profits by embracing the power of bottom-line management and creating an ecosystem where strategic financial oversight and robust timekeeping practices meet evolved client relations, says Shireen Hilal at Maior Strategic Consulting.

  • OECD Gender Inclusive Toolkit May Inform Competition Policy

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    A toolkit recently released by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development offers a potential framework for guiding competition regulators and practitioners to better understand how market dynamics affect different gender groups, and could potentially be applied to other demographic lenses as well, say analysts at Analysis Group.

  • Alleged $636M Deal Error Highlights Ethics Considerations

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    Adelman v. Proskauer, a malpractice suit that allegedly arose from a cut-and-paste error resulting in potential damages of $636 million, presents an intriguing juxtaposition of facts and legal issues — and practical ethical considerations for transactions attorneys, says Richard Leisner at Trenam Law.

  • Tech M&A Due Diligence Checklist: Sector-Specific Concerns

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    In an increasingly dynamic technology merger and acquisition landscape, there are seven high-impact diligence concerns that must be addressed early and with precision, say attorneys at Gibson Dunn.

  • 5 DOJ Enforcement Priorities To Note From Recent Remarks

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    Principal Associate Deputy Attorney General Marshall Miller’s recent speech provided a glimpse into the U.S. Department of Justice’s corporate criminal enforcement priorities — from national security concerns to mergers and acquisitions — with takeaways for companies’ compliance programs, say Joseph Jay and Jennifer Le at Sheppard Mullin.

  • 5th Circ. Ruling Reminds Attys That CBP Can Search Devices

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    The Fifth Circuit’s recent Malik v. Department of Homeland Security decision adds to the chorus of federal courts holding that border agents don’t need a warrant to search travelers’ electronic devices, so attorneys should consider certain special precautions to secure privileged information when reentering the U.S., says Jennifer Freel at Jackson Walker.

  • Alleged $636M Deal Error Shows Value Of Old-School Methods

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    Though Proskauer Rose has now settled claims involving a copy-paste error in deal documents that could have resulted in $636 million in damages, the debacle reminds attorneys that classic revision methods using paper copies can help avoid drafting errors and actually save time in the long run, says Richard Leisner at Trenam.

  • How Gov't Agencies Will Fare In The Event Of A Shutdown

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    With a federal shutdown potentially set to begin at the end of this month, it may be useful to consider the approximate timelines that agencies such as the Federal Trade Commission and IRS have announced for curtailing operations, and potential strategies for mitigating challenges that may arise while agency functions are limited, say attorneys at Cleary.

  • Avoiding The Ethical Pitfalls Of Crowdfunded Legal Fees

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    The crowdfunding of legal fees has become increasingly common, providing a new way for people to afford legal services, but attorneys who accept crowdsourced funds must remember several key ethical obligations to mitigate their risks, say Hilary Gerzhoy and Julienne Pasichow at HWG.

  • What Large Language Models Mean For Document Review

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    Courts often subject parties using technology assisted review to greater scrutiny than parties conducting linear, manual document review, so parties using large language models for document review should expect even more attention, along with a corresponding need for quality control and validation, say attorneys at Sidley.

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