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Mergers & Acquisitions
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April 29, 2024
Paramount CEO Departs As Rumors Of Skydance Deal Swirl
Paramount Global said Monday that CEO Bob Bakish is stepping down and will be replaced by three senior company executives, as the company is said to be closing in on a merger deal with Skydance Media.
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April 29, 2024
No Need To Delay $811M Immigrant Bond Co. Fine, CFPB Says
The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau told a Virginia federal judge that there is no need to hold off fining a bonding company $811 million for predatory bonding practices, saying the company's fear of collapse is mooted by a recent sale.
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April 29, 2024
Protein Co. Nutriati Insiders Rushed $10M Sale, Del. Suit Says
Stockholders of Nutriati Inc. have sued the plant-based protein producer's directors and officers and others in Delaware's Chancery Court, alleging that insider breaches of fiduciary duty resulted in a hasty, low-ball sale of the business in 2022 to one of its major investors.
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April 29, 2024
Excess Insurer Seeks Inclusion In OpenText Merger Row
Allied World National Assurance asked a Michigan federal court to allow it to join a coverage dispute against its excess insured OpenText, maintaining that the software company's primary insurer will soon reach its limits on defense costs in the underlying class action over OpenText's merger with Covisint.
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April 29, 2024
Bruin Capital Buys Turf Management Co. PlayGreen
Sports-focused private equity shop Bruin Capital, advised by Simpson Thacher & Bartlett LLP, announced on Monday that it is acquiring a majority stake in PlayGreen BV Inc., the Netherlands-based holding company that owns turf management company Stadium Grow Lighting.
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April 29, 2024
Smith Gambrell Adds 4 Attorneys To New York Office
Smith Gambrell & Russell LLP has added four attorneys in its New York office, two through a merger with a firm that specialized in representing companies from German-speaking countries in the U.S., and two from the recently shuttered Ingram LLP.
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April 29, 2024
L'Occitane Chair Bids $6.4B To Take Cosmetics Brand Private
L'Occitane International SA said Monday that its billionaire executive director and chair is leading an offer to purchase all the company's shares he does not already own, in a take-private transaction that would value the company at about €6 billion ($6.4 billion) on an equity basis.
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April 29, 2024
Deciphera Stock Soars On $2.4B Deal With Japan's Ono
Deciphera Pharmaceuticals Inc. said Monday it has agreed to be purchased by Japan's Ono Pharmaceutical Co. Ltd. for $2.4 billion, which sent the Waltham, Massachusetts-based cancer drugmaker's stock soaring more than 72%.
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April 29, 2024
Davis Polk, Wachtell Steer $2B Heartland-UMB Bank Merger
UMB Financial Corp. has agreed to purchase Heartland Financial USA Inc. in an all-stock transaction valued at roughly $2 billion, with Davis Polk and Wardwell LLP and Wachtell Lipton Rosen & Katz serving as their respective legal advisers, the regional banking competitors said Monday.
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April 29, 2024
Hipgnosis Backs Blackstone's New $1.6B Offer In Bidding War
Blackstone said on Monday that the directors of music rights company Hipgnosis Songs will back a new $1.6 billion offer by the private equity giant after they said they would withdraw their backing for an earlier $1.5 billion bid from a U.S. competitor, Concord Chorus.
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April 26, 2024
Law360 Reveals Titans Of The Plaintiffs Bar
In the past year, plaintiffs have won settlements and judgments for millions and billions of dollars from companies such as Wells Fargo, Goldman Sachs, Facebook and Fox News, with many high-profile cases finally wrapping up after years of fighting. Such cases — involving over-the-top compensation packages, chemical contamination, gender discrimination and data mining — were led by attorneys whose accomplishments earned them recognition as Law360's Titans of the Plaintiffs Bar for 2024.
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April 26, 2024
TikTok Ban Reveals Congress' Power In Place Of CFIUS Limits
The new law calling for TikTok's Chinese parent company to sell the app or get banned in the U.S. reflects the limits of national security reviews and shows how Congress and the president may bolster, or circumvent, them going forward.
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April 26, 2024
Ex-BP Manager Charged With TravelCenters Insider Trading
A former senior manager at BP PLC on Friday became the second person accused by the U.S. Department of Justice and the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission of engaging in insider trading over the British oil and gas company's $1.3 billion planned acquisition of TravelCenters of America Inc.
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April 26, 2024
Crypto Mining Co. Execs Face Suit Over Merger Shortcomings
Executives and directors of crypto mining company Hut 8 have been hit with a shareholder derivative suit claiming they failed to disclose the severe financial and operational issues of a company Hut 8 merged with last year, later revealed in a short-seller's report.
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April 26, 2024
Wash. Judge Doubts He Can Block Kroger Merger
A Washington state judge expressed "serious doubts" Friday he could block the $24.6 billion Kroger and Albertsons merger but declined to dismiss the state attorney general's lawsuit seeking to derail the deal, saying that the state still had more narrowly tailored remedies to address its anti-competition concerns.
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April 26, 2024
FTC's Bedoya Says Labor Concerns In Mergers Matter
Federal Trade Commissioner Alvaro Bedoya said Friday that it's important for enforcers to consider the impact mergers can have on labor, even if they never did in the past, contending that concentration can lead to lower wages and dangerous working conditions.
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April 26, 2024
Republic First Bank Fails In Biggest Bust Since 2023 Turmoil
Republic First Bank, a roughly $6 billion bank based in Philadelphia, was shuttered Friday by Pennsylvania state banking regulators and sold to Fulton Bank NA, capping off a prolonged decline that only worsened in the wake of last spring's regional bank failures.
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April 26, 2024
Storm Clouds Gather Over Delaware's Business Haven Rep
Storm clouds have closed around Delaware's often staid annual corporation law update, with one prominent firm publicly citing this week a perception that Delaware judges have adopted an "increasingly suspicious or negative tone" toward boards, management and the corporate bar, potentially jeopardizing the state's business haven status.
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April 26, 2024
L Catterton Buys Majority Stake In KIKO Milano At $1.5B Value
Private equity firm L Catterton said Friday it has agreed to buy a majority stake in the Percassi family's beauty brand KIKO Milano, in a deal steered by Italian law firms Bonelli Erede Lombardi Pappalardo and Gatti Pavesi Bianchi Ludovici, respectively, along with several additional consultants and financial advisers.
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April 26, 2024
Therapy Co. SPAC Investors To Settle Del., Ill. Merger Suits
An attorney for a blank-check company that took ATI Physical Therapy Inc. public told Delaware's Court of Chancery it has agreed to settle two proposed stockholder class actions in conjunction with pending federal class and derivative suits in the Northern District of Illinois.
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April 26, 2024
Wachtell Guides Apollo On $1.85B Deal For Minerals Co.
Wachtell Lipton Rosen & Katz-led Apollo Global Management has agreed to purchase Morrison Foerster LLP-advised U.S. Silica Holdings Inc. at a $1.85 billion enterprise value, the producer of commercial silica disclosed Friday, sending its stock soaring more than 20%.
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April 26, 2024
Kirkland Steers $5B US Bid For Latham-Led Cybersecurity Biz
British cybersecurity company Darktrace said Friday that it has agreed to accept a bid of approximately $5.3 billion to take it private from U.S. private equity firm Thoma Bravo, in a deal steered by Kirkland & Ellis LLP and Latham & Watkins LLP.
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April 26, 2024
Anglo American Snubs BHP's £31B Takeover Bid
Multinational miner Anglo American said Friday that it has rejected a £31.1 billion ($39 billion) takeover bid from its Australian heavyweight rival, BHP Group, saying the offer "significantly undervalues" the company and its prospects.
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April 25, 2024
McDermott Judge U-Turns, Says Some Investors Deserve Cert.
A Texas federal magistrate judge reversed his recommendation that investors be denied class certification in litigation over McDermott International's $6 billion merger with Chicago Bridge & Iron, saying a former CB&I shareholder class "should be certified now" and a putative McDermott stock purchaser class be created for subsequent consideration.
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April 25, 2024
Outlets Ask Fla. Court To Toss Trump's $1.5B Truth Social Suit
Several news outlets that were sued by Donald Trump's social media company over reports that it lost $73 million following a merger have urged a Florida state court to dismiss the lawsuit, saying defamation wasn't sufficiently alleged and the articles were substantially true.
Expert Analysis
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Tech M&A Due Diligence Checklist: Critical IP Areas Of Inquiry
Declining valuations are the backdrop of the current technology M&A landscape worldwide, and intellectual property is a key value driver from the vantage point of a potential acquiror, so when it comes to due diligence for technology acquisitions, there are several pitfalls to avoid, say attorneys at Gibson Dunn.
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Series
Participating In Living History Makes Me A Better Lawyer
My role as a baron in a living history group, and my work as volunteer corporate counsel for a book series fan association, has provided me several opportunities to practice in unexpected areas of law — opening doors to experiences that have nurtured invaluable personal and professional skills, says Matthew Parker at the Nebraska Department of Health and Human Services.
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Opinion
Private Equity Owners Can Remedy Law Firms' Agency Issues
Nonlawyer, private-equity ownership of law firms can benefit shareholders and others vulnerable to governance issues such as disparate interests, and can in turn help resolve agency problems, says Michael Di Gennaro at The Law Practice Exchange.
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Tech Company Trade Compliance Programs Need A Check-Up
As sanctions and export controls continue to evolve, companies in the tech sector are often affected in ways that can be difficult to spot, say Carrie Schroll and Matthew Luzadder at Kelley Drye.
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How To Protect Atty-Client Privilege While Using Generative AI
When using generative artificial intelligence tools, attorneys should consider several safeguards to avoid breaches or complications in attorney-client privilege, say Antonious Sadek and Christopher Campbell at DLA Piper.
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How New Lawyers Can Leverage Feedback For Growth
Embracing constructive criticism as a tool for success can help new lawyers accelerate their professional growth and law firms build a culture of continuous improvement, says Katie Aldrich at Fringe Professional Development.
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How Reps And Warranties Insurance Can Aid Sellers In M&A
Amid the current slowdown in the M&A climate, representation and warranty insurance offers sellers a number of advantages, including protection against fraud and possible leverage to insist on a no-seller-indemnity deal, say Alex Leibowitz and Eric Jesse at Lowenstein Sandler.
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Del. Corporate Law Overhaul Delivers On Flexibility For Cos.
Recent amendments to the Delaware General Corporation Law provide needed flexibility to public companies, including by making it easier to effect stock splits or changes to authorized shares, and by streamlining the process to ratify defective corporate acts, say attorneys at Venable.
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Restructuring Concerns For Distressed De-SPACs
Distressed companies struggling to remain viable following a de-SPAC transaction can reduce uncertainty by deleveraging balance sheets, reconfiguring contractual and operational relationships, and creating new opportunities for investors via the pursuit of a prepackaged Chapter 11 reorganization plan, say attorneys at Pillsbury.
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Info Exchanges Must Stay Inside Now-Invisible Antitrust Lines
While the antitrust agencies recently withdrew long-standing enforcement policy statements for being "overly permissive" on information exchanges, we should not assume that all information exchanges are inherently suspect — they are still permissible if carefully constructed and vigorously managed, say attorneys at Nelson Mullins.
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Twitter Legal Fees Suit Offers Crash Course In Billing Ethics
X Corp.'s suit alleging that Wachtell grossly inflated its fees in the final days of Elon Musk’s Twitter acquisition provides a case study in how firms should protect their reputations by hewing to ethical billing practices and the high standards for professional conduct that govern attorney-client relationships, says Lourdes Fuentes at Karta Legal.
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Blockchain Tech's Role As A Driver Of M&A Action Evolves
Distributed ledger and other blockchain derivative technologies are uniquely positioned to drive M&A activity, and will play a pivotal role in shaping the future of financial and investment landscapes despite the turmoil in the cryptocurrency space, say Louis Lehot and Pat Daugherty at Foley & Lardner.
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Amgen-Horizon Deal May Signal FTC's Return To Bargaining
The Federal Trade Commission's recent settlement of its challenge to Amgen's proposed acquisition of Horizon Therapeutics marks the latest in a string of midlitigation settlements, and may signal that competition regulators are more inclined toward such negotiations following recent litigation losses, say attorneys at Freshfields.
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Transaction Risks In Residential Mortgage M&A Due Diligence
As the residential mortgage market continues to consolidate due to interest rate increases and low housing volume, buyers and sellers should pay attention to a number of compliance considerations ranging from fair lending laws to employee classification, say attorneys at Mayer Brown.
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ABA's Money-Laundering Resolution Is A Balancing Act
While the American Bar Association’s recently passed resolution recognizes a lawyer's duty to discontinue representation that could facilitate money laundering and other fraudulent activity, it preserves, at least for now, the delicate balance of judicial, state-based regulation of the legal profession and the sanctity of the attorney-client relationship, say attorneys at Ballard Spahr.