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Mergers & Acquisitions
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March 22, 2024
SEC Sanctions NY Atty For 'Improper Professional Conduct'
The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission has barred a New York-based attorney from practicing before the agency, saying she engaged in "improper professional conduct" by failing to comply with a requirement that she not do further work for a two-year period for a company she had represented in proceedings.
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March 22, 2024
DLA Piper Lands McMillan Hong Kong Office Leader
DLA Piper has hired for its cross-border capital markets practice an experienced attorney who formerly led McMillan LLP's Hong Kong office and was co-chair of the firm's China practice group.
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March 22, 2024
US Greenlights Novartis' $2.9B MorphoSys Takeover
Germany's MorphoSys AG said Friday it has received U.S. antitrust clearance for the biopharmaceutical company's planned $2.9 billion sale to Swiss Pharma giant Novartis AG, a development that clears the final regulatory hurdle needed before closing the deal.
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March 22, 2024
Colo. Geothermal Startup, Directors Settle Ownership Spat
A Colorado-based geothermal energy startup and its partners have told a federal judge they are finalizing a settlement to end more than a year of bitter litigation over ownership of the company.
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March 22, 2024
Trump Wins Investor Approval Of Truth Social SPAC Deal
Digital World Acquisition Corp. shareholders on Friday approved a proposal to acquire former President Donald Trump's social media platform, setting in motion long-delayed plans to take Trump's startup public despite unresolved litigation tied to the merger.
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March 22, 2024
KKR Becomes Controlling Shareholder In Smart Meter Co.
KKR said Friday that it has "significant control" over a British energy infrastructure company after more than 60% of shareholders tendered their shares to the U.S. private equity giant under a £1.3 billion ($1.6 billion) takeover offer.
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March 22, 2024
UK Says £16.5B Vodafone-Three Deal May Hurt Consumers
Britain's antitrust authority said Friday that plans by Vodafone and Three to merge their U.K. telecommunications networks to create a £16.5 billion ($20.8 billion) mobile operator could lead to higher prices for consumers.
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March 21, 2024
SEC's 'Shadow Trading' Trial To Test Insider Info Boundaries
If the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission can convince jurors hearing its first-ever "shadow trading" case next week to find a former executive in the wrong for buying up a competitor's securities while having insider information about his own company, the floodgates could open to civil and criminal prosecution of other corporate insiders under the novel legal theory, attorneys told Law360.
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March 21, 2024
Autonomy Jury Hears Of 'Handshake Deal' To Pad Revenue
A onetime Autonomy Corp. customer took the stand Thursday in the California federal criminal trial of former CEO Michael Lynch, describing a "handshake" deal to pay the company $7.5 million with the understanding the funds would be returned — part of an alleged plot to fraudulently inflate Autonomy's revenues.
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March 21, 2024
UpHealth Claims $110M Win In Glocal Control Fight
Global digital health company UpHealth Inc. says an arbitral panel has awarded it more than $110 million following a dispute that arose out of its subsidiary's acquisition of Glocal Healthcare Systems in 2020 — even as Glocal decried the award as "one-sided and perverse."
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March 21, 2024
CymaBay Investor Sues For Books On $4.3B Gilead Merger
A shareholder of liver disease-focused biopharmaceutical company CymaBay Therapeutics Inc. sued the company in Delaware Chancery Court to extract more information over a proposed $4.3 billion merger with Gilead Sciences Inc., saying CymaBay has refused to hand over previously requested documents regarding the valuation analyses without a legitimate excuse.
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March 21, 2024
Canadian Supplement Co. Seeks US Bankruptcy Recognition
A nutritional supplement supplier based in Montreal told a Delaware bankruptcy judge Thursday it needs the U.S. court to recognize its Canadian insolvency proceedings, reasoning that an eviction threat may cut off access to assets in California the debtor needs for its sale plans.
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March 21, 2024
Avoid Major Extension Of Merger Reach, EU High Court Urged
An important tool for extending European Union antitrust officials' merger scrutiny appears to be in jeopardy after a European Court of Justice advocate general effectively recommended Thursday that the bloc's high court restrict the ability to investigate transactions that don't normally trigger EU thresholds.
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March 21, 2024
Directors Of Public Cos. Back Trian CEO Amid Disney Proxy Fight
Thirteen current and former public company directors, all of whom have worked with Trian Fund Management and CEO Nelson Peltz, sent a letter to The Walt Disney Company's board of directors Thursday highlighting why they believe Peltz would make a good addition to the board amid a heated proxy battle.
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March 21, 2024
Pot Co. Seller Says Chancery Must Decide Curaleaf Dispute
A court needs to determine which corporate records Curaleaf Holdings Inc. should turn over in its $13 million price adjustment dispute with the seller of a multistate cannabis dispensary before it goes before an independent accountant, the seller told Delaware's Court of Chancery on Thursday.
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March 21, 2024
CFPB Head Sees Flaws In Capital One-Discover Deal Rationale
The head of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau pushed back on Thursday against the notion that an industry's biggest firms must be put in check through mergers between other large players in that sector, offering an indirect rebuttal to the reasoning floated by Capital One in its bid to buy Discover Financial for $35.3 billion.
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March 21, 2024
Deals Rumor Mill: Apollo-Paramount, Britannica IPO, KKR
Buyout firm Apollo is offering $11 billion to buy Paramount's film studio, Encyclopaedia Britannica is gearing up for an IPO that could value the publisher at $1 billion, and KKR is mulling a sale of learning chain EuroKids International. Here, Law360 breaks down these and other notable deal rumors from the past week.
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March 21, 2024
Activist Investor Rips 'Misguided' Strategy Of WisdomTree
Activist investor ETFS Capital on Thursday urged shareholders of WisdomTree to withhold their votes from the asset management firm's board members at an upcoming shareholder meeting due to the company's "failed diversification strategy" and refusal to initiate a strategic review process.
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March 21, 2024
Chancery Denies Icahn Midcase Appeal In Illumina Board Suit
Carl Icahn can't interrupt his Chancery Court lawsuit against biotech Illumina Inc.'s board to appeal a decision about redactions to the Delaware Supreme Court, a vice chancellor ruled Wednesday, saying there are no "exceptional circumstances" that call for a midcase review.
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March 21, 2024
FDIC To Target Deals Creating Cos. With $100B-Plus In Assets
The Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. on Thursday approved a policy proposal that floats new ways the agency would assess the "financial stability" of proposed mergers between insured depository institutions, for the first time identifying $100 billion in assets as the threshold for deals that would get "added scrutiny."
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March 21, 2024
Nationwide Agrees To Buy Virgin Money For £2.9B In Cash
Nationwide Building Society said Thursday that it will buy Virgin Money UK for £2.9 billion ($3.7 billion) in cash, in a deal backed by the boards of both companies.
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March 20, 2024
Insider Trading Charges Kept Intact In Trump Media Co. Suit
A New York federal judge on Wednesday refused to toss charges against a Florida venture capitalist over allegedly illegally profiting from a secret plan to take Donald Trump's Truth Social company public, finding court precedent for the criminalization of insider trading under securities fraud law.
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March 20, 2024
RedBird Sues Brookfield For $150M From Compass Deal
The private investment firm that sold Compass Datacenters to Brookfield Infrastructure Partners for $5.7 billion last year sued the infrastructure asset manager in Delaware's Court of Chancery on Tuesday, alleging that Brookfield had breached their agreement by refusing to release $150 million out of escrow.
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March 20, 2024
Trump SPAC Sues To Force Vote In Favor Of Deal
The special purpose acquisition company hoping to take Trump Media & Technology Group public sued its largest founding investor in New York state court to force a vote in favor of the deal, the latest legal turmoil to sprout from the SPAC's spat with its former chief executive.
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March 20, 2024
Jenner & Block-Led Lonza To Buy Roche's $1.2B US Facility
Swiss healthcare company Lonza said on Wednesday that it has agreed to acquire one of the largest medicine manufacturing facilities in the world from biotech giant Roche for $1.2 billion to increase its manufacturing capacity.
Expert Analysis
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Opinion
Calif. Policymakers Should Aid Crashing Cannabis Market
As California’s cannabis sector nears the brink of financial collapse, it may be time for the state government to seriously consider potential bailout programs for the embattled industry — though the crisis also presents strategic buying opportunities for those with a high tolerance for uncertainty, says Michelle Mabugat at Greenberg Glusker.
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How To Recognize And Recover From Lawyer Loneliness
Law can be one of the loneliest professions, but there are practical steps that attorneys and their managers can take to help themselves and their peers improve their emotional health, strengthen their social bonds and protect their performance, says psychologist and attorney Traci Cipriano.
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Opinion
Litigation Funding Disclosure Should Be Mandatory
Despite the Appellate Rules Committee's recent deferral of the issue of requiring third-party litigation funding disclosure, such a mandate is necessary to ensure the even-handed administration of justice across all cases, says David Levitt at Hinshaw.
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Recalling USWNT's Legal PR Playbook Amid World Cup Bid
As the U.S. Women's National Soccer Team strives to take home another World Cup trophy, their 2022 pay equity settlement with the U.S. Soccer Federation serves as a good reminder that winning in the court of public opinion can be more powerful than a victory inside the courtroom, says Hector Valle at Vianovo.
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Colorado Antitrust Reform Carries Broad State Impact
Colorado recently became the latest state to update and expand its antitrust laws, and the new act may significantly affect enforcement and private litigation, particularly when it comes to workers and consumers, says Diane Hazel at Foley & Lardner.
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Mootness Fees Are Losing Traction In Del. And Federal Courts
The Delaware Chancery's recent decision in Anderson v. Magellan Health deals a significant blow to plaintiffs attorneys seeking mootness fees for merger litigation brought in that state, and federal courts are trending in the same direction, say Paul Marino and Michael Fialkoff at Day Pitney.
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Opinion
Merger Guidelines Should Provide For Competition Trustees
Following the U.S. antitrust agencies' release of draft merger guidelines, retired U.S. Court of Federal Claims Chief Judge Susan Braden suggests a court-appointed competition trustee would help ensure U.S. competition without impairing economic prosperity.
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Senate Hearing Highlights Antitrust Hazards In PGA-LIV Deal
The U.S. Senate's recent questioning of PGA Tour COO Ron Price on the proposed deal with LIV Golf and its release of a dossier of framework agreements covered a variety of issues that could exacerbate antitrust concerns, including the predatory purchasing theory of competitive harm, free-riding and alternate funding, say attorneys at Perkins Coie.
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Investors With ESG Aims Should Heed Antitrust Reporting Rules
As investors globally are embracing environmental, social and governance investing, regulatory agencies have made clear that ESG initiatives are not immune from antitrust scrutiny, and investors cannot count on receiving special exemptions from the Hart-Scott-Rodino Act reporting requirements, say Jonathan Gleklen and Francesca Pisano at Arnold & Porter.
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US Antitrust Approach Toward ESG Clashes With EU Stance
A comparison between how EU and U.S. antitrust enforcers have approached companies' cooperative environmental, social and corporate governance efforts highlights America's comparatively harsh stance, contributing to a difficult compliance climate for international businesses, say attorneys at Steptoe & Johnson.
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When Investment Banks Can Sell Real Estate In Calif.
When investment banks sell businesses that own property in California, they may run into trouble if they are not licensed real estate brokers, unless the property is merely incidental to the deal at hand, say attorneys at Holland & Knight.
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Merger Guidelines' Broad Tack Ignores Recent Precedent
The U.S. Justice Department and Federal Trade Commission's new proposed merger guidelines are consistent with the Biden administration's expansive approach to antitrust enforcement, but they fail to grapple meaningfully with much of modern economic precedent and court decisions requiring greater agency rigor in merger analysis, say attorneys at Freshfields.
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Ch. 11 Ruling Informs On Social Media Ownership Rights
Social media users now have useful guidance regarding account ownership rights following a federal bankruptcy court's recent ruling in the Vital Pharmaceuticals Chapter 11 case, which rejected the notion that advertised content alone could create a presumption of ownership for the advertised business, say Deborah Enea and Thomas Dockery at Troutman Pepper.
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Parsing FTC's Intercontinental-Black Knight Merger Challenge
The Federal Trade Commission's recent Article III case challenging a merger between Intercontinental Exchange and Black Knight suggests the agency is using a structuralist approach to evaluate the merger's potential anti-competitive harm, says David Evans at Kelley Drye.
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Perspectives
Mallory Gives Plaintiffs A Better Shot At Justice
Critics of the U.S. Supreme Court's recent decision in Mallory v. Norfolk Southern claim it opens the door to litigation tourism, but the ruling simply gives plaintiffs more options — enabling them to seek justice against major corporations in the best possible court, say Rayna Kessler and Ethan Seidenberg at Robins Kaplan.