Overall
Key cases
Industries
Intellectual Property
Labor & Employment
Corporate
Practice Areas
Private Equity
-
May 13, 2013
Davis Polk Leads Citic In $890M Software Co. Buy
A buyer group led by Chinese private equity firm Citic Capital Partners has reached an $890 million deal to take telecommunication software company AsiaInfo-Linkage Inc. private, according to a Monday statement.
-
May 13, 2013
MSR Seeks lP Asset Sale While Dodging Fund Suit In Ch. 11
Paulson & Co.’s real estate investment trust MSR Hotels & Resorts Inc. said Monday it plans to use its Chapter 11 case to escape an alternative investment fund's multimillion-dollar lawsuit, so that it can move forward with a planned intellectual property asset sale.
-
May 13, 2013
Sun Capital Escapes WARN Act Claims In Bankruptcy Court
A Delaware federal bankruptcy court on Friday cleared Sun Capital Partners Inc. of class claims that the private equity firm was liable for portfolio company Jevic Transportation Inc.'s alleged failure to properly notify workers of a layoff around the time of Jevic's bankruptcy.
-
May 13, 2013
Bain Capital Adds German Auto Parts Co. To Its Dashboard
Private equity firm Bain Capital LLC has acquired German clutch and brake maker FTE automotive GmbH from PAI Partners SAS, the companies said Monday in a joint statement.
-
May 13, 2013
Alliant Drops $315M On Rifle, Shotgun Giant
Aerospace and defense contractor Alliant Techsystems Inc. said Monday that it will pay $315 million for private equity-owned Caliber Co., the parent company of one of the world's largest manufacturers of hunting rifles and shotguns.
-
May 13, 2013
Pangea Hits Cohen & Gresser With $10M Malpractice Suit
Boutique law firm Cohen & Gresser LLP was hit with a $10 million legal malpractice suit Friday in New York state court alleging it concealed a conflict of interest during its representation of Pangea Capital Management LLC in an acquisition.
-
May 13, 2013
Thermo Fisher Hid Mexico Plant's Cartel Woes, OpenGate Says
OpenGate Capital LLC sued lab equipment maker Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. in California federal court Friday, claiming Thermo Fisher sold a lab workstations unit to the private equity firm last year without disclosing that its Mexico plant was under near-constant siege from drug cartels.
-
May 13, 2013
Carlyle Buys Minority Stake In Jordan's Nabil Foods
The Carlyle Group LP has acquired a minority equity stake in Jordan-based retail food company Al-Nabil Food Industries Co. Ltd. from its founding family for an undisclosed sum, Carlyle said Monday.
-
May 13, 2013
Z Capital Blocks Poison Pill In Casino Co. Power Play
Private equity firm Z Capital Partners LLC announced Monday it will be able to move ahead with plans to strengthen its hold over casino operator Affinity Gaming after a Nevada judge granted its bid to block a poison pill shareholder rights agreement.
-
May 13, 2013
Dell Committee Wants Specifics On Icahn's Rival Buyout Bid
Dell Inc.’s special committee on Monday pressed activist shareholder Carl Icahn and Southeastern Asset Management Inc. for more information on their offer challenging a $24.4 billion sale to a private equity-led group that includes the PC maker’s founder.
-
May 13, 2013
Deals Rumor Mill: Partnership Assurance, UBS, Euronext
A private equity-backed British life insurance group is plotting out an initial public offering that would value it around $1.5 billion, while higher-ups at UBS have agreed to meet with representatives from an activist investment firm urging the bank to split itself up and consider an alternative ownership structure.
-
May 13, 2013
Elliott's Hess Nominees Say They'll Work For No Bonuses
Elliott Management Corp.’s five nominees for the board of Hess Corp. said Monday that if elected Thursday, they'll forgo a performance-based cash bonus Elliott had promised them, putting an end to one of this proxy season’s more creative tactics.
-
May 10, 2013
KKR Can't Dodge Investor Suit Over $525M Primedia Sale
Private equity firm KKR & Co. LP must face a class action alleging its $525 million sale of Primedia Inc. in 2011 was unfair to the publisher’s minority investors because it shielded KKR from a potentially valuable insider trading claim, a Delaware judge ruled on Friday.
-
May 10, 2013
Ex-CEO's Suit Against North Pole, Warburg Sent To Arbitration
A federal judge in Missouri on Friday stayed a suit facing North Pole Ltd. and its parent company Warburg Pincus LLC and compelled them into arbitration with a former North Pole CEO who accused the companies of letting him take the fall for their debts, leaving him trapped in China.
-
May 10, 2013
Willkie Aids Warburg On $11B Fund, A Post-Crisis Giant
Warburg Pincus LLC said Friday it had closed its 11th fund at $11.2 billion, smaller than its last pool and a bit short of its $12 billion target, but still the largest buyout fund from a U.S. sponsor since the financial crisis.
-
May 10, 2013
Hess Shuffles Management Plan As Proxy Showdown Looms
Hess Corp. outlined plans Friday to separate the roles of CEO and chairman and appoint a onetime General Electric Co. executive to lead its board, the oil company's latest play in a fiery fight with an activist hedge fund.
-
May 10, 2013
Icahn, Southeastern Put Up Bid Against $24B Dell Buyout
In the latest chapter in an on-going battle for control of Dell Inc., the company's two largest shareholders — Carl Icahn and Southeastern Asset Management Inc. — made an offer Friday challenging an earlier $24.4 billion private equity-backed bid and threatening legal action.
-
May 10, 2013
TPG Rakes In $305M In Shriram Transport Finance Stake Sale
Texas-based TPG Capital unloaded its 10 percent interest in Indian commercial vehicle finance firm Shriram Transport Finance Co. Ltd., the buyer said Friday, raking in $305 million — a nearly sevenfold return on its initial buy-in to the company.
-
May 10, 2013
Deals Rumor Mill: Yahoo, Carlyle, Dish
Yahoo is considering making a bid for Hulu as part of a broader attempt to claw back some of its cachet on the Web and boost its bottom line, while Dish has nailed down financing help for its $25.5 billion Sprint buyout bid that has met with skepticism from the wireless carrier's board.
-
May 10, 2013
TowerBrook Capital To Pay $835M For True Religion
TowerBrook Capital Partners has inked a deal to take True Religion Apparel Inc. private for $835 million, ending a seven-month sales process for the trendy jeans maker and marking the latest in a string of big retail buyouts.
Expert Analysis
-
FERC's Unclear Guidance On Horizontal Market Power
In declining to authorize a transaction among MACH Gen LLC, Saddle Mountain Power LLC and New Harquahala Generating Company LLC, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission has provided some guidance regarding when the transfer of control is sufficient to mitigate the failure of FERC’s horizontal market power screens but with little clarity, say attorneys with Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld LLP.
-
The Intersection Of National Security And Bankruptcy
There is little doubt that bankruptcy judges may be in the best position to submit a foreign investment transaction to the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States. Although such a shift may alter the economics of foreign investment in U.S. bankruptcies, the ultimate certainties for debtors, bidders, creditors and others may be well worth any delays and costs incurred, say Richard Chesley and Daniel Simon of DLA Piper.
-
Penn. Picks A Peck Of Public-Private Partnerships
Pennsylvania's new Public and Private Partnerships for Transportation Act should stimulate private investment in public highways, bridges and other facilities where governments confront funding restraints. Private firms should appreciate that interest in P3 programs is high and competition for projects is likely to be intense, say Ralph Finizio and Ryan Stewart of Pepper Hamilton LLP.
-
More International Insolvencies Test Limits Of Ch. 15
With more cross-border insolvencies being filed, and more petitions for recognition of foreign proceedings coming before U.S. bankruptcy courts, it is clear that the outlines of Chapter 15 will continue to be limned. It is also clear that the question of comity in Chapter 15 proceedings will figure prominently in those proceedings and in the continued development of this area of the law, says Kevin Ray of Greenberg Traurig LLP.
-
A Path To Capital Markets For Private Entities
Rule 144A for life offerings allow private entities to enjoy many of the benefits that accrue to publicly listed entities by borrowing funds through U.S. capital market offerings without subjecting the private entity to periodic filings with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission or having its top executive officers attest quarterly to the adequacy of disclosure controls, says Richard Roth of Jackson Walker LLP.
-
Impact Of JOBS Act On 3rd-Party Marketers
The Jumpstart Our Business Startups Act that was enacted on April 5, 2012, will likely change the business of third-party marketers by expanding the scope of permitted promotional activities in connection with offering investments in hedge and private equity funds, says Richard Morris of Herrick Feinstein LLP.
-
How Lawyers Benefit From Early Neutral Evaluation
Early neutral evaluation usually asks a retired judge to consider one party’s case, as if preparing to rule on summary judgment or presiding over a bench trial. Effective evaluation can supply a reality check on a case — it gives the lawyer the gift of seeing the case as others see it, says James Rosenbaum, a panelist with JAMS and former U.S. district judge for the District of Minnesota.
-
FERC Decision Sheds Light On The Importance Of Mitigation
A recent Federal Energy Regulatory Commission decision marks a rare instance of FERC flatly rejecting a proposed sale of a power plant under Section 203 of the Federal Power Act and provides some insight as to what FERC considers to be sufficient mitigation when a proposed transaction raises horizontal market power concerns, say attorneys with Latham & Watkins LLP.
-
The Disappearing Act Of Ch. 11 Business Cases
While the swell in bankruptcy filings in 2009-2010 appeared to be large enough to keep practitioners busy for a number of years, certain unprecedented factors pulled the number of companies seeking Chapter 11 restructuring outside the economic malaise and the direction of the profession has obviously been changed forever. However, these changes do not mean that the day of the long, traditional bankruptcy is over, say attorneys with Arnstein & Lehr LLP.
-
Litigation Support At A Crossroads
Despite recession-driven cost pressures that have resulted in the downsizing of nonlawyer personnel at law firms, many litigation support departments are growing. In a recent survey, half of respondents indicated that their function has grown in size in the past three years, and more than half of respondents indicated that current staffing levels are inadequate for the projected needs of the coming year, say experts at Epiq Systems and Georgetown University Law Center.