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Mergers & Acquisitions
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April 04, 2024
Top M&A Advisers Of Q1 Include Kirkland, Skadden
Global law firms Kirkland & Ellis LLP, Skadden Arps Slate Meagher & Flom LLP, Goodwin Procter LLP and Wachtell Lipton Rosen & Katz were among the most active legal counsel providers for global mergers and acquisitions in the first quarter of this year, according to a new report from the London Stock Exchange Group.
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April 04, 2024
Del. Justices Reverse Chancery On Match.com Deal Fairness
Delaware's Supreme Court on Thursday undid a Chancery Court dismissal of a challenge to Match.com's 2019 reverse-spinoff from Barry Diller-controlled IAC Interactive, in a closely watched case rejecting the lower court's finding that Match had justified the use of a less onerous fairness test.
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April 04, 2024
Deals Rumor Mill: Alphabet, Honeywell, Syngenta IPO
Google parent Alphabet is exploring whether to make an offer to acquire software company HubSpot; Chinese regulators encouraged pesticides giant Syngenta to pull its $9 billion IPO over concerns it could unsettle China's volatile market, and Honeywell wants to sell its personal protective equipment unit. Here, Law360 breaks down these and other notable deal rumors from the past week.
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April 04, 2024
Insurer Resolution Life To Buy New Zealand Biz For $247M
Resolution Life said on Thursday that its Australasian arm has agreed to buy Asteron Life, an insurer based in New Zealand, for 410 million New Zealand dollars ($247 million), as the global group eyes entry into the country's growing insurance sector.
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April 04, 2024
Mondi £5.1B Offer Deadline For DS Smith Extended
Packaging business DS Smith said Thursday that its rival Mondi PLC has been granted extra time to make a £5.1 billion ($6.5 billion) all-share offer as a bidding war for DS with International Paper Co. continues.
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April 04, 2024
UK Deepens Probe Into Vodafone-Three Telecoms Merger
Britain's antitrust authority said Thursday that it has launched an in-depth probe into plans by Vodafone and Three to merge their U.K. telecommunications networks to create a £16.5 billion ($21 billion) mobile operator after the companies failed to alleviate competition concerns.
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April 03, 2024
Antitrust Suits Remain Low Despite Slight 2023 Spike
Federal enforcers and private plaintiffs filed more new antitrust cases last year than the year before but the slight uptick still kept 2023 as the second lowest in a decade, according to a new Lex Machina report.
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April 03, 2024
Accused 'Shadow Trader' Takes Stand To Slam SEC's Case
A former Medivation executive accused of "shadow trading" when he purchased stock in rival Incyte testified in his California federal civil trial Wednesday that he didn't base that decision on confidential information, and he didn't think even "for one second" that he was violating securities laws.
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April 03, 2024
Israel-Hamas War No Excuse To Skip Discovery: Ch. 11 Judge
A Florida bankruptcy judge on Wednesday penalized an Israeli creditor pursuing a roughly $13 million Chapter 11 claim against a California-based air purifier maker, finding the conflict between Israel and Hamas is not a valid excuse for repeatedly missing discovery deadlines.
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April 03, 2024
Hawaii Bio Power Co. Can't Add Merger-Based Antitrust Claims
A Hawaii federal magistrate judge has refused to permit the addition of new allegations, based on a 2017 fossil fuel plant acquisition, to a recently restarted lawsuit accusing the state's largest power company of anticompetitively canceling a contract for a new biomass energy plant.
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April 03, 2024
AT&T Faces Investor Suit Over $43B WarnerMedia Spinoff
A Warner Bros. Discovery shareholder accused AT&T and its CEO John Stankey of hiding how serious the company's problems were as it spun off its $43 billion WarnerMedia unit, alleging that caused Discovery to pay far too much when it merged with its fellow news and entertainment giant.
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April 03, 2024
NC AG Greenlights New Monitor For HCA Hospital Amid Probe
A new organization has taken up the baton to monitor whether HCA Healthcare is in compliance with the agreement that cemented its $1.5 billion acquisition of a North Carolina health system, a pact that is the focus of ongoing litigation between HCA and the state's attorney general.
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April 03, 2024
FIS Didn't Lie To Itself About Short-Lived Merger, Execs Say
Fidelity National's top brass recently urged a Florida federal court to toss an investor's lawsuit over a $46 billion market cap drop resulting from spinning off a payment business it had acquired a few years prior, arguing the company can't "be deceived by its own statements," which a pension fund alleged artificially inflated share prices.
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April 03, 2024
Investors Want $1.5B Penalty Awarded After PE Buyout
A group of investors is seeking to enforce a $1.5 billion judgment stemming from a 2005 private equity acquisition of Greece-based Tim Hellas Telecommunications SA that it claims ultimately enriched PE firms TPG Inc. and Apax Partners LLP to the detriment of other investors.
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April 03, 2024
Genmab Builds Oncology Portfolio With $1.8B Deal
Danish biotechnology company Genmab announced Wednesday that it would acquire private cancer drugmaker ProfoundBio for $1.8 billion in cash, a move set to beef up Genmab's oncology portfolio and position the company as a competitor to other biotech companies that have made similar deals in the antibody drug conjugate space in recent months.
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April 03, 2024
OpenText Belongs In Merger Suit Coverage Row, Insurer Says
OpenText belongs in a dispute over coverage for a class action alleging Covisint's shareholders got a bad deal when it merged with OpenText in 2017, Covisint's insurer told a Michigan federal judge, arguing OpenText has a vested interest because it may have indemnification obligations if no coverage exists.
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April 03, 2024
Top 10 Deals Of Q1 Led By GE Energy Spinoff, Capital One
It may be wishful thinking to imagine that earlier hopes for a major rebound in 2024 mergers and acquisitions activity will pan out, but by many indications the year was at least off to a better start than 2023.
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April 03, 2024
Blue Owl Buying Kuvare Asset Management For Up To $1B
Alternative asset manager Blue Owl Capital Inc., advised by Kirkland & Ellis LLP, on Wednesday unveiled plans to buy Sidley Austin LLP-led Kuvare Asset Management for up to $1 billion in a cash-and-stock transaction.
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April 03, 2024
Disney Thwarts Trian Revolt, Retaining All 12 Board Members
Walt Disney Co. shareholders reelected the entertainment company's 12 current board members at a shareholder meeting Wednesday afternoon, rejecting all nominees pushed by activist investors Trian Fund Management and Blackwells Capital.
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April 03, 2024
Truth Social Investors Cop To Fraud In $23M Insider Case
Two Florida venture capitalists on Wednesday admitted to insider trading on confidential plans to take former President Donald Trump's media company public, after prosecutors charged that the Truth Social fraud netted them and a third defendant $23 million.
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April 03, 2024
Casa Systems Files For Ch. 11 With $316M Debt, Plans Sale
Communications equipment company Casa Systems Inc. filed for Chapter 11 protection in Delaware, with plans to sell its 5G mobile core and RAN business to software company Lumine Group.
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April 03, 2024
UK Vehicle Testing Co. Buys US Rival For Up To $30M
AB Dynamics PLC, a specialist in testing transportation products and services, said on Wednesday it has bought Venshure Test Services LLC for up to $30 million, as it seeks to expand its electric vehicle battery expertise.
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April 02, 2024
Ex-Autonomy Exec Denies He Blew Whistle To Deflect Scandal
Autonomy's former U.S. chief financial officer denied under cross-examination Tuesday in the California criminal fraud trial of ex-CEO Michael Lynch that he brought whistleblower concerns about alleged accounting irregularities to the software company's Deloitte auditors to "cover" himself after a payroll scandal emerged in his department.
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April 02, 2024
Jon Stewart Reveals Apple's Heavy Hand In Lina Khan Chat
Federal Trade Commission Chair Lina Khan appeared on "The Daily Show" on Monday night for a wide-ranging conversation in which host Jon Stewart revealed that Apple wouldn't allow him to speak with her on a podcast related to his Apple TV+ show.
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April 02, 2024
Bally's Investor Says Takeover Bid Exploiting Weakness Of Biz
Bally's Corp. investor K&F Growth Capital has urged the board of directors for the casino operator to reject a $15-per-share takeover bid from its largest shareholder, Standard General, asserting the offer from the investment firm "woefully" undervalues the business.
Expert Analysis
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M&A Ruling Buoys Loss Calculation Method, R&W Insurance
The recent Southern District of New York decision in Taylor Precision Products v. Larimer affirms the use of EBITDA as a basis to quantify loss, highlighting the potential shortcomings of a traditional seller indemnity compared to representation and warranty insurance, say Mark Schwartz at Lockton, and William O’Neil and Gretchen Scavo at Winston & Strawn.
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Build Or Buy: Assessing Options For Starting A New Bank
Attorneys at Nelson Mullins evaluate key considerations for deciding whether to charter a new bank or purchase an existing one to implement a new business plan, as depressed stock prices, high-profile failures and regulatory stagnation create headwinds for new banks.
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Opinion
Courts Shouldn't Credit Allegations From Short-Seller Reports
Securities class actions against public companies can extend for years and lead to significant settlements, so courts should not allow such cases with allegations wholly reliant on reports by short-sellers, who have an economic interest in seeing a company's stock price decline, to proceed past the motion to dismiss stage, says Richard Zelichov at DLA Piper.
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Unlocking Value In Carve-Out M&A Transactions
Some of the largest mergers and acquisitions in 2023 were carve-out transactions, and despite their unique intricacies and challenges, these transactions offer both buyers and sellers the opportunity to generate outsized returns in an otherwise vigorously competitive landscape, when carefully planned and diligently executed, say Kevin Crews and Rami Totari at Kirkland.
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Attorneys, Law Schools Must Adapt To New Era Of Evidence
Technological advancements mean more direct evidence is being created than ever before, and attorneys as well as law schools must modify their methods to account for new challenges in how this evidence is collected and used to try cases, says Reuben Guttman at Guttman Buschner.
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Biden Admin's M&A Rhetoric Outpaces Enforcement Numbers
Despite the Biden administration's rhetoric about the need to reinvigorate antitrust efforts, merger enforcement actions by the Federal Trade Commission and the U.S. Department of Justice Antitrust Division are at 20-year lows, with the agencies opting for deterrence instead, says Ryan Quillian at Covington.
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Tips For Litigating Against Pro Se Parties In Complex Disputes
Litigating against self-represented parties in complex cases can pose unique challenges for attorneys, but for the most part, it requires the same skills that are useful in other cases — from documenting everything to understanding one’s ethical duties, says Bryan Ketroser at Alto Litigation.
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Del. Dispatch: Lessons From Failed ETE-Williams Merger
Attorneys at Fried Frank delve into the Delaware Supreme Court's recent decision in Energy Transfer v. Williams to highlight the major monetary consequences of a failed merger, and show why merger agreement drafting and factual context are of utmost importance.
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5 Ways To Leverage Recent DOJ 'Safe Harbor' M&A Policy
Companies can take a series of practical steps both before and after closing to gain maximum advantage from the recently announced U.S. Department of Justice merger and acquisition safe harbor policy and minimize enforcement risk, say Jonny Frank and Jeremy Hirsch at StoneTurn.
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Pro Bono Work Is Powerful Self-Help For Attorneys
Oct. 22-28 is Pro Bono Week, serving as a useful reminder that offering free legal help to the public can help attorneys expand their legal toolbox, forge community relationships and create human connections, despite the challenges of this kind of work, says Orlando Lopez at Culhane Meadows.
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Avoiding Bribery, Corruption And Sanctions Risks In Int'l M&A
Given the evolving merger and acquisition landscape — as evidenced by the Justice Department’s recently announced safe harbor policy — acquirers conducting international transactions must build bribery, anti-corruption and sanctions risk considerations squarely into their due diligence processes, say Brian Markley and Jennifer Potts at Cahill Gordon.
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Series
Playing In A Rock Cover Band Makes Me A Better Lawyer
Performing in a classic rock cover band has driven me to hone several skills — including focus, organization and networking — that have benefited my professional development, demonstrating that taking time to follow your muse outside of work can be a boon to your career, says Michael Gambro at Cadwalader.
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Series
The Pop Culture Docket: Judge Espinosa On 'Lincoln Lawyer'
The murder trials in Netflix’s “The Lincoln Lawyer” illustrate the stark contrast between the ethical high ground that fosters and maintains the criminal justice system's integrity, and the ethical abyss that can undermine it, with an important reminder for all legal practitioners, say Judge Adam Espinosa and Andrew Howard at the Colorado 2nd Judicial District Court.
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New DOJ Roles Underscore National Security Focus
The U.S. Department of Justice’s recent creation of two new leadership positions signals to the private sector that federal law enforcement is pouring resources into corporate investigations to identify potential national security violations, say attorneys at Ballard Spahr.
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How To Navigate The FTC's New Private Equity Frontier
The Federal Trade Commission's recent district court complaint against an anesthesia firm and its private equity partner tests key bounds of the agency's stand-alone authority, and defense strategies can include challenges to both the geographic and the service market fronts, say attorneys at Baker McKenzie.