Mergers & Acquisitions

  • January 30, 2026

    Mergers & Acquisitions Group Of The Year: Kirkland

    Kirkland & Ellis LLP advised an investor consortium on an all-cash transaction to acquire Electronic Arts Inc., in what the firm says is the largest take-private deal in history as the company had an enterprise value of approximately $55 billion at the time, earning the firm a spot among the 2025 Law360 Mergers & Acquisitions Groups of the Year.

  • January 30, 2026

    Mining SPAC's $270M IPO Starts Trading As 3 Firms Advise

    Shares of M‑EVO Global Acquisition Corp II began trading Friday after the blank check company priced an upsized $270 million initial public offering, selling 27 million units at $10 each, according to a company statement.

  • January 30, 2026

    Taxation With Representation: Clifford Chance, Ropes & Gray

    In this week's Taxation With Representation, real estate investment trust Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance Inc. announces plans to sell a loan portfolio to retirement services company Athene Holding Ltd., engineering and technology company Leidos acquires Entrust Solutions Group, and Prosperity Bancshares Inc. and Stellar Bancorp Inc. announce a merger.

  • January 30, 2026

    4 Firms Build Sale Of $622M Energy Assets To GeoPark

    Canadian oil and natural gas company Frontera Energy Corp. on Friday announced plans to sell its Frontera Petroleum International Holdings B.V. to independent energy company GeoPark Ltd. in a deal that values the assets at $622 million and was built by four law firms.

  • January 30, 2026

    IG Group Completes $125M Cryptocurrency Exchange Deal

    IG Group said Friday that it has completed the approximately 178 million Australian dollars ($125 million) acquisition of Australian cryptocurrency exchange Independent Reserve after receiving approval from the central bank of Singapore.

  • January 30, 2026

    Apax In Talks To Buy Auto Dealer Tech Biz For £583M

    Pinewood Technologies Group PLC has confirmed that it has entered into talks with private equity firm Apax Partners LLP over a potential acquisition that values the U.K. automotive software company at £583 million ($802 million).

  • January 30, 2026

    AstraZeneca Seals China Obesity Drug Deal For Up To $18.5B

    Biotechnology giant AstraZeneca has struck a licensing deal worth up to $18.5 billion with CSPC Pharmaceutical of China to develop weight-loss drugs, the companies said Friday, as Western investment in China ramps up.

  • January 29, 2026

    Trump SPAC Fights Chancery's $25K Daily Sanction Ruling

    The blank check company that took Trump Media & Technology Group Corp. public last year says it has been "unfairly trapped in a procedural morass" after a Delaware Chancery Court magistrate held the company in contempt and ordered it to pay sanctions over its refusal to pay an over $2 million legal fee advancement bill.

  • January 29, 2026

    RealNetworks Can't Exit Investor Suit Over Take-Private Deal

    RealNetworks Inc., an artificial intelligence-focused digital media company, cannot escape a shareholder suit alleging that the company and its top brass misled investors in a 2022 take-private transaction, a Washington federal judge has ruled.

  • January 29, 2026

    Conn. Cinches Consumer Safeguards In $34.5B Cox-Charter Deal

    Connecticut officials have secured "major consumer protections" as Charter Communications Inc. seeks to acquire Cox Communications in a $34.5 billion deal, as well as a commitment to keep a corporate office in Stamford, according to the state attorney general's office.

  • January 29, 2026

    Zuora Investor Sues Over $1.7B Silver Lake Take-Private Deal

    An investor in software as service subscription software venture Zuora Inc. has opened a proposed class suit seeking damages in connection with Silver Lake Group's $1.7 billion take-private acquisition of the company, naming both Silver Lake and managing panther Joseph Osnoss and alleging breaches of fiduciary duty.

  • January 29, 2026

    Rick Perry's AI Energy Co. Ensnared In Broker's Fee Suit

    A Texas energy broker affiliate has alleged that a "calculated scheme" deprived the broker of a nearly $6 million commission fee after it helped secure a $399 million natural gas turbine contract between a liquefied natural gas company and a data center developer.

  • January 29, 2026

    Landmark Divestiture Order Scrutinized By 4th Circ. Again

    A Fourth Circuit panel questioned whether door manufacturer Steves and Sons Inc. needs to prove its case all over again to save a landmark order requiring its rival Jeld-Wen to unload a Pennsylvania factory during Thursday's oral argument on a bid to vacate the ruling.

  • January 29, 2026

    Wachtell-Led International Paper To Split Into 2 Public Cos.

    International Paper said Thursday it will split its operations into two separate publicly traded companies, retaining a North American entity while creating a new company for its Europe, Middle East and Africa operations.

  • January 29, 2026

    M&A Group Of The Year: Sullivan & Cromwell

    Sullivan & Cromwell LLP had a standout year in 2025 that involved a slate of diverse, complex and high-profile transactions, including Discover's $50.6 billion merger with Capital One, earning the firm a spot among the 2025 Law360 Mergers & Acquisitions Groups of the Year.

  • January 29, 2026

    TreeHouse Foods Sued In Chancery For Docs On $2.9B Sale

    A TreeHouse Foods stockholder filed suit in Delaware's Court of Chancery late Wednesday for expedited access to withheld documents on the company's $2.9 billion agreement in November to sell the packaged snack and beverage company to affiliates of Investindustrial VIII SCSp, an independently managed group of European investment, holding and advisory companies.

  • January 29, 2026

    Jones Day Guides VSE Corp. On $2B Precision Aviation Deal

    Jones Day is advising aviation company VSE Corp. on an agreement to acquire Precision Aviation Group Inc. from Winston & Strawn LLP-led GenNx360 Capital Partners for up to $2.15 billion, the companies announced Thursday.

  • January 29, 2026

    SpaceX Eyes IPO At $1.5 Trillion Value, Plus More Rumors

    Elon Musk's SpaceX is preparing plans to launch an initial public offering that would value it at a massive $1.5 trillion, Chevron is seeking better terms from Iraq before buying Russia's Lukoil assets, and cryptocurrency wallet Ledger is weighing a $4 billion U.S. IPO.

  • January 29, 2026

    Lukoil Open To Offers Despite Deal With Carlyle

    Russian oil and gas heavyweight Lukoil said Thursday that it has agreed to sell its international assets to U.S. private equity giant Carlyle, but added that it is open to alternative offers.

  • January 28, 2026

    Ropes Leads Kraken-Linked SPAC's Upsized $300M Listing

    Krakacquisition, a blank check company that counts crypto exchange Kraken among its backers, began trading on Wednesday after pricing an upsized $300 million initial public offering steered by Ropes & Gray LLP and underwriter counsel Allen Overy Shearman Sterling US LLP.

  • January 28, 2026

    Chancery Awards $50M To Arxada In Trade Secrets Case

    Chemicals company Arxada on Wednesday was awarded more than $50 million in damages and expenses in its lawsuit in Delaware's Court of Chancery claiming the owner of a company it bought took its trade secrets with his family to form a competitor.

  • January 28, 2026

    Werner Acquires FirstFleet Trucking Co. In $283M Deal

    Werner Enterprises said Wednesday it has purchased privately held dedicated trucking company First Enterprises Inc., known as FirstFleet, for about $245 million in cash, and will separately purchase about $38 million worth of real estate from the company.

  • January 28, 2026

    Mergers & Acquisitions Group Of The Year: Skadden

    Skadden Arps Slate Meagher & Flom LLP guided Union Pacific Railroad Co. on its $85 billion acquisition of Norfolk Southern, along with advising Ansys on a purchase valuing the software company at $35 billion, earning the firm a spot among 2025 Law360 Mergers & Acquisitions Groups of the Year.

  • January 28, 2026

    Wachtell-Led Prosperity To Buy Stellar Bancorp In $2B Deal

    Prosperity Bancshares Inc. has agreed to acquire Stellar Bancorp Inc. and its bank subsidiary in a transaction valued at about $2 billion, the companies said on Wednesday.

  • January 28, 2026

    Housing Biz Unite Seals £723M Acquisition Of Rival Empiric

    Student accommodation developer Unite Group said Wednesday its £723 million ($997 million) acquisition of rival Empiric has now been completed after the scheme of arrangement became effective to create a student housing giant with a £10.5 billion combined portfolio.

Expert Analysis

  • 4 Quick Emotional Resets For Lawyers With Conflict Fatigue

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    Though the emotional wear and tear of legal work can trap attorneys in conflict fatigue — leaving them unable to shake off tense interactions or return to a calm baseline — simple therapeutic techniques for resetting the nervous system can help break the cycle, says Chantel Cohen at CWC Coaching & Therapy.

  • Rescheduling Cannabis Marks New Tax Era For Operators

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    As the attorney general takes steps to move cannabis from Schedule I to Schedule III of the Controlled Substances Act, operators and advisers should prepare by considering the significant changes this will bring from tax, state, industry and market perspectives, says Michael Harlow at CohnReznick.

  • Series

    Playing Tennis Makes Me A Better Lawyer

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    An instinct to turn pain into purpose meant frequent trips to the tennis court, where learning to move ahead one point at a time was a lesson that also applied to the steep learning curve of patent prosecution law, says Daniel Henry at Marshall Gerstein.

  • Series

    Judges On AI: How Judicial Use Informs Guardrails

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    U.S. Magistrate Judge Maritza Dominguez Braswell at the U.S. District Court for the District of Colorado discusses why having a sense of how generative AI tools behave, where they add value, where they introduce risk and how they are reshaping the practice of law is key for today's judges.

  • Series

    Adapting To Private Practice: 5 Tips From Ex-SEC Unit Chief

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    My move to private practice has reaffirmed my belief in the value of adaptability, collaboration and strategic thinking — qualities that are essential not only for successful client outcomes, but also for sustained professional satisfaction, says Dabney O’Riordan at Fried Frank.

  • Series

    Law School's Missed Lessons: How To Start A Law Firm

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    Launching and sustaining a law firm requires skills most law schools don't teach, but every lawyer should understand a few core principles that can make the leap calculated rather than reckless, says Sam Katz at Athlaw.

  • Opportunities Amid The Challenges Of Trump's BIS Shake-Up

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    The Trump administration’s continuing overhaul of the Bureau of Industry and Security has created enormous practical challenges for export compliance, but it potentially also offers a once-in-a-generation opening to advocate for simplifying and rationalizing U.S. export controls, say attorneys at Gibson Dunn.

  • Series

    Hosting Exchange Students Makes Me A Better Lawyer

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    Opening my home to foreign exchange students makes me a better lawyer not just because prioritizing visiting high schoolers forces me to hone my organization and time management skills but also because sharing the study-abroad experience with newcomers and locals reconnects me to my community, says Alison Lippa at Nicolaides Fink.

  • 2026 Int'l Arbitration Trends: M&A And Securities Disputes

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    Recent developments — such as the high-profile arbitration between ExxonMobil and Chevron, and the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission's shift on its long-standing opposition to mandatory arbitration clauses in registration statements — highlight key issues to consider when drafting relevant agreements and arbitrating M&A disputes, say attorneys at Cleary.

  • How A 1947 Tugboat Ruling May Shape Work Product In AI Era

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    Rapid advances in generative artificial intelligence test work-product principles first articulated in the U.S. Supreme Court’s nearly 80-year-old Hickman v. Taylor decision, as courts and ethics bodies confront whether disclosure of attorneys’ AI prompts and outputs would reveal their thought processes, say Larry Silver and Sasha Burton at Langsam Stevens.

  • What's New In ISS' Benchmark Voting Policy Updates For 2026

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    Companies should audit their governance structures and disclosures to prepare for the upcoming proxy season in light of Institutional Shareholder Services' 2026 policy updates, which include tighter guardrails on capital structures and director compensation, and more disclosure-driven assessments of environmental and social shareholder proposals, say attorneys at Fenwick.

  • Navigating Privilege Law Patchwork In Dual-Purpose Comms

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    Three years after the U.S. Supreme Court declined to resolve a circuit split in In re: Grand Jury, federal courts remain split as to when attorney-client privilege applies to dual-purpose legal and business communications, and understanding the fragmented landscape is essential for managing risks, say attorneys at Covington.

  • Key Changes In World Bank's New Compliance Updates

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    Recent updates to integrity guidelines for companies that bid and work on World Bank-financed projects are sufficiently extensive and unique that covered businesses must take proactive steps to map the changes against their existing compliance programs or risk severe business consequences, say attorneys at Steptoe.

  • What Changed For Healthcare Transaction Law In 2025

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    Though much of the legislation introduced last year to expand state scrutiny of healthcare transactions did not pass, investors should pay close attention to the overarching trends, which are likely to continue in this year's legislative sessions, say attorneys at Ropes & Gray.

  • 7 Ways In-House Counsel May Unearth Red Flags In AI M&A

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    In-house counsel and executives conducting M&A due diligence in the artificial intelligence arena can surface hidden liabilities and avoid problems or divestitures by adopting strategies in key areas, including intellectual property provenance and postclose risk management, say attorneys at Reed Smith.

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