Hometown Food Co., a portfolio company of Holland & Knight LLP-advised private equity shop Brynwood Partners, on Thursday announced plans to acquire the iconic Chef Boyardee brand from Mayer Brown LLP-led Conagra Brands Inc. in a $600 million deal.
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PE-Backed Hometown Food Nabs Chef Boyardee For $600M

By Jade Martinez-Pogue

Hometown Food Co., a portfolio company of Holland & Knight LLP-advised private equity shop Brynwood Partners, on Thursday announced plans to acquire the iconic Chef Boyardee brand from Mayer Brown LLP-led Conagra Brands Inc. in a $600 million deal.

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Crypto Influencer Launches SPAC As 2 Acquirers Tap Market

By Aislinn Keely

A special purpose acquisition company led by crypto influencer Anthony Pompliano and advised by Reed Smith LLP has filed for an initial public offering to raise $200 million, while two other blank-check companies eyeing the fintech and tech sectors have raised more than $400 million combined.

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Sony Eyes $49B Semiconductor Unit Sale, Plus More Rumors

By Tom Zanki

Sony could sell its semiconductor unit for $49 billion, while proxy advisory firm Glass Lewis is considering ending its practice of advising shareholder votes on politically charged topics, and AI startup Nscale plans to raise $2.7 billion in private capital to support the construction of data centers around the world.

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DEALS

CVC Plugs Funds Into Mobile Game Maker Dream Games

By Jade Martinez-Pogue

White & Case LLP-advised Dream Games, which makes popular mobile games such as Royal Match and Royal Kingdom, on Thursday announced that it secured a strategic investment from its sole equity partner, Latham & Watkins LLP-led private equity shop CVC Capital Partners.

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LITIGATION

Claims Against Attys In $2.6B Casino Merger Row Get Tossed

By Emily Sawicki

A Manhattan federal judge on Thursday permanently ended claims a real estate investor in a botched $2.6 billion Philippine casino deal brought against attorneys from Sadis & Goldberg LLP, finding that claims that they allowed a fraud to unfold and breached their fiduciary duties were too vague.

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Chancery Finds Contract Bars Appeal In Med Co. Merger

By Jeff Montgomery

Private equity-tilted limited liability company contract terms beat minority investor challenges to the fairness of the $8.9 billion merger in January 2023 that joined Summit Health-CityMD and VillageMD, a Delaware vice chancellor ruled late Wednesday.

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Del. Justices OK Mid-Case Appeal In Paramount Doc Suit

By Jeff Montgomery

Delaware's Supreme Court on Wednesday approved a mid-case review for a Paramount Global stockholder suit seeking books and records on the company's proposed $8 billion tie-up with Skydance Media.

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EXPERT ANALYSIS

Series

Teaching College Students Makes Me A Better Lawyer

Serving as an adjunct college professor has taught me the importance of building rapport, communicating effectively, and persuading individuals to critically analyze the difference between what they think and what they know — principles that have helped to improve my practice of law, says Sheria Clarke at Nelson Mullins.

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LEGAL INDUSTRY

Attys Join Nationwide 'Day Of Action' Rallies For Rule Of Law

By Ryan Boysen and Jack Rodgers

Thousands of attorneys gathered at rallies across the country on Thursday to oppose what they called the Trump administration's "assault" on the rule of law — a rare public demonstration for the normally buttoned-down and risk-averse professionals that they said "sounds the alarm of a looming constitutional crisis."

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Analysis

Hair, Makeup, Legal: The Lawyering Behind The Met Gala

By Theresa Schliep

While the red carpet arrivals of the biggest names in the entertainment industry are sure to win the most attention at the Met Gala on Monday, attorneys also play a significant role in advising the brands and celebrities at the center of fashion's biggest night.

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20 Former Federal Judges Launch Group To Defend Judiciary

By Jake Maher

Twenty former federal district and circuit judges on Thursday launched a coalition to speak out about and defend the federal judiciary as political impeachment attempts against judges increase and the federal courts system faces heightened scrutiny.

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Paul Hastings, GenapSys Settle Calif. Legal Malpractice Suit

By James Mills

The legal malpractice suit in which gene sequencing company GenapSys Inc. argued Paul Hastings LLP caused GenapSys' bankruptcy appears to have been settled.

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GOP Seeks To Stop 'Frivolous Lawsuits' With Reconciliation

By Courtney Bublé

The House Judiciary Committee approved along party lines a proposal they say will prevent "frivolous lawsuits" by barring courts from enforcing contempt citations for failure to comply with injunctions if the plaintiff has not posted a bond for litigation costs.

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5 Fed. Circ. Clashes To Watch This Month

By Ryan Davis

The Federal Circuit's argument calendar for May includes appeals of two nine-figure patent verdicts — one against Apple and one against Medtronic — and Roku's bid to revive its remote control patent suit at the U.S. International Trade Commission after a loss tied to the commission's domestic industry requirement.

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Senate Panel Delays A Vote On Martin Nomination For US Atty

By Courtney Bublé

The Senate Judiciary Committee on Thursday held off for now a vote to call for a hearing on Ed Martin's nomination for U.S. attorney for the District of Columbia, a move Democrats say would allow more time to review his record and, they hope, convince enough Republicans to help them block his nomination.

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Ex-Exec's Claims Against Dechert Still No Good, 2nd Circ. Told

By Pete Brush

A North Carolina trade executive's latest trip to the Second Circuit in his quest to win damages for alleged hacking by a private investigator on Dechert LLP's behalf should end like the others, with a dismissal, defense counsel argued Thursday.

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New Bill Holds Judges Accountable Even After They Retire

By Hailey Konnath

A Georgia Congressman on Thursday introduced legislation that would ensure misconduct complaints against judges would still be investigated, even if the judge has resigned, retired or even died.

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Colo. Judge Resigns Amid Allegations Over Misuse Of Bench

By Thy Vo

A Colorado state judge resigned on Wednesday amid a disciplinary complaint accusing him of misusing his position to help a former client that he exchanged sexual and flirtatious texts with, telling an independent panel in a brief that it no longer needs to hear a disciplinary case against him.

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The Top In-House Hires Of April

By Michele Gorman

Legal department hires over the past month included high-profile appointments at FanDuel's parent company, American Airlines and soda business Swig. Here, Law360 Pulse looks at some of the top in-house announcements from the first full month of spring.

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LAW FIRMS IN TODAY'S NEWS

Alston & Bird

ArentFox Schiff LLP

Baker & Hostetler

Binder & Schwartz

Bird & Bird

Brooks Kushman

Crowell & Moring

DLA Piper

Dame Law

Dechert LLP

Dewey & LeBoeuf

Ellenoff Grossman

Epstein Becker

Foley & Lardner

Frankfurt Kurnit

Hecker Fink

Herbert Smith Freehills

Holland & Knight

Jones Day

Kessler Topaz

King & Wood Mallesons

Kirkland & Ellis

Labaton Keller

Lachtman Cohen

Latham & Watkins

Lesnick Prince

Massumi & Consoli

Mayer Brown

Morgan Lewis

Morris Nichols

Munger Tolles

Nassiri & Jung

Nelson Mullins

O'Melveny & Myers

Paul Hastings

Perkins Coie

Potter Anderson

Prickett Jones

Proskauer Rose

Recht Kornfeld

Reed Smith

Sadis & Goldberg

Sidley Austin

Simpson Thacher & Bartlett LLP

Skadden Arps

Susman Godfrey

White & Case

Willkie Farr

WilmerHale

Winget Spadafora

Winston & Strawn

Young Conaway

COMPANIES IN TODAY'S NEWS

Aegis Capital Corp.

Aetna Inc.

Amazon.com Inc.

American Airlines Group Inc.

Apple Inc.

Applebee's International Inc.

Bloomberg LP

ByteDance Ltd.

CBS Interactive Inc.

CVC Capital Partners Ltd.

Cantor Fitzgerald LP

CapitalG Management Co. LLC

Cartier SA

Christian Louboutin SA

Citizens for Responsibility & Ethics in Washington

CityMD

Comcast Corp.

Conagra Brands Inc.

Cummins Inc.

DineEquity Inc.

Dolby Laboratories Inc.

Eventbrite Inc.

FanDuel Inc.

Farm Credit Mid-America

Federalist Society

Ferring Pharmaceuticals

Fort Point Capital

GenapSys Inc.

Glass Lewis & Co. LLC

Global Partners LP

GoldenTree Asset Management LP

Google LLC

Hallmark Cards Inc.

Honeywell International Inc.

Instagram Inc.

International House of Pancakes LLC

Kotak Mahindra Bank

LinkedIn Corp.

Masan Group Corp

Medtronic PLC

Meridian Capital Group LLC

Morgan Stanley

NFL Enterprises LLC

NVIDIA Corp.

National Amusements Inc.

National Women's Law Center

New York City Bar Association

New York Civil Liberties Union

New York County Lawyers' Association

Nomura Holdings Inc.

Okada Manila

Paramount Global

Pilot Travel Centers LLC

Ricoh Co. Ltd.

Roku Inc.

Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd.

San Francisco Bar Association

Seattle Seahawks

Skydance Media LLC

Summit Health

Texas Roadhouse Inc.

The J. M. Smucker Co.

The Metropolitan Museum of Art

TikTok Inc.

Toll Brothers Inc.

Toyota Industries Corp.

Toyota Motor Corp.

Universal Electronics Inc.

Verizon Communications Inc.

VillageMD

Walgreens Boots Alliance Inc.

Warburg Pincus LLC

Warner Bros. Discovery Inc.

Yves Saint Laurent SAS

iHeartMedia Inc.

GOVERNMENT AGENCIES IN TODAY'S NEWS

Colorado Supreme Court

Delaware Court of Chancery

Equal Employment Opportunity Commission

Federal Election Commission

Federal Trade Commission

International Trade Commission

Los Angeles Superior Court

National Labor Relations Board

New Jersey Board of Public Utilities

Patent Trial and Appeal Board

State of Rhode Island Office of the General Treasurer

U.S. Coast Guard

U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit

U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit

U.S. Department of Justice

U.S. District Court for the Central District of California

U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia

U.S. District Court for the District of Puerto Rico

U.S. District Court for the District of Rhode Island

U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Texas

U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York

U.S. Patent and Trademark Office

U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission

U.S. Supreme Court