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Mergers & Acquisitions
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April 10, 2024
Dubious Merger Bid? 'Find A Different Deal,' DOJ Official Says
A U.S. Department of Justice antitrust official on Wednesday stood by the hardline Biden-era stance against most merger clearance settlements, saying that companies coming forward with potentially problematic transactions should rethink doing the deals at all or at least come with strong upfront divestiture proposals.
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April 10, 2024
PGA Tour-LIV Merger Questions Swirl As Masters Tees Off
With a trial attorney from the entertainment section of the U.S. Department of Justice's Antitrust Division sitting quietly by, sports law experts speculated Wednesday at the American Bar Association's spring antitrust meeting whether — and how — the agency might challenge the $3 billion merger between the PGA Tour and LIV.
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April 10, 2024
Skadden, Fenwick Lead $4.9B Alpine Immune Sciences Sale
Biotechnology company Alpine Immune Sciences Inc., advised by Fenwick & West LLP, on Wednesday revealed that it has agreed to be bought by Vertex Pharmaceuticals Inc., led by Skadden Arps Slate Meagher & Flom LLP, in a $4.9 billion cash deal.
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April 10, 2024
Beer Biz Investors Beg NC Justices To Clear Legal Haze
Former shareholders looking to revive their fraud suit against the CEO of a beverage company and his wife asked the North Carolina Supreme Court on Wednesday to tie up an unsettled area of fiduciary law, saying a lower court's disparate jurisprudence "cries out" for clarity.
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April 10, 2024
Merger Notification Overhaul 'Pretty Close,' DOJ Official Says
A senior U.S. Department of Justice antitrust official predicted Wednesday that the DOJ and Federal Trade Commission are likely just weeks away from issuing the final version of a major overhaul to the filing requirements of companies notifying mergers to the agencies.
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April 10, 2024
NYSE Seeks To Provide SPACs More Time To Close Mergers
A New York Stock Exchange proposal would provide special-purpose acquisition companies with six more months to complete mergers while remaining listed — assuming relevant parties have signed a definitive agreement before a three-year deadline — potentially providing market participants more flexibility to close deals.
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April 10, 2024
Class Attys Seek Big Payday For $100M Pattern Energy Deal
Class attorneys are urging the Delaware Chancery Court to approve a $100 million settlement to end state and federal court litigation over Pattern Energy Group Inc.'s $6.1 billion go-private sale in 2020 and award them $26 million in fees for a deal they say is the largest of its kind in the Chancery's history.
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April 10, 2024
Past Violations To Get Close Eye With New Merger Filing Rules
Changes proposed to Federal Trade Commission and U.S. Department of Justice merger reporting requirements would impose significant document submission obligations on merging parties, such as past violations of antitrust and labor law, practitioners and an agency deputy said Wednesday.
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April 10, 2024
Blackwells Unveils Takeover Plans For Hospitality REIT
Blackwells Capital told Braemar Hotels & Resorts Inc. investors on Wednesday that its intention to take the reins of the real estate investment trust's board of directors is necessary to stop a manager from "milking" the company for all it's worth.
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April 10, 2024
Freshfields Guides EBay On Multipronged Trading Card Deal
Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer LLP is guiding eBay Inc. on new agreements with collectibles grading company Collectors that include eBay acquiring Collectors' Goldin auction house, in what the companies said Wednesday is an effort to streamline the trading card hobby in the U.S.
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April 10, 2024
Macy's, Activist Firm End Board Fight, Takeover Talks Proceed
Macy's and activist investment firm Arkhouse Management Co. said Wednesday they have settled their proxy dispute by appointing two independent directors to the retailer's board, paving the way for further negotiations regarding a prior $6.6 billion acquisition proposal submitted by Arkhouse and Brigade Capital Management LP.
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April 09, 2024
'You're Going To Lose These People,' Judge Tells Lynch Atty
U.S. District Judge Charles Breyer on Tuesday chided a Steptoe partner representing former Autonomy CEO Michael Lynch in his criminal fraud jury trial, saying that his hourslong questioning of a Deloitte partner shouldn't go on much longer, or "you're going to lose these people."
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April 09, 2024
Nikola Investors' SPAC Fraud Suit Moves Ahead
Board directors of electric truck maker Nikola Corp. and the blank-check company that took it public for $3.3 billion in 2020 must face shareholders' derivative claims of insider trading, securities fraud and merger-related breaches after Delaware's Court of Chancery on Tuesday denied more than half of the defense's motions to dismiss.
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April 09, 2024
Trump Media Co-Founders OK'd To Revise Share-Lockup Suit
Two co-founders of Donald Trump's social media company won the go-ahead Tuesday to file a second amended, expanded complaint in the Delaware Chancery Court targeting the former president, Trump Media & Technology Group and its insiders for post-deal maneuvering to dilute and claw back their shares, among other claims.
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April 09, 2024
How Imminent Is 'Imminent,' Judge Asks In Supply Chain Fight
A Colorado federal judge asked an auto parts supplier Tuesday how quickly a Michigan company's alleged violation of an exclusivity deal would have tangible effects, as he considered temporarily stopping the Michigan firm from using other suppliers.
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April 09, 2024
FTC Pressures Global Partners, Gulf Oil Into Reducing Deal
The Federal Trade Commission took credit Tuesday for raising antitrust concerns spurring the late-February reduction of Global Partners LP's purchase of Northeast U.S. gas terminals from Gulf Oil, cut from five terminals with a $273 million price tag to four terminals and a $212.3 million payment.
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April 09, 2024
Tech M&A Reigns Supreme In Q1 After Rare Hiccup In Q4
The technology sector logged the greatest total value of global mergers and acquisitions in the first quarter of 2024, following a rare quarter that saw the industry fall out of the top spot and into third place, data from Dealogic shows.
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April 09, 2024
Fintech Investment Biz To Go Public Via $700M SPAC Merger
Financial technology investment platform Linqto Inc., advised by Lowenstein Sandler LLP, on Tuesday unveiled plans to go public through a merger with blank-check company Blockchain Coinvestors Acquisition Corp. I, advised by Seward & Kissel LLP, in a deal valued at $700 million.
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April 09, 2024
TD Bank Wants 'Absurd' First Horizon Merger Suit Tossed
TD Bank has urged a New Jersey federal judge to dismiss a proposed class action from investors over the bank's failed merger with First Horizon, saying the investors can't sue because the deal never closed and the suit's asserted scienter claim "defies commonsense."
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April 09, 2024
Macy's Sued In Del. To Block 'Dead Hand' Buyout Defense
A Macy's Inc. pension fund stockholder has sued for a Delaware Court of Chancery order barring the retailer from holding its May 17 annual meeting or impeding a board proxy contest launched by two investor funds after a hostile response to their company takeover offer.
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April 09, 2024
ArentFox Schiff Bets On Auto Sector With 4 Boston Partners
ArentFox Schiff LLP has brought on four partners from midsize Boston firm Burns & Levinson LLP who specialize in representing the automotive industry, according to a Tuesday announcement by the firm.
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April 09, 2024
New Relic Shareholder Sues To Force Open Corp. Books
Another shareholder of web analytics firm New Relic Inc. has sued in Delaware's Court of Chancery for corporate records related to the company's $6.5 billion, $87-per-share buyout by private equity firms Francisco Partners and TPG, the latest in a string of shareholder suits seeking records on the deal.
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April 09, 2024
Blue Owl Targets Real Estate Finance After $170M Prima Buy
Asset manager Blue Owl Capital Inc. on Tuesday unveiled plans to launch a real estate finance strategy following its $170 million purchase of real estate lender Prima Capital Advisors in a deal crafted by three firms, marking the firm's second acquisition in two weeks meant to broaden its service offerings.
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April 09, 2024
Paul Hastings-Led STG Makes £147M Offer For Software Co.
Gresham Technologies PLC said on Tuesday it has agreed to an offer from U.S. private equity firm STG Partners LLC to buy the software business for £146.7 million ($185.6 million).
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April 09, 2024
HSBC To Take $1B Hit From Sale Of Argentina Unit
HSBC said Tuesday that it will book a $1 billion loss on the sale of its business in Argentina to local lender Grupo Financiero Galicia, as the London-based bank continues to shift its focus to Asia.
Expert Analysis
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4 Key Ways CFIUS Affected Private Equity In 2023
Sponsors and investment professionals should note how escalated enforcement by the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States in 2023 affected private equity deal making and evaluate their CFIUS-related procedures in preparation for the regulator's reach to expand further next year, say attorneys at Kirkland.
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How Clients May Use AI To Monitor Attorneys
Excerpt from Practical Guidance
Artificial intelligence tools will increasingly enable clients to monitor and evaluate their counsel’s activities, so attorneys must clearly define the terms of engagement and likewise take advantage of the efficiencies offered by AI, says Ronald Levine at Herrick Feinstein.
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UK Takeover Code Changes: Key Points For Bidders, Targets
Newly effective amendments to Rule 21 of the U.K. Takeover Code, which remove legal and administrative constraints on a target operating its business in the ordinary way during an offer, will add clarity for targets and bidders, and are likely to be welcomed by both, say lawyers at Davis Polk.
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7 Enforcement Predictions For US Export Controls, Sanctions
Federal agencies' assertions of coming increases in export-control and sanctions-violations enforcement are not new, but recent improvements in resources and inter-agency cooperation allow for certain predictions about how the administration’s latest approach to enforcement may be applied going forward, say attorneys at Akin.
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8 Ways To Negotiate Improved Disgorgement Outcomes
The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission's nearly $3.4 billion collected in disgorgements in 2023 shows that substantial disgorgement claims from regulators and law enforcement are the new norm, but corporations may be able to dramatically reduce what they owe by using eight strategies to argue for reduced net profit calculations, say experts at AlixPartners.
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Series
The Pop Culture Docket: Judge D'Emic On Moby Grape
The 1968 Moby Grape song "Murder in My Heart for the Judge" tells the tale of a fictional defendant treated with scorn by the judge, illustrating how much the legal system has evolved in the past 50 years, largely due to problem-solving courts and the principles of procedural justice, says Kings County Supreme Court Administrative Judge Matthew D'Emic.
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What Banks Should Know About FDIC Assessment Rule
Max Bonici at Venable answers questions banking organizations may have about the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp.'s recent approval of a rule implementing a special assessment on banks to recoup costs associated with protecting uninsured depositors after the bank failures earlier this year, and highlights other considerations for uninsured deposits.
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Series
Performing Music Makes Me A Better Lawyer
The discipline of performing live music has directly and positively influenced my effectiveness as a litigator — serving as a reminder that practice, intuition and team building are all important elements of a successful law practice, says Jeff Wakolbinger at Bryan Cave.
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EU Rejection Of Booking.com Deal Veers From Past Practice
The European Commission's recent prohibition of Booking's purchase of Etraveli based on ecosystem theories of harm reveals a lower bar for prohibiting nonhorizontal mergers, and may mean increased merger scrutiny for companies with entrenched market positions in digital markets, say lawyers at Linklaters.
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Breaking Down High Court's New Code Of Conduct
The U.S. Supreme Court recently adopted its first-ever code of conduct, and counsel will need to work closely with clients in navigating its provisions, from gift-giving to recusal bids, say Phillip Gordon and Mateo Forero at Holtzman Vogel.
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Mitigating Antitrust Risk Amid Increased Dealmaking Scrutiny
While deals continue to get done despite 60% of significant merger investigations in the U.S. last year concluding with a complaint or abandoned transaction, private equity firms should identify and assess potential antitrust risks and develop strategies to mitigate them early in the deal process, say attorneys at Dechert.
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Opinion
Legal Profession Gender Parity Requires Equal Parental Leave
To truly foster equity in the legal profession and to promote attorney retention, workplaces need to better support all parents, regardless of gender — starting by offering equal and robust parental leave to both birthing and non-birthing parents, says Ali Spindler at Irwin Fritchie.
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Opinion
Activist Short-Sellers Are The Dark Knights Of Wall Street
While so-called activist short-sellers have been subject to increased scrutiny in recent years, these investors work in the shadows like Batman to expose fraud on Wall Street, often generating leads that may move regulators to take action, say attorneys at Labaton Sucharow.
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Series
Writing Thriller Novels Makes Me A Better Lawyer
Authoring several thriller novels has enriched my work by providing a fresh perspective on my privacy practice, expanding my knowledge, and keeping me alert to the next wave of issues in an increasingly complex space — a reminder to all lawyers that extracurricular activities can help sharpen professional instincts, says Reece Hirsch at Morgan Lewis.
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What Lawyers Must Know About Calif. State Bar's AI Guidance
Initial recommendations from the State Bar of California regarding use of generative artificial intelligence by lawyers have the potential to become a useful set of guidelines in the industry, covering confidentiality, supervision and training, communications, discrimination and more, say attorneys at Debevoise.