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Mergers & Acquisitions
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April 18, 2024
Hipgnosis Agrees To $1.4B Takeover By US Rival Concord
Concord Chorus has agreed to buy its British music royalties rival Hipgnosis Songs Fund in an all-cash transaction worth $1.4 billion, as the U.S. company looks to add 1.2 million more songs to its portfolio, the companies said in joint statement Thursday.
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April 17, 2024
Ex-JPMorgan Analyst Liked 'Winding Up' Autonomy CEO, Jury Told
A former JPMorgan stock analyst testifying Wednesday in the criminal fraud trial of former Autonomy CEO Michael Lynch said that he "took pleasure in winding up Lynch" and once even used a Hitler analogy to describe his performance, but said his critical coverage was never personal.
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April 17, 2024
New TikTok Bill Gives More Time For Divestment
A bill requiring ByteDance Ltd. to divest TikTok or face a ban in the U.S. was included in the package of national security bills House Republicans introduced on Wednesday, which gives a longer runway to sell the app than the one the House previously passed in March.
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April 17, 2024
RTX Investor Sues Brass In Del. For Better Antitrust Oversight
A shareholder of RTX has sued the aerospace and defense giant's current and former officers and directors in Delaware's Court of Chancery, accusing them of failing over a period of at least eight years to prevent antitrust violations in the company's hiring practices.
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April 17, 2024
DC Judge Questions 7-Eleven Position On FTC Constraints
A D.C. federal judge on Wednesday pressed counsel for 7-Eleven on the company's claims that only the U.S. attorney general can seek civil penalties on behalf of the Federal Trade Commission, questioning how the commission itself can be limited when the FTC Act gives it the right to take up actions if the U.S. Department of Justice does not.
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April 17, 2024
Don't Ignore Problematic Merger Docs, FTC Comp Chief Says
The Federal Trade Commission's top antitrust enforcer urged merging parties Wednesday to be fully open and transparent with reviewing staffers, warning that trying to get enforcers to ignore potentially problematic material just makes their jobs more difficult.
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April 17, 2024
Karuna Investor Ends Suit After Bristol-Myers Seals $14B Deal
A Karuna Therapeutics shareholder has dropped her proposed class action after Bristol-Myers Squibb Co. completed its $14 billion purchase of the biotechology company, a deal the suit alleged was brought about by misrepresentations to investors to gain their support.
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April 17, 2024
MoFo Advises Southwest Gas Carve-Out Centuri's $260M IPO
Southwest Gas Holdings Inc.'s infrastructure services unit Centuri Holdings Inc. on Wednesday priced a $260.4 million initial public offering at the top of its range, enabling Centuri to become a standalone public company, represented by Morrison Foerster LLP and underwriters' counsel Skadden Arps Slate Meagher & Flom LLP.
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April 17, 2024
Lawmaker Says New Merger Guides Hurt Small Businesses
The head of the House Small Business Committee has sent letters to the U.S. Department of Justice and Federal Trade Commission, contending enforcers did not fully consider how new merger guidelines will impact the small business community.
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April 17, 2024
Jury Says Caterpillar's Interference Cost Equipment Co. $100M
A jury in Delaware has rejected antitrust claims against Caterpillar but found that the equipment maker caused a defunct importer $100 million in damages by interfering with its contract to sell equipment through an online sales platform.
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April 17, 2024
Dems Uneasy Over ESPN, Fox, Warner Sports Streaming App
A pair of House Democrats have raised concerns over plans by ESPN, Fox and Warner Bros. Discovery's to combine their vast live sports portfolios into a single app, pressing the programmers for details to ensure the joint venture won't increase consumer prices and degrade licensing terms for leagues and distributors.
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April 17, 2024
Bankman-Fried Appeal May Cite Unusual Preview Testimony
Sam Bankman-Fried's appeal of his conviction and 25-year prison sentence may cite a "rather unprecedented" trial procedure in which the FTX founder gave provisional testimony before officially taking the witness stand last year, one of his attorneys said Wednesday.
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April 17, 2024
Manatt Adds NY Bankruptcy, Financial Regulatory Partners
Manatt Phelps & Phillips LLP announced that it hired a pair of experienced New York-based attorneys who focus their practices on regulatory matters as partners in its bankruptcy and financial regulatory practices.
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April 17, 2024
American Urges 1st Circ. To Reject 'Radical' JetBlue Ruling
American Airlines has told the First Circuit that a judge's "radical vision of the antitrust laws" that blocked its Northeast Alliance joint venture with JetBlue shouldn't stand, arguing that federal enforcers are relying on misleading claims and outdated precedent to prop up the lower court's mistaken conclusion.
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April 17, 2024
Loeb & Loeb Adds 2 Corporate Partners From Morrison Cohen
Loeb & Loeb LLP has announced the latest in a string of corporate hires from Morrison Cohen LLP's ranks, touting two new partners with domestic and international experience with strategic transactions.
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April 17, 2024
TPG Plugs $235M Into Supply Chain Risk Intelligence Platform
Counterparty and supply chain risk intelligence platform Sayari, advised by Manatt Phelps & Phillips LLP, on Wednesday revealed that it closed on an upsized $235 million strategic majority investment from Kirkland & Ellis LLP-advised private equity shop TPG, which will provide the company with additional capital to support continued growth.
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April 17, 2024
Vinci To Buy Controlling Stake In Edinburgh Airport For £1.3B
Vinci SA said Wednesday that one of its subsidiaries has agreed to buy a 50.01% stake in Edinburgh Airport for £1.27 billion ($1.58 billion), as the French infrastructure giant eyes growth at the Scottish flight hub.
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April 16, 2024
House Panel Takes Aim At Change Healthcare, FTC Over Hack
A House subcommittee exploring ways to boost cybersecurity in the healthcare industry on Tuesday blasted Change Healthcare for failing to take appropriate steps to block a damaging cyberattack that echoed another recent strike on critical infrastructure and the Federal Trade Commission for not stopping the provider from controlling such a large market share.
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April 16, 2024
Autonomy CEO Pressured JPMorgan Over Analyst, Jury Told
An ex-JPMorgan stock analyst testifying Tuesday in the criminal fraud trial of former Autonomy CEO Michael Lynch told jurors that the software company founder responded with hostility when his research reports questioned its growth, and that Lynch offered JPMorgan millions in business if he were taken off the Autonomy beat.
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April 16, 2024
NC Treasurer Backs FTC On Hospital Merger Challenge
North Carolina's treasurer agreed Monday that Novant Health's $320 million plan to pick up a pair of hospitals is a bad idea, throwing its weight behind the Federal Trade Commission's challenge to the deal in federal court.
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April 16, 2024
9th Circ. Upholds Tossing Skillz Gaming Tech Investor Suit
The Ninth Circuit on Tuesday upheld a decision to toss a proposed class action claiming that mobile gaming company Skillz Inc. misled investors about its technology prior to a 2021 merger with a special purpose acquisition company, ruling that issues with the gaming software do not make the company' statements false or misleading.
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April 16, 2024
Hedge Fund Asks Court To Toss REIT's Suit In Takeover Row
New York hedge fund Blackwells Capital LLC fired off the latest shot in its ongoing board takeover spat with a Texas-based hotel real estate investment trust, asking Monday for a federal judge to toss a lawsuit aimed at warding off the proxy contest.
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April 16, 2024
Ex-Minority Owner Of Commanders Sues BofA Over Team Sale
A former minority owner of the Washington Commanders has accused Bank of America and affiliated entities of conspiring with the team's former majority owner to buy 40% of the franchise at a discount, only to turn around and later sell all of it for $6 billion.
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April 16, 2024
Flyers Challenge $1.9B Hawaiian-Alaska Airlines Merger
Alaska Airlines is facing an antitrust lawsuit from flyers alleging that its proposed $1.9 billion acquisition of Hawaiian Airlines will reduce competition in the airline industry, raise prices and potentially cause layoffs.
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April 16, 2024
Barnes & Noble Education Reaches Deals To Reduce Debt
Paul Hastings LLP-advised Barnes & Noble Education Inc., which provides solutions for the education industry, on Tuesday announced that it has entered into various agreements meant to significantly strengthen its long-term financial position and reduce its debt, allowing the company to continue investing in education innovation.
Expert Analysis
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Exploring Middle-Market M&A Trends In 2023 And Beyond
Middle-market merger and acquisition activity this year was affected by a number of economic, legal and regulatory shifts, with certain trends pointing to favorable transaction conditions in 2024, say Jason Brauser and William Goodling at Stoel Rives.
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Understanding Advance Notice Bylaws Is Key For All Parties
Recent developments in Delaware case law show that advance notice bylaws will be strictly construed and that Delaware courts will generally uphold clear, unambiguous bylaws adopted and applied reasonably, a lesson for both companies and stockholders alike as the number of companies rejecting director nominations by dissident stockholders has increased, say attorneys at MoFo.
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A Former Bankruptcy Judge Talks 2023 High Court Rulings
In 2023, the U.S. Supreme Court issued four bankruptcy law opinions — an extraordinary number — and a close look at these cases signals that changes to the U.S. Bankruptcy Code will have to come from Congress, not the courts, says Phillip Shefferly at the University of Michigan Law School.
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Series
Children's Book Writing Makes Me A Better Lawyer
Becoming a children's book author has opened doors to incredible new experiences of which I barely dared to dream, but the process has also changed my life by serving as a reminder that strong writing, networking and public speaking skills are hugely beneficial to a legal career, says Shaunna Bailey at Sheppard Mullin.
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A Review Of 2023's Most Notable Securities Litigation
There is much to be learned from the most prominent private securities cases of 2023, specifically the Tesla trial, the U.S. Supreme Court's Slack decision and the resolution of Goldman Sachs litigation, but one lesson running through all of them is that there can be rewards at the end of the line for defendants willing to go the distance, say attorneys at Fried Frank.
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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.