Blackstone-Led Group Investing $3.1B Into LNG Canada

By Al Barbarino

Blackstone and a group of Canadian institutional partners have agreed to invest $3.1 billion in a Mitsubishi Corp. subsidiary that holds the Japanese company's 15% stake in the LNG Canada natural gas project, the private equity giant and Japanese conglomerate announced Monday.

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BlackRock, State Street Get State AG Coal Suit Trimmed

By Sarah Jarvis

BlackRock and State Street have pared down a lawsuit by Republican state attorneys general accusing them of driving up coal prices, but a Texas federal judge let stand claims brought by Iowa and Nebraska on behalf of their resident electricity consumers.

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Fintech Startup OPay Halts IPO Following Regulatory Inquiry

By Jade Martinez-Pogue

Nigerian digital bank and financial technology startup OPay, which announced the pricing of its $304 million initial public offering Friday, told U.S. regulators Monday that it is delaying its planned public debut.

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Monthly Merger Review Snapshot

By Matthew Perlman

The Federal Trade Commission caused a pair of playground equipment makers to abandon their planned merger, Canadian enforcers upended a deal for the Green Giant brand in the country and state attorneys general reached settlements for several regional deals.

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Catching Up With Delaware's Chancery Court

By Jarek Rutz

The Delaware Chancery Court last week allowed a stockholder claim over R1 RCM Inc.'s $8.9 billion buyout to proceed, while investors in Meta Platforms Inc. sued to block a stock restructuring they say would let CEO Mark Zuckerberg sell billions of dollars in shares without giving up control of the company.

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Ex-Fairstead Partner Says Late Experts Violate Court Order

By Jarek Rutz

A former partner at affordable housing firm Fairstead Capital Management LLC urged the Delaware Chancery Court on Monday to stop the company from using newly disclosed valuation experts and documents in a fight over his canceled equity, while Fairstead argued the changes were justified and caused no harm.

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AE Industrial Wraps $850M Continuation Fund For Blue Raven

By Jade Martinez-Pogue

Technology-focused private investment firm AE Industrial Partners, advised by Kirkland & Ellis LLP, on Monday said that it closed a new single-asset continuation fund for its portfolio company Blue Raven with approximately $850 million of capital commitments.

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Lowenstein, Loeb Guide Tokenization Firm's $350M SPAC Deal

By Katryna Perera

Fintech firm tZERO Group Inc. and FG Imperii Acquisition Corp., a publicly traded special purpose acquisition company, announced Monday they have agreed to a $350 million merger, guided by Lowenstein Sandler LLP and Loeb & Loeb LLP.

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Troutman Hires Kirkland & Ellis PE Pro In Washington

By Jack Rodgers

Troutman Pepper Locke has hired a former Kirkland & Ellis LLP partner who is joining the firm in Washington, D.C., as part of its private equity and investment funds practice group, the firm announced Monday.

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Calif. High Court Ruling Eases Path To Excess Coverage Suits

Following a recent California Supreme Court ruling in Fox Paine v. Twin City Fire Insurance, policyholders will have an easier time sustaining suits against excess insurers, leading the latter to settle more frequently, buy back more policies, increase premiums and change policy language, says Charles Grosenick at Brown & Winters.

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Opinion

A Capital Markets Agenda For The New Congress

When the 120th Congress convenes in January, it should place capital markets issues near the top of its to-do list, with a focus on legislation that can make the public company model more competitive, says David Kaufman at Thompson Coburn.

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BigLaw Attys Step Up To Help Voters In Midterm Elections

By Jack Karp and Lynn LaRowe

Attorneys from several BigLaw firms are volunteering across the country to make sure voters don't run into problems casting their ballots or having those ballots counted in Tuesday's midterm elections.

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Brief

Winston Taylor, DLA Piper Match Milbank Pay Scale

By Tracey Read

Two more BigLaw firms have opted to match the new associate salary scale set by Milbank LLP in June.

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Analysis

Judiciary Stuck In AI Rulemaking Rut As Attys, Judges Protest

By Jeff Overley

Judiciary efforts to enact rules for the artificial intelligence age are mired in concerns about burdens on litigators, the tensions between burgeoning technology and snail-paced policymaking, and how to even define AI. And despite vivid examples of AI's risks, officials are inching toward mothballing the prominent project.

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Judge Orders Chicago US Atty To Testify In Misconduct Probe

By Celeste Bott

An Illinois federal judge has ordered Chicago's top federal prosecutor and three assistant U.S. attorneys to testify under oath about potentially false statements made to her in a now-dismissed criminal conspiracy case against anti-ICE protesters, saying Monday that the government's shifting explanations about communications with DOJ leadership suggest prosecutors misled the court about outside involvement in the prosecution.

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NY State Bar Says Attys Can't Bill Time Saved By AI

By Andrea Keckley

The New York State Bar Association has told lawyers not to bill clients for the time they saved by using artificial intelligence, or for the time it took to learn a new AI tool.

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Interview

SEC's Top Cop On Building A 'Nimble' Enforcement Division

By Jessica Corso

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission has lost hundreds of enforcement employees and seen significant restructuring of its regional offices over the past two years, but the Division of Enforcement's director said that hasn't stopped him from building a "nimble" program that is focused on more than just the number of cases filed.

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