Try our Advanced Search for more refined results
Private Equity
-
July 19, 2024
Two Class Atty Teams Challenge EngageSmart Deal In Del.
A new and an amended stockholder complaint have taken aim in Delaware's Court of Chancery at the $4 billion January take-private acquisition of customer engagement and payments venture EngageSmart Inc. by interests of Vista Equity Partners, following a Thursday deadline for consolidated complaint and lead attorney and plaintiff proposals.
-
July 19, 2024
Gout-Focused Biotech Raises $60M In Latest Funding Round
Biotechnology company GRO Biosciences Inc. on Friday revealed that it clinched its oversubscribed Series B funding round after raising $60.3 million from investors, which will be used to help push the company's refractory gout treatments to clinic.
-
July 19, 2024
Chancery Keeps Masimo Meeting Date, Speeds Up Politan Suit
Masimo Corp. will not have to reschedule its Sept. 19 annual meeting in response to a lawsuit from Politan Capital Management LP, but will need to respond to some of the activist investor's concerns before the meeting takes place, a Delaware Chancery Court judge said Friday.
-
July 19, 2024
Taxation With Representation: A&O Shearman, Gibson Dunn
In this week's Taxation With Representation, Cleveland-Cliffs Inc. buys Stelco Holdings Inc., KBR acquires LinQuest Corp., Blue Owl Capital Inc. purchases Atalaya Capital Management LP, and Amphenol Corp. buys two mobile networks units from CommScope.
-
July 19, 2024
A Deep Dive Into The Top PE Funds Of 2024's First Half
The five largest private equity funds to close in the first half of 2024 show that fundraising continues to march toward a comeback, a path consistent with what private equity attorneys mapped out at the end of last year.
-
July 19, 2024
Rising Star: Latham's Oliver Prakash-Jenkins
Oliver Prakash-Jenkins of Latham & Watkins LLP advised infrastructure investment manager American Triple I on its fundraise for the $4.2 billion development of a new terminal at New York City's John F. Kennedy International Airport, and in just the past month has seen two projects that both involved investments of over $1 billion close, earning him a place among the fund formation law practitioners under 40 honored by Law360 as Rising Stars.
-
July 19, 2024
Cooley, Latham Lead Biotech Firm Artiva's Upsized $167M IPO
Venture-backed Artiva Biotherapeutics Inc. rallied in debut trading Friday after the drug developer priced an upsized $167 million initial public offering below its price range, represented by Cooley LLP and underwriters' counsel Latham & Watkins LLP.
-
July 18, 2024
Ukraine Businessman Looks To Arbitrate $1B Gramercy Suit
A Ukrainian businessman is urging a Wyoming federal court to force Gramercy Funds Management to arbitrate in London its racketeering lawsuit accusing him of fraudulently transferring more than a billion dollars from his agricultural business, a debtor of the Connecticut-based hedge fund.
-
July 18, 2024
6 Firms Steer Latin American Airline Giant's $533M IPO Plans
Latam Airlines Group SA on Thursday outlined plans for an estimated $533 million U.S. initial public offering, guided by six law firms, marking a return to U.S. markets two years after the South American airline giant exited bankruptcy.
-
July 18, 2024
Moody's Says White Ex-Director's Depo 'Fatal' To Bias Suit
Financial analytics company Moody's on Wednesday told a Pennsylvania federal judge that it was clear a former employee who sued it for discrimination wasn't fired for being white and old, pointing to his "fatal" admission that he'd still be employed had he responded to a company vaccination survey.
-
July 18, 2024
State Of 2024 Energy Dealmaking: Midyear Report
Energy dealmaking in the first half of 2024 has, in many ways, picked up where 2023 left off, but companies also increasingly have an eye on the U.S. presidential election this fall that could bring drastic change to the landscape. Here are some transactional trends that have stood out to energy attorneys so far this year.
-
July 18, 2024
Mixed Results Greet 2 IPOs For Hospital Giant, Insurance Firm
Private equity-backed hospital operator Ardent Health and insurance brokerage TWFG Inc. began trading Thursday after completing two initial public offerings that raised $379 million combined at varying points of their price ranges, guided by four law firms.
-
July 18, 2024
Ex-Venable Trusts And Estates Partner Joins Stradling In LA
Stradling Yocca Carlson & Rauth PC announced that it launched a trusts and estates practice with the hiring of an experienced Los Angeles-based partner from Venable LLP.
-
July 18, 2024
Pharma Biz Buys Animal Medicine Co. For Up To $520M
Latham & Watkins LLP-advised animal health therapeutics company Invetx, which is currently owned by life sciences-focused investment management firm Novo Holdings, on Thursday announced plans to be bought by veterinary pharmaceuticals company Dechra Pharmaceuticals Ltd., advised by Kirkland & Ellis LLP, for up to $520 million.
-
July 18, 2024
Womble Bond Adds Finance Atty With Latin America Focus
Womble Bond Dickinson's growing New York office is welcoming a capital markets and structured finance attorney after his more than 10 years with Hogan Lovells, most recently in Brazil.
-
July 18, 2024
Deals Rumor Mill: Google, StandardAero, Sony
Google parent Alphabet is nearing a $23 billion Wiz buy, PE firms circle StandardAero at a potential $10 billion price, and Sony backs away from Paramount after the Skydance deal. Law360 breaks down these and other notable deal rumors from the past week.
-
July 18, 2024
Kirkland-Led Calif. PE Firm Secures $1.5B For 3rd Fund
Los Angeles-based private equity shop Kingswood Capital Management LP, advised by Kirkland & Ellis LLP, on Thursday announced that it clinched its third fund after raising $1.5 billion of capital commitments, bringing the firm's total assets under management to roughly $3.2 billion.
-
July 18, 2024
PE Firm's £432M Deal Awaiting NSIA Clearance Pushed Back
Wealth management firm Mattioli Woods said Thursday that its approximately £432 million ($546 million) acquisition by London private equity firm Pollen Street Capital that is awaiting national security clearance is now likely to close a month later than expected.
-
July 17, 2024
Politan Sues Masimo Over Delayed Board Election Meeting
Activist investment firm Politan Capital Management LP launched a lawsuit Wednesday against Masimo Corp. in Delaware Chancery Court just days after the medical technology company accused it of violating securities laws by trying to gain control of Masimo through a proxy contest that duped Masimo shareholders using "lies and deceit."
-
July 17, 2024
Nasdaq Seeks To Tighten Delisting Rules Governing SPACs
Nasdaq is proposing to strengthen its rules governing delistings and trading suspensions of special-purpose acquisition companies that fail to complete mergers within 36-month deadlines or that violate other listing standards.
-
July 17, 2024
Warburg Pincus Pours $100M Into Brazilian Fintech Biz
Brazilian banking software provider Matera on Wednesday revealed that it received a $100 million investment from private equity giant Warburg Pincus, which will be used to fund the fintech company's expansion into the North American market with a focus on growing its product development.
-
July 17, 2024
Telecom Co. Stockholder Seeks Fees For Beefing Up Proxy
A shareholder of Consolidated Communications Holdings Inc. is suing for his legal fees in Delaware's Court of Chancery, saying he brought "substantial" benefits to shareholders by forcing extra disclosures about the company's pending $3.1 billion merger with Searchlight Capital Partners LP and the British Columbia Investment Management Corp.
-
July 17, 2024
Top Vista Investor Opposes $2.1B Kinetic Sale To Czech Co.
Gates Capital Management Inc., a top shareholder in Vista Outdoor Inc., is urging the sporting goods maker not to move ahead with a plan to sell part of its business to a Czech defense group, pushing instead for a spinoff or sale of the entire company, according to a Wednesday letter.
-
July 17, 2024
Latham Adds Ex-Kirkland Private Equity Pro In Boston
An experienced private equity attorney has jumped from Kirkland & Ellis LLP to Latham & Watkins LLP in Boston.
-
July 17, 2024
Bruised SPAC Market Pins Revival Hopes On Veteran Backers
More special-purpose acquisition companies are conducting initial public offerings, mostly backed by dealmakers who have completed prior mergers, bringing life to a listings market that was largely barren over the past year.
Expert Analysis
-
Series
Competing In Dressage Makes Me A Better Lawyer
My lifelong participation in the sport of dressage — often called ballet on horses — has proven that several skills developed through training and competition are transferable to legal work, especially the ability to harness focus, persistence and versatility when negotiating a deal, says Stephanie Coco at V&E.
-
What Financial Cos. Must Know For Handling T+1 Settlements
The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission has adopted a groundbreaking new T+1 settlement rule for securities transactions in order to improve market efficiency — but it presents significant challenges for the financial services industry, especially private equity firms, hedge funds and institutional asset managers, says Adam Weiss at Petra Funds Group.
-
What Cos. Evaluating M&A Can Glean From Latest HSR Report
The recently released Hart-Scott-Rodino report for fiscal year 2022 helps unearth important data points for companies as they evaluate potential transactions, including that, despite a historically low enforcement rate, the number of actions exceeds the number of second requests for the first time in nearly 20 years, say Ryan Quillian and John Kendrick at Covington.
-
Chancery's Sears Ruling Clarifies Stockholder Duties
In a recent landmark decision involving stockholders of Sears Hometown and Outlet Stores, the Delaware Chancery Court addressed for the first time what precise duties a controlling stockholder owes, highlighting that controller interference with board action is not per se invalid and that enhanced scrutiny is a reasonableness test, say Christopher Chuff and Taylor Bartholomew at Troutman Pepper.
-
How Biotech Cos. Can Utilize Synthetic Royalty Financing
Synthetic royalty transactions have been on the rise as a funding structure for biotechnology companies, but questions have arisen surrounding how such transactions work, and structuring them correctly requires a nuanced understanding, say Todd Trattner and Ryan Murr at Gibson Dunn.
-
The Legal Industry Needs A Cybersecurity Paradigm Shift
As law firms face ever-increasing risks of cyberattacks and ransomware incidents, the legal industry must implement robust cybersecurity measures and privacy-centric practices to preserve attorney-client privilege, safeguard client trust and uphold the profession’s integrity, says Ryan Paterson at Unplugged.
-
5 Reasons Associates Shouldn't Take A Job Just For Money
As a number of BigLaw firms increase salary scales for early-career attorneys, law students and lateral associates considering new job offers should weigh several key factors that may matter more than financial compensation, say Albert Tawil at Lateral Hub and Ruvin Levavi at Power Forward.
-
Series
Playing Competitive Tennis Makes Me A Better Lawyer
My experience playing competitive tennis has highlighted why prioritizing exercise and stress relief, maintaining perspective under pressure, and supporting colleagues in pursuit of a common goal are all key aspects of championing a successful legal career, says Madhumita Datta at Lowenstein Sandler.
-
Series
The Pop Culture Docket: Judge Djerassi On Super Bowl 52
Philadelphia Court of Common Pleas Judge Ramy Djerassi discusses how Super Bowl 52, in which the Philadelphia Eagles prevailed over the New England Patriots, provides an apt metaphor for alternative dispute resolution processes in commercial business cases.
-
Reverse Merger Tips For Biotechs After SEC's Recent Actions
Several recent U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission developments could limit the viability of reverse mergers for biotech companies, and will require additional creativity and analysis for private companies looking to go public, say attorneys at Orrick.
-
Black-Led VC Fund Case Could Hinge On Nature Of Grants
Organizations whose missions involve any manner of race-conscious funding should closely monitor arguments this week in American Alliance v. Fearless Fund, a case filed against a grant program that seeks to address the gap in venture capital funding for Black women-led businesses, which will examine whether grants are charitable under Civil Rights Act Section 1981 liability, say Kali Schellenberg and John Stapleton at LeVan Stapleton, and Kenneth Trujillo at Chamberlain Hrdlicka.
-
What R&W Insurance Access Means For Small-Cap M&A
As a slowdown in mergers and acquisitions has increased insurer appetite for underwriting small-cap transactions, buyers of small and midsize enterprises stand to benefit from easier access to representations and warranties insurance, which can add protection and reassurance for all parties involved in a deal, say Caroline Thee and Ewelina Mikocewicz at Taft Stettinius.
-
Considerations For Lawyer Witnesses After FTX Trial
Sam Bankman-Fried's recent trial testimony about his lawyers' involvement in FTX's business highlights the need for attorney-witnesses to understand privilege issues in order to avoid costly discovery disputes and, potentially, uncover critical evidence an adversary might seek to conceal, says Lawrence Bluestone at Genova Burns.
-
Employee Experience Strategy Can Boost Law Firm Success
Amid continuing business uncertainty, law firms should consider adopting a holistic employee experience strategy — prioritizing consistency, targeting signature moments and leveraging measurement tools — to maximize productivity and profitability, says Haley Revel at Calibrate Consulting.
-
Series
Competing In Triathlons Makes Me A Better Lawyer
While practicing law and competing in long-distance triathlons can make work and life feel unbalanced at times, participating in the sport has revealed important lessons about versatility, self-care and perseverance that apply to the office as much as they do the racecourse, says Laura Heusel at Butler Snow.