Legal News

We are hearing about a budget pinch from many homebuilder and general contractor clients tied to the substantial increases in the cost of lumber and other materials; HBA Iowa reports about an 80% increase in lumber costs since mid-April. As the cost of materials for build projects soars, builders and contractors should review their contracts carefully to see if they have options to get some or all of the increased costs covered by the owner and consider revising their future contracts to help......

Agspring Holdco, LLC v. NGP X US Holdings, L.P., C.A. No. 2019-0567-AGB (Del. Ch. July 30, 2020) - This opinion concerns a buyer’s attempt to plead fraud in connection the acquisition of a business. The Court denied in the main the defendants’ motion to dismiss the fraud claims brought in connection with private equity firm American Infrastructure Partners’ (the “Buyer”) $300 million acquisition of Agspring LLC (the “Company”), which was then almost entirely owned by NGP X US Holdings, L...

On Thursday, September 3, 2020, the Department of Justice’s Antitrust Division issued a revised Merger Remedies Manual (the “Manual”), which outlines the agency’s policies regarding merger remedies in transactions that raise competitive concerns and reflects DOJ practice, which has been in place for many years. According to Assistant Attorney General Makan Delrahim, the updates to the Manual are intended to “provide greater transparency and predictability regarding the division’s approach ...

On September 3, 2020, the U.S. Department of Justice’s (DOJ) Antitrust Division (the Division) published the Merger Remedies Manual (the Manual), issuing new guidelines for remedying anticompetitive mergers. Specifically, the Manual sets out the Division’s framework to structure and implement remedies that address potential anticompetitive effects of certain mergers on the market. These guidelines are the first revisions in nearly a decade to the Division’s 2004 policy on merger remedies....B...

BCLP’s global Antitrust & Competition team have been tracking the various ways COVID-19 is impacting antitrust enforcement, merger control, state aid and foreign direct investment rules ("FDI") in key jurisdictions around the world. Here are some user friendly one-page maps which highlight the key impacts that the COVID-19 pandemic is having – and may have – on competition law and FDI rules - worldwide....By: Bryan Cave Leighton Paisner

Healthcare businesses represent essential transaction opportunities in the middle market. Despite the current pandemic, healthcare remains a principal area of investment; however, M&A activity has its own unique challenges that require strategic advance planning to avoid merger complications. Join sbLiftOff’s Sharon Heaton and PilieroMazza’s Kathryn Hickey for a one-hour webinar to discuss what the current healthcare M&A marketplace looks like and how you can help maximize your efforts for a....

Despite the global impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, Qatar has been able to maintain its extended period of economic strength, boasting one of the highest GDPs in the world. Increases in LNG production, continued strides in national development strategies and its commitment to hosting the 2022 FIFA World Cup have aided Qatar in maintaining its economic standing. Despite the fact that it is too early to predict the effects of COVID-19 on Qatar and the blockade imposed upon the country continues,...

On the heels of record deal volume in 2018 and 2019, 2020 was supposed to be another banner year for M&A activity in the U.S. and worldwide. Then COVID-19 crashed the party, and the M&A loco- motive came to a screeching halt. Deal volume in 2020 has dropped to a seven- year low, with deal value in the U.S. down 83% in the second quarter of 2020 from 2019. Originally Published in the Association of Corporate Counsel - September 2020....By: Bilzin Sumberg

Oliver v. Isenberg, 2019 IL App (1st) 181551-U, arose from a lawsuit among members of a once-prosperous entity known as the Combined Group, LLC (“Combined” or “the company”) over the hostile breakup of the company. The circuit court held after a bench trial that Mark Oliver, a shareholder and employee of Combined, had a fiduciary duty to the company as “manager” because he was also an officer and primary shareholder of the company’s managing member, the Combined Holding Group, Inc. (CHG)...

Major changes in the German merger control regime can be expected for 2021. Today, the German government adopted the draft 10th Amendment to the German Act Against Restraints of Competition (the “Draft”). The Draft will now enter the parliamentary process and may hence still be subject to change......By: Morrison & Foerster LLP