Legal News

Last week, the Antitrust Division (Division) of the U.S. Department of Justice (Department or DOJ) issued a memorandum providing further guidance to Division attorneys and the public on the use of arbitration in civil enforcement matters. This guidance stemmed from a closely watched challenge to aluminum giant Novelis Inc.’s planned acquisition of Ohio aluminum company Aleris Corp. last year......By: Lowenstein Sandler LLP

The Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy continues to tighten FDI control, but the investment climate remains liberal in principle - In Germany, the investment climate remains liberal in principle. Nevertheless, since 2016, German foreign investment control has continuously toughened, and the German Federal Government has become increasingly sensitive about protecting key technologies, industries and know-how....By: White & Case LLP

Refinancing activity has proven an attractive option amid COVID-19 disruption, with borrowers in good standing seeking to extend maturities and take advantage of low interest rates - Refinancing issuance across high yield bond markets in the United States and Western and Southern Europe, as well as Asia Pacific (excluding Japan), has experienced record levels of activity despite COVID-19....By: White & Case LLP

The Oregon Court of Appeals recently issued a decision touching on the economic loss doctrine and vicarious liability in a construction dispute. The outcome provides key lessons for manufacturing companies that may maintain principal-agent relationships with distributors or maintenance service companies based on the level of control one party exerts over the other....By: Davis Wright Tremaine LLP

MTA Royalty Corp. v. Compania Minera Pangea, S.A. DE C.V., C.A. No. N19C-11-228 AML CCLD (Del. Super. Sept. 16, 2020) - Plaintiff’s predecessor-in-interest conveyed mineral rights to Defendant. Under the agreement, Defendant owed a conditional additional $1 million at a future date. Before the payments became due, the predecessor was merged out of existence....By: Morris James LLP

Deal activity within the renewables sector has been a bright spot for energy M&A in 2020 - Despite being hit hard by the COVID-19 pandemic, M&A targeting the energy sector has remained resilient in 2020. The sector saw M&A value rise 6% year on year to a total of US$93.4 billion in the first three quarters of 2020. While volume dropped 16% to 442 transactions, the sector delivered a far more robust performance than overall global M&A, which dropped 27% by volume and 28% by value over the same....

BuzzFeed has struck a deal with Verizon Media to acquire HuffPost, a mash-up that “would join a pair of digital-media giants that have found themselves searching for readers and revenue as they have fallen prey to some of the same difficulties that once afflicted old-media newspapers and magazines”....By: Robins Kaplan LLP

Changes in how businesses operate, restrictions on property use and reduced revenues brought on by mandated closures due to COVID-19 have had a major impact on the real estate market and legal proceedings related to it throughout the United States. In this episode of Digging Into Land Use Law, Nossaman’s Eminent Domain & Valuation Group Chair, Brad Kuhn, and Grobstein Teeple LLP Director, Will Thomsen, discuss the current state of the market and approaches to appropriately assess short-term...B...

Over the last five years, many private equity market participants have become acquainted with a “GP-led secondary” transaction – i.e., a transaction where a private equity sponsor proposes to transfer all or a portion of the assets managed by an existing fund into a new “continuation” fund that will be managed by the same private equity sponsor. In such a transaction, the equity capital generally comes from a combination of “secondary” capital providers that are putting new money into the...

Dealmakers know that uncertainty is their proverbial kryptonite. As M&A and investment have started to show signs of life, acquirers of and investors in companies that received loans under the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) have been grappling with managing the risks associated with those loans, including whether and what kinds of approvals are necessary to acquire or invest in such a target. Recently, however, the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) has acted to reduce this uncertainty....