Deals & Corporate Governance

  • 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.

  • April 16, 2024

    Bankrupt Breast Implant Co. Submits Ch. 11 Plan Disclosures

    Bankrupt breast implant company Sientra Inc. has asked a Delaware bankruptcy court to approve the disclosure statement for its Chapter 11 reorganization plan, which provides for a wind-down of what is left of the company after $50.5 million worth of asset sales.

  • April 16, 2024

    Biotechs Turn To Licensing, Collaboration Deals For Capital

    Biotech companies are turning to licensing and collaboration deals amid a tough public market and larger economic slowdown.

  • April 16, 2024

    Healthcare Merger Deals Carefully Tread New Antitrust Terrain

    Healthcare companies are changing the way they negotiate and draft merger and acquisition contracts amid heightened anxiety around antitrust scrutiny.

  • April 16, 2024

    Struggling Hospitals Seek Mergers As Regulators Push Back

    Healthcare attorneys are seeing a slow but steady resurgence in mergers and acquisitions activity across health systems, as distressed hospitals look to combine to offset the financial pressures they've faced as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic.

  • April 15, 2024

    Goodwin, Baker Donelson Guide MPT In $1.1B Hospital Sale

    Medical Properties Trust Inc. has sold its majority stake in five Utah hospitals to a joint venture with an unnamed investment fund, in a $1.1 billion transaction advised by Goodwin Procter LLP and Baker Donelson Bearman Caldwell & Berkowitz PC that comes days after the real estate investment trust sold another group of hospitals for $350 million.

  • April 15, 2024

    Humanigen Files Ch. 11 Plan Disclosures

    Bankrupt biopharma company Humanigen Inc. has filed a proposed Chapter 11 plan and disclosure statement in Delaware court that calls for the payment in full of secured and priority claims, while general unsecured creditors owed a collective $44 million will receive up to 19% recoveries.

  • April 15, 2024

    Hold This COVID Vax Patent Case, Judge Recommends

    One of the suits over Pfizer's blockbuster COVID-19 vaccine hit a snag in Virginia federal court Friday when a judge recommended pausing the case to wait for a ruling in a related dispute over patent ownership involving one of BioNTech's other partners.

  • April 11, 2024

    Del. Justices OK Denial Of Icahn-Illumina Midcase Appeal Bid

    Billionaire investor Carl Icahn may not put his Chancery Court litigation against biotechnology company Illumina Inc.'s board on hold for a review of a decision that struck portions of the complaint that were based on confidential information, Delaware's Supreme Court said Thursday, upholding the lower court's rejection of the midcase appeal.

  • April 11, 2024

    Kirkland, Jones Day Build $787.5M Sale Of Steris' Dental Unit

    Medical device company Steris, advised by Jones Day, on Thursday announced plans to sell its dental segment to Kirkland & Ellis LLP-advised middle market private equity shop Peak Rock Capital for $787.5 million.

  • April 10, 2024

    Bankrupt Breast Implant Co. Gets OK For $50.5M Asset Sales

    A Delaware bankruptcy judge said at a hearing Wednesday she would approve two sales of Sientra Inc.'s assets for a combined $50.5 million after the breast implant maker included several reservations of the rights of various businesses holding contracts with the debtor.

  • April 10, 2024

    3rd Circ. Skeptical Of Challenge To NLRB Bonuses Ruling

    A Third Circuit panel appeared skeptical Wednesday of a nursing home's challenge to a National Labor Relations Board decision finding it unlawfully altered bonus pay it issued during the pandemic without bargaining, as judges questioned the company's argument that the bonuses were allowable under an expired contract.

  • April 10, 2024

    Bankrupt Hospital Co.'s $16M Deal With Ex-Execs OK'd

    A Delaware bankruptcy judge agreed Wednesday to let the liquidating trustee for hospital operator Promise Healthcare proceed with a $16 million settlement with former executives to resolve his Florida federal court lawsuit, which alleged they abused the company's trust by lying to board members for their own benefit.

  • April 09, 2024

    Investor Can't Get Approval Of Hong Kong Award In Calif.

    A California judge has thrown out a petition filed by a biotechnology company investor seeking to enforce a Hong Kong arbitral award that found she is the proper owner of the company's shares, saying the case has an insufficient connection to the Golden State.

  • April 09, 2024

    Calif. Healthcare Attys Working Late Thanks To New Regs

    Attorneys working on healthcare deals in California are logging longer hours and getting less sleep as they grapple with new regulations that came into effect this month.

  • April 09, 2024

    Tech M&A Reigns Supreme In Q1 After Rare Hiccup In Q4

    The technology sector logged the greatest total value of global mergers and acquisitions in the first quarter of 2024, following a rare quarter that saw the industry fall out of the top spot and into third place, data from Dealogic shows.

  • April 09, 2024

    Healthcare Deals This Week: Merck, J&J And More

    From private megarounds to a blockbuster medtech buy, there's been a flurry of deals in the healthcare industry this past week. Among the notable transactions were a $13.1 billion acquisition by Johnson & Johnson and billion-dollar deals involving Genmab and Merck. Law360 breaks down those and other big healthcare and life science deals from the past week.

  • April 09, 2024

    Life Sciences GCs On Tighter Regs, Outside Counsel Advice

    General counsel at life sciences venture capital firms are navigating increased regulation in healthcare and looking to outside counsel to act as true advisers and problem-solvers as the healthcare industry becomes more complex.

  • April 08, 2024

    Judge Urged To Reject UnitedHealth's Antitrust Deal Qualms

    Patients who cut a $55 million antitrust settlement with NorthShore University HealthSystem are urging an Illinois federal court to reject objections by United Healthcare Services, arguing that the insurer has no standing to derail the deal and that its challenge to the agreement could dilute their recovery.

  • April 08, 2024

    PE Firm Calls FTC's Antitrust Claims 'Many Yesterdays' Old

    A Texas anesthesiology company and the private equity firm that created it told a Houston federal judge Monday that the Federal Trade Commission has gone back "many yesterdays ago" in making its antitrust case, arguing that there's no imminent threat of a monopoly in an attempt to get the case dismissed.

  • April 08, 2024

    CVS Signing Bonus, Stock Pushed GC's Pay To Nearly $12M

    CVS Health Corp. paid its general counsel nearly $12 million last year with a compensation package that included a cash bonus and equity awards to cover money he had to forfeit from his previous employer when he joined the executive leadership team in February 2023, according to public documents.

  • April 05, 2024

    New Chancery Challenge Launched To Board-Investor Pacts

    A biopharmaceutical company stockholder has teed up a new Delaware Chancery Court suit challenging board-investor voting agreements, with the complaint acknowledging wide debate over the pacts and a fast-moving push to amend state corporation law to authorize them.

  • April 05, 2024

    Freshfields Reps J&J On $13.1B Deal For Shockwave Medical

    Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer-led Johnson & Johnson has agreed to buy Fenwick & West-advised Shockwave Medical Inc., a provider of a cardiovascular blood flow treatment, at an enterprise value of $13.1 billion, the companies said Friday. 

  • April 04, 2024

    Novo Holdings, Catalent Reset Review Clock On $16.5B Deal

    Novo Nordisk Foundation has given the Federal Trade Commission more time for an initial review of Novo Holdings' plan to acquire Catalent in a deal that values the pharmaceutical services company at $16.5 billion.

  • April 04, 2024

    Structure Defense Remains In FTC Hospital Case, But Not Hearing

    When the Federal Trade Commission goes to trial April 29 against an allegedly anti-competitive hospital merger, the agency won't have to contend with defense assertions that its structure is unconstitutional right away, but a North Carolina federal judge refused Thursday to scrub them entirely.

Expert Analysis

  • Conn. Certificate-Of-Need Law Will Bring Greater Efficiency

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    A new Connecticut law benefits health care organizations by establishing more concrete deadlines and requirements for the state's certificate-of-need law enforcer, and allows the enforcement agency to carry out its duties more efficiently, say attorneys at Robinson & Cole.

  • Steps To Success For Senior Associates

    Excerpt from Practical Guidance
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    Adriana Paris at Rissman Barrett discusses the increased responsibilities and opportunities that becoming a senior associate brings and what attorneys in this role should prioritize to flourish in this stressful but rewarding next level in their careers.

  • Legal Profession Must Do More For Lawyers With Disabilities

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    At the start of Disability Pride month, Rosalyn Richter at Arnold & Porter looks at why lawyers with disabilities are significantly underrepresented in private practice, asserting that law firms and other employers must do more to conquer the implicit bias that deters attorneys from seeking accommodations.

  • Scope Of FTC's Health Info Enforcement May Expand

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    The Federal Trade Commission's proposed amendments to the Health Breach Notification Rule signal the agency's mounting efforts to regulate consumer health information beyond the reaches of the Health Information Portability and Accountability Act, which does not cover many recent health apps and technologies, say Jodi Daniel and Brandon Ge at Crowell & Moring.

  • Appellate Funding Disclosure: No Mandate Is Right Choice

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    The Advisory Committee on Appellate Rules' recent decision, forgoing a mandatory disclosure rule for litigation funding in federal appeals, is prudent, as third-party funding is only involved in a minuscule number of federal cases, and courts have ample authority to obtain funding information if necessary, says Stewart Ackerly at Statera Capital.

  • How NY Law Affects Scrutiny Of Health Care PE Transactions

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    A recently passed New York law will strengthen pretransanction notification requirements for health care entities — particularly those backed by private equity — but contains several ambiguities that will hopefully be clarified before the law takes effect in August, say attorneys at Norton Rose.

  • How Attys Can Avoid Exposing Their Firms To Cyberattacks

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    Attorneys are the weakest link in their firms' cyberdefenses because hackers often exploit the gap between individuals’ work and personal cybersecurity habits, but there are some steps lawyers can take to reduce the risks they create for their employers, say Mark Hurley and Carmine Cicalese at Digital Privacy & Protection.

  • Virginia 'Rocket Docket' Slowdown Is Likely A Blip

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    After being the fastest or second-fastest federal civil trial court for 14 straight years, the Eastern District of Virginia has slid to 18th place, but the rocket docket’s statistical tumble doesn't mean the district no longer maintains a speedy civil docket, says Robert Tata at Hunton.

  • A Look At 2023's Major NLRB Developments Thus Far

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    Over the last six months, the National Labor Relations Board has broadened its interpretation and enforcement of the National Labor Relations Act, including increasing penalties and efforts to prohibit restrictive covenants and confidentiality agreements, say Eve Klein and Elizabeth Mincer at Duane Morris.

  • Preparing For Md. Adult-Use Cannabis: Licensing Provisions

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    As the launch of Maryland’s adult-use cannabis market quickly approaches, current and prospective businesses will need to understand key provisions and limitations related to license conversion, qualifying partnerships, social equity applications and microlicenses, say Seth Gitner and Jonathan Havens at Saul Ewing.

  • FTC's Amgen-Horizon Protest Raises Conglomerate Concerns

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    The Federal Trade Commission's challenge to Amgen Inc.'s proposed $28 billion acquisition of Horizon Therapeutics is the agency's first move in four decades based on a conglomerate theory of competitive harm, and might pose new antitrust risks for transactions beyond the pharmaceutical sector, say attorneys at WilmerHale.

  • 5 Management Tips To Keep Law Firm Merger Talks Moving

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    Many law firm mergers that make solid business sense still fall apart due to the costs and frustrations of inefficient negotiations, but firm managers can increase the chance of success by effectively planning and executing merger discussions, say Lisa Smith and Kristin Stark at Fairfax Associates.

  • What 3rd Circ. Niaspan Decision Means For Class Cert.

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    The Third Circuit's recent denial of class certification in the Niaspan antitrust case underscores its particularly stringent understanding of the implicit ascertainability requirement, which further fuels confusion in the courts, threatens uneven results and increases the risk of forum shopping, says Michael Lazaroff at Rimon Law.