#WorkforceWednesday: SEC Cracks Down on Private Companies for Violating Whistleblower Protections - Employment Law This Week®
Episode 24: Corporate Oppression Doctrine Meets Sex Discrimination: A Conversation with Professor Meredith Miller
Selling Privately Held Businesses – Interview with Stephen Gulotta, Managing Member, Mintz Levin's New York Office
Entrepreneurs - small startup companies. Avoid costly mistakes and focus on growing a successful business. Theodore B. Howell
*This piece appears in PitchBook’s 2023 Annual US VC Valuations Report. We believe this is the wrong question—we view a reverse merger as "going public" during your cross-over round, rather than as an alternative to an IPO...more
Private companies and their owners face ever-evolving challenges as the market sees new regulations, new deal trends, and new risks in 2024. Below are 10 issues that the owners and leaders of privately held companies should...more
On March 29, 2023, a new exemption from SEC registration for brokers providing services in mergers and acquisitions (“M&A”) transactions officially went into effect. The exemption, outlined in Section 501 of the Consolidated...more
Market Review and Outlook - Slowing economic growth, equity market volatility, stubborn inflation, rising interest rates and geopolitical tensions combined to create a hostile environment for M&A activity in 2022, with...more
A public-to-private transaction ("P2P") is one in which a publicly listed company is acquired and taken into private ownership. Because they involve changes in ownership of public companies, P2Ps are subject to various...more
PE dominance - Private equity and family offices are exerting increasing influence over public takeovers in the UK, with public to private transactions ("P2Ps") making up more than 2/3 of all bids in H1 2021 and...more
In the spring of 2021, one of the hottest markets—the market for special purpose acquisition companies, or SPACs—has “screeched to a halt,” according to CNN. As the SPAC market grew red hot in the past six months, it seemed...more
In recent decisions, the Delaware Court of Chancery continued to follow the Delaware Supreme Court’s mandate from Aruba, Dell and DFC to rely on market-based metrics, when available, to determine fair value in appraisal...more
The Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017 (TCJA) upended public company compensation structures nationwide. Prior to the TCJA, Section 162(m) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended, generally provided for a $1 million...more
HEADLINES - In 2019, European take-private deals backed by private equity reached €34.5 billion over 31 deals - This is 14 per cent higher than 2018 and more than five times the total deal value seen just five years...more
In line with the wider US M&A markets, PE deals held firm through 2019 with 1,329 buyouts, worth US$208 billion, representing a decline of 9 percent by volume, but just a 4 percent fall by value relative to 2018. PE...more
As the rest of the world backed away from the deal table, confident US corporates continued buying businesses—especially in the life sciences and TMT sectors, and particularly in the domestic market. US dealmakers had a...more
Despite political and economic uncertainties, markets and deal activity were resilient in 2019, and strong fundamentals remain in place heading into 2020. Companies continue to face a challenging litigation and enforcement...more
In recent years, fintech has been an attractive sector for growth capital, as evidenced by robust investment and M&A valuations in the sector. While interest remained high in 2019, deal volumes began to level off early in the...more
Historically, the sale of a private company carried with it a significant risk of claims by the purchaser. Months or even years after the sale closed, purchasers would frequently contend that the seller’s representations and...more
Companies previously considered immune from activist campaigns have come under pressure, driving new public and private deal opportunities for private equity. US shareholder activists are an established presence in Europe....more
We set out in the attached Newsletter a number of interesting English court decisions and market developments which have taken place in the second half of 2018 and their impact on M&A transactions. This review looks at these...more
On February 2, 2018, the SEC approved the New York Stock Exchange’s proposal to permit qualifying private companies to use “direct listings” to list their shares on the NYSE and become publicly traded without conducting an...more
On October 10, 2016, the Delaware Court of Chancery issued its decision in In re Books-A-Million, Inc. Stockholders Litigation. The decision, authored by Vice Chancellor J. Travis Laster, is important because it applies the...more
The treatment of outstanding stock options and other equity compensation awards is often a key element of a sale transaction. Because stock options can represent considerable value, how they are treated can have a...more
As discussed in our March 2014 and April 2015 newsletters, in the last few years, there have been numerous developments in the law and practice surrounding appraisal rights under Delaware law. That trend has continued with...more
On January 31, the staff of the Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) issued a no-action letter (“No-Action Letter”) permitting an “M&A Broker”, under certain circumstances, to facilitate mergers, acquisitions, business...more
Significant legal requirements may arise under corporate and securities laws when acquiring or investing in a Canadian company or business in Canada. In a proposed acquisition, the ownership structure of the target business...more