LATEST ANALYSIS
October 2010
31 Oct 2010
PMC Sierra Inc, an infrastructure semiconductor solutions provider, recently entered into a $240 million agreement and plan of merger with Israeli innovator Wintegra Inc...
29 Oct 2010
Creditors’ rights, priorities and recovery may stand to suffer from the benign beknighting of the FDIC as the “white knight” of troubled financial companies that...
29 Oct 2010
The gusher of new regulation in the oil and gas space seems unlikely to be capped anytime soon. Offshore drilling, greenhouse gas emissions – the changes have run the gamut...
29 Oct 2010
Proving you can’t keep a good man down, the haunting name of Howard Hughes reemerges in a pre-Halloween IPO...
29 Oct 2010
Though legal battles in the Gulf region are still raging, many foreign companies are trying to expand drilling operations on U.S. soil. Leading the pack is Australia’s…
29 Oct 2010
Norwegian Cruise Lines is setting sail on a new public float. Private equity passengers of the initial public offering cruise will be Apollo Funds and the TPG Viking Funds...
28 Oct 2010
Once again, on November 2nd we will see one of California’s most unique legislative processes in action. Since 1911, California’s ballot initiatives have afforded voters the chance to...
28 Oct 2010
Second liens are to be seen and not heard, at least according to first lien lenders. Yet second lien lenders are piping up more frequently in bankruptcy court and in some cases...
28 Oct 2010
Credit rating agencies are still under siege. Some unlikely forces, however, are rushing to the aid of the besieged credit ratings agencies...
28 Oct 2010
A four-party Israeli biotech deal could see brighter prospects ahead for the visually impaired. Israel’s Cell Cure Neurosciences, Ltd. has been acquired by…
28 Oct 2010
Distributors and distribution channels are undergoing massive change as technological advances, consumer attitudes and an increasingly global economy collide. Multi-national regulation, multilayered contract structures…
28 Oct 2010
Not only is India growing, but it continues to emerge in the UK. This was recently evidenced by Skil Ports, an Indian private port operator, which became only the second listed ports company in the UK with…
27 Oct 2010
As the Dodd-Frank financial overhaul bill moved through Congress this summer, the Securities and Exchange Commission—virtually unnoticed—gained a...
27 Oct 2010
Eleven central banks and two multilateral organisations have signed the articles of agreement establishing the International Islamic Liquidity Management Corporation...
27 Oct 2010
The Supreme Court’s ruling in Morrison v. National Australia Bank wiped “F-cubed” securities class actions off the dockets of U.S. courts, but Dodd-Frank and the SEC may be breathing new life into this litigation class...
27 Oct 2010
Still sizzling from its $4 billion acquisition by 3G Capital, Burger King’s SEC filings lift the bun to reveal what’s underneath…
27 Oct 2010
Private luxury submarines and high seas escapes have become just another plotline in anthology of Dubai-centric litigation. Court dockets belie Dubai’s image of...
27 Oct 2010
Hedge fund activity has ramped up recently in the UK with North American and European businesses looking at London as the place to grow their hedge funds…
27 Oct 2010
The cat is out of the bag. Competition regulators in the Asia Pacific region are unfurling their claws upon hearing the news of Singapore Exchange Limited’s US$8.2 billion bid for ASX…
27 Oct 2010
With gold miners accounting for the lion’s share of global mining M&A in 2010, it seems inevitable that buyers will run out of pure play targets. But the proposed acquisition of…
26 Oct 2010
Following the collapse of Enron, WorldCom and several other major multi-national companies, the capital markets experienced the Era of Accountability 1.0, which included the passage of Sarbanes-Oxley...
26 Oct 2010
Will 2011 see the winter of Dodd-Frank’s discontent? For energy companies using swaps to hedge their positions, new regulatory burdens may stick consumers with the tab for reform…
26 Oct 2010
Earlier this month, Melco Crown Entertainment was rapped with an SEC No-Action Letter in respect to an exchange offer filed by the Macau concessionaire this year…
26 Oct 2010
Leveraged buyouts have been popping up all over the map, even in Australasia, the lands down under. Amidst an atmosphere of recovery, where skittish investors…
25 Oct 2010
In a nail-biting legal battle, Royal Bank of Scotland has sold off Liverpool Football Club to New England Sports Ventures. The cross-border legal fight pitted corporate governance against insolvency standards, and was…
25 Oct 2010
Technology company Extreme Networks Inc. recently averted a proxy battle with activist hedge fund Ramius Group. The belligerents reached a settlement agreement relating to...
25 Oct 2010
The FDIC has recently changed its approach to loss sharing on the sale of failed banks, just in time for the auction of over $1 billion in assets due by Nov. 16, 2010…
25 Oct 2010
It seems the markets continue to be enthusiastic for gold plays. On October 18, Taseko Mines of Vancouver entered into an at the market issuance (ATM) agreement with…
24 Oct 2010
A sparkling $94 million IPO is bubbling up from Israel’s SodaStream. Owned by private equity firm Fortissimo Capital…
22 Oct 2010
Director indemnification has undergone trial by fire, as seen in the recent Mozilo settlement and Stanford trial. D&O indemnification clauses, often regarded as boilerplate in both bylaws and deal documents, are now…
22 Oct 2010
Westlaw Business Currents Editor-In-Chief Ely Razin speaks to Reuters Insider about SEC regulating ABS market...
22 Oct 2010
In addition to overhauling derivatives regulation, Dodd-Frank also plans to pull the cord on golden parachutes…
22 Oct 2010
In a shifting of M&A tectonic plates, the UK Takeover Panel has announced takeover code changes to transfer greater power to target companies and provide transparency into the financing of M&A transactions…
22 Oct 2010
Hearts in India beat just a little faster as Bangalore’s Opto Circuits Ltd. will acquire Bothell, Washington-based Cardiac Science Corp…
22 Oct 2010
For the public issuer, language translation is not a point that can be ignored. As the global nature of modern business expands and more and more issuers seek listings on foreign markets...
22 Oct 2010
MetLife is living large with two new credit agreements obtained from a consortium of lenders…
21 Oct 2010
New York’s biggest and brightest firms have been working overtime to lend their legal expertise across the seven seas. Of interest are their recent dealings…
21 Oct 2010
The hotly anticipated £3.3 billion rights issue by Standard Chartered is a landmark, not only reflecting fears of Basel III, but bringing together a…
21 Oct 2010
JCPenney has settled on a poison pill as the best medicine to stave off a takeover. Putting into place a “Stockholder Protection Rights Agreement,” the Plano, Texas-based retailer...
21 Oct 2010
Private equity maven TPG is bulking up its portfolio with an investment in Schiff Nutrition International...
21 Oct 2010
Eastman Chemical is experimenting with a laboratory full of potent new changes, including a new chairman. The company will undergo a major “declassification” that will see not only an end to…
21 Oct 2010
Offerings of sovereign bonds and government-guaranteed debt can have a rote feel about them. Disclosure is relatively minimal, as compared to a traditional business concern…
20 Oct 2010
Leveraged recapitalizations are back, marking a corporate convalescence that rides the coat tails of recovering capital markets. Companies from...
20 Oct 2010
Undaunted by a mere 914 pages, the SEC has pored over Petrobras’ most recent annual filing in uncanny detail…
20 Oct 2010
Amidst further legislative moves by the Chinese government to cool its red hot property market, Delaware enterprise Dynasty Energy Resources is diving in headfirst…
20 Oct 2010
Google has won a victory in Spain, in what is being seen as a litmus test of European intellectual property rights. The case concerns Spanish media heavyweight Telecino…
20 Oct 2010
Vancouver-based Ivanhoe Mines has announced a “strategic, conditional rights offering” as part of its efforts to fund work at the company’s marquee mining complex and fend off…
20 Oct 2010
Thanks to a lawsuit settlement, Occidental Petroleum’s compensation package gets a shiny new makeover, and plaintiffs’ counsel get $555,000…
20 Oct 2010
Mining a rich vein of disclosures shows not all manufacturers dig rising gold prices. So extraordinary have gold prices become that companies see material risk dictating disclosure...
19 Oct 2010
In an attempt to clarify its approach to investments made prior to the public listing of firms, the listing committee of the Stock Exchange of Hong Kong has found...
19 Oct 2010
Hostile takeovers are on the rise, and litigation is a keystone of both antitakeover defense and offense. Recent hostile moves at Airgas, Genzyme and Potash Corp. spotlight the ways a target’s board can...
19 Oct 2010
BP’s Macondo blowout hasn’t left Camac Energy idling on the beach…
19 Oct 2010
Highly anticipated, the estimated US$14.9 billion initial public offering of AIA has been on the tip of tongues for investors around the globe. The listing, which will take place…
19 Oct 2010
North America’s premier mountain resort, Whistler Blackcomb, is a favorite of travelers from around the world. Now the company is hoping to generate similar interest in the public markets…
18 Oct 2010
The SEC has just proposed new rules to eliminate another (un)intended consequence of Dodd-Frank: The sudden subjection of wealthy family investment offices to required registration, along with hedge funds…
18 Oct 2010
Solar energy is shining brightly around the world, and in some places, its glare is positively blinding…
18 Oct 2010
AB Inbev has registered $8 billion of bonds, replacing privately-issued notes issued in the aftermath of its acquisition of Anheuser-Busch…
18 Oct 2010
AsiaInfo-Linkage, the newly merged affiliate of tech behemoth Lenovo, has wasted no time sealing deals with investors keen on China’s burgeoning telecommunications and...
18 Oct 2010
While many a law firm has cast a jealous eye at the fees paid to agents and underwriters in connection with public offerings, few would be thrilled at the prospect of signing one particular page in the prospectus…
15 Oct 2010
Who needs new homes when builders can create distressed asset portfolios instead? Players like Pulte/Centex, Lennar and Toll Brothers are all showcasing their talents with balance sheets…
15 Oct 2010
The revamp of the asset-backed securities market continues, as the SEC proposes new requirements both for ABS issuers and those providing due diligence services in the background…
15 Oct 2010
Winning style points for transparency, San Diego’s Pub Crawl Holdings is going public. The company’s goal, declares the prospectus, is to become…
15 Oct 2010
Pentagon rules and rapid growth are spurring a new round of M&A war games, as defense companies arm themselves for the future with shock and awe acquisitions of consultancy and technology firms…
15 Oct 2010
Fashion footwear company Steven Madden Ltd. has ridden to the rescue of clothing designer Betsey Johnson…
15 Oct 2010
Chinese companies and western multinationals operating in China continue to feel the heat of an ever growing corporate ethics spotlight…
14 Oct 2010
EarthLink has cast its gaze toward the brave new world beyond dial-up internet service. Late last week, the company announced it would...
14 Oct 2010
Two compelling factors, the May 6 “Flash Crash” and passage of the Dodd-Frank Act, have cried out for oversight joining the SEC and CFTC…
14 Oct 2010
The wheeling & dealing continues for AIG as the once-bailed-out behemoth announced it would exchange more than 74 million equity units…
14 Oct 2010
Still spooked by the shadow of China’s tainted milk scandals, some foreign investors are interested in investing, but only with insurance...
14 Oct 2010
In a rare glimpse into European credit agreements, telecom company Liberty Global has disclosed details of a €2.3 billion forward start refinancing of its…
14 Oct 2010
For a quick lesson in how businesses must compete in the modern environment, one need only consider the cell phone business in Canada. Cutthroat price battles, regulatory, corporate governance and even occasional litigation concerns dominate the arena...
14 Oct 2010
Online auctioneer eBay, Inc., has upped its bid to comply with new board election and proxy rules...
13 Oct 2010
The Great Restructuring Cycle is down, but it certainly is not out. TARP just expired, Citi is recovering, and AIG is converting...
13 Oct 2010
A new special purpose acquisition company offering from embattled sports magnate Tom Hicks shows the erstwhile Texas Rangers owner is still swinging…
13 Oct 2010
U.S. businesses with an Irish holding company structure, and those hoping to similarly re-domesticate, may soon be hoping for the luck of the Irish as they seek to weather an economic crisis that threatens…
13 Oct 2010
As if mediating a children’s dispute, the SEC has stepped into the proxy breach between Genzyme, Inc., and the forces of famed investor Carl Icahn…
13 Oct 2010
Headlines aren’t the only thing up for grabs in Brazil. Just as the Brazilian government upped its stake in the monster Petrobras offering, China has picked up a shiny bauble of its own with…
13 Oct 2010
Manufacturers continue to seek out ways to lock down supplies of critical raw materials, as illustrated by a joint venture established by Dow Corning and Toronto-based…
12 Oct 2010
Clients of all sizes and in virtually all industries express a desire to “go global.” But what does that really mean? Sure, the GDP growth of many countries is rising at a pace faster than our own and…
12 Oct 2010
International banks, fund houses and brokerages that invest in China’s capital market are clutching their licenses with sweaty palms. Among expected changes to the Qualified Foreign Institutional Investor scheme is…
12 Oct 2010
A $625.5 million patent infringement judgment has gnawed Apple to its core. Following a jury verdict finding that Apple infringed three patents, the court declined to issue…
12 Oct 2010
Joining its fellow competitors, China based pharmaceutical company ShangPharma Corporation filed documents for its U.S. initial public offering recently. Not to be confused…
12 Oct 2010
Some companies may feel like they’re being kicked while they’re down, in the wake of a recent Staff Notice issued by the Canadian Securities Administrators…
11 Oct 2010
International banking regulation stepped up a gear this week with the Basel Committee on Banking Supervision issuing a set of principles for enhancing sound corporate governance in banks…
11 Oct 2010
Trust preferred securities are in the headlines again, as the U.S. Treasury prepares to sell over $2 billion in Citigroup’s...
11 Oct 2010
In an effort to insure a recently minted joint venture, Singapore’s Au Optronics has ironed out a detailed IP license and technology transfer agreement with SunPower…
11 Oct 2010
In another example of the return to strength of the Canadian commercial real estate market, Retrocom Mid-Market Real Estate Investment Trust appears to have been amassing cash for potential acquisitions…
11 Oct 2010
Driven by Blackstone’s acquisition appetite, a $503 million debt exchange wraps up a busy time at Graham Packaging Co. The Blackstone-backed container company’s exchange offering highlights...
8 Oct 2010
Thanks to a Dodd-Frank supercharged SEC, the asset-backed securities market may be fundamentally re-regulated and disclosure requirements could be set to grow...
8 Oct 2010
Taking other people’s money has never been so profitable, or so it seems from the explosion of card processing M&A in recent months…
8 Oct 2010
Wall Street is on notice: a hungry plaintiffs’ bar has come after Goldman Sachs and more suits will surely follow…
8 Oct 2010
Late last month, gold explorer Sacre-Coeur Minerals of Vancouver announced it had entered into an agreement to be acquired by Severstal Gold…
7 Oct 2010
Litigation funding continues to self-lubricate as Imperial Holdings could loosen up $50 million through sales of fixed-rate notes...
7 Oct 2010
While the state of the economy has made it more difficult for buyers to obtain the optimal amount of financing desired to consummate leveraged buyouts, buyers have attempted to bridge the financing gap by...
7 Oct 2010
Continental Airlines has a bit of housekeeping to conclude as a result of its recent merger with United…
7 Oct 2010
BP’s facelift is underway with a newly appointed U.S. CEO in place and now, a $3.5 billion bond issue as it hopes to move forward from its Macondo well disaster…
7 Oct 2010
With big M&A can come big change of control payments to executives who, in the minds of some, may not exactly deserve it. With attempted takeovers from Lion’s Gate to Potash Corp...
7 Oct 2010
The top slot is paying off for incoming Trump Entertainment Resorts CEO, Robert Griffin…
7 Oct 2010
The IPO market appears to be heating up, but it is nonetheless a recovering market and is still far from full-blown bull mode…
7 Oct 2010
Credit default swaps are back in the hot seat, with spotlights focused on what constitutes a payment-triggering “credit event” and on the central role that ISDA plays in deciding…
7 Oct 2010
Legendary department store Neiman Marcus and HSBC keep a tight rein on credit card branding…
6 Oct 2010
Following recent approval from the Philippine Securities and Exchange Commission, the country's bourse has put the listing rules for real estate investment trusts into effect as from...
6 Oct 2010
AIG’s sun will rise no more in Japan as Prudential picks up pieces of the shrinking conglomerate’s empire for $4.8 billion…
6 Oct 2010
With hostile takeovers on the rise, corporate governance structures can be a board’s best friend. Interestingly, this is true for both targets and acquirers…
6 Oct 2010
Several weeks after SouFun Holding’s scorching debut on U.S. public markets, the newly minted web company has filed documents outlining investments made by private equity powerhouses…
6 Oct 2010
Visteon Corp, a global automotive supplier, recently disclosed in a regulatory filing it has emerged from Chapter 11. Ford spun off Visteon – its former parts subsidiary – in 2000 and…
6 Oct 2010
Once-embattled Dubai now pushes into the fourth quarter with guarded optimism. Almatis, the German aluminum maker owned indirectly by the Dubai government, has emerged from a closely-watched Chapter 11 bankruptcy…
6 Oct 2010
Whilst known as junk for their financial risk, junk bonds contain more than a trace of legal risk as well, as demonstrated across a range of 2010 offerings...
6 Oct 2010
Michigan-based Consumers Energy Co. is bringing the heat to the bond market with a $300 million issue…
5 Oct 2010
M&A agreements are increasingly opening the shopping door for targets in today’s mergers. Burger King, Dynegy, and NightHawk Radiology Holdings have all...
5 Oct 2010
Hoping to jump-start growth, Chrysler and Toyota have each issued $1.3 billion in asset-backed notes…
5 Oct 2010
Heartland telecom provider Windstream Corp. has dialed up an exchange of its own…
4 Oct 2010
Private equity has been digging deeper into real estate deals, fueled by impending tax changes. Recent deals by Carlyle and others show that these tax changes are…
4 Oct 2010
Songbird Estates, the AIM listed majority owner of Canary Wharf, is to shake off its debt shackles with an open offer to shareholders that seeks to pay off one set of shareholders with another set…
4 Oct 2010
Judgment day is set to descend upon BYD Co, the Buffet-backed PRC automaker that is currently under investigation by the Chinese government for alleged land use violations…
4 Oct 2010
A large settlement and two recent arbitration rulings involving the Canadian government have returned the attention of Canadian businesses to NAFTA…
4 Oct 2010
Spinoff doctor Sun Healthcare Group has prescribed a REIT conversion merger for its Maryland subsidiary…
3 Oct 2010
Bahrain’s Ahli United Bank has looked to London to help issue a $2 billion medium term note program...
1 Oct 2010
The Business Roundtable and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce have filed suit against the SEC over new proxy rules which allow shareholders to submit director nominees to corporate boards…
1 Oct 2010
In a recent regulatory filing, the Cypress Bioscience board of directors unanimously rejected the hostile tender offer by Ramius...
1 Oct 2010
In the midst of Walmart’s acquisition of Massmart, companies are increasingly looking for the next big thing. Africa is starting to look like a continent of possibilities, with minerals, oil and an emerging middle class…
1 Oct 2010
The energy sector is well known for its innovative solutions – green energy, that is. At least one fuel company has translated that innovative spirit into green financing...
1 Oct 2010
Mirroring aspects of Dodd-Frank, Brazil, too, has invited public comment on proposed rule changes for derivatives regulation…
1 Oct 2010
Global Packaging Plus quietly filed a preliminary long-form prospectus for the company’s initial public offering in Canada…
1 Oct 2010
Winn Dixie recently submitted to the SEC a No Action letter to exclude a shareholder proposal regarding executive compensation, “say on pay” from its fiscal 2010 proxy statement...