Executive Summary/Highlights: Global M&A volume in Q3 was US$888 billion, marking the second strongest quarter since 2008, exceeded only by Q2 2014. If deal volume continues at this level, global M&A activity for 2014 would exceed US$3.5 trillion, the highest annual volume since 2007. Deal volume for the first three quarters of 2014 has surged … Continued
Executive Summary: The European Commission has fined Marine Harvest, a Norwegian seafood company and salmon processor, €20 million for acquiring Morpol without prior clearance and not long before, the Court of Justice rejected an appeal against a General Court judgment which upheld a fine imposed, also €20 million, on Electrabel for its acquisition of Compagnie … Continued
Highlights: Considering the Constitutional amendments enacted late last year, resulting in the opening of the energy industry to private investment, especially oil and gas, among other laws, the Federal Executive published the Hydrocarbons Act (“HA”) earlier last month. The HA reaffirms the newly revised principle enshrined in the Mexican Constitution that all hydrocarbons underground belong … Continued
Executive Summary: Poland’s developing economy and entrepreneurial society with investor-friendly government policies create many interesting M&A opportunities. There is a wide variety of companies which are directly or indirectly controlled by the state, or part of global corporations as well as small and medium firms owned by local or European entrepreneurs. Except for privatisations, which … Continued
Executive Summary/Highlights: Global M&A surged in Q2, surpassing US$1 trillion for the first time since the financial crisis, and exceeding the next most active quarter in recent years (Q4 2012) by more than 25%. Global M&A activity in 2014 is on pace to exceed US$3.5 trillion, approaching the $4 trillion mark reached prior to the … Continued
Main Article: The Anti-Monopoly Bureau of the Ministry of Commerce in China (“MOFCOM”) issued a decision last month prohibiting the formation of the P3 Network, a long-term container shipping alliance among A.P. Møller-Maersk, Mediterranean Shipping Company and CMA CGM, which are Danish, Swiss and French companies, respectively. In the six years since the adoption of … Continued
Executive Summary: Pfizer’s potential bid for AstraZeneca Plc provoked strong debate in the UK on the appropriate political oversight of corporate transactions, including concerns that the deal would result in research jobs and R&D investment being lost. This briefing outlines the main legal routes by which the assurances from Pfizer in respect of the UK … Continued
Highlights: On 19 May 2014, the PRC State Administration of Foreign Exchange (“SAFE”) introduced a more streamlined administrative regime for the giving of cross-border security. The validity of any cross-border security agreement is no longer subject to the prior approval, registration, and filing with SAFE, as well as other SAFE administrative requirements. For certain types … Continued
Main Article: On May 2, 2014, the British Columbia Securities Commission (the “BCSC“) determined to allow the shareholder rights plan of Augusta Resource Corporation (“Augusta“) to remain in effect for at least 156 days after the announcement of the unsolicited offer by HudBay Minerals Inc. (“HudBay“) to acquire the shares of Augusta. The BCSC order … Continued
Highlights: Valeant Pharmaceuticals and Pershing Square employed a troubling new tactic in their hostile bid for Allergan. The partnership between an activist hedge fund and a strategic acquirer enables a hostile bidder to establish a large beachhead stake more secretly, quickly and cheaply than before. This lowers the hostile bidder’s cost and enables to hedge … Continued
