Posted on November 5, 2009 at 6:29 AM
Filed under: Acquisitions | Law
Tagged: Jeffrey Schmidt , Linklaters , The Deal Economy 2010

Candidate Barack Obama talked plenty during last year's presidential campaign about the need for more aggressive antitrust merger reviews. Have the Federal Trade Commission and the Department of Justice delivered? We put the question to Jeffrey Schmidt, a partner in the New York office of Linklaters and a former director...  Continue reading

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Posted on October 28, 2009 at 10:24 AM
Filed under: Careers | Divesting and Restructuring | Law | People
Tagged: Anheuser-Busch InBev , Francine Katz , John E. Jacob

The former most powerful woman at Anheuser-Busch InBev SA (NYSE:BUD) has a beef with the brewing giant. Francine Katz, former vice president of communications and consumer affairs, is suing Anheuser, claiming it promotes a "locker room" and "frat-party" atmosphere, and pays women less in salaries and bonuses than men for...  Continue reading

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Posted on October 27, 2009 at 8:08 AM
Filed under: Law
Tagged: Butzel Long , Eric Fisher , Galleon , IBM , Robert Moffat

IBM Corp. (NYSE:IBM) executive Robert Moffat's alleged role in the Galleon Group insider trading scandal has shocked former colleagues and acquaintances. This Bloomberg article quotes a few of them and also offers a profile of the long-time IBMer. What jumped out at us was a comment from Kaufman Bros. LP...  Continue reading

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Posted on October 14, 2009 at 9:10 AM
Filed under: Acquisitions | Corporate Strategy | Intellectual property | Law
Tagged: Gizmo5 , Janus Friis , Niklas Zennstrom , Skype

Skype may spend $50 million on an acquisition as it faces a lawsuit that targets the very foundation of the voice-over-Internet-protocol company. Citing multiple sources, TechCrunch.com says Skype is in negotiations to buy peer-to-peer VoIP startup Gizmo5, which has a Skype-like service with about 6 million users.The backstory: Throwing a...  Continue reading

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Posted on October 8, 2009 at 4:25 PM
Filed under: Acquisitions | Law
Tagged: Computer & Communications Industry Association , DOJ , Edward Black , IBM Corp. , Platform Solutions Inc.

When we learned early Thursday that the Department of Justice was investigating IBM Corp. (NYSE:IBM) for monopolistic behavior in the mainframe market, our first thought was: What if Platform Solutions Inc. had held on a little longer? (The Deal Pipeline subscribers can get details of the DOJ investigation here.)Until IBM...  Continue reading

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Posted on August 12, 2009 at 11:31 AM
Filed under: Deal International | Law
Tagged: Microsoft Corp. (Nasdaq: MSFT) , MS Word , Windows

Bad news for Mr. Softee. A patent infringement suit filed by Toronto-based i4i Inc. has resulted in a U.S. federal judge effectively banning Microsoft Corp. (NASDAQ:MSFT) from selling Word -- a key program in its cash-cow Office application suite. Judge Leonard Davis, of the U.S. District Court for the Eastern...  Continue reading

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Posted on July 31, 2009 at 2:01 PM
Filed under: Acquisitions | Law | Trends
Tagged: Aetna Inc. , Amy Klobuchar , Byron Dorgan , CVS Caremark , DOJ , FTC , Mark Pryor , National Community Pharmacists Association , PBM , Roger Wicker , Russ Feingold

When CVS Corp. combined with pharmacy benefits manager Caremark Rx Inc. for $26 billion, creating CVS Caremark Corp. (NYSE:CVS) in 2007, some heads turned at the drugstore's aggressive move into PBM, where it faces possible conflicts of interest.Lately, objections to CVS' dual role as both a major seller of medicines...  Continue reading

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Posted on July 29, 2009 at 4:39 PM
Filed under: Acquisitions | Careers | Law | Movers & Shakers | People
Tagged: Charles James , Chevron , DOJ , Ecuador oil spill , Hunton & Williams , R. Hewitt Pate , Texaco

Some things are tough to gauge in due diligence -- for example, the chance of  a mere billion-dollar lawsuit turning into an international  donnybrook, with one side demanding a $27 billion settlement. That's the situation for Chevron Corp. (NYSE:CVX), which is facing claims in Ecuador over waste dumping there from...  Continue reading

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Posted on July 15, 2009 at 1:52 PM
Filed under: Acquisitions | Law
Tagged: Merck & Co. , Schering-Plough Corp. , Vytorin , Zetia

Merck & Co. (NYSE:MRK) and Schering-Plough Corp. (NYSE:SGP) have agreed to settle civil claims related to their jointly marketed cholesterol drugs. The companies were accused of delaying the release of unfavorable test results on Vytorin and Zetia, blockbuster drugs marketed through a Merck-Schering-Plough joint venture. On Wednesday, the partners settled...  Continue reading

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Posted on July 15, 2009 at 1:05 PM
Filed under: Acquisitions | Corporate Strategy | Deal International | Growth Strategy | Law | Trends
Tagged: China National Heavy Duty Truck , Coca-Cola , Hummer , MAN SE , Rio Tinto , Sinotruk , Volvo

Wednesday's announcement that German truckmaker MAN SE will acquire 25% of Chinese peer Sinotruk Ltd. for €560 million ($397 million) comes as cross-border deals travel bumpy roads in China.MAN chief executive Håkan Samuelsson has the advantage of dealing with Sinotruk in the past, saying, "This important partnership is based on...  Continue reading

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