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More than six months into a new Donald Trump administration, the mergers and acquisitions boom that many market observers anticipated has failed to materialize. In part one of this two-part M&A review, industry attorneys discussed market activity so far this year, how geopolitical factors are impacting the dealmaking environment, and their outlook for the remainder of 2025.
Law360
Mergers & Acquisitions
MONDAY, JULY 7, 2025

TOP NEWS

Analysis

Mid-Year M&A Deal Flow Suffers Amid Global Instability

By Al Barbarino

More than six months into a new Donald Trump administration, the mergers and acquisitions boom that many market observers anticipated has failed to materialize. In part one of this two-part M&A review, industry attorneys discussed market activity so far this year, how geopolitical factors are impacting the dealmaking environment, and their outlook for the remainder of 2025.

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Sidley, A&O Shearman Steer Athora's £5.7B Pensions Biz Buy

By Najiyya Budaly

Retirement group Athora Holding Ltd. will buy U.K. buyout specialist Pension Insurance Corp. for £5.7 billion ($7.8 billion) from an investment consortium, the companies have confirmed, a transaction that will create an insurance savings heavyweight in Europe.

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Analysis

Capital Markets Upturn Sets Stage For Second-Half Rebound

By Tom Zanki

Deals attorneys are approaching the second half of 2025 increasingly confident that capital markets' activity will accelerate despite potential headwinds stemming from higher tariffs, interest rate uncertainties and geopolitical turmoil.

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Thoma Bravo Buying Restaurant Platform Olo In $2B Deal

By Al Barbarino

Software-focused private equity firm Thoma Bravo has agreed to purchase New York-based Olo Inc., a software-as-a-service platform for restaurants, in an all-cash transaction that gives Olo an approximately $2 billion equity value, the companies said Thursday.

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SUPREME COURT

Analysis

The Firms That Won Big At The Supreme Court

By Jack Karp

The number of law firms juggling three or more arguments before the U.S. Supreme Court this past term nearly doubled from the number of firms that could make that claim last term.

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Analysis

Circuit-By-Circuit Recap: Justices Send Message To Outliers

By Jeff Overley

It was a tough term at the U.S. Supreme Court for two very different circuits — one solidly liberal, one solidly conservative — that had their rulings overturned in eye-popping numbers. But it was another impressive year for a relatively moderate circuit that appears increasingly simpatico with the high court.

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Analysis

Breaking Down The Vote: The High Court Term In Review

By Jack Karp

The U.S. Supreme Court once again waited until the term's closing weeks — and even hours — to issue some of its most anticipated and divided decisions.

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Analysis

The Moments That Shaped The Universal Injunction Case

By Cara Bayles and Steven Trader

The U.S. Supreme Court voted along ideological lines when it hindered the ability of federal district court judges to issue nationwide pauses on presidential policies, but that outcome didn't seem like a foregone conclusion during oral arguments earlier this year. What do the colloquies suggest about the justices' thinking? Here are some moments that may have swayed them.

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DEALS

Pinsent Masons-Led Chesnara To Buy HSBC Life For £260M

By Tom Fish

British pensions company Chesnara PLC said Thursday it has agreed to acquire the specialist life protection and investment bond provider of banking giant HSBC for £260 million ($355 million) to give the group a "material step up in scale."

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Brookfield Business Partners Sells Stake To Evergreen Fund

By Jade Martinez-Pogue

Brookfield Business Partners, the flagship listed vehicle of Brookfield Asset Management, on Thursday announced that it has agreed to sell a portion of its stake in three businesses to a new evergreen private equity strategy managed  by the group.

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Deals Rumor Mill

Citgo, Castrol Field Billion-Dollar Bids, And More Deal Rumors

By Al Barbarino

Vitol submitted a more than $10 billion bid to buy the parent of Venezuela-owned U.S. refiner Citgo Petroleum, according to Wednesday reports, but subsequent news indicated that it might not be enough to beat out the competition. Castrol, which is BP's lubricant arm, is also running an auction process, with private equity firm Clayton Dubilier & Rice reportedly emerging as one of the latest bidders. 

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Brief

Investor EQT To Acquire Stake In Life Sciences Products Biz

By Irene Madongo

Swedish investor EQT Group said Thursday that its healthcare business has agreed to acquire a majority stake in life sciences research company Europa Biosite. 

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MERGER REVIEW

CMA To Review Global Payments' $24.2B Worldpay Deal

By Chart Riggall

British competition officials said this week that they were beginning their initial evaluation of Global Payments Inc.'s plans, unveiled earlier this year, to purchase payments giant Worldpay from GTCR and FIS for $24.25 billion.

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LITIGATION

NY Landlord Sues Walmart, Others In Del. Alleging Fraud

By Jeff Montgomery

A New York City landlord sued Walmart Inc. and the bankruptcy successor to Bonobos Inc. in Delaware's Court of Chancery late Thursday, asserting hundreds of million in claims and compensatory and punitive damages under both Delaware and New York law arising from an allegedly fraudulent transfer of a Fifth Avenue retailer's lease and obligations.

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Implant Co. Sues Zimmer Biomet In Del. Over Milestone Miss

By Jeff Montgomery

A securityholder representative for biomaterial implant developer Embody Inc. has accused Zimmer Biomet Holdings Inc. of buying Embody and then immediately undermining the new subsidiary's ability to hit product development milestones worth some $120 million, according to a recently unsealed complaint.

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Tyson Settles Fight With Chicken Farmers Over Mo. Plant Sale

By Gina Kim

Tyson Foods has settled its declaratory action against Skaggs Bros & Sons Farms LLC that sought an order finding its sale of a shuttered broiler chicken processing plant to Cal-Maine Foods Inc. last year didn't violate antitrust laws, according to a notice filed in Missouri federal court.

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PEOPLE

Morgan Lewis Attorney Joins Holland & Knight's NY Team

By Jack Rodgers

A Morgan Lewis & Bockius LLP lawyer who split his time between the firm's New York and Moscow offices has joined Holland & Knight LLP in New York where he'll continue his practice focused on cross-border transactions and other corporate matters.

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EXPERT ANALYSIS

FTC Focus: Enforcers Study AI Innovation And Entrenchment

The Federal Trade Commission and other regulators setting their sights on the burgeoning artificial intelligence ecosystem are considering how the government should approach innovation in tech markets that tend, almost inevitably, toward concentration, say attorneys at Proskauer.

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How Trump's Trade Policies Are Shaping Foreign Investment

Five months into the Trump administration, investors are beginning to see the concrete effects of the president’s America First Investment Policy as it presents new opportunities for clearing transactions more quickly, while sustaining risk aversion related to Chinese trade and potentially creating different political risks, say attorneys at Covington.

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Series

My Opera And Baseball Careers Make Me A Better Lawyer

Though participating in opera and the world of professional baseball often pulls me away from the office, my avocations improve my legal career by helping me perform under scrutiny, prioritize team success, and maintain joy and perspective at work, says Adam Unger at Herrick Feinstein.

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LEGAL INDUSTRY

Legal Sector Jobs Continue To Climb, Nearing All-Time High

By Aebra Coe

The U.S. legal industry added 2,800 jobs in June, marking four months in a row of job growth in the sector, according to preliminary data released Thursday by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

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Spectrum, Border, Injunction Changes Included In Mega Bill

By Courtney Bublé

The House voted 218-214, almost along party lines, on Thursday on the reconciliation budget package, which includes a range of policy provisions on nationwide injunctions, spectrum and immigration and now goes to President Donald Trump's desk ahead of the decided Fourth of July deadline.

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Ex-Treasury Official Joins Covington's Nat'l Security Practice

By Madeline Lyskawa

Covington & Burling LLP has boosted its national security practice with the hire of the former head of the U.S. Department of the Treasury's Office of Terrorism and Financial Intelligence under former President Barack Obama's administration as of counsel.

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Supreme Court Takes Up Transgender Sports Bans

By Katie Buehler and Alex Lawson

The U.S. Supreme Court agreed Thursday to hear challenges to West Virginia and Idaho laws barring transgender athletes from competing on sports teams consistent with their gender identity, putting yet more anti-trans legislation to the test after upholding Tennessee's ban on gender-affirming care for minors this term. 

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Analysis

ÃÛÌÒÊÓÆµ Funding Cut Could Alter Injunction Calculus At DC Circ.

By Jon Hill

The steep funding cut that Republicans have passed for the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau could strengthen the Trump administration's position in its court fight to resume downsizing the agency, even if it doesn't directly resolve the legal questions at play.

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Justices Extend Due Process Pause To South Sudan Removals

By Katie Buehler

The U.S. Supreme Court clarified Thursday that its recent order allowing the Trump administration to send noncitizens to countries they have no connection to with little notice or chance to object extends to a group of men the government plans to send to South Sudan.

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139 EPA Workers Put On Leave For Letter Critical Of Trump

By Hailey Konnath

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency confirmed Thursday that it had placed 139 employees on administrative leave after they signed onto a letter criticizing the Trump administration's policies as undermining the agency's "mission of protecting human health and the environment."

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'Whiz Honor' Judge Denies Disrepute From Slinging Steaks

By Matthew Santoni

A Philadelphia County Court of Common Pleas judge is accusing the state's judicial ethics board of showing "animus" toward him with its investigation of his moonlighting at his wife's cheesesteak restaurant, saying he did not tout his judgeship to promote the business or bring disrepute upon the bench.

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Pa. Judge's COVID Fraud Charges Survive Dismissal Bid

By P.J. D'Annunzio

A Pennsylvania state judge accused of misusing COVID-19 unemployment relief money to pay his law firm's staff has lost a bid to shake the criminal charges he's facing, as a federal judge rejected the state judge's argument that prosecutors withheld his ex-workers' employment records that he sought to determine their credibility.

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Analysis

SEC Signals Openness To Novel Crypto ETPs

By Aislinn Keely

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission appears to be laying the groundwork to approve increasingly innovative crypto exchange-traded products with a staff statement on disclosure expectations and the recent approval of a novel fund, but experts said the commission's openness comes with a focus on fulsome disclosure.

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Analysis

What Judges Might Ponder In Judicial Safety Law Challenge

By Carla Baranauckas

A Third Circuit panel set to examine the constitutionality of a judicial safety law born out of the murder of a New Jersey federal judge's son is tasked with what experts are viewing as a lesser-of-two-evils choice: chilling free speech or chilling public service.

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Roundup

UK Litigation Roundup: Here's What You Missed In London

By Max Austin

The past week in London has seen the owner of Crystal Palace and the troubled Olympique Lyonnais football clubs sue its current chief executive John Textor, Fieldfisher faces a claim by Georgian businessman Zaza Okusahvili, and a dispute partner at Travers Smith file a personal injury claim against the firm.

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GC Cheat Sheet: The Hottest Corporate News Of The Week

By Michele Gorman

Target's board faces a shareholder derivative suit that accuses the retail giant of damaging the company by implementing an LGBTQ+ Pride-themed marketing campaign, despite knowing the risk of "public backlash." Meanwhile, SolarWinds and the SEC are close to resolving a novel case that alleges the software developer hid faulty cybersecurity practices before a major breach. These are some of the stories in corporate legal news you may have missed in the past week.

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Law360's Legal Lions Of The Week

By Kevin Penton

The Becket Fund for Religious Liberty leads this week's edition of Law360 Legal Lions, after the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that a Maryland school district burdened parents' religious rights when it declined to provide opt-outs from a policy that introduced LGBTQ-themed storybooks into its K-12 English curriculum.

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LAW FIRMS IN TODAY'S NEWS

A&O Shearman

AFN Law PLLC

Addleshaw Goddard

Agnifilo Intrater

Arnold & Porter

Axinn Veltrop

Baker Botts

Baker McKenzie

Ballard Spahr

Barnes & Thornburg

Bartlit Beck

Blank Rome

Boies Schiller

Boulware Law

Buchanan Ingersoll

Bucher Law PLLC

Bunsow De Mory

CMS Cameron McKenna

Clarke Willmott

Cleary Gottlieb

Clement & Murphy

Constangy Brooks

Cooley LLP

Covington & Burling

DWF LLP

Davis Woolfe

Debevoise & Plimpton

Dechert LLP

Dewey & LeBoeuf

Edwin Coe

Eversheds Sutherland

Farnan LLP

Fenchurch Law

Fieldfisher

FisherBroyles

Foley & Lardner

Freeths LLP

Gibbons PC

Gibson Dunn

Goodwin Procter

Gordon Rees Scully Mansukhani

Gowling WLG

Greenberg Traurig

Greenspoon Marder

Gupta Wessler

Haun Mena

Hausfeld LLP

Herbert Smith Freehills

Herrick Feinstein

Heyman Enerio

Hill Dickinson

Hogan Lovells

Holland & Knight

Hughes Hubbard

Humphries Kerstetter

Jones Day

Katten Muchin

Kennedys Law LLP

Keystone Law

King & Spalding

Kirkland & Ellis

Klein Thomas

Korein Tillery

Latham & Watkins

Lewis Brisbois

Limbaugh Firm

Lomurro Munson

Lowenstein Sandler

Manatt Phelps

McDermott Will & Emery

McElroy Deutsch

McManis Faulkner

Milbank LLP

Mishcon de Reya

Morgan & Morgan

Morgan Lewis

Morrison Foerster

Nabarro LLP

Parlatore Law Group

Paul Hastings

Pierson Ferdinand LLP

Pinsent Masons

Proskauer Rose

Pryor Cashman

Quinn Emanuel

RKW LLC

Raj Ferber

Reed Smith

Riker Danzig

Seyfarth Shaw

Shapiro Arato

Sharpe Pritchard

Sheppard Mullin

Sidley Austin

Simon Paschal

Simpson Thacher & Bartlett LLP

Skadden Arps

Slaughter and May

Stephenson Harwood

Stikeman Elliott

Stinson LLP

Stoel Rives

Sullivan & Cromwell

Thompson Hine

Travers Smith

Troutman

Tucker Arensberg

Wachtell Lipton

Walker Morris LLP

Whiteford Taylor

Wilkin Chapman Rollits

Williams & Connolly

WilmerHale

Withersworldwide

Wood Smith

Wright Close & Barger

COMPANIES IN TODAY'S NEWS

ABN AMRO Bank NV

AIT Worldwide Logistics Inc.

Abu Dhabi Investment Authority

Allianz Global Corporate & Specialty SE

Alphabet Inc.

American Bankers Association

American Civil Liberties Union

American International Group Inc.

Apollo Global Management LLC

Apple Inc.

Aspen Insurance Holdings Ltd.

Association of Corporate Counsel

Authentic Brands Group Inc.

Aviva SA

Berkshire Hathaway Energy GT&S

Bonobos

Brookfield Asset Management Ltd.

CDK Global Inc.

CITGO Petroleum Corp.

CTIA

CVC Capital Partners Ltd.

Cal-Maine Foods Inc.

Cboe Global Markets Inc.

Chime Financial Inc.

Clayton Dubilier & Rice LLC

Colorado Rockies

Competitive Carriers Association

Cvent Inc.

Dealogic LLC

Discovery Land Co.

DoorDash Inc.

Drummond

ENI SpA

Equifax Inc.

Financial Times Group Ltd.

GTCR LLC

Global Payments Inc.

Gold Reserve Inc

Google LLC

Guy Carpenter & Co. LLC

HSBC Holdings PLC

Harvard University

Houlihan Lokey Inc.

Human Rights First

Institutional Shareholder Services Inc.

Insurance Europe Ltd.

International Business Machines Corp.

Lands' End Inc.

LexisNexis Legal & Professional

LinkedIn Corp.

Lone Star Funds

Major League Baseball Inc.

Major Lindsey & Africa LLC

Medtronic PLC

Microsoft Corp.

NFL Enterprises LLC

NVIDIA Corp.

National Collegiate Athletic Association

National Treasury Employees Union

New York Jets LLC

New York Post

New York Yankees

Olo Inc.

Oracle Corp.

Pfizer Inc.

Philadelphia Eagles

Planned Parenthood Federation

Pro Bono Institute

RELX PLC

Reebok International Ltd.

Reliance Industries

Savills PLC

Skanska UK Plc

Smith & Wesson Brands Inc.

SolarWinds Corp.

Sotheby's

StubHub Inc.

Supervalu Inc.

TMX Group Ltd.

The Philadelphia Inquirer LLC

The Salvation Army

The Wireless Infrastructure Association

Thoma Bravo LLC

Thomson Reuters Corp.

TikTok Inc.

Tyson Foods Inc.

United Airlines Holdings Inc.

United States Telecom Association

Valve Corp.

Verint Systems Inc.

Vista Equity Partners Management LLC

Vitol Inc.

WHP Global

Walmart Inc.

Werner Enterprises Inc.

Worldpay LLC

ZEDRA

Zimmer Biomet Holdings Inc.

e.l.f. Beauty Inc.

GOVERNMENT AGENCIES IN TODAY'S NEWS

Bureau of Alcohol Tobacco Firearms and Explosives

Bureau of Labor Statistics

Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States

Competition and Markets Authority

Consumer Financial Protection Bureau

Delaware Court of Chancery

European Union

Executive Office of the President

Federal Communications Commission

Federal Deposit Insurance Corp.

Federal Reserve System

Federal Trade Commission

Financial Ombudsman Service

Food and Drug Administration

Government of Mexico

Internal Revenue Service

New Jersey Legislature

Nuclear Regulatory Commission

Office of Foreign Assets Control

Office of the Comptroller of the Currency

Prudential Regulation Authority

Texas Supreme Court

U.S. Attorney's Office for the Middle District of Pennsylvania

U.S. Department of Defense

U.S. Department of Health and Human Services

U.S. Department of Homeland Security

U.S. Department of Justice

U.S. Department of Labor

U.S. Department of State

U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs

U.S. Department of the Treasury

U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia

U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Missouri

U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Pennsylvania

U.S. Environmental Protection Agency

U.S. House of Representatives

U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission

U.S. Senate

U.S. Supreme Court

U.S. Tax Court

UK High Court