Achievements

A Latham M&A and tax team represents Endeavor in its US$25 billion take-private acquisition by Silver Lake, a global leader in technology investing. The transaction is the largest private equity sponsor take-private in 10 years and largest ever in the media and entertainment sector.

A cross-practice Latham team advised Bridgepoint and the Canada Pension Plan Investment Board (CPP Investments) on the sale of Dorna Sports S.L. to Liberty Media in a transaction that values the company at €4.2 billion. Dorna is the international sports management, media, and marketing company that holds the global rights to organize the MotoGP and WSBK Championships, which together represent the two preeminent motorcycle racing series in the world.

A Latham private equity team has advised SRS Distribution (SRS), a Leonard Green & Partners and Berkshire Partners portfolio company, on its US$18.25 billion acquisition by The Home Depot. Since its founding in 2008, SRS has become a leading distributor in the United States in the residential roofing, landscape, and pool supply markets, with more than 760 branches across 47 states. The Home Depot is the world’s largest home improvement retailer.

A multidisciplinary Latham team with extensive technology experience has advised social media icon Reddit, Inc., a community of communities, on its high-profile US$748 million initial public offering, one of the largest IPOs of 2024 to date. The shares began trading on the New York Stock Exchange on March 21, 2024, under the ticker symbol RDDT.

Latham’s London and European office teams advised a group of 14 arranging banks on a £1.6 billion debt financing for Motor Fuel Group’s (MFG) acquisition of petrol forecourts from Morrisons. The acquisition will position MFG as one of the largest and most significant ultra-rapid EV charge point operators in the UK, with over 1,300 sites serving and powering millions of customers a week.

A cross-border Latham team advised Athens International Airport S.A. — the operator of the largest airport in Greece with more than 28 million passengers in 2023 — on the listing of its shares on the regulated market of the Athens Stock Exchange (ATHEX). The landmark transaction represents the first major listing in Europe in 2024 and the biggest initial public offering in Greece in over 15 years.

A multidisciplinary Latham team represented the buyer group on all aspects of its acquisition of Jackson Hole Mountain Resort (JHMR), an iconic mountain destination in Teton Village, Wyoming. The buyers, which include JHMR Board Members Eric Macy, Mike Corbat, their families and a small, select group of co-investors, take over for the Kemmerer family after 31 years of ownership.

A cross-border Latham team advised NFL icon Tom Brady in an agreement to form Team Brady, leading to the team’s win at the inaugural UIM E1 World Championship race in Jeddah — the all-new electric raceboat competition. On February 3, 2024, the final day of the race concluded with a convincing win by Team Brady, after two days of tense competition in front of thousands of fans on the Red Sea. Brady’s team ownership was announced in July 2023.

A Latham Investment Funds team represented TJC LP (TJC), a middle-market private equity firm, on the formation of its Resolute Fund VI (the Fund), totaling US$6.85 billion. The Fund was oversubscribed and closed above its initial hard cap of US$6 billion. Institutional investors, including public pension funds, multinational corporations, insurance companies, fund of funds, endowments, foundations, and family offices invested in the Fund.

Latham has advised BridgeBio Pharma, a commercial-stage biopharmaceutical focused on genetic diseases and cancers, in the largest private capital financing so far in 2024, one of the largest private capital financings in life sciences in the last five years, and one of the largest combined senior debt and royalty transactions in the last decade. The strategic investment brings in capital of up to US$1.25 billion and strengthens BridgeBio’s balance sheet for near term, major commercial launches and other strategic growth programs.

A cross-border Latham team has advised the committee of senior secured noteholders in the successful completion of the debt restructuring of Naviera Armas group, a leading passenger and freight ferry operator based in the Canary Islands. The complex transaction is one of the first to make use of the new Spanish restructuring framework incorporated into the Spanish Insolvency Act in September 2022, implementing the European Preventive Restructuring Directive. The plan, also impacting the group’s Luxembourg guarantors, is among the first where Spanish courts have issued orders with extraterritorial effect to support a restructuring plan, setting a further precedent for future cross-border restructurings.

Latham obtained another major decision for Saudi National Bank (SNB, formerly Samba Financial Group (Samba) until its merger with National Commercial Bank on April 1, 2021), one of Saudi Arabia’s largest banks, in the context of the claims brought by a Cayman Islands Company, Saad Investments Company Limited (SICL) and its liquidators, that Samba knowingly received trust assets in part settlement of a client’s debts. The UK Supreme Court held that a claim for knowing receipt cannot be made if a claimant’s equitable interest in the property in question has been extinguished by the time of the defendant’s knowing receipt of the property. The judgment represents a development in the law and one of significant relevance to equity and trusts practitioners.

A Latham corporate deal team advises Manchester United in an agreement under which Chairman of INEOS, Sir Jim Ratcliffe, will acquire 25% of Manchester United’s Class B shares and up to 25% of Manchester United’s Class A shares and provide an additional US$300 million to enable future investment into Old Trafford. INEOS will be delegated responsibility for the management of the Club’s football operations.

For scoring a defense verdict for Dow Chemical following a six-week jury trial in San Francisco, a cross-country Latham team won Am Law’s Litigators of the Week contest and shared with the publication the strategies and tactics deployed to achieve the win. 

A Latham London finance team has advised Permira and Blackstone on their landmark private credit loan financing for a voluntary tender offer to acquire all outstanding ordinary Class A shares in Adevinta ASA. Adevinta is the world’s largest online classified advertising business with an extensive footprint and leading marketplace brands. The transaction is one of the largest European buyouts announced in 2023.

A multidisciplinary Latham team advised Healthpeak Properties in its merger with Physicians Realty Trust, a stock-for-stock deal valued at approximately US$21 billion. The combined company will be the leading real estate platform dedicated to healthcare discovery and delivery with a 52 million square foot portfolio.

An interdisciplinary Latham team represents the underwriters in the high-profile initial public offering of Instacart, one of the leading grocery technology companies in North America. Instacart’s shares began trading on the Nasdaq Global Select Market on September 19, 2023.

Latham represents music rights business Litmus Music and Carlyle in a financing to support their creative partnership with music artist Katy Perry. The deal covers all five of Perry’s studio albums released for Capitol Records between 2008 and 2020, which include 16 multi-platinum singles.

A multidisciplinary, cross-border team represents Tapestry, Inc., a house of iconic accessories and lifestyle brands consisting of Coach, Kate Spade, and Stuart Weitzman, on its US$8.5 billion acquisition of Capri Holdings Limited, a global fashion luxury group consisting of Versace, Jimmy Choo, and Michael Kors. The deal establishes a powerful global house of iconic luxury and fashion brands.

A Latham securities litigation team secured a dismissal with prejudice on behalf of the former board members of Switch, Inc. of a purported stockholder class action complaint challenging the US$11 billion take-private transaction of Switch. Showcasing the collaboration of the firm’s deal and litigation teams, Latham guided the clients through the US$11 billion deal on the corporate side, and successfully defended them in the subsequent stockholder class action.

A Latham cross-border, multidisciplinary team advised Revolution Medicine in its acquisition of EQRx, Inc., a move that will enhance Revolution Medicines’ efforts to fulfill its vision to discover, develop and deliver pioneering RAS(ON) Inhibitor drugs on behalf of patients with RAS-addicted cancers. The all-stock transaction is intended to add more than US$1 billion in net cash to Revolution Medicines’ balance sheet.

A cross-discipline, cross-office team of Latham litigators scored a major victory for client U.S. Sugar when the Third Circuit Court of Appeals unanimously affirmed the Delaware federal court’s September 2022 ruling that the purchase of Imperial Sugar by U.S. Sugar is not only not anti-competitive, but also pro-consumer. In fall 2022 Latham delivered a hat trick of victories in rapid succession, successfully defending U.S. Sugar against the US Department of Justice Antitrust Division (DOJ) challenge to the acquisition. As a result, U.S. Sugar successfully closed its purchase of Imperial Sugar in November 2022.

A Latham team advised the publicly traded, leading semiconductor technology company Wolfspeed, Inc. in two financing transactions that total up to US$4 billion, representing one of the largest private capital fundings, largest direct lending transactions, and largest growth financings of 2023. The financing supports Wolfspeed’s previously announced growth plans and is a significant step toward achieving Wolfspeed’s US$6.5 billion global capacity expansion.

A cross-office, multi-department Latham team achieved a decisive victory in the high-profile defamation and antitrust lawsuit brought in Missouri federal court by chess grandmaster Hans Niemann against Latham clients Chess.com. The dispute garnered widespread media coverage, including a segment on ABC’s Nightline, and on June 27, 2023, Judge Audrey G. Fleissig of the Eastern District of Missouri granted defendants’ motion to dismiss, tossing Niemann’s federal antitrust claims with prejudice.