Cooley’s 2025 Tech M&A Year in Review: Tech M&A Revival – Big Deals Keep on Turnin’
Despite early macro-headwinds, tech dealmakers were active in 2025, anchored by strategic acquirers making decisive moves to improve their positioning in a rapidly changing market environment and private equity sponsors undertaking audacious mega-cap take-privates not seen since 2007. Tech M&A increased 36% and 9% year over year by deal value […]
Cooley’s 2025 Activism Retrospective
Activists enjoyed a banner year in 2025. From proxy contest wins at blue-chip companies to a partnership with Taylor Swift’s fiancé, engaged shareholders once again demonstrated their capabilities, creativity and readiness. As we discussed in the fall, this year’s activism menu also included the rise of “withhold” campaigns, notable Delaware […]
FTC Issues 2026 HSR Filing Thresholds, Fee Adjustments and Interlocking Directorate Updates
The Hart-Scott-Rodino (HSR) Act thresholds, which determine whether mergers and acquisitions must be reported to the US Department of Justice (DOJ) and Federal Trade Commission (FTC), will increase by nearly 6% in February 2026. The key minimum “size-of-transaction” threshold will increase from $126.4 million to $133.9 million. These annual adjustments, announced […]
So, you think you can (deal) jump?
As the M&A market fires on all cylinders, we’re seeing a sharp uptick in both competitive sale processes and deal jumps of announced public transactions across sectors, most notably the ongoing hostile bid for Warner Bros. Discovery by Paramount and the explosive bidding war between Pfizer and Novo Nordisk for […]
Sports Investing 101
Investors following the bouncing ball have seen sports emerge as a distinct and compelling asset class. Over the last six months, a series of professional sports franchises have sold at record-breaking valuations. This includes the March sale of the Boston Celtics to an investment group led by William Chisholm for […]
Activism in 2025 and Beyond: Universal Proxy, Litigation Leverage and a New Playbook for Preparedness
Activism didn’t pause in 2025 – it evolved. Campaign counts are up, tactics have multiplied, and boards are settling faster and earlier. As Goldman Sachs’ Neil Rudisill put it on Cooley’s Market Talks panel, “We’re on track for probably the third largest year ever in terms of activism,” with US […]
US Government Shutdown Impact on Antitrust Enforcement – Expect Delays in Merger Review, Investigations, Litigation
With the US federal government now shut down until Congress passes funding legislation, federal agencies have begun furloughing employees. Those furloughs will impact the Department of Justice (DOJ) Antitrust Division and the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) – the federal agencies tasked with enforcing antitrust laws. Key takeaways: Please see the […]
Reincorporation Considerations for Late-Stage Private and Pre-IPO Companies
Companies thinking about, preparing for or going through the initial public offering (IPO) process have many things to do and many decisions to make (to put it mildly!). A relatively recent addition to this list of considerations for Delaware-incorporated companies is whether to reincorporate in a different state, with Nevada […]
CFIUS Non-Notified Transaction Enforcement: Cooley’s Five-Year Lookback
March 2025 marked the fifth anniversary of the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS) initiative to “formalize and centralize” within the Department of the Treasury an enforcement function to identify and investigate “non-notified” transactions (i.e., cross-border acquisition and investment transactions that may have been subject to CFIUS […]
Shifting Sands – Recent Developments in UK Merger Control
The UK’s Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) is taking significant steps to update its approach to merger control following both the coming into force of the Digital Markets, Competition and Consumers (DMCC) Act on 1 January 2025 and the most recent strategic steer from the UK government. While the DMCC […]