Month: February 2026
2026 Antitrust Outlook: Learnings From the First Year of ‘America First’ Enforcement
Following the transition to the second Trump administration, the Department of Justice (DOJ) and Federal Trade Commission (FTC) pivoted toward a more “business-friendly” posture in many respects, while pursuing other aggressive theories of harm, reminiscent of the Biden-era antitrust enforcers. The strategic shift toward an “America First Antitrust” policy in […]
Comparative Playbook: Navigating Conflicts in Delaware and Nevada
Companies approaching or having recently completed an IPO often face increased scrutiny around transactions involving insiders, investor-appointed directors or controlling stockholders. To help boards and management teams navigate these issues, Cooley’s Liz Dunshee and Courtney Tygesson put together a comparative playbook outlining how Delaware and Nevada law each address conflicted transactions […]
UK Merger Control in 2026 – What to Expect
In 2025, the UK Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) signalled a significant shift in its enforcement and merger review priorities, emphasising its alignment with the UK government’s pro-growth, pro-business agenda. While speeches by CMA executives in previous years had emphasised the need to avoid under-enforcement, including in the context of […]
Cooley’s 2026 Year Ahead for Life Sciences M&A: Competition and Creativity in a Dynamic Environment
This time last year, we wistfully remarked that M&A activity in the life sciences sector had decided to slim down and join the GLP-1 trend. Since then, dealmakers in the space have discovered their appetite again – and then some. Johnson & Johnson (J&J) kicked off 2025 with its $14.6 […]
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 […]