Kirkland & Ellis LLP Represents Arsenal Capital Partners in Final Closing of $875 Million Fund III

Thursday, April 4, 2013

Kirkland & Ellis LLP represented Arsenal Capital Partners, a leading private equity firm that invests in lower middle-market specialty industrial and health care companies, which today announced it completed fundraising for Arsenal Capital Fund III, L.P. The fund was oversubscribed with $875 million of committed capital and exceeded its original target of $750 million. Fund III’s investor base is international in scope, with institutional investors from the United States, Europe and Asia, and consists primarily of endowments and foundations, public and corporate pension plans, diversified financial institutions and family offices.

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Tags:  Kirkland & Ellis LLP

Dickstein Shapiro Deepens Biotech Prosecution Bench; Welcomes Dr. Atulya R. Agarwal, Elan’s Former Chief IP Officer

Thursday, April 4, 2013

Dickstein Shapiro LLP is pleased to announce that Atulya R. Agarwal has joined the firm’s Intellectual Property Practice as partner, effective April 1, in its Palo Alto, California office. He joins the firm from Elan Pharmaceuticals, Inc. where he was a senior vice president and served as Elan’s chief intellectual property officer. Dr. Agarwal has more than two decades of life-sciences experience, including 10-plus years as in-house IP counsel to biopharmaceutical companies. His arrival strengthens the firm’s biotechnology patent prosecution, strategy, and licensing practices in Palo Alto, and his practice will leverage his extensive industry and in-house experience to assist companies in developing IP strategies to maximize the value of their portfolios by protecting assets and products though patent counseling, prosecution, due diligence, transactions, and litigation.

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Tags:   | Silicon Valley

Ogletree Deakins Expands New York City Office, Adds Shareholder Frank Birchfield

Thursday, April 4, 2013

Ogletree, Deakins, Nash, Smoak & Stewart, P.C. (Ogletree Deakins), one of the largest labor and employment law firms representing management, is pleased to welcome William F. “Frank” Birchfield as a shareholder in its New York City office. Birchfield joins Ogletree Deakins after practicing as a partner in the employment group at the employment defense firm Davis Wright Tremaine LLP. With the addition of Birchfield, Ogletree Deakins continues the rapid growth across its network of offices. Since January, the firm has increased its shareholder ranks in its Austin, Los Angeles, Philadelphia, San Diego, St. Louis, and Washington offices.

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Tags:  Ogletree Deakins | New York

Willkie Advises on $878 Million Deal to Take Private American Greetings Corporation

Thursday, April 4, 2013

On April 1, card maker American Greetings Corporation announced that it has signed a definitive agreement to go private in a deal valued at $878 million. Willkie represented Peter J. Solomon Company, financial advisor to the Special Committee of the Board of Directors of American Greetings, in the transaction. The buyout will be made by a newly organized entity owned by the Weiss Family, which founded the company in 1905. The buyout group includes the company’s Chairman, Morry Weiss; Director and Chief Executive Officer, Zev Weiss; and Director, President and Chief Operating Officer, Jeffrey Weiss and related persons and entities. The deal also provides for a $240 million investment by a subsidiary of Koch Industries. Under the agreement, American Greetings Class A and Class B shareholders, excluding the Weiss Family and related entities, will receive $18.20 per share in cash.

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Tags:  Willkie Farr & Gallagher LLP | New York