Wragge Lawrence Graham & Co advises GlaxoSmithKline on $675 million life sciences deal

Wednesday, February 11, 2015

Wragge Lawrence Graham & Co’s Life Sciences team has advised GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) on the sale of its shareholding interests in biopharmaceutical company Convergence Pharmaceuticals to NASDAQ-listed Biogen Idec. The $675 million deal takes place just four years after the team advised GSK on the spin-out venture which created Convergence.

The deal sees Biogen Idec pay Convergence shareholders an upfront payment of $200 million for the business and its innovative portfolio of drugs for use in the treatment of neuropathic pain. These include products that have demonstrated ‘proof of concept’ for treating conditions such as sciatica and trigeminal neuralgia, which causes severe, episodic facial pain. Shareholders will also be eligible for future milestone payments of up to $475 million, contingent on future milestone events. More >>

Tags:  Gowling WLG | London

Intellectual Property Group Expands Kaye Scholer’s Footprint in Silicon Valley

Wednesday, February 11, 2015

A team of leading intellectual property lawyers has joined Kaye Scholer LLP in the firm’s Silicon Valley office, bringing to the firm extensive patent litigation experience in the Life Sciences and Technology industries. The group is led by Deborah Fishman, who joins as a partner, and includes Krista Carter and Katie Scott, who join as counsel. More >>

Tags:  Arnold & Porter Kaye Scholer LLP | Palo Alto

Debevoise Advises Morgan Stanley Global Private Equity in Completed $410 Million Sale of EmployBridge

Wednesday, February 11, 2015

Debevoise & Plimpton LLP has advised Morgan Stanley Global Private Equity (“MSPE”) in the completed sale of its majority interest in EmployBridge, a leading provider of specialty staffing services, to The Select Family of Staffing Companies, a national provider of workforce management services, for approximately $410 million. MSPE and Constitution Capital acquired EmployBridge for $165 million in May 2011, in a transaction in which Debevoise also advised MSPE. More >>

Tags:  Debevoise & Plimpton LLP | New York | Washington

Arent Fox Adds Two Prominent Intellectual Property Partners in New York

Wednesday, February 11, 2015

Arent Fox LLP is pleased to announce that experienced Intellectual Property lawyers Steven I. Weisburd and Richard LaCava have joined the firm as partners in the New York office. The two attorneys previously practiced together at Dickstein Shapiro, where Mr. Weisburd was deputy leader of the firmwide IP group. Mr. Weisburd and Mr. LaCava both have wide-ranging practices that span transactions and prosecution of patents, as well as litigation and enforcement of IP rights for clients. More >>

Tags:  ArentFox Schiff LLP | New York

Akin Gump Advises Rose Rock Midstream in $325 Million Crude Oil Deal

Wednesday, February 11, 2015

Akin Gump advised the conflicts committee of the board of directors of Rose Rock Midstream, L.P.’s general partner in the partnership’s $325 million purchase of the remaining crude oil assets of SemGroup Corporation, which include the Wattenberg Oil Trunkline System and SemGroup’s 50 percent interest in the Glass Mountain Pipeline. More >>

Tags:  Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld LLP | Houston

Venable Adds Labor and Employment Partner Laura Reathaford in Los Angeles

Tuesday, February 10, 2015

Venable LLP is pleased to announce that Laura Reathaford has joined the firm’s Los Angeles office as a partner in the national Labor and Employment Practice Group. With a focus on management-side employment litigation, Ms. Reathaford specializes in wage and hour collective and class actions, including representative actions under the Private Attorney General Act (“PAGA”). Ms. Reathaford comes from Proskauer Rose in Los Angeles where she was Special Counsel. More >>

Tags:  Venable LLP | Los Angeles

Aaron Borden Joins Vedder Price Finance & Transactions Group

Tuesday, February 10, 2015

Vedder Price is pleased to announce that Aaron J. Borden has joined the firm’s New York office as a Shareholder in the Finance & Transactions group.

Mr. Borden has represented banks, insurance companies, mezzanine funds and other commercial lenders, as well as borrowers, in a variety of debt and equity financing transactions, including private placements, syndicated bank financings, bilateral loans, first lien, second lien and mezzanine financings, cross-border financings, and acquisition and other leveraged financings. He has also been involved in several complex restructuring, workout and bankruptcy matters. More >>

Tags:  Vedder Price P.C. | New York

Shearman & Sterling Advises Lenders on $900 Million Multi-Currency Refinancing for Aon plc

Tuesday, February 10, 2015

Shearman & Sterling advised Citigroup Global Markets Inc., Merrill Lynch, Pierce, Fenner & Smith Incorporated and Morgan Stanley Senior Funding, Inc., as joint lead arrangers and joint bookrunners, in connection with a $900 million multi-currency refinancing for Aon plc, Aon Corporation and Aon UK Limited. More >>

Tags:  Shearman & Sterling LLP | London | New York | Palo Alto | Silicon Valley

Nixon Peabody growing again in Los Angeles: Justin Thompson adds real estate heft

Tuesday, February 10, 2015

Nixon Peabody continues to add depth and breadth in Los Angeles. On the heels of announcing the arrival of a four-attorney Fashion & Entertainment team, Justin X. Thompson joins Nixon Peabody’s Southern California office bringing with him a growing real estate practice and a wealth of experience handling real estate transactions of all shapes and sizes. Justin is leaving his position as a partner in the Land, Environmental and Natural Resources group at Manatt, Phelps & Phillips LLP, where he was also a co-chair of the firm’s Hospitality practice. More >>

Tags:  Nixon Peabody LLP | Los Angeles