Connected With Latham

Widespread economic pressure — including pay, inflation, and the ongoing cost of living crisis — has increased union visibility. As the number of workers interested in union membership grows and the frequency of strikes surges in the UK and elsewhere, PE deal teams should remain mindful of the presence and role of unions in M&A. In this episode of Connected With Latham , London private equity part...

Insurtech has become a darling of both traditional players in the insurance market and disruptive fintech operations. The coming year looks to continue this trend, with companies looking to insurtech as a venue for penetrating new markets. Yet as insurtech's attractiveness continues to grow, potential investors will need to navigate a highly regulated industry and new regulatory considerations on...

Equity and co-investment opportunities have long served as tried and tested strategies for buyout firms seeking to incentivise management and align key management interests with those of the PE sponsor. However, PE sponsors in the US have recently received credit for extending share ownership opportunities beyond key management — and in some cases, to all employees — using innovative employee ince...

Digital infrastructure has become a basic component of all economies, and growth economies in particular. For many countries in Asia, digital infrastructure will drive development as much as power and water supply – particularly in Singapore, Indonesia, Vietnam, and India, which have the potential to be serious players in the global tech industry. What deal structures and investors are now playing...

Not long ago, the prospect of significant PE investment in the cannabis industry would have been unthinkable for many. However, recent regulatory and legal developments have created opportunities for medical cannabis businesses and legalised new non-medical cannabis applications in many jurisdictions. Buyout firms have shown significant appetite for these deals, investing US$3.54 billion into the...

Music deals, particularly the acquisition of rights to songs and recordings by popular music artists, remain attractive investments for PE. The continued popularity of global streaming services and the music rental economy have helped to reduce the threat of online piracy, made revenues easier to track and predict, and ensured that strong revenues continue to flow to rights holders. Music rights w...

Undrawn revolving credit facilities (RCFs) serve as essential parachutes to private equity. They are a backup in the event of mismatches in the working capital cycle, they provide comfort for a rainy day, and they preserve swift access to deal-making when other financing sources are unavailable, or less easily accessible. The COVID-19 pandemic clearly proved the importance of undrawn RCFs to priva...

Now that the US Senate has confirmed Dr. Robert Califf as Commissioner of the US Food and Drug Administration, a position he held briefly in the Obama Administration, we turn to the priorities and perspective he is likely to bring to the agency. Making big data, including from electronic health records, useful for research and sufficient to support FDA regulatory decision-making emerged as a major...

Market sentiment and the increasing importance of environmental, social, and governance (ESG) to firms' competitiveness across the market, combined with wide-ranging and rapidly developing ESG regulatory reforms, are driving increased focus on ESG at both LP and GP levels across Europe. As a result, the market is showing demand for enhanced diligence, and a wider range of deal provisions are being...

After years of garnering little attention, environmental, social, and governance (ESG) matters are now top-of-mind for institutional investors – and are beginning to drive activist campaigns. What is behind this wave of ESG activism? And what can companies do to prepare for the possibility of an ESG-driven activist campaign? In this episode of Connected With Latham, we continue our Energy & Infras...

In 2021, the outlines of emerging crypto legal and regulatory regimes became steadily clearer. In the US, new regulators brought a fresh perspective and new enthusiasm for investor protections, with parallel efforts gaining traction in Congress. Across the Atlantic, the European Commission adopted a digital finance package and will soon ratify the Regulation on Markets in Crypto-Assets (MiCA) fram...

Global video game revenue in 2020 jumped by 20% to US$179.7 billion, making the sector larger than the film and North American sports industries combined. And this uptick in gaming is no temporary spike; market forecasts project 10.2% annual growth through 2025. Venture capital firms have enjoyed success in the video game space, which is likely to generate a pipeline of acquisition opportunities f...

The sixth annual Hong Kong and Singapore fintech events, both held in November 2021, revealed key new initiatives, regulatory developments, and market trends that will play out in 2022 and beyond. In Singapore, the Monetary Authority (MAS) released its initial assessment of the economic case for launching a retail central bank digital currency (CBDC), while in Hong Kong, the Monetary Authority iss...

Raising fresh capital for portfolio companies in times of financial stress is always a delicate balancing act between attracting new lenders and maintaining the strategic support of existing creditors. The almost instantaneous halt in cash flows and scramble for new capital injections precipitated by the COVID-19 pandemic has significantly changed traditional approaches to collateral — giving rise...

The UK has now seen several public listings with dual class share structures, including most the £5.4 billion IPO of The Hut Group, which had a "special" share for the founder. With the UK government keen to increase the marketability of UK listings following Brexit, we anticipate that US dual class deal architecture is likely to be featured on a growing number of London listings — a development t...

Emerging companies have historically been backed by venture capital funds, but as Europe's startup scene matures, involvement by more traditional private equity investors is growing, particularly in the tech, consumer, and digital health sectors. Recent PE investments in emerging companies include stakes in Wolt, Moonbug Entertainment, Zwift, Klarna, Epic Games, and Oatly demonstrating the range o...

As global businesses react to the pandemic and social movements, private equity firms should remain watchful for whistleblowing issues involving both portfolio and target companies. There is now simply more to blow the whistle on, from workplace health and safety issues and misuse of government furlough schemes, to racial equity and sexual harassment concerns. How can PE firms and their portfolio...

As commodity prices recover from pandemic lows, deal activity in the oil and gas sector is heating up across Europe. A number of factors are contributing to this deal-friendly environment, most notably the acceleration of the transition to renewable and low-carbon energy and the appetite for such changes in the capital markets. European majors are diversifying rapidly and looking to combine; meanw...

Jigar Shah is the recently appointed Executive Director of the Loan Programs Office at the US Department of Energy. He brings a robust resume to the position, as co-founder of Generate Capital and founder of SunEdison, two innovative renewable energy finance organizations. He is also well-known for his time co-hosting GreenTech Media's The Energy Gang Podcast . In this episode of Connected With La...

The Equator Principles set a minimum standard for lender due diligence and monitoring to support environmentally and socially responsible decision-making when financing projects. The latest iteration, known as EP4, came into effect in October 2020 and makes significant changes affecting lenders and sponsors – most notably for projects in high-income countries, such as the US and UK. Under EP4, pro...

The interest in and availability of ESG-focused investments has exploded in recent years. Last year, the International Capital Markets Association published its Sustainability-Linked Bond Principles, allowing the creation of debt products that hold issuing companies accountable to achieving independently certified sustainability or ESG objectives. Unlike "green bonds", which require proceeds to be...

Startups and scale-ups in Europe's tech and life sciences sectors have flourished dramatically over the past year, fueled by pandemic-induced demand and a wall of investor cash. Early funding rounds are getting bigger, while the time between rounds compresses and SPAC and other suitors come courting earlier and earlier. How can founders and investors ensure that they have the right teams and struc...

The Biden Administration's climate goals are ambitious: A carbon free power sector by 2035. Net zero emissions by 2050. Targeting 40% of federal climate action benefits toward disadvantaged communities. So, what is the Administration doing to move toward these goals? And how will different energy and infrastructure sectors be impacted? In this episode of Connected With Latham , partners Omar Nazif...

Macro market shifts as part of the energy transition are spurring investors, sponsors, and even traditional oil and gas producers to move in new directions. There is an increase in wind and solar projects being funded, with private equity demonstrating a parallel interest in renewables. Given the intermittent nature of these energy sources, developers and investors are also increasingly interested...

Governments' desire to control investments by businesses from purportedly hostile nations has led to more investments being stalled or blocked in recent years. Recent moves to tighten FDI screening rules during the COVID-19 crisis accelerated this trend. While more and more countries are introducing or expanding their FDI screening regimes, well-established regimes (such as that operating in the U...