Corporate & Securities Law

'08 Shaping Up as Boom Year for Proxy Battles

By broc

'08 Shaping Up as Boom Year for Proxy Battles

This recent Chicago Tribune article quotes Pat McGurn of RiskMetrics noting that the number of dissident shareholder demands tracked so far this year are the highest ever. The article notes that more than 200 "contested solicitations" — shareholder resolutions not approved by management — have been filed this year.

There are a variety of reasons for this - one being the worsening economy -and one being the topic of our May 7th webcast: "2008: The Year of the Hedge Fund Activist."

JPMorgan Chase/Bear Stearns: A"Done Deal"?

Last week, JPMorgan Chase filed an amended Schedule 13D to note that their open market purchases of Bear Stearns had passed 11% - and combined with the 95 million shares it swapped for earlier, it has over 46% of Bear Stearns outstanding now - nearly enough to ensure majority shareholder approval is locked-up. Here's some analysis from DealBook about whether this arrangement honors Omnicare, which will be a topic during our April 29th webcast: "JPMorgan Chase/Bear Stearns: Splicing the Delaware Issues."

Closing Time: When the Founder is Ready to Sell

Tomorrow, catch our webcast - "Closing Time: When the Founder is Ready to Sell" - to hear about the special issues that come into play when the founders of a privately-held company want to sell out to a private equity firm or a professional roll-up operator. Join these experts:

- Brad Finkelstein, Partner, Wilson Sonsoni Goodrich & Rosati LLP
- Don Harrison, Senior Counsel, Google
- Armand Della Monica, Partner, Kirkland & Ellis LLP
- Geoffrey Parnass, Partner, Parnass Law
- Sam Valenzisi, Vice President, Lincoln International LLC

Full post as published by DealLawyers.com Blog on April 14, 2008 (boomark / email).