The Week at Ropes & Gray: Deals, Deals, Deals; EU Privacy Developments; Managing Stock Drops; M&A Litigation Rundown; Investment Management Update

Weekly highlights of what’s happening at Ropes & Gray:

• It was another busy week on the deals front, as Ropes & Gray advised TSG Consumer Partners on its acquisition of a minority stake in Scottish craft brewer BrewDog, Johnson & Johnson affiliate Codman Neuro on its acquisition of Irish stroke care company Neuravi Limited, and Genstar Capital on its majority equity investment in Blue Star Sports.
• With Europe looking past Brexit toward measures that spur harmony and unity, the European Commission recently published a proposed Regulation on Privacy and Electronic Communications, replacing the current directive with one designed to address the complexities of privacy in the age of social media and networked computing; to simplify and clarify the EU approach to the use of cookies and data harvesting; and to align e-privacy with the data protection principles enshrined in the General Data Protection Regulation and the EU Charter of Fundamental Rights. In an article published by Law360, privacy & data security partner Rohan Massey (London) provides insight on the EU's draft e-privacy regulation.
• A sharp drop in a company’s stock price frequently results in the filing of one or more securities class actions. 2016 saw the highest number of securities class actions since 2000, with life sciences companies particularly susceptible following the release of clinical trial results or an FDA action. In this video (and in a downloadable transcript), a trio of panelists from Ropes & Gray’s business & securities litigation group arm you with tools to prepare for, and respond to, a drop in your stock price, including strategies for mitigating risk, preparing for potential litigation and enforcement activity, and communicating with key stakeholders.
• Speaking of litigation, partner David Hennes offered perspectives from both a litigation and a transactional perspective in a Law360 wrap-up of developments in some of the most important M&A litigation cases from the first quarter of the year. In “Delaware Rundown: What You Missed in Q1,” David discussed the implications of the Delaware Supreme Court’s rare split decision in ETE-Williams, in which an oil and gas company was allowed to terminate a $38 billion planned merger over its inability to deliver a tax opinion on the deal.
• And finally, our latest Investment Management Update summarizes recent legal developments affecting the mutual fund/investment management industry, including the SEC's guidance on robo-advisers; guidance on Rule 3a-2 and holding companies; the SEC's list of the top five compliance deficiencies; and the agency's update on obtaining letters to support tax claims in foreign jurisdictions.