The Week at Ropes & Gray: A First for TPG’s Global Impact Fund; Health Care Landscape in Flux; Benefits of Dual-Track IPOs; a Repeat Honor from Discovering Justice

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

• This week, Ropes & Gray advised on the first-ever investment by TPG’s global impact fund, The Rise Fund, which led a $190 million financing round in EverFi, a leading provider of subscription-based digital learning to K-12 schools, universities, corporations, sports teams and NGOs. The Rise Fund is committed to achieving measurable, positive social and environmental outcomes alongside competitive financial returns. Ropes & Gray mergers & acquisitions partner Carl Marcellino steered the deal team from Ropes & Gray.
• The passage of the Republican-sponsored American Health Care Act by the U.S. House of Representatives on Thursday made headlines, and Ropes & Gray health care partner Tom Bulleit shared his insights in The National Law Journal relating to the likelihood of the bill’s passage in the Senate (spoiler alert: unlikely, says Tom). He notes that while no drastic action is needed right now, companies should be thinking ahead to “what might need to happen in the uncertain future.”
• On the topic of health care, as a result of value-based government and private-pay initiatives, medical device companies are transitioning to new models of operation that allow them to play key roles in shaping and managing the delivery of, and payment for, episodes of care. In the “Recommendations for Medical Device Manufacturers” teleconference, our health care team discusses the value-based health care landscape for medical device companies and highlights strategies for succeeding in this evolving environment. The presentation recap includes audio and slides.
• In an interview with the LEAD1 Association, an organization that supports the athletic directors of America’s leading intercollegiate programs, tax partner Lorry Spitzer examines the tax implications of paying college athletes.  According to Spitzer: "Their status as employees would likely change everything, and attempts by Congress and the IRS to 'help' would probably only make matters worse."
• Until the IPO market is firing on all cylinders, analysts expect to see a number of dual-track IPOs, in which issuers simultaneously explore an initial public offering and the sale of a company. In this new video, Thomas Holden, a securities & public companies partner, examines the benefits of dual-track IPOs, particularly in choppy markets, and discusses considerations in managing a dual-track process.
• Finally, Discovering Justice, a Boston-based organization that helps students develop an understanding for how the justice system works, honored Ropes & Gray senior counsel and former first lady of Massachusetts Diane Patrick with the Champions of Justice award at the organization’s annual gala on May 3. This is the second year in a row that an individual from Ropes & Gray was honored by Discovering Justice; in 2016, appellate & Supreme Court litigation partner Doug Hallward-Driemeier received the Champions of Justice award for his work on the landmark marriage equality case, Obergefell v. Hodges.