The Week at Ropes & Gray: “Hell or High Water” Acquisition; Two Deals Announced; Pride Month Celebrations; Developments in Digital Health; Videos Examine Health Care, Life Sciences Trends; 6,251 Meals for Hungry in New York

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

• The firm announced its role advising CCMP Capital Advisors, LP and a consortium comprised of MSD Partners, L.P. and Alberta Investment Management Corporation in a definitive agreement to acquire Hayward Industries, Inc., a leading manufacturer of pool equipment. Separately, a deal team represented Best Doctors in its definitive agreement to be acquired by Teladoc, Inc.
• June is pride month, recognizing the LGBTQ individuals in our lives. Ropes & Gray’s annual pride celebration included a panel discussion focused on past, current and anticipated legal issues facing the transgender community. The firm has done a tremendous amount of work on behalf of LGBTQ organizations, including most recently having set up Project Validate, which has helped more than 300 transgender individuals manage documentation changes and legal questions associated with their gender identity. In 2015, Ropes & Gray appellate & Supreme Court partner Doug Hallward-Driemeier argued for marriage equality in the landmark case Obergefell v. Hodges, among the many other LGBTQ-focused cases the firm has handled, including in Utah, Puerto Rico, New York, Arkansas and Massachusetts.
• In his first public statement as the new Commissioner of the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) on the regulation of digital health technologies, Scott Gottlieb, M.D., signaled that FDA will modernize its regulation of digital health products to improve efficiency and predictability and reduce risk. A new alert reports on the FDA’s effort to provide greater regulatory certainty and help reduce the development costs of innovating new and beneficial medical technologies.
• Private equity firms targeting the health care industry should carefully consider their investment strategies given rapidly evolving payment models. In the next installment of our value-based health care video series, Deborah Gersh, the co-head of our health care group, offers insights to private equity companies investing in the value-based health care space.
• A 51-person team from Ropes & Gray’s New York office did their part to help combat hunger in New York City in a big way. Our group packed 7,502 pounds of food at Food Bank For New York City’s 90,000 square-foot Bronx warehouse and distribution center on June 8. The food packed by Ropes & Gray volunteers translates into 6,251 meals for New Yorkers in need.