The Week at Ropes & Gray: Two Transactions; U.S. Supreme Court Rules on Key IP Issues; A Podcast on Risk Management; Recognition for Diversity & Inclusion Efforts; Leadership Transition

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

• Our clients announced two transactions of note this week:
• Nordic Capital closed a milestone €2.5bn continuation vehicle for its seventh fund. The innovative transaction is the world’s largest GP-led secondaries deal. Ropes & Gray advised Nordic Capital alongside two other firms.
• Samsonite has completed its first European high yield offering, a transaction that involved the issuance of €350 million 3.5% Senior Notes due 2026, as well as the syndication and allocation of US$2.143bn of new senior credit facilities. A cross-border team from Ropes & Gray’s London and New York offices advised Samsonite on the deal. 
• On Tuesday, the U.S. Supreme Court handed down two decisions that significantly impact inter partes review proceedings before the Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB). Our intellectual property litigation attorneys reviewed the decisions in Oil States and SAS Institute in an alert.
• Implementing effective compliance programs is challenging, especially where third-party risk management is involved. In the newest podcast in our series on risk management, partner Amanda Raad and ethics and compliance consultant Hui Chen discuss how companies can tell if a compliance program is working.
• Ropes & Gray continues to be acknowledged as a leader in diversity and inclusion. Douglas Hallward-Driemeier, chair of Ropes & Gray’s Appellate & Supreme Court practice, has been selected as a recipient of The Washington Business Journal’s inaugural Business of Pride Awards for advancing LGBTQ equality. And for the third consecutive year, Yale Law Women has recognized Ropes & Gray as one of only three firms at which women comprise at least 25 percent of the equity partnership.
• As Ropes & Gray continues to prepare for a leadership transition, the firm announced that David Djaha, a New York-based real estate partner and a member of the firm’s governing policy committee, has been named managing partner-elect of the firm. Julie Jones and Mr. Djaha will become chair and managing partner of the firm, respectively, effective January 1, 2020, following the retirements of chair Brad Malt and managing partner David Chapin.
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