The Week at Ropes & Gray: Three Transactions; Elon Musk and Tesla Draw Attention from the SEC; International Risks Facing Companies in Latin America; Recent Trends in the Asset Management Industries; Backpack Project Helps 1,300 Students

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

• Dealmakers see activity in the health care and technology sectors
• Leading health care investment firm Welsh Carson Anderson & Stowe, represented by Ropes & Gray, has agreed to acquire Abzena plc, a Cambridge, UK-based biopharmaceutical services company.
• Biopharmaceutical company Sarepta Therapeutics announced that it has signed a strategic investment and entered into a license and option agreement with Lacerta Therapeutics, a gene therapy company, for up to three new clinical programs. Ropes & Gray represents Sarepta Therapeutics in the deal
• KPA, a developer of cloud-based environmental health and safety risk management solutions, announced that it will receive a majority investment from Providence Equity Partners. Existing investor CIVC Partners will retain a minority investment in the company going forward. Ropes & Gray advised KPA and CIVC Partners in the investment.
• Tesla founder and CEO Elon Musk made headlines this week following his tweet that he had “funding secured” to take the company private. In an appearance on Bloomberg TV’s “What'd You Miss?,” securities and governance practice chair Keith Higgins discussed whether Elon Musk could face a fine if the SEC determines he violated securities laws when he tweeted “funding secured”.
• In Latin America, the increase of enforcement activity, the passage of new laws, and greater coordination between U.S. and Latin American authorities have put companies in the region under heightened pressure to detect and prevent corruption. In this podcast, litigation & enforcement partners Ryan Rohlfsen and Alex Rene are joined by Mike Munro, the Director of Global Outreach and Board Advisor and former Chief Compliance Officer at Odebrecht Engineering & Construction, to discuss key international risks facing companies in Latin America and strategies to mitigate them.
• In the latest edition of the Investment Management Update, our attorneys summarize recent developments affecting the mutual funds and investment management industry, including amendments to the liquidity rule and the SEC’s request for comments on intermediary fees for forwarding fund materials.
• David Blittner, the co-chair of our private equity group, is quoted in a WSJ Pro Private Equity article, which reports that private equity firms again bet heavily on large deals during the first half of 2018, as cheap debt, a steady economy and vast amounts of dry powder outweighed high prices.
• Ropes & Gray attorneys and support professionals helped more than 1,300 students in kindergarten through high school get a strong start to the upcoming school year by donating new backpacks, clothing and school supplies as part of the firm’s annual Backpack Project. The firm has sponsored the initiative since 1999.
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