The Week at Ropes & Gray: Three Noteworthy Transactions; Attorneys Added in New York and D.C.; The SEC’s Guidance on Cybersecurity for Accounting; Recognized for Combatting Human Trafficking

In The News
October 26, 2018

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

  • It was a busy week for our clients, several of which announced a number of noteworthy transactions:
    • Bain Capital, LP and Pfizer Inc. announced the creation of Cerevel Therapeutics, LLC, a new biopharmaceutical company focused on developing drug candidates to treat disorders of the central nervous system. Funds advised by Bain Capital Private Equity and Bain Capital Life Sciences have committed $350 million so far. Ropes & Gray advised Bain Capital in the transaction.
    • Altice USA, a U.S. communications and media company, will combine its Suddenlink (Cequel) and Optimum (Cablevision) businesses under a single credit silo. Ropes & Gray advised on the structuring and financing aspects of the $6.75 billion transaction.
    • Veronis Suhler Stevenson announced its minority investment in GreenSlate, an entertainment payroll technology company. Ropes & Gray represented Veronis Suhler Stevenson in the transaction.
  • Matthew Roose has joined Ropes & Gray in the firm’s New York office as a partner in the business restructuring practice. Mr. Roose, who has been recognized by Law360 as a Rising Star, focuses on advising creditors and creditor groups in a variety of in- and out-of-court restructurings. Some of New York’s top legal talent has recently joined Ropes & Gray, underscoring the firm’s ranking among New York’s largest law firms.
  • Another new attorney, Beth P. Weinman, has joined Ropes & Gray in the firm’s Washington, D.C. office as counsel in the life sciences and FDA regulatory practice.
  • The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission investigated nine defrauded companies that lost a total of nearly $100 million as a result of email scams. In this alert, our attorneys reiterate the findings of the SEC’s investigative report, which recommends that companies consider cyber-related threats when devising and maintaining a system of internal accounting controls.
  • The Human Trafficking Legal Center has named Ropes & Gray the 2018 “Advocacy Firm of the Year.” Since 2015, the firm has partnered with the Human Trafficking Legal Center to support the organization's important work on behalf of trafficking victims. For example, Ropes & Gray and the Human Trafficking Legal Center recently published a new practice guide that details methods for holding abusers of children accountable under the PROTECT Act, making it a crime for a U.S. citizen or permanent resident to travel abroad to sexually abuse children.
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advocacy-firm-of-the-year
Chair of Ropes & Gray’s appellate & Supreme Court practice Douglas Hallward-Driemeier accepted the 2018 “Advocacy Firm of the Year” award from the Human Trafficking Legal Center on behalf of the firm.