MoFo and Skadden advise as SoftBank invests $4.4bn into WeWork
MoFo wins role having recently advised SoftBank on its £24bn purchase of UK smartphone chip designer ARM
August 25, 2017 at 07:09 AM
2 minute read
Morrison & Foerster and Skadden Arps Slate Meagher & Flom are advising as Japanese telecommunications company SoftBank Group invests $4.4bn (£3.4bn) into US workshare space company WeWork.
The deal comprises two separate investments, with $3bn (£2.3bn) being used to buy new and existing WeWork shares. A further $1.4bn (£1bn) will go to three newly created companies to fund WeWork's expansion in China, Japan, Southeast Asia and Korea.
MoFo is advising SoftBank with a team led by San Francisco corporate partner Susan Mac Cormac, London M&A partner Gary Brown, Hong Kong-based private equity partner Marcia Ellis and Tokyo corporate M&A partner Ken Siegel.
Skadden is acting for WeWork with a team led by Boston head of M&A Graham Robinson, M&A partner Laura Knoll, corporate finance partners Stacy Kanter and Ryan Dzierniejko, executive compensation and benefits partner Regina Olshan, intellectual property and technology partner Bruce Goldner and tax partner Moshe Spinowitz.
A separate Skadden team is advising on the investment of the additional $1.4m (£1bn) and is being led by corporate finance partner Will Cai, partner Mitsuhiro Kamiya and M&A partner Leif King.
The investment follows Softbank's acquisition of UK smartphone chip designers ARM for £24bn. MoFo advised the Japanese company on that deal with a team headed up by Siegel.
In July, MoFo was among the advisers on the $11.6bn (£8.9bn) takeover of Singapore-based warehouse operator Global Logistic Properties by a consortium of Chinese investors.
MoFo saw its financial performance dip in its latest financial results, with gross revenue falling 3.5% to $945m (£758m), while revenue per lawyer dropped 4.8% to $990,000 (£794,000).
Despite the firm's equity partner headcount falling to 232, a 4% decline from 2015, profit per equity partner (PEP) also decreased 9.3% to $1.41m (£1.13m).
WeWork currently has 23 offices in London alone and operates across Europe, North America, South America, the Middle East and Asia.
This content has been archived. It is available through our partners, LexisNexis® and Bloomberg Law.
To view this content, please continue to their sites.
Not a Lexis Subscriber?
Subscribe Now
Not a Bloomberg Law Subscriber?
Subscribe Now
NOT FOR REPRINT
© 2024 ALM Global, LLC, All Rights Reserved. Request academic re-use from www.copyright.com. All other uses, submit a request to [email protected]. For more information visit Asset & Logo Licensing.
You Might Like
View AllBig Law Leaders, Dealmakers Optimistic about M&A Deal Flow Under Trump, With Caveats
5 minute readThe Law Firms Generating 8-Figure Fees on the Year's Big Ticket UK Deals
3 minute read'Significant' Competition Concerns Over £762M GXO Logistics-Wincanton Merger
Trending Stories
- 1Law Firm Accused of Barratry for Allegedly Soliciting Crash Victims
- 2Carlton Fields Downsizes in Move to New Atlanta Office
- 3Trump's Selection of Zeldin to Head EPA Draws Surprise, Little Hope of Avoiding Deregulation
- 4Against the Odds: Voters Elect Woody Clermont to the Broward Judicial Bench
- 5US Supreme Court Justices Pass on Landlord Challenge to NY Rent Stabilization
Who Got The Work
Michael G. Bongiorno, Andrew Scott Dulberg and Elizabeth E. Driscoll from Wilmer Cutler Pickering Hale and Dorr have stepped in to represent Symbotic Inc., an A.I.-enabled technology platform that focuses on increasing supply chain efficiency, and other defendants in a pending shareholder derivative lawsuit. The case, filed Oct. 2 in Massachusetts District Court by the Brown Law Firm on behalf of Stephen Austen, accuses certain officers and directors of misleading investors in regard to Symbotic's potential for margin growth by failing to disclose that the company was not equipped to timely deploy its systems or manage expenses through project delays. The case, assigned to U.S. District Judge Nathaniel M. Gorton, is 1:24-cv-12522, Austen v. Cohen et al.
Who Got The Work
Edmund Polubinski and Marie Killmond of Davis Polk & Wardwell have entered appearances for data platform software development company MongoDB and other defendants in a pending shareholder derivative lawsuit. The action, filed Oct. 7 in New York Southern District Court by the Brown Law Firm, accuses the company's directors and/or officers of falsely expressing confidence in the company’s restructuring of its sales incentive plan and downplaying the severity of decreases in its upfront commitments. The case is 1:24-cv-07594, Roy v. Ittycheria et al.
Who Got The Work
Amy O. Bruchs and Kurt F. Ellison of Michael Best & Friedrich have entered appearances for Epic Systems Corp. in a pending employment discrimination lawsuit. The suit was filed Sept. 7 in Wisconsin Western District Court by Levine Eisberner LLC and Siri & Glimstad on behalf of a project manager who claims that he was wrongfully terminated after applying for a religious exemption to the defendant's COVID-19 vaccine mandate. The case, assigned to U.S. Magistrate Judge Anita Marie Boor, is 3:24-cv-00630, Secker, Nathan v. Epic Systems Corporation.
Who Got The Work
David X. Sullivan, Thomas J. Finn and Gregory A. Hall from McCarter & English have entered appearances for Sunrun Installation Services in a pending civil rights lawsuit. The complaint was filed Sept. 4 in Connecticut District Court by attorney Robert M. Berke on behalf of former employee George Edward Steins, who was arrested and charged with employing an unregistered home improvement salesperson. The complaint alleges that had Sunrun informed the Connecticut Department of Consumer Protection that the plaintiff's employment had ended in 2017 and that he no longer held Sunrun's home improvement contractor license, he would not have been hit with charges, which were dismissed in May 2024. The case, assigned to U.S. District Judge Jeffrey A. Meyer, is 3:24-cv-01423, Steins v. Sunrun, Inc. et al.
Who Got The Work
Greenberg Traurig shareholder Joshua L. Raskin has entered an appearance for boohoo.com UK Ltd. in a pending patent infringement lawsuit. The suit, filed Sept. 3 in Texas Eastern District Court by Rozier Hardt McDonough on behalf of Alto Dynamics, asserts five patents related to an online shopping platform. The case, assigned to U.S. District Judge Rodney Gilstrap, is 2:24-cv-00719, Alto Dynamics, LLC v. boohoo.com UK Limited.
Featured Firms
Law Offices of Gary Martin Hays & Associates, P.C.
(470) 294-1674
Law Offices of Mark E. Salomone
(857) 444-6468
Smith & Hassler
(713) 739-1250