(FROM THE WALL STREET JOURNAL 3/23/15)
Skadden Wins With Deal,
And Loses at Same Time
One way to ensure an M&A win: Get hired on both sides of the
deal.
That's the position in which Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher &
Flom LLP found itself recently.
The elite corporate law firm was in the unusual position of
representing both Valeant Pharmaceuticals International Inc. and
Endo International PLC in their dueling bids to buy Salix
Pharmaceuticals Ltd.
Valeant, which Skadden advised on finance and antitrust matters,
won out last Monday with a recut $11.1 billion cash deal.
Endo, for which Skadden served as lead M&A counsel, quickly
bowed out, withdrawing the competing, cash-and-stock offer it had
lobbed in earlier.
A Skadden spokeswoman declined to comment.
Law firms, sensitive about conflicts and wary of offending
clients, rarely pitch work on multiple sides of the same deal.
But Skadden's relationships with both bidders go way back. The
firm advised Valeant on its acquisitions of Medicis Pharmaceutical
Corp. in 2012 and Bausch & Lomb in 2013, and on a high-profile
takeover attempt of Allergan last year.
Skadden's ties to Endo go back nearly two decades, including
advising private-equity shop Kelso & Co. in 1997 in a $277
million management buyout at what was then DuPont Merck
Pharmaceutical Co.
-- Liz Hoffman
Law-School Applications
Head Even Lower in 2015
The latest numbers on law-school applications released by the
Law School Admission Council are eye-opening.
As of March 13, 41,136 people have applied to go to an
accredited U.S. law school this fall, according to LSAC, which
administers the LSAT entrance exam.
By this time a year ago, the total number of applicants recorded
had reached 43,156. Applications are down 6.7% from 2014.
-- Jacob Gershman
'Sniper' Case Focuses
On First Amendment
First Amendment advocates and major media companies are urging a
federal appeals court to throw out a defamation judgment against
the late "American Sniper" author Chris Kyle that entitled former
Minnesota Gov. Jesse Ventura to more than $1 million of the
royalties from the book.
The case is an appeal by Mr. Kyle's widow of last year's jury
verdict in favor of Mr. Ventura, who sued the former Navy SEAL
sharpshooter over his account of an alleged bar fight between the
two men.
On top of a $500,000 damages award, a Minnesota jury awarded the
former wrestler $1.35 million for unjust enrichment, draining some
of the profit generated by Mr. Kyle's best-seller-turned
blockbuster film.
Unless reversed, the $1.35 million award would set a troubling
precedent that "cannot be reconciled with the First Amendment,"
wrote First Amendment litigator Floyd Abrams in a brief filed with
the Eighth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals on Wednesday.
About three dozen media companies and trade organizations joined
the brief.
An attorney representing Mr. Ventura said the former governor's
legal team would file a formal response with the court
-- Jacob Gershman
Access Investor Kit for Valeant Pharmaceuticals International,
Inc.
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http://www.companyspotlight.com/partner?cp_code=P479&isin=CA91911K1021
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