Cravath Publishes Winter 2026 Issue of Alumni Journal
On January 22, 2025, CardWorks, Inc. (“CardWorks”), a leader in credit and payments, and Ally Financial Inc. (“Ally”), a financial services company with the nation’s largest all‑digital bank and an industry‑leading auto financing business, announced that they have entered into a definitive agreement for CardWorks, and its wholly‑owned bank subsidiary, Merrick Bank, to acquire Ally’s credit card business, including a portfolio of $2.3 billion in credit card receivables with 1.3 million active cardholders as of December 31, 2024. Cravath is representing CardWorks in connection with the transaction.
The Cravath team is led by partners Ting S. Chen and Andrew M. Wark and includes associates Ryan J. Wichtowski, Danielle A. Solaru and Juan P. Castaño and foreign associate attorney Ricardo Pedroza on M&A matters; partner J. Leonard Teti II and associate Emily R. Eskin on tax matters; partner Jonathan J. Katz, senior attorney Arian Mossanenzadeh and associate Matthew S. Johnson on executive compensation and benefits matters; partner Jelena McWilliams, of counsels Will C. Giles and Lucas E. Beirne and associate Max D. Brashear on bank regulatory matters; partner David J. Kappos, associate Kenya Rowser and foreign associate attorney Shogo Tsunoda on intellectual property matters; and partner Noah Joshua Phillips and associate Shuyu Sun on antitrust matters. Grace Lin also worked on M&A matters.
Deals & Cases
February 18, 2026
On February 17, 2026, Tenax Aerospace Acquisition, LLC (“Tenax”) and Air Industries Group (“Air”) jointly announced that they have entered into an Agreement and Plan of Merger to combine Tenax’s special mission aviation business with Air’s precision aerospace manufacturing business. At the time of the merger, Air will issue shares of its common stock to holders of Tenax membership units. After the closing, Tenax shareholders are expected to own approximately 95% of Air’s outstanding shares while existing Air shareholders are expected to own approximately 5%, and the combined company expects to remain listed on the NYSE American under the symbol AIRI. Cravath is representing Tenax in connection with the transaction.
Deals & Cases
February 17, 2026
On February 17, 2026, Kennedy‑Wilson Holdings, Inc. (“Kennedy Wilson”) and Fairfax Financial Holdings Limited (“Fairfax”) jointly announced that Kennedy Wilson has entered into a definitive agreement to be acquired, in an all cash‑transaction, by an entity affiliated with a consortium led by William McMorrow, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Kennedy Wilson, and certain other senior executives of Kennedy Wilson (collectively, the “KW Management Group”), together with Fairfax (collectively, the “Consortium”).
Deals & Cases
February 17, 2026
On February 17, 2026, MTN Group Limited (“MTN”), Africa’s largest mobile network operator, announced that it has entered into an agreement with IHS Holding Limited (“IHS”), one of the largest independent owners, operators and developers of shared communications infrastructure in the world, to acquire the remaining shares of IHS not already owned by MTN in an all‑cash transaction at an offer price of $8.50 per IHS share, which implies an enterprise value of $6.2 billion. The structure of the transaction is intended such that, upon completion of IHS’ announced disposals of its Latin American businesses, MTN will acquire 100% of IHS’ African tower portfolio. Following the completion of the transaction, IHS will be de‑listed from the New York Stock Exchange. Cravath is representing MTN in connection with the transaction.
Deals & Cases
February 16, 2026
On February 16, 2026, Hapag‑Lloyd signed an agreement with ZIM Integrated Shipping Services Ltd. (“ZIM”), the world’s 10th largest container shipping line, under which Hapag‑Lloyd will acquire 100% of ZIM’s shares for a consideration of $35 per share in cash. The total transaction value amounts to over $4 billion. As part of the transaction, FIMI Opportunity Funds will take ownership of a carved‑out Israeli container liner business. Cravath is representing Hapag‑Lloyd in connection with the transaction.
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