On July 21, 2021, Vault announced that Cravath was ranked No. 1 on its Vault Law 100, a ranking of the most prestigious law firms across the United States, for the sixth consecutive year. The results of the annual list are based on market feedback from nearly 20,000 law firm associates collected over the course of the last year. In publicizing its results, Vault highlighted comments from survey respondents, who described the Firm as the “industry trend‑setter” which offers associates “partner exposure,” and “responsibility and substantive experience,” and noted the Firm’s influence on the industry, citing its consistent leadership when it comes to practices and standards, including in the area of hiring and training.

On July 20, 2021, Cravath prepared for its clients a resource entitled “President Biden Signs Executive Order Promoting Competition in the American Economy and Announces Nominee for Assistant Attorney General for Antitrust,” which summarized two key antitrust developments under the Biden administration in recent weeks. The resource examined Executive Order 14,0361 on “Promoting Competition in the American Economy,” which outlines the administration’s goal of enforcing antitrust laws and calls on federal agencies to promote competition through a series of reviews and rulemakings across industries. The resource also discussed President Biden’s announcement of his intent to nominate Jonathan Kanter as Assistant Attorney General for the Antitrust Division at the Department of Justice to promote strong antitrust enforcement and competition policy. The memo concluded that these developments indicate the administration’s commitment to increased antitrust enforcement in both merger review and conduct matters.

Cravath represented Robinhood in connection with its initial public offering. Robinhood raised approximately $1.9 billion of net proceeds in the IPO. Shares began trading on July 29, 2021 on the NASDAQ exchange.

Cravath partners Omid H. Nasab, Margaret T. Segall, Rory A. Leraris, Vanessa A. Lavely, Lauren R. Kennedy, Michael P. Addis, Justin C. Clarke and Sharonmoyee Goswami were named by Benchmark Litigation to its 2021 “40 & Under Hot List.” The list honors the achievements of the nation’s most accomplished litigation partners of 40 years old and under who have worked on high‑stakes and precedent‑setting cases. The list was compiled through a process involving peer and client review, along with examination of individual cases.

In July 2021, Cravath published the latest edition of its Quarterly Review, which examines the Q2 2021 M&A, activism and corporate governance landscape. The Review provides an overview of activity in those areas, highlights notable cases in the M&A space, shares trends in activism activity and notes key developments in corporate governance over the period. The Q2 2021 edition discussed the continued momentum of the robust global M&A market, resulting in the highest volume half‑year for M&A on record and the strongest quarter for private equity buyouts since the global financial crisis. The Review also examined an uptick in SPAC‑related litigation and enforcement, renewed legislative and executive focus on antitrust issues, greater support for environmental proposals by shareholders during the 2021 proxy season and the Securities and Exchange Commission’s regulatory agenda under its new Chair.

Cravath partner John D. Buretta authored a chapter on U.S. sanctions in Global Investigation Review’s “The Guide to Sanctions – Second Edition,” which published on July 13, 2021. The chapter, co‑authored by practice area attorney Megan Y. Lew, discussed the legal framework of economic and trade sanctions in the United States, including how the U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control regulates sanctions and exemptions. The chapter considered implementation, designation process and application of sanctions.

On July 19, 2021, Lindsay Goldberg, a private investment firm, announced that funds managed by the firm have entered into a definitive agreement to sell Big Ass Fans (“BAF”), a pioneer of the high volume, low speed and connected fan categories, to Madison Industries’ Indoor Air Quality vertical. Cravath is representing BAF in connection with the transaction.

Cravath represented NH Hotel Group, S.A. in connection with its €400 million 144A/Reg. S high-yield senior secured notes offering. NH Hotel Group is a leading international hotel operator. The notes will be listed on the Luxembourg Stock Exchange. The transaction closed on June 28, 2021.

Cravath, alongside Dutch counsel NautaDutilh, represented the underwriters in connection with the €175 million initial public offering of units of Climate Transition Capital Acquisition I B.V., a special purpose acquisition company that intends to operate in the climate transition sector. The units were listed on the Euronext Amsterdam. The transaction closed on July 2, 2021.

Cravath partners Gary A. Bornstein and Kevin J. Orsini were featured by The American Lawyer in its “Litigation Leaders” column, which highlights “the litigation practice leaders of the biggest firms in the country” and was published by The Am Law Litigation Daily on July 12, 2021. In the Q&A profile, Gary and Kevin discuss their respective backgrounds, the Firm’s recent successful representations in high‑profile litigation matters, including for Goldman Sachs, PG&E, Reynolds American and Qualcomm, and the Cravath System for talent development and collaboration.

In the April issue of Insights: The Corporate & Securities Law Advisor, Wolters Kluwer published an article authored by Cravath partners John W. White, Matthew Morreale and Michael Arnold based on a recent firm memo to clients entitled “Responding to the ESG Paradigm Shift: Practical Steps for Boards and Management”. The article discusses practical steps for boards and management to consider when implementing practices and governance structures related to Environmental, Social and Corporate Governance (“ESG”) considerations, and provides insight on how companies can improve their ESG strategic planning, engagement and reporting practices in the short‑term.

Cravath partner Katherine B. Forrest, former U.S. District Judge for the Southern District of New York, authored an article entitled “Ransomware and Cyber Crime: It’s Big Business,” which was published by the New York Law Journal on July 12, 2021. Forrest, who serves as an outside tech contributor for the NYLJ, examined the impact of increased ransomware attacks on individuals, businesses and the legal system. Forrest reviewed steps companies can take to protect themselves from this type of cyberattack, including clear and appropriately disseminated incident response plans, data backups and alternative communication channels in case of a communication shutdown.

On July 13, 2021, Cravath partner Margaret T. Segall participated in a panel hosted virtually by the USC Gould School of Law Center for Transnational Law & Business and the USC Marshall School of Business Initiative on Digital Competition. The panel, entitled “Future of Antitrust Enforcement in the Biden Administration,” discussed the current presidential administration’s priorities in the competition space, including potential antitrust legislation, approaches by the new Federal Trade Commission and recent developments in antitrust law.

Cravath represented Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. in connection with its $2.5 billion registered senior notes offering. Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. is a leading supplier of aggregates and heavy building materials for the construction industry in the United States. Proceeds of the offering will be used to finance the pending acquisition of Lehigh Hanson, Inc.’s West Region Business. The transaction closed on July 2, 2021.

On July 15, 2021, Scientific Games Corporation (“Scientific Games”) announced that it has submitted to the Board of Directors of SciPlay Corporation (“SciPlay”) a proposal for Scientific Games to acquire the remaining 19% equity interest in SciPlay that it does not currently own in an all‑stock transaction, following which SciPlay would become a wholly‑owned subsidiary of Scientific Games. Cravath is representing Scientific Games in connection with the transaction.

Cravath, alongside Hengeler Mueller, represented Cherry AG in connection with its €416 million initial public offering of ordinary bearer shares. Cherry AG is a globally active manufacturer of premium mechanical gaming switches and peripheral computer input devices for gaming, office and industry as well as healthcare and security applications. The shares were listed on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange. The transaction closed on June 29, 2021.

Cravath represented Crown Castle International Corp. in connection with its $750 million registered senior notes offering. Crown Castle International Corp. is an owner, operator and lessor of shared wireless infrastructure. The transaction closed on June 29, 2021.

On July 8, 2021, IBM announced plans to acquire BoxBoat Technologies, a premier DevOps consultancy and enterprise Kubernetes certified service provider. The acquisition will extend IBM’s container strategy and implementation services portfolio to further advance IBM’s hybrid cloud strategy. Cravath is representing IBM in connection with the transaction.

In Bloomberg’s M&A advisory league table results for the first half of 2021, which published in its Global M&A Market Review Legal Rankings, Cravath was ranked No. 1 for cross-border announced deals by volume, having advised on 17 deals worth more than $150 billion. The tables “represent the top financial and legal advisors across a broad array of deal types, regions and industry sectors,” with data comprised of mergers, acquisitions, divestitures, spin-offs and joint ventures among other transactions. Among the announced cross-border transactions on which Cravath advised in the first half of 2021 were AerCap’s acquisition of GE Capital Aviation Services, Canadian National Railway’s combination with Kansas City Southern and National Grid’s acquisition of Western Power Distribution and sale of The Narragansett Electric Company.

Cravath represented the administrative agent, joint lead arranger and joint bookrunner in connection with the arrangement of a $300 million term loan facility made available to U.S. Concrete, Inc., a leading heavy building materials supplier of aggregates and ready mixed concrete in select geographic markets in the United States, the U.S. Virgin Islands and Canada. The transaction closed on June 25, 2021.