Consumer Products and Services

Cravath represented the administrative agent, sole lead arranger and sole bookrunner in connection with a £375 million term loan facility made available to Mars, Incorporated to finance the recommended acquisition of Hotel Chocolat Group plc. Mars, Incorporated is one of the world’s largest privately-held, family-owned businesses with a history of successfully building and growing market-leading consumer brands for over 100 years. The transaction closed on November 16, 2023.

On November 14, 2023, engineering and technology company Technip Energies announced the launch of Reju, a company focused on PET (Polyethylene terephthalate) recycling of textiles that will leverage technology co‑developed in a joint venture with IBM and Under Armour. IBM, Under Armour and Technip Energies have been working together since 2021 to bring VolCat, an IBM technology for rejuvenating waste PET packaging and polyester, to an industrial scale. VolCat allows the selective breakdown of polymers which IBM first applied to technologies like semiconductor lithography and microelectronics packaging, which Reju intends to use to address hard‑to‑recycle polyester garments and PET packaging lost to the waste stream. Cravath is representing IBM in connection with the joint venture and matters relating to the establishment of Reju.

On November 13, 2023, the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida denied plaintiffs’ motion to certify a class asserting market manipulation claims under the federal securities laws against Cravath clients Robinhood Markets, Inc., Robinhood Financial LLC and Robinhood Securities, LLC (together, “Robinhood”).

On November 8, 2023, Ahold Delhaize USA, a division of Netherlands-based Ahold Delhaize and the parent company of its U.S. companies, announced that it has entered into an agreement to sell its FreshDirect business to Getir, a pioneer in ultrafast grocery delivery operating in the U.S. and globally. Cravath is representing Ahold Delhaize USA in connection with the transaction.

Cravath represented the initial purchasers in connection with the $350 million 144A/Reg. S high‑yield senior notes offering of Acushnet Company, a wholly owned subsidiary of Acushnet Holdings Corp., a global leader in the design, development, manufacture and distribution of performance‑driven golf products. The transaction closed on October 3, 2023.

On November 20, 2023, Cravath partner David R. Marriott was featured as a 2023 “Litigator of the Year” by The American Lawyer. The accompanying profile highlights his role in helping Illumina secure a trial win against the FTC before the commission’s own administrative law judge, which the publication notes as “a rare, if not unprecedented, instance of antitrust litigation involving primarily pre-commercial products,” as well as his trial victory for Louis Dreyfus Company defeating the DOJ’s attempt to block the company’s sale of Imperial Sugar to U.S. Sugar – “a rare agency loss in a horizontal merger case.” The profile also recognizes Dave’s representation of Viatris which earned a summary judgment victory in a securities class action, representing “one of the few resolutions of a federal securities fraud litigation at summary judgment entirely in favor of defendants.”

On October 6, 2023, Cravath partner David R. Marriott was featured as a 2023 Antitrust MVP by Law360, which highlighted his role helping Illumina secure an unprecedented trial win rejecting the FTC’s challenge to Illumina’s $8 billion acquisition of GRAIL, as well as his representation of Imperial Sugar Company in a U.S. Department of Justice lawsuit contesting the company's acquisition by U.S. Sugar. In the profile, Dave noted he’s proud that the victory for Illumina “is going to be beneficial for people worldwide as they screen for cancer,” which is reflective of his broader interest in antitrust cases: “they kind of reverberate beyond a particular matter and have effects, especially the ones that are consumer oriented, that have … a way of potentially really helping and matter in people's lives.”

On October 4, 2023, Cravath partner Christine A. Varney was featured by the New York Law Journal as winner of its “Lifetime Achievement Award,” in recognition of her career accomplishments as “one of the country’s foremost antitrust experts” and her indelible impact on the practice of competition law. The profile highlights her government service as both U.S. Assistant Attorney General for Antitrust and a Commissioner of the Federal Trade Commission, as well as her work on over $1 trillion in proposed or completed transactions and work for clients including Anheuser‑Busch InBev, Delta Air Lines, Epic Games, Illumina and Time Warner.

Between July 28 and August 11, 2023, Cravath advised on nine announced deals, including seven deals in a span of three business days. Cravath is representing:

On March 28, 2023, Global Competition Review honored Cravath at the publication’s annual awards ceremony, which was held in Washington, D.C. in celebration of “the world’s leading antitrust lawyers and economists and the biggest cases from 2022.” The Firm was honored as GCR’s “Regional Firm of the Year” for the Americas, while partner Christine A. Varney was recognized as “Lawyer of the Year.” The Firm’s work over the last year included cases—many still ongoing—for clients including Blue Cross Blue Shield, Epic Games, Illumina, Meta and Robinhood.