Corporate

On March 31, 2026, Biogen Inc. and Apellis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. announced that the companies have entered into a definitive agreement under which Biogen has agreed to acquire all outstanding shares of Apellis for $41.00 per share in cash at closing, or approximately $5.6 billion. Apellis stockholders will also receive a nontransferable CVR for each Apellis share held, entitling the holder to receive two payments of $2 per share each, contingent on certain annual global net sales thresholds being met for SYFOVRE®. Cravath is representing Biogen in connection with the transaction.

Cravath represented Hasbro Inc. in connection with its $400 million registered notes offering. Hasbro, Inc., together with its subsidiaries, operates as a play and entertainment company. The transaction closed on March 12, 2026. 

Cravath represented the initial purchasers in connection with the $700 million 144A/Reg. S high‑yield senior notes offering of The Chemours Company a leading, global provider of performance chemicals. The transaction closed on March 12, 2026.

Cravath represented the underwriters in connection with the $500 million registered senior notes offering of Essential Utilities, Inc., a holding company for regulated utilities providing water, wastewater or natural gas services to an estimated 5.5 million people in Pennsylvania, Ohio, Texas, Illinois, North Carolina, New Jersey, Indiana, Virginia, and Kentucky under the Aqua and Peoples brands. The transaction closed on March 9, 2026.

Cravath represented the underwriters in connection with the $1.2 billion registered notes offering of Howmet Aerospace Inc., a leading global provider of advanced engineered solutions for the aerospace and transportation industries. Proceeds of the offering will be used to partially finance Howmet Aerospace Inc.’s acquisition of Consolidated Aerospace Manufacturing, LLC. The transaction closed on March 3, 2026.

The Chambers USA Awards 2026 named Cravath a finalist in its Antitrust and Corporate/M&A practice area categories. The awards celebrate the achievements of leading law firms and lawyers operating across the United States, recognizing those who demonstrate excellence in legal practice, innovation and sustained performance at the highest level. The winners will be announced on June 11, 2026 at an awards ceremony in New York.

On March 20, 2026, Cravath partner G.J. Ligelis Jr. participated in the 38th Annual Tulane Corporate Law Institute, which was hosted by Tulane University Law School from March 19‑20 in New Orleans, Louisiana. The event featured discussions between M&A and securities practitioners, Delaware Supreme Court and Court of Chancery judiciary, corporate counsel and investment bankers on topics in M&A, corporate and securities law. G.J. spoke on a panel entitled “The Shareholder Proposal Process.”

On March 24, 2026, Cravath partners Robert I. Townsend III, Michael E. Mariani and Jin‑Kyu Baek were featured as 2026 “Dealmakers of the Year” by The American Lawyer in recognition of their representation of Kenvue in its $48.7 billion acquisition by Kimberly‑Clark. Putting together two companies of their size “is always a complex process,” said Mike. Added Bob, “from the Kenvue perspective, there was definitely a desire to either get to a transaction or pursue one of the other strategic alternatives” the board had considered – “it was a tremendous effort by the entire [Kenvue] management team.”

On March 23, 2026, Cravath partner Daniel J. Cerqueira participated in the International Bar Association’s “Mergers and Acquisitions in Latin America — Building Bridges Through Business: Rethinking M&A in the Americas,” which took place from March 23‑25 in Punta del Este, Uruguay. Dan co‑chaired a session entitled “Cross‑Border M&A: Legal and Regulatory Challenges in Latin America,” which examined issues surrounding the navigation of complex legal, regulatory, cultural and compliance‑related challenges in cross‑border deals.

On March 24, 2026, Cravath partner Elad Roisman participated in Blockworks’ Digital Asset Summit 2026 in New York. The summit hosted asset managers, financial institutions, crypto service providers, allocators and policy makers and regulators to discuss onchain institutional finance, digital assets in public markets, stablecoins and global payments, DeFi and risk management and U.S. and global digital asset policy. Elad interviewed SEC Chairman Paul Atkins in a keynote conversation.