Tax

On October 3, 2025, White Mountains Insurance Group, Ltd. (“White Mountains”), a Bermuda-domiciled financial services holding company, announced that it has signed a definitive agreement to sell a controlling interest in Bamboo, a data-enabled insurance distribution platform, to funds advised by CVC Capital Partners (“CVC”) in a transaction that values Bamboo at $1.75 billion. White Mountains expects the transaction will result in a gain of approximately $310 to its book value per share and net cash proceeds of approximately $840 million. White Mountains will retain an approximately 15% fully-diluted equity stake in Bamboo post-closing, valued at $250 million based on the transaction. Cravath is representing White Mountains and Bamboo in connection with the transaction.

On October 2, 2025, Occidental, an international energy company, and Berkshire Hathaway announced a definitive agreement for Berkshire Hathaway to acquire Occidental’s chemical business, OxyChem, in an all‑cash transaction for $9.7 billion, subject to customary purchase price adjustments. Cravath is representing Occidental in connection with the transaction.

On September 30, 2025, Future Standard, a global alternative asset manager, announced it has entered into an agreement to acquire the Digital Infrastructure platform of Post Road Group, an alternative investment advisory firm. The platform specializes in credit and structured equity investments across digital infrastructure assets, including data centers, fiber networks and cloud connectivity. Cravath is representing Future Standard in connection with the transaction.

Cravath represented the European Investment Bank (“EIB”) in connection with its $4 billion SEC registered notes offering. The purpose of the EIB is to contribute to the balanced and steady development of the internal market among Member States of the European Union. The notes were listed on the Luxembourg Stock Exchange. The transaction closed on August 26, 2025.

Cravath represented Marcura Equities Ltd (“Marcura”), a leading maritime technology provider, in connection with the amendment and restatement of its senior credit facilities. The proceeds were used to finance Marcura’s acquisition of Brightwell Payments, Inc. (“Brightwell Navigator”), the maritime crew payroll and payment services division of Brightwell, an Atlanta-based financial technology company. Marlin Equity Partners is a shareholder of Marcura. The transaction closed on August 1, 2025.

Vlad Izversky is the Senior Vice President, Head of Global Tax and Treasury at Integral Ad Science. In this episode of On Tax, he and Cravath partner and host Len Teti discuss Vlad’s path from engineering school in the Soviet Union to studying accounting in the United States and the route he took from public accounting to his current in‑house role. They also reflect on the multidisciplinary skills that enable tax professionals to excel across functions and discuss how strong leaders in the field add value by building trust with stakeholders at all levels.

On September 15, 2025, Bloomberg Tax published “Private Equity Funds,” a Tax Management Portfolio by Cravath partners Christopher K. Fargo, Arvind Ravichandran and Andrew T. Davis that addresses material tax issues faced by private equity funds. The flagship treatise provides in‑depth, clear and commercial guidance on a variety of topics, including fund formation, private equity M&A, structuring of special investments and addressing the needs of special cases of investors, such as tax‑exempts, sovereign wealth funds and foreign investors.

On September 25, 2025, Cravath partner J. Leonard Teti II participated in “Tax’s Role in M&A — From Diligence to Closing,” a virtual event hosted by Tax Executives Institute as part of its 2025 CTO Discussion series. Len spoke about the critical role of tax professionals in M&A transactions, including in coordination with legal teams for seamless issue tracking, risk mitigation through targeted covenants, indemnities and the use of R&W and tax insurance. The discussion also covered strategic valuation and negotiation of basis step‑ups, analysis of structural alternatives to optimize deal value, key moments where tax leads influence deal structure and terms, best practices for collaboration with counsel and strategic post-closing follow‑ups to maximize tax efficiency and ensure compliance.

On September 12, 2025, Cravath prepared a memo for its clients entitled “IRS Publishes Guidance for Determining Beginning of Construction for Solar and Wind Projects.” The memo examines the Internal Revenue Service’s recently issued Notice 2025-42 (“New Guidance”), which sets forth new rules for determining “beginning of construction” for solar and wind projects seeking to claim clean electricity credits under Sections 45Y and 48E of the Internal Revenue Code.

Steve Gordon is a retired partner and former Head of the Tax Department at Cravath, who first appeared as an On Tax guest in the Season 1 pilot (listen to that episode here). In the show’s very first role reversal, Steve returns to talk with Cravath partner and host Len Teti not as a guest, but as a guest host for the Season 10 premiere of On Tax. They discuss Len’s path to practicing tax law, their time working together in the Firm’s Tax Department and the valuable problem‑solving role that tax practitioners play for clients.