Lawyer Monthly Magazine August 2020 Edition

Countries globally are fighting hard to keep their economy from crashing, even though it has been reported that a number of companies may be susceptible to opportunistic hostile activity and strategic stake-building by potential bidders as they seek to take advantage of depressed share prices 1 . - As we keep our eyes out and pray for the best, some activity has been ticking along, especially as we witness the unfortunate downfall of some companies falling into administration. This month we saw Walmart (WMT.N), the world’s biggest retailer, restarting talks with potential buyers of a stake in its British supermarket arm Asda, stating that that the pandemic had demonstrated Asda’s resilience 2 . On the more unfortunate side of things, Azzurri Group, the owner of Zizzi and Ask Italian restaurant chains, announced it has been bought by London-based investment management company TowerBrook Capital Partners in a deal that would close 75 of its branches, with the COVID-19 crisis having had a profound impact on the casual dining sector 3 . Coronavirus is not the only thing impacting companies. Following Greg Glassman’s resignation after receiving widespread criticism for his tweet on the death of African American George Floyd and the Black Lives Matter movement, CrossFit Inc will finally have a new CEO after Investment firm Berkshire Partners said it would join Eric Roza (who will serve as the new CEO) in buying the company. With businesses looking for a helping hand or a way out from this crisis, we can only but hope there is a bright light at the end of this tunnel. The following section will feature some interviews with the legal experts working on M&A deals across the globe, where we can get insight into the transactions they have been dealing with during this unpredictable time. 1 https://www.pinsentmasons.com/out-law/news/coronavirus-crisis-hits-uk-public-ma 2 https://www.reuters.com/article/us-asda-walmart-m-a/walmart-restarts-talks-on-possible-sale-of-asda-stake-idUSKCN24L1JL 3 https://www.reuters.com/article/virgin-australia-debt/virgin-australia-bondholders-submit-rival-proposal-to-administrator-idUSL3N2ER1OO TRANSACTIONS What’s Happening in theWorld of M&As and IPOs? 74 WWW.LAWYER-MONTHLY.COM | AUG 2020