International law firm McDermott Will & Emery represented Hidden Harbor Capital Partners, a Florida-based private equity firm, in its sale of Cloyes Gear & Products, a leading manufacturer and distributor of aftermarket automotive parts, to MidOcean Partners V, L.P, a New York-based alternative asset manager specializing in middle-market private equity and alternative credit investments.

• The transaction was announced on February 22, 2022.
• The McDermott team was led by Fred Levenson, Alex Clavero, Lindsey Reighard, Karla Utset and Daniel Fernandez and included Alex Ruiz, Emily Mussio, Sarah Bro, Allison Wilkerson, Rick Stepanovic, Gregg Fierman, Kate Williams, Michelle Strowhiro, Christopher Foster, Michael Boykins, Greg Heltzer and David Saunders.
• Read MidOcean Partners’ press release.

McDermott Will & Emery partners with leaders around the world to fuel missions, knock down barriers and shape markets. Our team works seamlessly across practices, industries and more than 20 locations to deliver highly effective—and often unexpected—solutions that propel success. More than 1,200 lawyers strong, we bring our personal passion and legal prowess to bear in every matter for our clients and the people they serve.

International law firm McDermott Will & Emery represented Merck KGaA, Darmstadt, Germany, a leading science and technology company, through its subsidiary Ares Trading S.A., in a venture-capital style investment in and its licensed spinoff of global intellectual property rights for a regenerative monoclonal antibody known as “Sprifermin”, being investigated to treat osteoarthritis, to High Line Bio, Inc., a new US-based company formed for this purpose by TrialSpark, which uses its tech-enabled platform to run end-to-end clinical trials.

• The transaction was announced on January 10, 2022.
• This transaction continues the strategic evolution of Merck KGaA, Darmstadt, Germany’s  immunology pipeline.  McDermott also represented it in earlier spinoffs to the US, for example, of assets to address inflammatory and progressive aspects of multiple sclerosis within the central nervous system, and autoimmune kidney disease.
• The McDermott team was led by Albert Sokol and included Jennifer Bock, Rebecca Dufur, Robert Cohen, David Levine, Michael Bruno, Keith Hagan and Michael Wilder.
• Read Merck KGaA, Darmstadt, Germany’s press release.

About Merck KGaA, Darmstadt, Germany

Merck KGaA, Darmstadt, Germany, a leading science and technology company, operates across healthcare, life science and electronics. Around 58,000 employees work to make a positive difference to millions of people’s lives every day by creating more joyful and sustainable ways to live. From advancing gene editing technologies and discovering unique ways to treat the most challenging diseases to enabling the intelligence of devices – the company is everywhere. In 2020, Merck KGaA, Darmstadt, Germany, generated sales of € 17.5 billion in 66 countries.

The company holds the global rights to the name and trademark “Merck” internationally. The only exceptions are the United States and Canada, where the business sectors of Merck KGaA, Darmstadt, Germany operate as EMD Serono in healthcare, MilliporeSigma in life science, and EMD Electronics. Since its founding in 1668, scientific exploration and responsible entrepreneurship have been key to the company’s technological and scientific advances. To this day, the founding family remains the majority owner of the publicly listed company.

McDermott Will & Emery partners with leaders around the world to fuel missions, knock down barriers and shape markets. Our team works seamlessly across practices, industries and more than 20 locations to deliver highly effective—and often unexpected—solutions that propel success. More than 1,200 lawyers strong, we bring our personal passion and legal prowess to bear in every matter for our clients and the people they serve.

International law firm McDermott Will & Emery represented Chicago Public Media/WBEZ, one of the largest and most respected public media organizations in the country, in its acquisition of the Chicago Sun-Times, the second largest newspaper circulation in Chicago. This partnership will provide more than 2 million people in the Chicago area news across broadcast, print and digital channels as one combined local nonprofit organization.

• The transaction closed on January 31, 2022 following a vote by the Chicago Public Media Board of Directors to move forward with this acquisition on January 18, 2022.
• This transaction follows the organization’s fall 2021 non-binding letter of intent for the Chicago Sun-Times to become a subsidiary of Chicago Public Media, creating one of the largest local nonprofit news organizations in the nation and emerging as a national model for the future of local journalism.
• The McDermott team was led by John Tamisiea and included Nick Greiner, Daniel Marino, Brandon Sarkauskas, Robert Louthian, Rick Stepanovic and Sarah Engle.
• Read Chicago Public Media’s press release.

McDermott Will & Emery partners with leaders around the world to fuel missions, knock down barriers and shape markets. Our team works seamlessly across practices, industries and more than 20 locations to deliver highly effective—and often unexpected—solutions that propel success. More than 1,200 lawyers strong, we bring our personal passion and legal prowess to bear in every matter for our clients and the people they serve.

International law firm McDermott Will & Emery represented Merck KGaA, Darmstadt, Germany, a leading science and technology company, in the entry of a definitive agreement to acquire Exelead, a biopharmaceutical contract development and manufacturing organization (CDMO) that specializes in complex injectable formulations, for US $780 million. This transaction will enhance Merck KGaA, Darmstadt, Germany’s more than 20 years of experience producing lipids, one of the critical components for the formulation of mRNA therapeutics including COVID-19 vaccines as well as its mRNA manufacturing capabilities.

• The transaction was announced on January 6, 2022 and is expected to close in Q1 2022 subject to regulatory clearances and other customary closing conditions.
• The McDermott team was led by Byron Kalogerou, Jennifer Bock and Sheldon Hughes and included Rebecca Dufur, Michael Willey, Michael Siekman, Jed Gordon, Hala Mourad, Anisa Mohanty, Brian Malkin, Daniel Doron, Abigail Kagan, Michael Bruno, Keith Hagan, Jeffery Holdvogt, Ray Jacobsen, Hendrik Viaene, Ty Carson, Karolien Van Der Putten, David Wolff, Garrett Kurtzweil, David Levine, Fran Forte, Todd McClelland, David Gacioch, Ettore Scandale and Massimiliano Moruzzi.
• The Merck KGaA, Darmstadt, Germany in-house legal team counsel was led by Rose Brounts, Head of Legal M&A, Post-Merger Integration and Finance and Alexander Krueger, Corporate Counsel, Legal – M&A, Post-Merger Integration and Finance.
• Read Merck KGaA, Darmstadt, Germany’s press release.

About Merck KGaA, Darmstadt, Germany

Merck KGaA, Darmstadt, Germany, a leading science and technology company, operates across healthcare, life science and electronics. Around 58,000 employees work to make a positive difference to millions of people’s lives every day by creating more joyful and sustainable ways to live. From advancing gene editing technologies and discovering unique ways to treat the most challenging diseases to enabling the intelligence of devices – the company is everywhere. In 2020, Merck KGaA, Darmstadt, Germany, generated sales of € 17.5 billion in 66 countries.

The company holds the global rights to the name and trademark “Merck” internationally. The only exceptions are the United States and Canada, where the business sectors of Merck KGaA, Darmstadt, Germany operate as EMD Serono in healthcare, MilliporeSigma in life science, and EMD Electronics. Since its founding in 1668, scientific exploration and responsible entrepreneurship have been key to the company’s technological and scientific advances. To this day, the founding family remains the majority owner of the publicly listed company.

McDermott Will & Emery partners with leaders around the world to fuel missions, knock down barriers and shape markets. Our team works seamlessly across practices, industries and more than 20 locations to deliver highly effective—and often unexpected—solutions that propel success. More than 1,200 lawyers strong, we bring our personal passion and legal prowess to bear in every matter for our clients and the people they serve.