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Commercial News Update - March 2018
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<blockquote data-quote="Coralin96" data-source="post: 361" data-attributes="member: 15"><p>Update time <img src="data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP///yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7" class="smilie smilie--sprite smilie--sprite1" alt=":)" title="Smile :)" loading="lazy" data-shortname=":)" /></p><p></p><p>18/03/2018-19/03/2018</p><ol> <li data-xf-list-type="ol"><strong><strong>Putin's landslide victory</strong></strong><ul> <li data-xf-list-type="ul"><strong>The story</strong>: Russia's president won a landslide victory in the Russian elections with an estimated 75.6% of the vote. His campaign spokesman partly thanked the UK, linking the record voter turnout with the UK's accusations against Russia. Britain recently expelled 23 diplomats and blamed Russia for the use of a nerve agent against a former double agent, Mr Skripal, something which Russia has vehemently denied. Boris Johnson has said more sanctions will be put against Russia and accused the country of stockpiling nerve agents.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul"><strong>Impact on law firms: </strong>This political uncertainty is bad for the markets generally, companies slow down investment at times of unrest. If this escalates it's likely to impact international trade. Few law firms are currently based in Russia (like A&O, White & Case), but the sanctions could further squeeze the economy and <strong>affect both investment in and investment out the country</strong>. For example, companies may move their supply chains away from the country.</li> </ul></li> <li data-xf-list-type="ol"><strong><strong>Facebook's political scandal</strong></strong><ul> <li data-xf-list-type="ul"><strong>The story: </strong>Facebook is under fire after it was leaked that Cambridge Analytics, a company which claims to 'change audience behaviours', used data obtained from Facebook users without their consent. This was under the guise of a personality test, an app called "this is your digital life", which was downloaded by hundreds of thousands, and the harvested data was used for political targeting in the Trump election campaign. Channel 4 has reportedly secretly filmed the company, going undercover to pose as clients, and Cambridge Analytics is trying to stop Channel 4 from releasing the film. It was an employee at Cambridge Analytics, Christopher Wylie, who released the information and he was a former law student(!) and coder- you can watch his whistleblowing-inteview with the Guardian <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/news/2018/mar/17/cambridge-analytica-facebook-influence-us-election?CMP=share_btn_tw" target="_blank"><u>here</u></a>. </li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul"><strong>Impact on law firms</strong>: Data protection is becoming more important, especially <strong>how far companies should go to protect sensitive data</strong>. What I found most interesting is that this wasn't illegal in the US - companies can share third-party information. <strong>The issue is that it is illegal under EU data protection law,</strong> which shows the differences between the stricter regulation in the EU. It also comes as companies like Facebook will have to <strong>prepare for the General Data Protection Regulation</strong>, which comes into force in May and can fine 4% of global revenue for failing to report breaches (which is what FB seems to have done). It also comes as FB is blamed for failing to prevent Russian operatives fom creating fake accounts and influencing the US elections. Facebook has also banned Cambridge Analytics and says it may take legal action, whilst MPs have called for Mark Zuckerberg to testify in what some say is his biggest test yet - he reportedly found out about this years ago. In the UK, <strong>the data watchdog is looking</strong> <strong>into it and contacting other analytics companies to see how data is being used.</strong></li> </ul></li> <li data-xf-list-type="ol"><strong>The big hostile takeover</strong><ol> <li data-xf-list-type="ol"><strong>The Story: </strong>An investment firm, Melrose Industries, has been in a battle for the last two months to try to buy GKN, one of Britain's oldest engineering companies. It comes after bids have been rejected and politicians, customers and trustees have critised the attempted hostile takeover. Recently Airbus, its biggest customer also came out and said it would be difficult to work with the company if it was acquired because they want a supplier who cares about long term investment - not one that is looking to break up the company and sell. 16 MPs have also written to the business secretary asking the government to block it on grounds of national security. The UK pensions regulator is also said to be concerned. </li> <li data-xf-list-type="ol"><strong>Impact on law firms</strong>: <strong>The government can block an attempted acquisition under the 2002 Enterprise Act on public interest grounds</strong>. This is something that also happened recently in the US when Trump stopped the attempted acquisition of Qualcomm. It shows the ethical dilemma of investment firms who are seen as having short-term aims for profit despite the fact that GKN has had slowing sales in recent years. I think we could also connect this to private equity firms and the law firms acting for them - <strong>whether there should be other aims beyond profit and whether it's ethical to break up a company if it means lots of jobs will be lost.</strong></li> </ol></li> <li data-xf-list-type="ol"><strong>A new development in the Qualcomm acquisition</strong><ul> <li data-xf-list-type="ul"><strong>The Story: </strong>Above I wrote about Broadcom's failed acquisition of Qualcomm and how the US government intervened over fears of China's emergence in 5G. Now Qualcomm's executive chairman is looking to buy the company. He is looking to do a leveraged buyout and seeking finance to do so.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul"><strong>Impact on law firms: </strong>I think this is a <strong>management buyout or buy-i</strong>n (does anyone know?). Either way it's a good practical application of something I've been looking at for commercial awareness. The deal was set to be the largest ever financing and I imagine now private equity firms could help the manager if it thinks this is a good opportunity to buy the company.</li> </ul></li> <li data-xf-list-type="ol"><strong>The largest fund for China</strong><ul> <li data-xf-list-type="ul"><strong>The Story: </strong>Hillhouse Capital Management, an investment firm is raising a fund to invest in Asia which is expected to exceed $10bn. If it does this, it will beat the record fund raised by another private equity firm, KKR, last year. </li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul"><strong>Impact on law firms: </strong>The success of these firms and their funds suggests <strong>more hope about China</strong> compared to two years ago when there were many investors moving out over stock market concerns. It also follows SoftBank and its successful vision fund (I think Linklaters worked on this). <strong>The fund helps established companies use technology to compete</strong>, which I think there will be a big market for as companies try not to die out against the growing use of technology. it also comes as investors have struggled to get their target returns from the stock market and bonds.</li> </ul></li> </ol></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Coralin96, post: 361, member: 15"] Update time :) 18/03/2018-19/03/2018 [LIST=1] [*][B][B]Putin's landslide victory[/B][/B] [LIST] [*][B]The story[/B]: Russia's president won a landslide victory in the Russian elections with an estimated 75.6% of the vote. His campaign spokesman partly thanked the UK, linking the record voter turnout with the UK's accusations against Russia. Britain recently expelled 23 diplomats and blamed Russia for the use of a nerve agent against a former double agent, Mr Skripal, something which Russia has vehemently denied. Boris Johnson has said more sanctions will be put against Russia and accused the country of stockpiling nerve agents. [*][B]Impact on law firms: [/B]This political uncertainty is bad for the markets generally, companies slow down investment at times of unrest. If this escalates it's likely to impact international trade. Few law firms are currently based in Russia (like A&O, White & Case), but the sanctions could further squeeze the economy and [B]affect both investment in and investment out the country[/B]. For example, companies may move their supply chains away from the country. [/LIST] [*][B][B]Facebook's political scandal[/B][/B] [LIST] [*][B]The story: [/B]Facebook is under fire after it was leaked that Cambridge Analytics, a company which claims to 'change audience behaviours', used data obtained from Facebook users without their consent. This was under the guise of a personality test, an app called "this is your digital life", which was downloaded by hundreds of thousands, and the harvested data was used for political targeting in the Trump election campaign. Channel 4 has reportedly secretly filmed the company, going undercover to pose as clients, and Cambridge Analytics is trying to stop Channel 4 from releasing the film. It was an employee at Cambridge Analytics, Christopher Wylie, who released the information and he was a former law student(!) and coder- you can watch his whistleblowing-inteview with the Guardian [URL='https://www.theguardian.com/news/2018/mar/17/cambridge-analytica-facebook-influence-us-election?CMP=share_btn_tw'][U]here[/U][/URL]. [*][B]Impact on law firms[/B]: Data protection is becoming more important, especially [B]how far companies should go to protect sensitive data[/B]. What I found most interesting is that this wasn't illegal in the US - companies can share third-party information. [B]The issue is that it is illegal under EU data protection law,[/B] which shows the differences between the stricter regulation in the EU. It also comes as companies like Facebook will have to [B]prepare for the General Data Protection Regulation[/B], which comes into force in May and can fine 4% of global revenue for failing to report breaches (which is what FB seems to have done). It also comes as FB is blamed for failing to prevent Russian operatives fom creating fake accounts and influencing the US elections. Facebook has also banned Cambridge Analytics and says it may take legal action, whilst MPs have called for Mark Zuckerberg to testify in what some say is his biggest test yet - he reportedly found out about this years ago. In the UK, [B]the data watchdog is looking[/B] [B]into it and contacting other analytics companies to see how data is being used.[/B] [/LIST] [*][B]The big hostile takeover[/B] [LIST=1] [*][B]The Story: [/B]An investment firm, Melrose Industries, has been in a battle for the last two months to try to buy GKN, one of Britain's oldest engineering companies. It comes after bids have been rejected and politicians, customers and trustees have critised the attempted hostile takeover. Recently Airbus, its biggest customer also came out and said it would be difficult to work with the company if it was acquired because they want a supplier who cares about long term investment - not one that is looking to break up the company and sell. 16 MPs have also written to the business secretary asking the government to block it on grounds of national security. The UK pensions regulator is also said to be concerned. [*][B]Impact on law firms[/B]: [B]The government can block an attempted acquisition under the 2002 Enterprise Act on public interest grounds[/B]. This is something that also happened recently in the US when Trump stopped the attempted acquisition of Qualcomm. It shows the ethical dilemma of investment firms who are seen as having short-term aims for profit despite the fact that GKN has had slowing sales in recent years. I think we could also connect this to private equity firms and the law firms acting for them - [B]whether there should be other aims beyond profit and whether it's ethical to break up a company if it means lots of jobs will be lost.[/B] [/LIST] [*][B]A new development in the Qualcomm acquisition[/B] [LIST] [*][B]The Story: [/B]Above I wrote about Broadcom's failed acquisition of Qualcomm and how the US government intervened over fears of China's emergence in 5G. Now Qualcomm's executive chairman is looking to buy the company. He is looking to do a leveraged buyout and seeking finance to do so. [*][B]Impact on law firms: [/B]I think this is a [B]management buyout or buy-i[/B]n (does anyone know?). Either way it's a good practical application of something I've been looking at for commercial awareness. The deal was set to be the largest ever financing and I imagine now private equity firms could help the manager if it thinks this is a good opportunity to buy the company. [/LIST] [*][B]The largest fund for China[/B] [LIST] [*][B]The Story: [/B]Hillhouse Capital Management, an investment firm is raising a fund to invest in Asia which is expected to exceed $10bn. If it does this, it will beat the record fund raised by another private equity firm, KKR, last year. [*][B]Impact on law firms: [/B]The success of these firms and their funds suggests [B]more hope about China[/B] compared to two years ago when there were many investors moving out over stock market concerns. It also follows SoftBank and its successful vision fund (I think Linklaters worked on this). [B]The fund helps established companies use technology to compete[/B], which I think there will be a big market for as companies try not to die out against the growing use of technology. it also comes as investors have struggled to get their target returns from the stock market and bonds. [/LIST] [/LIST] [/QUOTE]
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