Venture Capital’s “Me Too” Moment Over the last seventy years, female labor market participation has increased significantly. Women’s representation in highly compensated occupations such as law, medicine, consulting, and investment banking has steadily improved. Yet, the gender diversity in venture capital has lagged significantly behind: On average, only about 8% of venture capital investors hired… Published on: 2021-07-13 Source: The Harvard Law School Forum on Corporate Governance and Financial Alarm.com and the Open Questions Regarding Trade Secret Claims Related To Usurpation of Corporate Opportunities In a previous memorandum, we discussed a recent Texas Court of Appeals case which held that members of a Delaware LLC can contract around (i.e., waive) the general principle protecting against usurpation of corporate opportunities. See Patterson v. Five Point Midstream Funds I and II, L.P., Case No. 01-19-00-643-CV (Tex…. Published on: 2021-06-29 Source: The Harvard Law School Forum on Corporate Governance and Financial Silicon Valley Venture Capital Survey – First Quarter 2021 Background Our survey analyzed the terms of 259 venture financings closed in the first quarter of 2021 by companies headquartered in Silicon Valley. Key Findings Valuation results continued their momentum, reaching historical highs Up rounds exceeded down rounds 85% to 10%, with 5% flat in Q1 2021, a decrease from… Published on: 2021-06-02 Source: The Harvard Law School Forum on Corporate Governance and Financial Delaware Court Orders Up Prevention Doctrine to Require Reluctant Buyer to Close In Snow Phipps v. KCAKE Acquisition, the Delaware Court of Chancery ordered the buyer (Kohlberg) to close on its $550 million agreement to purchase DecoPac, a cake decorations supplier. In doing so, the court easily rejected the buyer’s claims that the COVID-19 pandemic resulted in a material adverse effect (“MAE”)… Published on: 2021-05-27 Source: The Harvard Law School Forum on Corporate Governance and Financial Private Equity and Financial Stability: Evidence from Failed Bank Resolution in the Crisis Private equity (PE) has become an important component in the financial system. An extensive literature explores the effects of private equity buyouts on firm-level outcomes, with some papers arguing that such buyouts positively affect the operations of target companies. At the same time, the private equity industry generates much controversy…. Published on: 2021-05-26 Source: The Harvard Law School Forum on Corporate Governance and Financial Energizing the M&A Market Post-Crisis During these unprecedented times, all of us have had to acclimate to new ways of working, adapting creatively to the changed environment. Economic activity, including M&A dealmaking, has inevitably been depressed by the COVID-19 crisis, especially in Q2 2020—but industries and businesses have found novel solutions to the problems they… Published on: 2021-03-30 Source: The Harvard Law School Forum on Corporate Governance and Financial Private Equity – Year in Review and 2021 Outlook 2020 was a tale of two halves: during the first half of the year, global private equity deal volume fell precipitously, declining more than 20% relative to the same period in 2019; in the second half of the year, private equity dealmaking roared back to life, ending the year at… Published on: 2021-02-06 Source: The Harvard Law School Forum on Corporate Governance and Financial The Rise of Growth Equity—Connecting PE and VC Emerging companies have historically been backed by venture capital funds, but as Europe’s startup scene matures, involvement by more traditional private equity investors is growing, particularly in the tech, consumer, and digital health sectors. The number of PE investments in emerging companies has increased year on year, with investments in… Published on: 2021-01-15 Source: The Harvard Law School Forum on Corporate Governance and Financial IPOs Surge While Market Tightens, But Opportunities Remain Special purpose acquisition companies (“SPACs”) grabbed the investment spotlight this year and remain among the most active investment classes in the market. While the SPAC model has evolved over the better part of the past two decades, SPACs have recently enjoyed an unprecedented surge in popularity as a result of… Published on: 2020-11-29 Source: The Harvard Law School Forum on Corporate Governance and Financial EQT: Private Equity with a Purpose The private equity (PE) industry has grown enormously over the past 20 years, from roughly $650 billion in assets under management (AUM) in 2000 to almost $5 trillion in September 2019 (of which some $1.7 trillion is now “dry powder”), an increase of 16% from the prior year and a… Published on: 2020-11-25 Source: The Harvard Law School Forum on Corporate Governance and Financial The Limits of Corwin in the Sale of a Company to a PE Buyer In In re MINDBODY, Inc. Stockholders Litigation, the plaintiffs challenged the merger (the “Merger”) pursuant to which private equity firm Vista Equity Partners acquired MINDBODY, Inc. (the “Company”). The key allegations were that the Company’s CEO-founder-director (“RS”), due to his self-interest in obtaining liquidity and lucrative post-sale employment, “tilted” the… Published on: 2020-11-14 Source: The Harvard Law School Forum on Corporate Governance and Financial Don’t Go Chasing Waterfalls: Fiduciary Obligations in the Shadow of Trados In a newly-released working paper, we tackle a fundamental financial and governance conundrum that nearly every venture capital (VC) backed company faces: when there are multiple classes of stock, how should directors discharge their fiduciary duties? In a typical VC-backed firm, the founders and other early employees hold common stock… Published on: 2020-11-10 Source: The Harvard Law School Forum on Corporate Governance and Financial 1 2 3 … Next
