Consumer Products and Services

On November 13, 2024, Just Eat Takeaway.com N.V. (“Just Eat Takeaway.com”), one of the world’s leading global online food delivery companies, announced that it has entered into a definitive agreement to sell Grubhub Inc. (“Grubhub”) to Wonder Group, Inc. (“Wonder”) for an enterprise value of $650 million. Grubhub will be transferred with its $500 million of senior notes. Cravath is representing Just Eat Takeaway.com in connection with the transaction.

On October 31, 2024, Sterling Check Corp. announced the closing of its acquisition by First Advantage Corporation, with a transaction value of approximately $2.2 billion. Sterling and First Advantage are both global providers of technology‑enabled background and identity verification services. As publicly announced, the companies entered a merger agreement on February 29, 2024, and received second requests from the Department of Justice on May 28, 2024. The parties announced the satisfaction of regulatory closing conditions on October 29, 2024. Cravath represented Sterling on all antitrust matters in connection with the transaction.

Cravath represented the lead bookrunner in connection with a $700 million revolving credit facility made available to Reynolds Consumer Products Inc. Reynolds Consumer Products Inc. produces and sells products in cooking, waste and storage, and tableware product categories in the United States and internationally. The transaction closed on October 17, 2024.

Cravath represented the initial purchasers in connection with the €800 million 144A/Reg. S high‑yield senior secured floating rate notes offering of Sammontana Italia S.p.A., a leading company in the Italian frozen bakery and ice cream markets. Proceeds of the offering will be used to refinance the indebtedness under a bridge facility agreement to fund the acquisition of Forno d’ Asolo S.p.A. by the issuer. The transaction closed on October 11, 2024.

On October 21, 2024, Neuberger Berman Private Markets (“Neuberger Berman”), EQT and Canada Pension Plan Investment Board ("CPP Investments"), together with global institutional investors, announced the signing of definitive share purchase agreements in Nord Anglia Education, a leading international schools organization ("Nord Anglia”), for an enterprise value of $14.5 billion. Existing owners EQT and CPP Investments will remain shareholders in Nord Anglia through a new fund investment and reinvestment, respectively, while Neuberger Berman will become a new strategic partner. Cravath is representing Neuberger Berman in connection with the transaction.

Gary A. Bornstein was named to The Hollywood Reporter’s “New York Power Lawyers” list, which recognizes the “25 most powerful entertainment lawyers in New York” and was published in the September 19, 2024 issue of The Hollywood Reporter Magazine. The feature highlighted Gary’s representation of Epic Games in its successful antitrust litigation against Google and of a Special Committee of Paramount Global’s independent directors in connection with litigation matters related to the company’s pending $28 billion merger with Skydance.

On September 4, 2024, Cravath partner Michael J. Zaken was named by Global Competition Review to its 2024 “40 Under 40” list, which recognizes “the next generation of leading antitrust practitioners.” In a Q&A feature associated with the accolade, Michael discussed his recent work for client Epic Games in an antitrust trial victory against Google, as well as the crucial influence on his legal career of Cravath partners Christine A. Varney and Gary A. Bornstein. Reflecting on his advice for junior lawyers, Michael emphasized the importance of “diving headlong into your cases” and learning every fact about the industry, which makes you “an indispensable resource to the firm and to the client.”

On September 5, 2024, Cravath was named the recipient of the New York Law Journal’s 2024 “Litigation Department of the Year” award in the General Litigation category, the publication’s highest firmwide honor for litigation practice. The Firm was honored at the New York Legal Awards for a period that saw it earn numerous major successes on behalf of clients across industries, including Epic Games in an antitrust trial victory against Google, Robinhood in the sprawling and high-profile “meme stock” litigation and PG&E in its successful defense against a putative class action involving wins in multiple courts.

On August 14, 2024, Cravath partner Korey Fevzi was named to Financial News’ inaugural “Most Influential in European Finance” list, which recognizes “innovators shaping the industry.” The feature recognized Korey’s role in the establishment of Cravath’s “English law offering” and on advising “investment banks, private credit funds and on leveraged finance acquisitions.” The publication also highlighted his representation of the lead arrangers in connection with the senior financing package for the €1.1bn acquisition of Forno d’Asolo by Sammontana and Investindustrial and his representation of the debt providers in the financing for the public‑to‑private takeover of Applus+ by TDR Capital and I Squared Capital.

On July 29, 2024, Cravath partner G.J. Ligelis Jr. was featured in Bloomberg Law’s “They’ve Got Next: 40 Under 40” series, which recognizes “the accomplishments of stellar young lawyers nationwide,” based on their work on key client matters, assumption of leadership roles, pro bono commitments and more. In a Q&A, G.J. described his work on transformative deals, including for client AerCap in its $30 billion acquisition of GE Capital Aviation Services, the largest M&A deal in the history of the aircraft leasing industry. G.J. also highlighted Just Eat Takeaway.com’s $7.3 billion combination with Grubhub as a matter in which he was “particularly proud of” his role, having led the Cravath team representing Just Eat Takeaway.com on M&A matters during his third year as partner. G.J. emphasized the importance of teamwork in providing clients with seamless legal advice and praised the quality of the Firm’s attorneys across practice groups: “Nothing is more rewarding than introducing an M&A client to one of my litigation or investigations partners, capital markets partners or antitrust/regulatory partners and watching my client’s reaction as they realize they get the exact same level of quality, dedication, and personal touch across every area of Cravath.”