Category: Trends

The Forecast for Capital Markets

Cooley partner and co-founder of the firm’s Chicago office Christina Roupas was a featured speaker in the final installment of Axios’ Dealmarkers series. In a “View From the Top” segment, Roupas spoke with Fabricio Drumond, chief business officer at Axios, about what’s expected for the capital markets in 2023 and […]

SEC’s Small Business Advisory Committee hears glimmers of positive news about the IPO market

Recently, at a meeting of the SEC’s Small Business Advisory Committee, a panel provided an update on the state of play of the IPO market.  While IPO activity—traditional IPOs, SPACs and direct listings—was off-the-charts in the second half of 2020 and throughout 2021, geopolitical upheavals, market volatility, inflationary pressure, economic […]

Navigating the Downturn: Biotech Financing Trends

This year, markets have exhibited volatility and general weakness across the board. We put together a discussion of trends in the biotech financing ecosystem and popular alternative vehicles for raising capital, including private investments in public equity (PIPEs) and registered direct offerings (RDOs).

Board Diversity for Foreign Private Issuers: Does Board Diversity Mean the Same Thing Worldwide?

Now that Nasdaq’s board diversity matrix disclosure deadline has arrived, foreign private issuers (FPIs) and companies considering US initial public offerings are increasingly considering their current board makeups and director candidates in light of US and home country requirements, as well as expectations of investors and shareholder advocacy groups. The […]

How Cap Markets Partners Are Helping Tech Clients Through the Downturn as Relationship Advisers

Palo Alto partner Jon Avina was quoted in a piece by The Recorder in which he discusses the current state of the market and his future predictions for tech and life sciences companies. “Capital markets lawyers say the evolution of their base of tech and life sciences clients is leading […]

Tepid Equity Markets Start 2nd Half of ’22 on Shaky Ground

New York partner Richard Segal was quoted in a Law360 piece discussing the need for capital in the biotech sector and the strong appetite among private biotech companies to go public. “Equity capital markets plummeted to earth in the first half of 2022 amid economic headwinds and geopolitical turmoil, and […]

Media Mention: An M&A Talent Bubble Is Forming. What Happens When It Pops?

“The sustained surge of M&A activity, SPACs, de-SPACing and IPOs has major dealmakers scrambling to find enough associates to staff their deals, risking burnout for the associates they do have on staff.”

The Debate Over Dual-Class Shares in the UK

“The principle of ‘one share, one vote’ is long cherished by the UK investment community. Under current Financial Conduct Authority rules, companies cannot be included on the premium segment of the London Stock Exchange – the gold standard for corporate governance – if they have dual-class shares. Such companies also […]

Past Event: Behind the Scenes of the 2021 IPO & SPAC Boom

Cooley, DFIN, PwC, Nasdaq and The Blueshirt Group hosted a two-part webinar series Behind the Scenes of the 2021 IPO & SPAC Boom on May 4 & 11, 2021. We heard the latest insights from leaders who have successfully completed recent IPOs or SPAC mergers and learned about the current capital raising […]

Why We Believe the UK Should Look Again at Dual-Class Structures and Ways in Which Core Investor Protections Can Be Maintained

What is a dual-class structure? A dual-class structure involves two different classes of shares with differential voting rights. This means that founders and other pre-IPO holders are able to maintain voting control of the publicly listed company through holding shares with enhanced voting rights compared to the shares held by […]