🧩 Meta gets a $25 billion bill
PLUS: EQT lands Qiagen, LSEG buys Octus, a judge says body armor is an "arm"...
Lookzy: all your daily legal news in 0.1 billable hours. Plain English coverage of deals, litigation and legal trends trusted by lawyers at Cravath, Latham, Skadden, Gunderson and elsewhere.
Welcome to Lookzy. In today's Lookzy:
- Meta's $25B Cambridge Analytica penalty
- EQT seals its Qiagen takeover
- LSEG's $3.5B Octus buy
- A judge says body armor is an "arm"
A $194 BILLION DISCOUNT
A New Mexico judge ordered Meta to pay $25 billion on Wednesday in the state's Cambridge Analytica case. A jury found last month that Facebook made misleading statements about who could see users' data, adding up to nearly 44 million violations of the state's consumer protection law.
Judge Francis Mathew said the $5,000-per-violation statute justified more than $219 billion, then cut it down. The state had asked for $35 billion to $40 billion; Meta said $3.45 billion was the most it should pay. It's the biggest penalty Meta has taken over Cambridge Analytica, topping the FTC's $5 billion in 2019.
Meta's chief legal officer, C.J. Mahoney, says the company is confident it will win on appeal. Experts told Reuters the weak spot is counting a violation every time someone may have seen a statement, without proof anyone actually did.
THE VERDICT
Arguing today's litigation news
Stand down. Judge Araceli Martínez-Olguín (N.D. Cal.) barred DHS from voting-related field operations involving known U.S. citizens in nine states, including New York, Pennsylvania and Georgia, through Election Day. She found the plaintiffs likely to win their claim that the operation breaks the Voting Rights Act's ban on intimidating people who help others vote.
Vested interest. Judge John Sinatra (W.D.N.Y.) struck down New York's ban on buying body armor, ruling that bulletproof vests are "arms" under the Second Amendment and that the state flunked Bruen's history test. The Firearms Policy Coalition brought the suit; the New York AG's office says it's reviewing the ruling.
Lease forgiven. Snap Finance agreed to a nearly $664 million settlement with 17 state AGs over its lease-to-own deals. Almost all of it, $662.1 million, comes as canceled lease payments, plus $2.75 million to the states, which alleged Snap hid the true cost of its leases and told customers on-time payments would help their credit.
Stay denied. The Supreme Court refused to let the Trump administration enforce its Bureau of Prisons policy restricting care for transgender inmates while the challenge plays out. Justices Thomas and Alito would have granted the stay.
THE DEAL
Wheelin' and dealin' today's corporate news
Done deal. A day after we reported the talks, EQT agreed to buy Qiagen for €46.50 a share in cash, about €10.8 billion in enterprise value. It's the first private equity take-private of a DAX company ever. Milbank is lead counsel to EQT, and Davis Polk and Linklaters are among the firms repping Qiagen.
Credit check. LSEG agreed to buy Octus from Permira for $3.535 billion in cash, its biggest deal since Refinitiv. Octus covers distressed and private credit, and law firms are among its customers, so some of you are about to become LSEG users. It's expected to close in the first half of 2027.
Oncology. Cencora agreed to buy American Oncology Network at a $2.4 billion enterprise value. Holland & Knight and Sidley are repping Cencora, McDermott is repping AON and Cleary is repping AON's special committee.
Lab partner. OpenAI bought Orchestra Bio, which helps biopharma teams run drug development, and will fold it into its life sciences tools. Kirkland repped OpenAI.
Rise up. KKR's Arctos bought a 7.5% stake in the Atlanta Falcons after NFL owners signed off Tuesday, with another 2.5% to come if owners approve later. Kirkland repped Arctos and has now advised on six of the seven private equity investments in NFL teams.
BOILERPLATE
Lateral Moves:
- Sullivan & Cromwell hired tax partner Vivek Ratnam in New York from Kirkland.
- Foley & Lardner hired partners Marisa White and Rena Andoh in New York from Baker Botts and Benesch.
- Mintz hired capital markets partner Alexander Katznelson in Toronto from Cozen O'Connor.
Industry News:
- Jackson Walker: a judge ruled the U.S. Trustee has standing to go after millions in fees the firm collected in cases before ex-Judge David Jones, who had an undisclosed relationship with a former firm partner.
- Sullivan & Cromwell is in advanced talks to lease space in one of London's priciest buildings and roughly double its office there, the FT reports.
Alright, back to billing. That's all, folks!
