Wake Up Call: Two Firms Lead Deal to Create Property Giant

Welcome to Bloomberg Law’s Wake Up Call, a daily rundown of the top news for lawyers, law firms, and in-house counsel.

• Wachtell Lipton is advising shopping center owner, operator, and developer Regency Centers Corp. on its agreement to acquire Urstadt Biddle Properties Inc. in an all-stock transaction valued at around $1.4 billion. Hogan Lovells is advising Urstadt Biddle. The deal, expected to close late in the third quarter or early in the fourth quarter, would create a $16 billion property giant, Hogan Lovells’ press release said. Hogan Lovells said its team was led by partner Stacey McEvoy. (RegencyCenters.com) (HoganLovells.com)
• Clifford Chance said New York-based M&A partner Benjamin Sibbett advised longtime client Informa PLC, a London-based global events, digital products and academic services company, on its $380 million acquisition of Winsight LLC, a Chicago-headquartered food service and retail media, event and market intelligence group. Latham & Watkins said its corporate deal team led by Washington partners Paul Sheridan and Cory Tull advised Winsight and its seller, investment firm HPS Investment Partners. (PR Newswire) (Informa.com)
• A decline in transactional work pulled Kramer Levin’s revenues down 6.1% in 2022 to $421.44 million, but that was still its second-best year ever for revenues. Higher expenses hit Kramer’s average profits per equity partner, which plunged 14.7% to $2.38 million, although it shed four equity partners during the year. The firm expects restructuring and litigation to power its 2023 results. (American Lawyer)

Lawyers, Law Firms

• Portland, Oregon-headquartered Stoel Rives saw revenue drop 2.5% to $263.36 million in 2022 after it lost dozens of lawyers in Salt Lake City, Utah. With its equity partnership down 12.9%, Stoel’s average profits per equity partner rose 2.6% to a record $990,000. (The Recorder)
• Mintz PC plans to double its headcount in San Francisco in the next two years to meet demand in the city, where it has more than 400 clients. (American Lawyer)
• The Louisiana Supreme Court appointed a special trustee attorney to take over hurricane and storm-related lawsuits filed in state courts by disgraced Houston-based firm McClenny Moseley and Associates. (Claims Journal) The firm and some of its partners were recently fined $2 million for hurricane-related insurance fraud targeting Louisiana homeowners and policyholders. (Insurance Business Mag)
• C. Boyden Gray, who was White House counsel to George H.W. Bush and served every Republican presidency since Ronald Reagan, died Sunday at age 80. He was a corporate partner at the firm now known as WilmerHale. (NYT)

Laterals, Moves, In-house

• Alston & Bird grabbed Bryan Cave Leighton Paisner’s head of real estate finance Jim Kousoulas as partner in Los Angeles. He arrives with real estate lawyer James Litwinovich, joining as partner. (Alston.com)
• Norton Rose Fulbright hired veteran projects lawyer Nunzio Bicchieri as partner in its Milan, Italy, office. He arrives from Allen & Overy, where he led the Italy project finance practice. (NortonRoseFulbright.com)
• Atlanta-headquartered Hall Booth Smith hired former Walmart general counsel for international compliance Jennifer May-Brust of Bentonville as of counsel in its Rogers, Arkansas, office. (HallBoothSmith.com)

Legal Education

• The new Wilmington University School of Law, which plans to open this fall, will “challenge the monopoly” that Widener University Delaware Law School has long had in the state, a report says. (Delaware Business) Wilmington Law’s website says it is not yet been accredited by the American Bar Association. (Wilmu.edu)