Private Equity (PE) firms and their limited partner investors could be facing significant headwinds in the coming years due to high company valuations, record levels of dry powder to invest, and more exit transactions akin to rearranging deck chairs by selling holdings to other PE funds rather than creating IPOs or arranging sales to strategic acquirers. The good news: investment money has never been easier to obtain from private and public pension funds, college endowments, foundations, high net worth family offices and individuals seeking higher yields.

The decision from the Court of Appeal was handed down on 1 March 2017 and has confirmed that if a trust is created by an IVA that trust will continue in the absence of specific terms to bring it to an end. This is despite a debtor having received his certificate of discharge and confirmation that he has no liability to IVA creditors.

In this issue, we feature a number of articles on investor-state dispute settlement (ISDS). Lawyers from across our global firm review various developments in this area, including requests for reconsideration in ICSID and UNCITRAL arbitration, whether the doctrine of precedent could or should apply in investment arbitration and the trends in investor-state disputes that can be identified from recent ICSID statistics.

The United States Supreme Court today has put tighter restrictions on where patent owners can file patent infringement lawsuits (TC Heartland LLC v. Kraft Food Brands Group LLC, case number 16-341, in the Supreme Court of the United States (2017)). The federal law governing patent venue states that a patent lawsuit may be filed where the defendant “resides” or has a regular and established place of business. For nearly 30 years, that rule has effectively been interpreted to allow a patent holder to file suit anywhere a defendant makes sales.

KPMG’s leaders have the insight and experience to guide you through the upcoming challenges presented by these rules. Complex Canadian, U.S. and international laws dealing with client data collection and reporting continue to evolve, placing considerable stress on the operations of Canadian financial institutions. Click here for more.

On Monday, March 27, 2017, Justin Trudeau’s Liberal government reportedly reversed a decision of the previous Conservative government of Stephen Harper to block the purchase of a technology company on national security grounds.

In an earlier M&A Update, we discussed the attraction of using earnouts to bridge valuation gaps but quoted VC Laster’s astute description of earnouts as “often convert[ing] today’s disagreement over price into tomorrow’s litigation over outcome.” Since then, we have seen a continued steady pace of lawsuits brought by disappointed sellers asserting that an earnout milestone in fact has been satisfied or that the buyer’s failure to use the requisite efforts caused the failure to hit the milestone or maximize the earnout.

The retail industry is undergoing key structural changes driven by the emergence of internet and mobile purchases, shopping trends of millennials (“experiences” over “things”), globalization, and changing business practices (e.g., “fast fashion”). Will there be a “clearance sale” of distressed retailers in 2017? The panel will discuss current trends and issues as well as strategies for professionals, and it will focus on various key roles in a retail restructuring, including lending, advising, and investing.

As managing director, Walter led the advisory team responsible for the successful restructuring and sale of U.S. Manufacturing, a critical supplier of highly specialized axle housings for the automotive industry, solving a significant industry problem and saving over 1,300 jobs. He also led the day-to-day advisory operations for M Space Holdings, navigating immediate crisis while preserving collateral for a successful bankruptcy filing. Click here

The M&A field within health care—including ophthalmology—has seen a whirlwind of activity the past several years, said Steve Wybo, senior managing director, Conway MacKenzie, Birmingham, Michigan. Mr. Wybo specializes in helping distressed businesses and is a certified turnaround professional. “2015 was the biggest year ever for health care mergers and acquisitions, with $500 billion in sector investments,” Mr. Wybo said, citing data from the trade magazine Modern Healthcare.