By Karina Estrella | Trepp In the first 11 months of 2017 alone, more than 30 US retailers filed for bankruptcy protection. That news certainly made those in structured finance take notice to the mounting concern surrounding brick-and-mortar retail. According to Trepp data, more than $35 billion of CMBS debt is exposed to retailers that sought bankruptcy protection this year. The main culprit for what many call the brick-and-mortar “retail apocalypse” is the continued growth of ecommerce and transformed consumer trends. Based...

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By Houthoff On 23 November 2017, the Court of Justice of the EU (the "CJEU") confirmed the judgment of the General Court (the "GC") in the SACE case. SACE is owned by the Italian State and provides export credits. In 2013, the European Commission considered that a capital injection by SACE into Sace BT, a subsidiary, was not in conformity with the market economy investor principle. In 2015, the GC confirmed the Commission's assessment and only partly annulled the decision due...

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By DS-Concept DS-Concept has funded an Indian textile titan with an export factoring facility in the amount of USD $5 million. The company, a manufacturer and exporter of readymade garments including knits, woven goods, leather and accessories, mainly ships to the US and Europe, selling to big-name buyers such as Ann Taylor, Guess, and Sainsbury’s. The client came to DS-Concept with the goal of expanding its business, and required accelerated cash flow to do so. While the company's funding sources were...

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By Christina M. Schmid (New York City) | Aaron Warshaw (New York City) | Ogletree Deakins As we previously reported, the New York State Paid Family Leave Law (PFL) will go into effect on January 1, 2018, requiring virtually all private employers in New York to provide paid family leave benefits to eligible employees.  Under the PFL, covered employers are required to provide information to employees about their PFL rights, either in an employee handbook or other written materials. In advance...

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By DS-Concept DS-Concept closed a 250 million HUF credit facility for a Hungarian trading company that sells household appliances and kitchenware domestically to big multinational corporations. Under the arrangement, the company plans to use the provided liquidity to accommodate the 60-90-day payment terms of its buyers and reach its ten-figure annual turnover goal. The client sought out DS-Concept when a former business connection pointed them in their direction. As a new trading company, it was unable to get financing from traditional...

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By Donald C. Dowling | Littler The 2017 tsunami of high-profile sex harassment allegations against politicians, entertainers and news reporters has employers rethinking their approach to eradicating workplace harassment. And this issue is global—the news stories splash across media outlets worldwide and the conversation is everywhere. Overseas, eradicating workplace sex harassment is just as urgent as it is stateside. Anti-harassment laws abroad can be strict. Costa Rica, India, Korea and other countries impose specific rules for sex harassment policies and training. France,...

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The national corporate practice and international practice at Cozen O’Connor represented Eurofins Scientific SE in the acquisition of EAG Laboratories from affiliates of Odyssey Investment Partners. The transaction is valued at $780 million on a cash-free, debt-free basis, and closed on December 1, 2017.   Eurofins Scientific is a world leader in food, environment, and pharmaceuticals products testing and one of the global independent market leaders in testing and laboratory services for agroscience, genomics, and discovery pharmacology, as well as...

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