Third-quarter M&A activity broke higher from what was an extremely subdued and uncertain second quarter. Retail drove the bulk of transaction activity in a sector which saw demand return and retailers drive significant business via necessary replacement tire and maintenance service spend during the quarter. The highlight of the quarter is Meritage Group’s – an investment advisor with over $12 billion of assets under management – acquisition of Les Schwab Tire Centers in September. Despite delays in the transaction due...

Read more

For the past ten weeks, negotiators from the European Parliament and Council have been embattled over finding a compromise on the EU’s next seven-year budget. On Tuesday, the two institutions’ delegations reached a political agreement, almost sealing the deal on the roll-out of the €1.8 trillion package aimed at financing the COVID-19 economic recovery through additional funding for future jobs and competitiveness, as well as leading the EU’s green and digital transformation. Compared to the momentous agreement reached by the...

Read more

After a long, four-month wait, we finally have recommendations from the European Data Protection Board (EDPB) on “supplementary measures” in the context of international transfers of personal data – i.e. measures required to ensure that transfers to countries outside of the European Economic Area (EEA) are permitted under the GDPR. Follow-up on Schrems II Under the GDPR, transfers of personal data from the EEA to a non-EEA recipient are prohibited unless the sender has a certain degree of confidence – thanks to...

Read more

Montpellier, November 09th 2020 | CILcare, a world leading CRO entirely dedicated to ear disorders, announces today the opening of a new subsidiary in Copenhagen, Denmark. Already established in the US, the French company is joining the Medicon Valley Alliance, a leading international life-sciences cluster in Northern Europe. This second subsidiary is another key step in CILcare’s continuing global expansion and will reinforce its presence in the Nordic and Northern European markets. Since its inception in 2014, CILcare has become the...

Read more

Every time you post a job, there is that dreaded field a job board asks you to complete called “salary.” Instinct is to put in the budgeted range and hit submit, but is it that simple? Many employers do not realize the adverse effect that including salary in postings can do. You may be limiting the candidate pool. Many job boards and postings will push the job out to numerous job seekers that request to be notified about positions based...

Read more

Key insights As political uncertainty begins to recede after the U.S. elections, let’s address key investment and tax considerations heading into both year-end and 2021. On the investments front, markets at their highs combined with expensive valuations drive the importance of realizing capital gains or harvesting tax losses. On the tax front, consider whether to harvest income and capital gains before year-end, ahead of any potential tax increases in 2021. Amid potential uncertainty about what may lie ahead, it...

Read more

Welcome to our Microtransit Misconceptions series, where we use detailed data and real examples to debunk common myths about on-demand public transit | Think going on-demand will drain your budgets? Think again. See the proof that shows communities can actually save money when switching to microtransit. MYTH: On-demand transit is expensive. We can’t invest in something that isn’t financially viable. REALITY: When on-demand networks are implemented in a smart way, communities can actually save money compared to their previous fixed route services, unlocking broader...

Read more

Whether a company’s compliance program works in practice is one of the three fundamental questions prosecutors ask when evaluating corporate compliance programs.  Effective implementation is a key metric for the overall effectiveness of the program.  Companies may be wondering the same thing about recently updated compliance guidance from the Department of Justice (“DOJ”) and Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”):  how does it work in practice?  In other words, how have regulators applied the guidance in recent enforcement actions? This summer, the DOJ...

Read more

Let’s set the scene: You are running a few minutes late to an important Zoom meeting with a potential client. You hurriedly search for the dial-in information. Then, you type in the 10-digit meeting ID buried at the bottom of an email. Next, you enter your password. And now, you have been corralled into a virtual waiting room where you must stay in meeting purgatory until the host grants you access to the call. Is all this really necessary? According to the...

Read more

Diversity, Equity & Inclusion have become trending topics, especially as of late, but the truth is supplier diversity initiatives have been in effect in some corporations for decades. A few have achieved over $1 billion in annual spending across their diverse supplier base. Yet few  of those dollars are contributed through real estate services. It appears that we are at a juncture where corporate supplier diversity goals are growing and corporate real estate can significantly contribute to achieving those...

Read more