WM Partners recently announced it had acquired Allergy Research Group (ARG) from Kikkoman Corp.

ARG, founded in 1979 and based in South Salt Lake, Utah, sells hypoallergenic supplements focused on addressing condition-specific issues to healthcare practitioners.

WM Partners, based in Aventura, Fla., is a middle-market private equity firm. Founded in 2015, the firm…

On June 29, 2023, the U.S. Supreme Court struck down the race-conscious admissions programs at Harvard University and the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in a pair of cases brought by Students for Fair Admissions (SFFA).  The Court in SFFA found the universities in violation of the Equal Protection Clause and Title VI of the Civil Rights Act, holding that the diversity-focused admissions programs “lack sufficiently focused and measurable objectives warranting the use of race, unavoidably employ race in a negative manner, involve racial stereotyping, and lack meaningful end points.”

Audax Private Equity recently announced it closed two new funds with a combined $7.8 billion.

Audax Private Equity Fund VII was oversubscribed, hitting its hard cap of $5.25 billion.

Audax Private Equity Origins Fund I closed with $774 million, exceeding its initial target. This fund is the firm’s first lower middle market strategy.

When combined…

Manufacturers face an ever increasing risk of liability exposure for pollution caused by polyfluoroalkyl substances, commonly known as “PFAS.” In early June this year, it was reported that 3M, as have other large chemical manufacturers, settled pending litigation involving PFAS-contamination in U.S. cities for an estimated $10 billion and aimed to resolve allegations that 3M polluted bodies of water in several U.S. cities.[1] This reported settlement comes after another recent $1.19 billion settlement related to the contamination of water systems.[2] Moreover, environmental regulators—including the Environmental Protection Agency (“EPA”) under the Biden Administration—have made PFAS a priority in recent years.[3]

On July 26, 2023, the U.S. Department of Justice’s National Security Division, U.S. Department of Commerce’s Bureau of Industry and Security, and U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control issued a Tri-Seal Compliance Note (the Note) detailing updates to the three agencies’ voluntary self-disclosure policies applicable to violations of U.S. sanctions, export controls, and other national security laws.  The agencies highlighted the essential role that the private sector plays in identifying threats from malicious actors and foreign adversaries seeking to undermine the American economy and national security, and they encouraged prompt voluntary self-disclosure and remediation of apparent violations. The Department of Justice announced an updated policy that it “generally will not seek a guilty plea, and there will be a presumption that the company will receive a non-prosecution agreement and will not pay a fine” in cases “where a company voluntarily self-discloses potentially criminal violations, fully cooperates, and timely and appropriately remediates the violations.”

Once an outlier, the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals recently joined seven other Circuit Courts in holding that receipt of a single, unwanted text message constitutes the concrete injury required for standing in class actions filed under the Telephone Consumer Protection Act. Read on for details about this development and implications for TCPA class…