Ash advises companies on a variety of data privacy and cybersecurity issues, such as those pertaining to the CCPA, COPPA, GLBA, PCI DSS, HIPAA, Unfair and Deceptive Trade practices, state privacy and common law claims, and privacy enforcement in federal agencies, including the Federal Trade Commission. In addition, Ash assists companies with data breach management, privacy compliance programs, and cross-border data transfers.
Transactions
Conducted privacy and cybersecurity diligence counseling regarding the following transactions:
- Representing Provation Software in its $1.425 billion sale to Fortive Corporation;
- Representing Guaranty Federal Bancshares, Inc. in its sale to QCR Holdings, Inc.;
- Representing affiliates of media and communications private equity firm ZMC in its acquisition of Simpler Trading;
- Represented Eurazeo in its acquisition of a majority stake in Cranial Technologies;
- Represented Omnicell in its $82 million acquisition of MarkeTouch Media;
- Represented Youth to the People, an LA-based skincare company, in its sale to L’Oréal;
- Assisted ZMC affiliated investment funds in their acquisition of iconic comedy brand The Second City;
- Assisted GIC in connection with its agreement to acquire an indirect 19.9% equity interest in Duke Energy Indiana, a subsidiary of Duke Energy (NYSE:DUK), for a total purchase price of US$2.05 billion; and
- Assisted Zywave, Inc., a leading Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) provider of front office distribution solutions backed by Clearlake Capital Group, L.P. and Aurora Capital Partners in its acquisition of Insurance Technologies Corporation (ITC), a provider of marketing, rating and management software and services to the insurance industry, from Accel-KKR.
Litigation
- Assisted major technology conglomerate in obtaining a settlement with the Federal Trade Commission in connection with its data privacy practices;
- Assisted major computer software company in securing a complete defense jury verdict on all issues, including patent infringement, patent invalidity, trade secret misappropriation, breach of contract, and various other state law claims;
- After filing a Motion to Disqualify, helped a major electronics manufacturer accused of patent infringement to a de minimis settlement; and
- Assisted a cellular communications provider in obtaining summary judgment of non-infringement against a non-practicing entity who in previous cases involving the same patent survived summary judgment and obtained significant settlement dollars from similarly situated defendants.
*Some of the above matters were handled by Ash prior to joining Sidley.
