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.
Litigation
- Represented a major technology conglomerate in obtaining a settlement with the Federal Trade Commission in connection with its data privacy practices
- Represented Kroger Co. with regard to the Accellion data breach, which involved a complex supply chain data security incident and response, as well as class action claims attempting to press a novel theory of liability for downstream customers of a compromised vendor
- Represented a 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, represented a major electronics manufacturer accused of patent infringement to a de minimis settlement
- Represented a cellular communications provider in obtaining summary judgment of non-infringement against a non-practicing entity who had been successful in previous cases against similarly situated defendants
Transactions
Conducted privacy and cybersecurity diligence counseling regarding the following transactions:
- Representing Discovery Education, a global edtech company backed by Clearlake Capital Group, L.P., in its acquisition of Minneapolis, MN-based Pivot Interactives SBC
- Representing the Hero Mighty Patch® brand in its acquisition by Church & Dwight Co., Inc. for US$630 million
- Representing Walgreens Boots Alliance in its acquisition of a majority stake in CareCentrix
- Representing insurtech company Zywave, Inc., backed by Clearlake Capital Group, L.P. and Aurora Capital Partners, in its acquisition of Columbus, Ohio-based Strategic Insurance Software (SIS)
- Representing Colliers in its investment in Versus Capital, a U.S. alternative real asset management firm with approximately US$6.0 billion of assets under management
- Representing Clearlake Capital Group, L.P. in its agreement to sell Brightly Software, Inc. to Siemens AG for US$1.575 billion of upfront cash consideration, along with US$300 million in cash earn-out payments, for a total of US$1.875 billion
- Representing GIC, OMERS Infrastructure, and Wren House in their purchase of Direct ChassisLink, Inc. from funds managed by affiliates of Apollo Global Management and EQT
- Representing EnterpriseDB in its majority growth investment from Bain Capital Private Equity
- Representing independent haircare brands amika and Eva NYC, in their acquisition by Bansk Group
- Representing Colliers in its strategic investment in Rockwood Capital, LLC
- Representing Perforce Software, a provider of solutions to enterprise teams backed by Francisco Partners and Clearlake Capital Group, L.P., in its acquisition of Puppet
- Advised publicly traded insurance distribution firm BRP Group in the acquisition of California-based Westwood Insurance Agency from QBE
- Represented Eurazeo in its investment in Cranial Technologies
- Representing Provation Software in its US$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 US$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
- 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
*Some of the above matters were handled by Ash prior to joining Sidley.
