The online services and platforms sector is rapidly evolving, driven by advancements in technology, changing customer behaviors and geopolitical factors. Such advancements include social media, e-commerce/consumer, content sharing, information/knowledge and gaming/entertainment. The dealmaking environment is increasingly complex with heightened regulatory scrutiny around the world. Portfolio optimization around core assets and strategies, may lead to the divestment of business lines and workforce redesign. As regulators seek to keep pace, the sector faces a complex web of overlapping and diverging global requirements. Businesses in the sector are also dealing with significant changes in the global tax landscape as international organizations and countries worldwide tackle the tax challenges of the digital economy.
Our integrated, multidisciplinary team brings extensive sector experience across all relevant areas of law, enabling us to help clients pursue their business objectives while navigating these challenges. We provide commercial and pragmatic advice, leveraging local market knowledge globally and combining specialized skills with a deep understanding of key issues and market disruptions across dynamic technologies.
We provide services to help clients meet opportunities and challenges around business issues, including advising on cross border M&A and dealmaking regulation, commercial agreements (including joint ventures, partnerships and alternative deal structures), protecting intellectual property, trade policy and impacts for businesses, employment (such as workforce redesign, strategies to retain employees and manage talent across borders and other labor relations matters), tax planning and handling tax controversy (including preparing for increased scrutiny and audits), regulatory compliance (with AI, digital services and online content laws, data privacy, and cybersecurity), sustainability and ESG, antitrust and competition (around digital markets), and all phases of arbitration and litigation.
Antitrust authorities have embraced a position of intensified scrutiny, giving rise to significant challenges for technology companies. In this episode, Kim Sartin is joined by Paul Johnson and Brian Burke who delve into key developments in merger control across the US, Europe and UK, the emerging theories of harm being employed to challenge major transactions and look ahead to future antitrust trends and their associated risks. Tune in to an insightful discussion on the rapidly changing antitrust environment in the technology sector.
The TMT sector is constantly transforming. Major TMT players regularly conduct strategic reviews which can lead to potential divestments or carve-outs of business units, key assets and divisions into independent entities, reshaping the industry dynamics. In this episode, Kate Alexander is joined by Robert Wright and Darcy Down who dive into the current market conditions driving opportunities for carve-outs, the key legal and structural considerations to focus on during the planning phase, and insights on limiting value leakage. Tune in for guidance on navigating complex carve-out transactions.
Baker McKenzie's seventh annual report, The Year Ahead: Global Disputes Forecast offers invaluable insights from a survey of more than 600 senior lawyers on disputes risks and predictions for 2024. In this episode of TMT Talk, Teresa Michaud, Ryan Grant and Francesca Richmond discuss the overarching trends in TMT disputes and provide actionable advice on mitigating risks and enhancing preparedness. Tune in to gain strategies for navigating the complexities of TMT disputes with confidence.
Recently there have been less mega deals but the technology industry still commands a significant portion of the M&A market. In this episode of TMT Talk, Tino Marz, Matt Jacobson, and Hong Zhang offer a multijurisdictional perspective on the current state of tech M&A. Our panel of experts share their insights on the risks and challenges that businesses should pay attention to, as well as tools and mechanisms that are important to know in order address such challenges.
The metaverse continues to be a trending topic across industries but is still largely undefined as businesses have yet to grasp the full potential of this new technology. In this episode of TMT Talk, Pablo Usle, Zelander Gray, and Sara Pitt share their insights on how navigating disputes may be transformed in the context of virtual worlds, such as metaverse. Our panel of experts discuss what companies need to consider when it comes to metaverse disputes and the challenges that arise from metaverse disputes in key areas such as employment and content moderation.
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