Bright Spot in Dealmaking - Apollo Continues M&A Activity, Latest Possibility Ryder System Takeover

"Apollo Global Management Inc. is exploring a takeover of Ryder System Inc., a transportation and logistics company, according to people with knowledge of the matter." - Yahoo Finance, September 27, 2022 

Overall, dealmaking has slowed down in 2022, following the pandemic boom. What's driving that, posits The Wall Street Journal, includes the uncertainty in the economy and markets. Another major factor, of course, is the reduced availability and increased costs of funding. However, Paul Weiss documents in a Client Memorandum an uptick in value of deals in August. The number, though, has declined. 

Currently the possible Ryder System deal is in the early stages. It could go poof because of funding.

Since Mark Rowan became Apollo CEO in March 2021 the financial firm has been reshaping itself from private equity to also becoming a player in insurance and credit. That has involved intense dealmaking. 

So far the biggest transaction has been the acquisition of the part of Athene which it hadn't already invested in. More recently it has focused on Atlas Air World Holdings and Tenneco. For all three Paul Weiss has been the legal counsel. That has meant that the law firm has been kept busy in that niche when other firms are experiencing a significant falloff in demand for their M&A practices. 

Actually, the current story in the large-law firm sector is which ones got the work. Both establishment legal media such as Law.com and professional networks such as Reddit and Fishbowl are monitoring the slowdown and speculating about impacts on manpower. 

Most anticipate performance-related terminations. Some contend many of those are really stealth layoffs. That is, swinging the ax because of financial pressure but wanting to prevent the hit to branding from a formal reduction-in-force (RIF). 

Over the weekend a poster on Reddit Big Law asked if Kirkland & Ellis is engaged in formal layoffs. Here is the thread. As yet, that is mere rumor. But, as one K&E junior lawyer indicated in a response, he/she is freaking out. 

Back in the 2008 - 2009 era of mass layoffs in Big Law, Paul Weiss enhanced its branding under new chairperson Brad Karp by not conducting a RIF. The Apollo business could position that law firm to also duck negative manpower initiatives in 2022 and 2023. 

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