Stephen W. Ranere

Latham & Watkins has advised General Catalyst and a16z on the €595 million Series B financing round of Mistral AI, a French start-up specializing in generative artificial intelligence. The fundraising values Mistral AI at €5.8 billion (post-money valuation). The round was led by General Catalyst and DST Global, with participation from a16z (Andreessen Horowitz), alongside other investors. Latham previously advised General Catalyst and a16z on Mistral AI's €385 million Series A funding round in December 2023, valuing the company at €2 billion. The Latham team advising General Catalyst was led by Paris partner Simon Lange, with associate Christos Ierna and Boston partner Stephen Ranere; and the team advising a16z was led by Paris partner Pierre-Louis Cléro, with counsel Xavier Nassoy.~~

Jun 11

1 min

Watts Water Technologies, Inc. (NYSE: WTS) (Watts) – through its subsidiaries, one of the world’s leading manufacturers and providers of plumbing, heating, and water quality products and solutions – has announced that it has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire Josam Company, a leading provider and manufacturer of drainage and plumbing products for over 100 years. Latham & Watkins LLP represents Watts in the transaction with a corporate deal team led by Chicago partner Owen Alexander and Boston partner Stephen Ranere, with associates Alice Bradshaw, Jack DeMeulenaere, and Cyrie Wilson. Advice was also provided on real estate matters by Chicago partner Robert Buday, with associate Karen Ritter; on tax matters by Washington, D.C. partner Nicholas DeNovio, with associates Abigail Friedman and Emmanuel Kassim; on environmental matters by Washington, D.C. partner James Barrett, with associate Brittany Curcuru; on benefits and compensation matters by Washington, D.C. partner Matthew Conway, with associates Ashlie Lawton and Bryce Williamson; on labor and employment matters by Chicago partner Nineveh Alkhas, with associate Jocelyn Wexler; on intellectual property and data privacy matters by Washington, D.C. partner Morgan Brubaker, with associate Lyle Stewart; on insurance matters by Los Angeles partner Drew Levin, with associates Harrison White and Gabby Tavarez; on anticorruption matters by Washington, D.C. partner Kevin Chambers; on export control matters by Washington, D.C. counsel Ruchi Gill, with associate C.J. Rydberg; on government contracts matters by Washington, D.C. partners Dean Baxtresser and Kyle Jefcoat; and on finance matters by New York partner Nicole Fanjul, with associates Tulika Sinha and Amishi Magdani.~~

Dec 13

1 min

Latham & Watkins has advised Azora, a leading international alternative investment management platform, on its US$13.5 million strategic minority stake in Abatable, a carbon procurement and market intelligence platform for the voluntary carbon market. The investment will form part of Azora’s European Climate Solutions private equity strategy which targets growth companies providing decarbonisation solutions for real assets. The Latham team was led by Madrid corporate partner Jose Antonio Sánchez-Dafos, Boston corporate partner Stephen Ranere and London corporate partner Shing Lo, with Boston associate Martha Anderson and London associate Michael Czarnota.~~

Apr 18

1 min

ModernFi, Inc. has announced that they have closed a US$18.7 million Series A round led by Canapi Ventures with participation from Andreessen Horowitz, Remarkable Ventures, and leading banks Huntington National Bank, First Horizon, and Regions Bank. This brings ModernFi’s total funds raised to more than US$23 million. Faced with a rapidly evolving deposit landscape, financial institutions across the country have turned to ModernFi to help manage their funding. Since its first raise, ModernFi has quickly established itself as the nation’s leading tech-enabled deposit network with its software for deposit management, helping financial institutions overcome manual processes that slow down traditional deposit networks. Latham & Watkins LLP represents ModernFi with an emerging companies team led by Boston partner Stephen Ranere, with associates Galina Vujovic and Emma Mayberry.~~

Jan 25

1 min

Overjet announced a US$53.2 million Series C round — the largest investment ever in artificial intelligence for dentistry. The historic round was led by March Capital, with participation from General Catalyst, Insight Partners, E14 Fund, Crosslink Capital, Spring Rock Capital, Liquid 2 Ventures, and Harmonic Growth Partners, as well as the American Dental Association. It brings Overjet's total funding to approximately US$133 million and increases the company's valuation to US$550 million. Latham & Watkins LLP represents Overjet in the transaction with an emerging companies team led by Boston partner Stephen Ranere, with associates Galina Vujovic and Tess Winston.~~

Mar 6

1 min