Howard T. Block

Willkie represented Biogen Inc., a leading public global biotechnology company, in connection with a $1.5 billion unsecured revolving credit facility agented by Bank of America, N.A. The Willkie team was led by partners Jason Pearl, Jonathan Zane and Howard Block, and included associates Benjamin Kim and Gina Ojile Hunt.

Sep 4

1 min

Willkie advised Acronis AG, a leading cybersecurity and data protection platform for managed service providers, in connection with a sale of a majority stake to the EQT X fund. On August 7, Acronis announced that EQT is acquiring a majority stake in the company, with founders, management and certain existing investors remaining as significant minority shareholders. Acronis is a global cyber protection company that provides natively integrated cybersecurity, data protection, and endpoint management for managed service providers, small and medium businesses, and enterprise IT departments. The Willkie team was led by partners Howard Block, Gavin Gordon and Jeffrey Korn and included partners Michael Katz, Andrew Gray and Rahul Saha and associates Alaric Green, Ethan Douglas, Ben Pearlman, Nayanika Ruia and Harry Buchanan.

Aug 9

1 min

Willkie is advising Bamboo Ide8 Insurance Services, LLC, as well as selling equityholders, in connection with an approximately $285 million equity investment from White Mountains Insurance Group, Ltd. On October 20, White Mountains announced that it entered into an agreement to acquire a majority stake in Bamboo, a managing general agent focused on the California homeowners insurance market. White Mountains expects to invest approximately $285 million, including primary capital to support Bamboo's growth, and to acquire approximately 70% of Bamboo basic shares outstanding. Bamboo is a capital-light, tech- and data-enabled insurance distribution platform providing insurance offerings to the residential property market in California. White Mountains is a Bermuda-domiciled financial services holding company traded on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol WTM and on the Bermuda Stock Exchange under the symbol WTM.BH. The Willkie team is led by partners Gregory Astrachan and Howard Block and includes associates Donald Casey and Margaret O'Brien.

Oct 23

1 min

Willkie advised Title Resources Group (TRG), a leading title insurance underwriter, in its take-private acquisition of real estate technology company Doma Holdings, Inc. (NYSE: DOMA). On March 28, Doma Holdings announced it has entered into a definitive agreement and plan of merger with TRG, in which TRG would acquire all of the outstanding shares of Doma for $6.29 per share of common stock in an all-cash transaction, an approximate premium of 43.0% over Doma’s closing share price on March 27, 2024, and an approximate 33.9% premium over the trailing 30-day volume weighted average closing price ending March 27, 2024. Upon closing of the transaction, Doma will no longer be traded or listed on any public securities exchange. Doma’s underwriting division and technology division are expected to operate as subsidiaries of TRG with the technology division, Doma TechCo, operating on a separately-capitalized basis. Title Resources Group is a leading underwriter for the real estate industry, and one of the nation’s largest title insurance underwriters. Doma is a real estate technology company that uses proprietary machine intelligence technology to create a simple and affordable experience for everyone involved in a residential real estate transaction. Willkie previously represented Centerbridge Partners in the acquisition of a controlling stake in Title Resources Guaranty Company, as part of a strategic agreement to form TRG as a joint venture between Centerbridge and Realogy, and in the launch of the joint venture and subsequent investments in TRG. The Willkie team was led by partners Rosalind Fahey Kruse, Howard Block, Jenny Liu and Daniel Durschlag, and included associate Charise Patterson.

Apr 1

1 min

Willkie is representing Accedian, a portfolio company of firm client Bridge Growth Partners, LLC, specializing in performance analytics and end-user experience solutions, in its sale to Cisco. Bridge Growth Partners, a leading technology investment firm, announced on June 21 that it signed a definitive agreement to sell Accedian to Cisco, a worldwide technology leader. Bridge Growth Partners acquired Accedian in 2017 and helped it develop into a leading provider of network and application performance monitoring solutions primarily used by telecommunications companies. The transaction is expected to close in the first quarter of Cisco’s fiscal year 2024, which begins July 30, 2023, subject to regulatory approvals and other customary closing conditions. The Willkie team is led by partners Adam Turteltaub and Howard Block and includes associates Tyler Born and Jacqueline Foley and law clerks Rachel Hankers and Nayanika Ruia.

Jun 22

1 min