Energy : Law360 UK : Legal News & Analysis (2024)

Skadden, Weil Guide Honeywell's $1.9B Defense Tech Co. Buy

Honeywell International Inc. said Thursday it plans to acquire defense electronics company CAES Systems Holdings LLC in a $1.9 billion all-cash deal guided bySkadden Arps Slate Meagher & Flom LLP andWeil Gotshal & Manges LLPthat Honeywell said would enhance its radio frequency technology offerings for military aircraft, missiles and drones.

5 Firms Build Masdar's $3.4B Buy Of Greek Energy Biz

United Arab Emirates renewable energy company Masdar on Thursday unveiled plans to acquire two-thirds of Greek clean energy platform Terna Energy SA in a deal that boasts a €3.2 billion ($3.4 billion) enterprise value and was built by five law firms.

Parties Reach Resolution Ending Ga. Shipwreck Suit

An agreement has been reached ending a lawsuit brought against the companies that owned, chartered, operated and salvaged the MV Golden Ray, a cargo ship that capsized off Georgia's coast, according to a joint stipulation filed Tuesday in Georgia federal court.

Tesla Can't Beat 'Right-To-Repair' Monopoly Suit This Time

Tesla must face an amended proposed class action alleging the company runs an unlawful monopoly on parts for its electric vehicles, a California federal judge has ruled, finding that the plaintiffs have addressed issues in their previously dismissed complaint.

'Reckless' Behavior Centered In Climate Coverage Suit Args

Attorneys for a Sunoco subsidiary and AIG offered sharply differing views to Hawaii's top court Tuesday in oral arguments over whether reckless behavior would trigger the oil company's liability coverage in a novel suit over coverage for underlying climate change claims.

Nuke Regulator Asks High Court To Review Atomic Waste Rule

The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission has asked the U.S. Supreme Court to reverse a contentious Fifth Circuit decision that barred it from issuing a license to a temporary nuclear waste storage facility in Texas, saying that the circuit court widened circuit splits and upended decades of agency practice.

Green Group Insists It Can Fight Colo. Air Plan Approval

The Center for Biological Diversity told the Tenth Circuit it didn't forfeit its challenge to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's approval of a Colorado air emissions permitting program and that the agency is wrong to assert otherwise.

9th Circ. Asked For En Banc Review In Youths' Climate Case

Youth plaintiffs have asked the Ninth Circuit for en banc review of a panel's decision to toss their lawsuit against the federal government over the effects of climate change.

Blue States And Enviro Groups Back DOE Furnace Rule

Several blue states and environmental and consumer groups have thrown their support behind the U.S. Department of Energy's tighter energy efficiency standards for furnaces and water heaters, telling the D.C. Circuit that challenges to the new rules are meritless.

Steel Co. Says Cambodian Hangers Are Skirting Hefty Duties

A domestic hanger manufacturer accused its foreign rivals of skirting steep antidumping and countervailing steel tariffs by shipping hangers made with Chinese and Vietnamese steel from Cambodia.

Norton Rose Fulbright has welcomed back a corporate finance partner in its Houston office, the global firm announced Tuesday, part of an ongoing push to add lateral hires across office locations and practices, firm leaders said.

Musk Pay Claims Still Alive After Texas Vote, Chancery Told

Attorneys for Tesla stockholders who won a Court of Chancery order voiding CEO Elon Musk's mammoth stock-based compensation plan in January are rejecting as having no legal effect a vote last week to ratify the same 10-year package, once valued at $56 billion.

EPA Tells DC Circ. That Smog Plan Is Legally Sound

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency on Monday defended its plan to reduce smog-forming emissions in several states, telling the D.C. Circuit that it's taken a sensible approach to cracking down on upwind pollution using a formula that has been backed by the U.S. Supreme Court.

African Gold Miner To Go Public Via $500M SPAC Merger

African gold miner Namib Minerals said Tuesday it has agreed to go public by merging with special-purpose acquisition company Hennessy Capital Investment Corp. VI at an estimated $500 million value, a deal said to be the largest SPAC acquisition involving an African business to date.

Insurers Must Keep Defending Heating Oil Co. In Class Suit

Two Crum & Forster units must continue defending a heating oil company and several executives in a class action claiming the company provided oil with elevated levels of biodiesel that caused property damage, a Massachusetts federal court ruled, saying the policies' "failure to supply" provisions do not limit or exclude coverage.

Treasury Finalizes Labor Rules For Bonus Energy Tax Credits

The U.S. Treasury Department releasedfinal labor rulesTuesday for clean energy projects seeking to significantly boost the value of their tax credits,emphasizing due diligence by developers and announcing that more IRS resources will go toward enforcement of the rules.

Trader Claims Firm Owes Bonus On $37M Texas Storm Profits

A trader told a Denver jury Monday that a Colorado energy marketing company fired him as retaliation after he accused the CEO of failing to pay out his cut of $37 million from trades made during a 2021 Texas storm that caused natural gas prices to spike.

Milbank Snags FTC Competition Trial Chief For DC Office

Milbank LLP announced Monday it has hired the chief trial counsel for the Federal Trade Commission's Bureau of Competition, bulking up its Washington, D.C., antitrust and competition practice with a veteran litigator who led the government's challenge to Microsoft Corp.'s $69 billion acquisition of Activision Blizzard.

DC Circ. Gives FERC More Clarity On Scope Of Climate Reviews

A recent D.C. Circuit decision not only endorses the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission's current approach to reviewing the climate change impacts of gas infrastructure projects, but may also help trim environmental reviews by federal agencies across the board.

Tesla Says Texas Charter, Musk Pay Have Impact In Delaware

Pointing to recent Tesla stockholder votes to reincorporate in Texas and approve a mammoth Elon Musk pay package voided in Delaware, an attorney for Tesla has asked the Court of Chancery to reconsider holding a July 8 hearing on a proposed multibillion fee for class attorneys who won the Musk salary put-down.

6th Circ. Sends Enbridge Pipeline Dispute To Mich. State Court

A Sixth Circuit panel on Monday remanded a dispute between Michigan's attorney general and Enbridge Energy that looks to shut down dual pipelines that cross the Straits of Mackinac, saying the company failed to timely remove the case to federal court and there are no equitable exceptions to do so.

Exxon Investor Deal Ends Suit Over Emissions Proposal

Activist investor Arjuna Capital has escaped Exxon Mobil Corp.'s lawsuit over a contentious greenhouse gas-related shareholder proposal the investor sought to include in the company's 2024 proxy statement after a Texas federal judge on Monday accepted the investor's promises not to resubmit the proposal.

Chrysler MDL Class Can Fix 'Puzzling' State Claim Skip

A Michigan federal judge has said he will give a class of drivers alleging Chrysler minivans have a defect that causes their batteries to explode unexpectedly an opportunity to fix their "puzzling" choice not to plead state-by-state claims in the first master complaint of the sprawling multidistrict litigation.

No Coverage For Family Shareholder Row, 2nd Circ. Affirms

A Liberty Mutual unit had no duty to defend Paraco Gas Corp. and two of its executives in a family shareholder dispute, the Second Circuit affirmed Monday, finding that all claims in the underlying suit fell within the policy's contract exclusion.

Feds, Tribes Say It's Too Soon To Reopen Monument Suit

The federal government, tribes and conservation groups are fighting a bid by Utah and farming associations to lift a more than three-year stay in a challenge to the Bears Ears National Monument, arguing that the state is already involved in litigation that attempts to nullify the presidential proclamation that established it.