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From our colleague Michael McKee

The EU has adopted a new regulation, which will introduce a new legal framework for electronic signatures, seals, time stamps and electronic documents.

These rules aim at creating a uniform regime across EU for the mutual recognition of electronic identification between member states. This new regulatory framework (910/2014/EU) was published in the Official Journal of the EU on 28 August 2014 under the name “Regulation on electronic identification and trust services for electronic transactions in the internal market” (commonly referred as “e-IDAS” Regulation).

It will…
Continue Reading Electronic Signatures – New European Union Regulation

Earlier today PitchBook released its M&A Report for Q3 2015 and the stats indicate continued strength in merger and acquisition activity.

While the overall deal count for Q2 2015 was down (4,250 deals with an aggregate value of $416 billion) as compared to the prior quarter (4,803 deals with an aggregate of $560 billion) and prior year (5,183 deal with an aggregate of $373 billion), the average transaction size spiked to $1.103 billion in Q2 2015 as compared to $795.3 million in Q1 2015 and $231.9 million in Q2 2014.
Continue Reading Merger activity remains strong in Q3 2015; average deal size spikes

PitchBook just released its analysis of Q2 2015 venture capital activity by region, focusing on the six of the most active U.S. regions: the Bay Area; Boston; Los Angeles; the Midwest; New York; and the Pacific Northwest.  Below is also a quick summary of the Q2 2015 highlights by region:

Bay Area:

  • The median pre-money valuation for Q2 2015 was $63.5m (up from $29m for Q4 2014).
  • The most active sector (by both deal count and capital invested), by a wide margin, was

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Continue Reading Recap of Q2 2015 Venture Capital Activity by Region

PitchBook recently released its 1H 2015 VC Valuations and Trends Report that breaks down over 20,000 valuations of private company financings and exits over the past 10 years. The report shows continued increase in median U.S. venture-backed company valuation across stage of investment. Not surprising, PitchBook’s conclusion is that Series Seed is the new Series A, Series A is the new Series B, and Series B is the new Series C – noting that while this is not a new finding by any means, PitchBook has more data to support…
Continue Reading Series Seed is the new Series A; VC-backed company valuations continue to rise

Contributed by our colleague Mark Radcliffe

2014 was a great year for startups seeking funding.  Two of the leading reporting companies, PitchBook and CB Insights, report similar trends (both of these reports focus on funding by traditional financial venture capitalists and corporate venture capitalists, but the numbers differ because PitchBook also includes some angel investments). The key points are:

1.  Significant Increase in the Amount of Funding:  The funding in 2014 increased dramatically from 2013: according to PitchBook,  funding increased almost $20 billion from $39.4 billion to $59 billion…
Continue Reading Three Trends in 2014 Venture Capital Funding

From our colleagues Paolo Morante, Steven E. Levitsky, and Laura Kam

In accordance with the 2000 amendments to the HSR Act, the Federal Trade Commission has announced its annual revision to the jurisdictional thresholds under the Act. The new thresholds will go into effect 30 days after publication in the Federal Register, which is expected in the next few business days.

Under the new thresholds, no transaction will be reportable unless, as a result of it, the acquiring person will hold voting securities, assets, or noncorporate interests of…
Continue Reading FTC ANNOUNCES ANNUAL REVISIONS TO HSR ACT THRESHOLDS

PitchBook just released its recap of 2014 venture capital trends by region, focusing on the most active regions and presenting the information in infographic form. Each infographic can be found here: Bay Area, Pacific Northwest, New York metro and Europe. Below is also a quick summary of the highlights by region:

Bay Area:

  • The median pre-money valuation for 2014 was $28.2m (up from $18.3m for 2013).
  • The most active sector (by both deal count and capital invested), by a wide margin, was information technology.
  • The region

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Continue Reading Recap of 2014 Venture Capital Trends by Region

Article prepared by and republished courtesy of our colleagues Evan Migdail, Bruce Thompson and Linda Pfatteicher; originally published here: http://www.dlapiper.com/en/us/insights/publications/2014/11/tax-reform-after-the-mid-terms/.

While some aspects of the agenda for the incoming Republican-controlled 114th Congress are still in formulation, there is no question that tax reform will be a top priority.

Both the expected new Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Kentucky) and House Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) have repeatedly stated that tax reform is a fundamental part of their promise to move the country in a new direction. Also, in…
Continue Reading Tax reform after the mid-terms: Why we can expect Congress to act

Thank you to all who participated in the Technology Leaders Forecast Survey that we posted last month. As posted earlier, on October 7, DLA Piper hosted its 2014 Global Technology Leaders Summit, where technology leaders, influential innovators and policymakers convened to discuss the future of innovation. In connection with the Summit, DLA Piper released the results of the survey, which was developed with PitchBook. The results concluded that: “With a thriving tech economy, ballooning valuations and an IPO market humming at a level unseen since the dot-com …
Continue Reading 2014 Technology Leaders Forecast Survey Results Released

The Q1 2014 Halo Report has been released by the Angel Resource Institute, Silicon Valley Bank and CB Insights. The Halo Report analyzes angel investment activity and trends in the United States. Here are a couple interesting Q1 2014 highlights:

  • The median angel round size jump to $980K (up from $750K in each of Q1 and Q4 2013);
  • The median round size was $1.65M when angel groups co-invest with other types of investors;
  • The median seed stage pre-money valuation increased slightly to $2.7M;
  • Angel groups continue to

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Continue Reading Angel Investment Trends: Q1 2014 Halo Report