June 21, 2016

SILICON VALLEY—Covington advised Tencent Holdings Limited, a leading provider of internet service in China, in connection with its acquisition of a majority stake in Supercell from SoftBank. A consortium established by Tencent will acquire up to 84% of Supercell for $8.6 billion in a transaction valuing Supercell at approximately $10.2 billion. Supercell is a ...

December 8, 2015

NEW YORK, December 8, 2015 - Covington represented Ascension, the nation’s leading Catholic and non-profit health system, in a $200 million investment transaction with TowerBrook Capital Partners in Accretive Health, a leading provider of revenue cycle management services to healthcare providers. The transaction is expected to close in the first quarter of ...

July 29, 2015, Inside Compensation

White House budget proposal released earlier this year would eliminate several methods used by certain taxpayers to convert after-tax contributions into Roth amounts.  Although such a change would likely require congressional action, taxpayers who use or are considering these methods should be mindful of the proposed change. The “Backdoor” Roth Contribution Roth ...

March 30, 2015, Inside Compensation

In 2010 the DOL published a final regulation requiring plan administrators of participant-directed individual account plans to disclose fees, expenses, and certain other plan information to participants and beneficiaries. The regulation requires plan administrators to provide these disclosures on or before the date on which a participant or beneficiary can first ...

January 23, 2015, Inside Compensation

Employers should consider reviewing their procedures for withholding and paying FICA tax in light of the recent district court decision in Davidson v. Henkel Corp.  The court concluded that the employer was liable to participants in a nonqualified deferred compensation plan for failing to withhold FICA tax in a manner that would have decreased their...… Continue ...

December 1, 2014, Inside Compensation

The IRS has updated its model Special Tax Notice (sometimes called a “402(f) Notice”) for certain changes in the law since 2009.  Employers should review their Special Tax Notices to incorporate required updates. When a tax-qualified retirement plan allows lump-sum distributions (or installments over fewer than 10 years), the plan must allow the recipient to...… ...

October 7, 2014

LONDON, 7 October, 2014 — Covington & Burling advised Horizon Discovery Group plc, an AIM listed international life science company supplying research tools and services to organizations engaged in genomics research and the development of personalized medicines, on the acquisition of Sage Labs Inc. for a total of approximately $48 million (£29 million), ...

August 27, 2014, Inside Compensation

When a defined contribution plan terminates, the plan administrator must distribute participants’ accounts as soon as administratively feasible.  However, participants do not always update the plan administrator when their contact information changes, and some participants may not be responsive when the plan administrator requests directions on how to distribute ...

August 26, 2014, Inside Compensation

Kodak recently announced that it is increasing the benefits provided under its defined benefit plan.  Kodak will credit an additional 3% of pay each year under its cash balance pension plan instead of making a matching contribution of up to 3% of pay under its 401(k) plan.  In connection with this change, Kodak announced that...… Continue Reading