đŸ§© Adnan Syed's murder conviction is reinstated

PLUS: SBF indicted again for $40M in bribes, White & Case settles SPAC fee lawsuit, Amazon considers buying AMC...

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Welcome to Lookzy. In today's Lookzy:

  • Adnan Syed's murder conviction is reinstated

  • SBF indicted again for $40M in bribes

  • White & Case settles SPAC fee lawsuit

  • Amazon reportedly eyes AMC theaters

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THE VERDICT

Arguing today's litigation news

Birth of murder podcasts. A Maryland appellate court panel reinstated the murder conviction of Adnan Syed, deciding a lower court had violated the right of the victim’s family to attend a critical hearing in the case. Syed was freed last year after he spent 23 years fighting charges that he killed his ex-girlfriend Hae Min Lee in 1999. The panel ruled 2-1 that a lower court had violated the rights of the victim’s family in how it conducted the hearing at which Syed’s conviction was vacated. A new hearing regarding the evidence to vacate Syed’s conviction will be held to allow the family of victim Hae Min Lee to attend.

SBF indicted again. Prosecutors unveiled a new indictment against FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried, charging him with conspiring to violate anti-bribery provisions of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act. The indictment accuses SBF of directing $40 million in bribes to one or more Chinese officials to unfreeze assets relating to his cryptocurrency business at hedge fund Alameda Research.

Alphabet antitrust. Alphabet asked a federal judge to dismiss a DOJ lawsuit alleging that Google illegally used its market power to harm competition in online advertising. Alphabet argues that the lawsuit fails to show that Google’s conduct harmed competition and that it is based on a flawed legal theory based on “dubious” interpretations of antitrust law and that it "would do nothing to help consumers".

Law firm settlement. White & Case settled a lawsuit seeking payment of legal fees from Colonnade Acquisition Corp II, a special purpose acquisition company, after its plans for a $480 million merger collapsed. White & Case had sued Colonnade for more than $8.2 million in legal fees, claiming it stiffed the firm after failing to consummate the planned merger and then announcing plans to wind down this month.

THE DEAL

Wheelin' and dealin' today's corporate news

Amazon's degen bet. Amazon is reportedly considering acquiring AMC Entertainment Holdings Inc., with reports of Jeff Bezos instructing advisors to explore acquisition plans. Cutting against a potential acquisition is AMC's extensive debt, at around $5.17 billion. Amazon closed on its $8.5 billion acquisition of MGM studios last year.

Banking crisis. First Republic is reportedly no longer for sale, a change from recent reports that First Republic was looking to sell itself amid attempts to contain contagion kicked off with SVB's failure.

Chinese SPAC. Chinese hydrogen fuel cell vehicle company Bestpath announced it agreed to go public in the United States through a merger with a blank-check vehicle in a deal with an equity value of about $1.2 billion.

Public negotiations. Blackbaud Inc. rejected a buyout offer from its largest shareholder, Clearlake Capital, saying it was undervalued in the approach that pegged the software maker at $3.78 billion. Clearlake, which has a stake of 18.6% in Blackbaud, had offered to take the company private in a deal that valued the software firm at $71 per share. The bid for the company would value it at about four times expected 2024 sales.

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