Last year, Paul Hastings partner Carl Sanchez spent the Friday night before Memorial Day on a three-hour phone call convincing his client, Chinese meat processor Shuanghui International, that it had to be willing to walk away from its pending $7.1 billion acquisition of U.S. pork producer Smithfield Foods.
Earlier that week, Paul Hastings had sent a mark-up of the merger agreement to Smithfield and its attorneys at Simpson Thacher & Bartlett. Shuanghui was hoping to have it signed by early the following week. But Sanchez received word Friday morning that Smithfield had been approached by two rival suitors and wanted to wait two weeks to give the new bidders a chance to catch up.
