As Am Law 100 transactional lawyers wring their hands over a potential $120 billion tie-up between Dow Chemical Co. and E.I. du Pont de Nemours & Co. to create a global chemical giant, several other completed deals in a range of industries—coffee, energy, hospitality—sought to close out what has been a record-breaking year for M&A.
Meanwhile, General Electric continued a torrid year of dealmaking this week as reports emerged that the Fairfield, Connecticut-based conglomerate is poised to sell off its Japanese commercial-leasing business for $4.7 billion to Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group, which this summer agreed to pay $2.2 billion for GE’s private equity financing unit.
