Houston Securities Law and Business Litigation Blog

Houston residents might have heard that the department store J.C. Penney is trying to turn over a new leaf. It recently hired a former Target executive to add some pep to its corporate image, inked a deal to sell clothes designed by the Kardashian sisters of reality TV fame and hired comedian Ellen DeGeneres as a spokeswoman. But one move to polish its image might have gone a little too far and put it right in the middle of a contract dispute.

J.C. Penney and Martha Stewart's company, Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia, recently signed a deal that would allow J.C. Penney to sell certain Martha Stewart products, like kitchen gadgets, bathroom décor and household items.

The growth and reach of the popular social media website Facebook is quite impressive. Already a success, the future of the company has long been the subject of rumors. Recently, after a number of hints and changes in trading behavior, there is wide speculation that the company will finally file for its IPO in the very near future.

There have been rumors of this before. Until now, however, many of the indications that the company was filing for is initial public offering were not solid. According to a number of insights, however, this time it is for real. Analysts say that there have been some changes to the way in which the Facebook stock was being traded on secondary markets, possibly indicating an upcoming change.

When a Texas company wants to go public, it is a long process before it can actually make the initial public offering of stock. Navigating through the maze of securities law can be intimidating, especially when a mistake can lead to the Securities and Exchange Commission opening up an investigation.

A Houston-based company, MRC Global Inc., announced recently that it will go public later this year. According to its initial filing with the SEC, the company hopes to raise at least $100 million through its IPO. The company is one of the largest distributors of pipe, valves and fittings in the world.

Two paper and corrugated packaging companies have been in talks over whether to join forces for almost half a year, and now the deal is nearer to closing. The merger in question is between Memphis-based International Paper Co. and Texas-based Temple-Inland. Although a draft deal has been reached, it still needs review by the Justice Department for the transaction to be complete. The Justice Department recently announced that an additional month will be used to extend the review period until Jan. 27.

International Paper Co. has been attempting the takeover for some time. An original deal was offered in June 2011, with a takeover offer to Temple-Inland of over $3 billion. This initial deal was rebuffed by Temple-Inland with a statement that the deal "grossly undervalues" the company.