News & Insights

Alston & Bird advised Chimera Investment Corporation, a publicly traded real estate investment trust, in its acquisition of HomeXpress Mortgage Corp., a leading originator of consumer nonqualified mortgages and business-purpose residential mortgage loans. The transaction is expected to close in the fourth quarter of 2025, subject to customary closing conditions.

Alston & Bird has been ranked in seven practice areas in the 2025 edition of The Legal 500 United States.

Alston & Bird is recognized for the fifth year in a row by Construction Executive magazine’s survey of “The Top 50 Construction Law Firms,” which highlights the nation’s leaders in the field of complex construction law.

Fifteen Alston & Bird attorneys have been named “IP Stars” by Managing IP in its 2025 rankings of the world’s leading intellectual property practitioners and practices.

Alston & Bird has once again been ranked among America’s top adoption-friendly workplaces, marking 19 consecutive years that the firm has been recognized nationally as a leader in employee adoption benefits.

Alston & Bird represented Seacoast Banking Corporation of Florida, the holding company for Seacoast National Bank, in its $710.8 million acquisition of Villages Bancorporation, parent company of Florida-based Citizens First Bank. The transaction structure includes a unique combination of cash, common stock, and non-voting preferred stock and represents Seacoast’s largest transaction to date.

Alston & Bird secured a unanimous decision from the New York Appellate Division, First Department, affirming the claim by MSI Management Services former CEO Teri Martin that retirement did not cause the forfeiture of her shares in the company’s stock.

For the fourteenth consecutive year, Alston & Bird has been recognized as a global leader in patent law by Intellectual Asset Management in its annual IAM Patent 1000 – The World’s Leading Patent Professionals.

Alston & Bird advised loanDepot Inc. on closing its $200 million securitization, through the loanDepot GMSR Master Trust, of portfolio excess spread from mortgage servicing rights on mortgage loans underlying certain mortgage-backed securities guaranteed by Ginnie Mae.

Alston & Bird secured a significant victory for Massachusetts-based Checkpoint Therapeutics, a biopharmaceutical company specializing in cancer immunotherapies and treatments, and its CEO in a securities class action in the Southern District of New York. The suit alleged violations of Sections 10(b) and 20(a) of the Securities Exchange Act, claiming the company made materially false or misleading statements about the likelihood of Food and Drug Administration approval for a biologics license application. In a detailed ruling issued May 19, the court granted our motion to dismiss the case with prejudice, finding the plaintiff failed to adequately plead any false or misleading statements or the scienter required for securities fraud.

Alston & Bird advised Texas-based pawnbroker FirstCash Holdings and its UK subsidiary Chess Bidco on their £351 million acquisition of H & T Group, a leading publicly traded UK-based operator of pawn stores. 

Alston & Bird represented Texas-based Industry Bancshares and its six subsidiary banks in their acquisition by Cadence Bank, a Mississippi-based financial services company. Under the agreement, Cadence Bank will pay between $20 million and $60 million in cash for Industry Bancshares’ outstanding common stock.

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