Sharon Connaughton

Cooley advised io Products, an engineering and product manufacturing company co-founded by Jony Ive to develop, engineer and manufacture a new family of products for the artificial general intelligence era, on its approximately $6.5 billion acquisition by OpenAI. As part of the deal, Ive and his creative collective, LoveFrom, will assume deep design and creative responsibilities across OpenAI. 

Cooley advised Touchland, the fastest-growing brand in the hand sanitizer category in the US, on its acquisition by Church & Dwight (NYSE: CHD) for up to $880 million, including $700 million in cash and Church & Dwight restricted stock at closing, plus a payment of up to $180 million contingent on Touchland’s 2025 net sales.

Cooley advised Vision Government Solutions, a portfolio company of Rubicon Technology Partners and a leader in the appraisal, computer-assisted mass appraisal and property tax industry, on its majority recapitalization with Great Hill Partners.

Cooley advised Earendil Labs, an artificial intelligence-driven biotech company affiliated with Helixon Therapeutics, in connection with Earendil Labs’ license agreement with Sanofi for two potential first-in-class bispecific antibodies in the field of autoimmune and inflammatory bowel diseases.

Cooley advised Jiangsu Hengrui Pharmaceuticals (Hengrui Pharma), a global pharmaceutical company focused on scientific and technological innovation, on its exclusive license agreement with Merck KGaA, Darmstadt, Germany for the commercialization in mainland China of SHR7280, an oral small-molecule gonadotropin-releasing hormone receptor antagonist, for indications including medical-assisted reproduction and gynecology.