Latham & Watkins Advises Talkspace in Merger with Hudson Executive Investment Corp. to Form the Only Publicly Traded Pure Play Virtual Behavioral Health Company

Talkspace, the leading digital and virtual behavioral healthcare company, and Hudson Executive Investment Corp. (HEIC) (NASDAQ: HECCU, HEC, HECCW), a special purpose acquisition company sponsored by Hudson Executive Capital LP, has announced that they have entered into a definitive merger agreement. The combined company will operate as Talkspace and intends to be listed on NASDAQ under the symbol “TALK.” The transaction values Talkspace at an initial enterprise value of US$1.4 billion and will provide the company with US$250 million of cash, to be used as growth capital.

Latham & Watkins LLP represents Talkspace in the transaction with an M&A deal team led by New York partner Justin Hamill, with associates Nima Movahedi, Christopher Lee, Joshua Reisman, and Josh Meyer. Advice was provided on capital markets matters by New York partner Marc Jaffe and Washington, D.C. partner Rachel Sheridan, with associates Christopher Bezeg, Katie Lovejoy, Andrew Weitzel, and Isabelle Sawhney; on tax matters by New York partner Lisa Watts, with associate Alan Kimball; on benefits and compensation matters by Los Angeles partner Michelle Carpenter, with associates Dan Gocek and Peter Bassine; on healthcare regulatory matters by Washington, D.C. partner Stuart Kurlander and Los Angeles counsel Jennifer Yoo, with associate Alyssa Lattner; on IP matters by Bay Area partner Anthony Klein, with associates Morgan Brubaker and Ryan Clore; on data privacy and security matters by Washington, D.C. partner Jennifer Archie, with associate James Smith; and on antitrust matters by Washington, D.C. partner Mandy Reeves and counsels Peter Todaro and Joseph Simei.