Crash of the titans

In January 2002, we received a call from Allen & Overy’s then head of banking David Morley, informing us that he had some big news. A conference call was quickly arranged, and less than an hour later we were on the line with the firm’s then head of leveraged finance Tony Keal and his number two, Stephen Gillespie. Also on the line was Norton Rose’s revered four-man acquisition finance team – comprising Andrew Bamber, Robin Harvey, Timothy Polglase and Clive Wells – who, Morley revealed, had just sensationally jumped ship to A&O. This was indeed a big story, and in the days that followed would be hailed as one of the most audacious lateral partner raids in City recruitment history.

Somewhat unsurprisingly, given the characters involved, the atmosphere during the call was markedly gung-ho. The testosterone-fuelled din of backslapping and swagger made it a real fight to get a word in edgeways. The A&O partners talked up the hires as if they’d just won the lottery. ‘These high-profile hires will accelerate our plans for growth in what is an increasingly important global product line,’ Morley said. The new team would ‘bring support to cross-border European leveraged finance work, including the necessary expertise in securitisation, high-yield debt and insolvency’, Keal added. The subtext was that the Norton Rose four would combine with the firm’s existing masters of the finance universe to dominate leveraged finance for years to come.

Seven years on, however, and the situation is perhaps not as originally envisaged. Aside from Morley (who is now the firm’s senior partner), just two of the partners on the line that day remain at A&O. The same two partners, in fact, now comprise A&O’s entire full-time leveraged finance offering.

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