Legal Business

Clifford Chance snares BLP’s contentious tax head

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Strategic recruitment Berwin Leighton PaisnerClifford Chance
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Senior exits from Berwin Leighton Paisner (BLP) continue apace as Clifford Chance has confirmed the hire of Liesl Fichardt, the head of BLP’s contentious tax practice.

Announced today (4 September), the loss is a blow to the tax team at the 782-lawyer BLP as heavyweight Fichardt, who joined the firm in 2008, is a veteran of the legal market. Acknowledged in the Legal 500 as a ‘masterful team head,’ she also practised as a tax barrister for 13 years before joining Dorsey & Whitney in 2006.

The news comes just two weeks after the announcement that corporate finance partner and global head of private equity Raymond McKeeve departed to join US firm Jones Day’s London office, while longstanding head of the commercial and technology group, Adam Rose, is to join Mishcon de Reya after 23 years at the firm.

Financially, the firm has reported a drop in revenues of 5% down to £233m, the worst financial performance of the top UK 25 firms. However, there is still no word on its profits, although profit per equity partner understood to be down by at least 35% to £430,000.

On Fichardt’s appointment, David Harkness, global head of Clifford Chance’s tax, pensions and employment practice, said: ‘Liesl’s extensive contentious tax and trial experience will be a valuable addition to our existing strong tax team both in London and globally. The current tax environment is becoming ever more complex for large organisations as they face greater amounts of legislation, including the General Anti Avoidance Rule, an enhanced disclosure regime and shifting public and government expectations.’

‘As a result we are seeing increasing demand from clients for advice and help on resolving their tax disputes and we expect this is an area that will continue to grow for the Firm’s market leading practice.’

Fichardt added: ‘CC’s leading reputation in tax and global reach will enable me to provide quality advice to clients in dealing with and resolving their tax disputes in the UK and internationally.’

‘Their offering combines unrivalled expertise in taxation and regulatory matters, extensive experience in dealing with tax authorities in resolving disputes and litigating in the courts and the ability to advise clients in a commercial and sensible manner on how best to deal with risk – within one global team.’

Sarah.downey@legalease.co.uk

Legal Business

Private equity: CVC gifts Clifford Chance and Cleary with two major European mandates

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Corporate Cleary Gottlieb Steen & HamiltonClifford Chance
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Followers of the tussle between UK and US private equity practices for European mandates were last month rewarded with an instruction to both camps by leading buyout house CVC Capital Partners in its acquisitions of Domestic & General (D&G) and Campbell Soup.

Advent International agreed to sell extended warranty provider D&G to CVC in a deal thought to be worth about $1.2bn, according to The New York Times, although this sum has not been officially disclosed.

Clifford Chance (CC) advised CVC, with a team led by Kem Ihenacho, co-head of the firm’s Africa practice and one of its private equity stars. He was assisted by M&A partner Brendan Moylan and insurance partner Hilary Evenett.

Legal Business

Private equity: CVC gifts Clifford Chance and Cleary Gottlieb with two major European mandates

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Corporate Cleary Gottlieb Steen & HamiltonClifford ChanceFreshfields Bruckhaus Deringer
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Followers of the tussle between UK and US private equity practices for European mandates were this week rewarded with an instruction to both camps by leading buyout house CVC in its acquisitions of Domestic & General and Campbell Soup.

Advent International agreed earlier this week to sell extended warranty company Domestic & General (D&G) to CVC in a deal thought to be worth about $1.2bn, according to The New York Times, although this sum has not been officially disclosed.

Clifford Chance (CC) advised CVC, with a team led by Kem Ihenacho, co-head of the firm’s Africa practice and one of its private equity stars. He was assisted by M&A partner Brendan Moylan and insurance partner Hilary Evenett.

Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer advised Advent on the sale, with a team led by corporate partner Adrian Maguire. Maguire told Legal Business: ‘Following advising Advent on its acquisition of D&G in 2007 and remaining close to the company throughout Advent’s ownership, we were happy to assist on the disposal of the asset.’ Advent bought UK based-D&G for $1.1bn.

Macfarlanes advised D&G’s management with a senior team led by corporate head Charles Meek, who was supported by tax partner Damien Crossley. The firm previously advised the D&G management team in connection with the company’s sale to CVC in 2007.

Freshfields typically competes with CC for CVC mandates and most recently acted for the private equity house on its sale of a $1.3bn stake in Indonesian retailer Matahari Department Store earlier this year.

However, this week has also seen Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton’s strong Brussels offering get its foot in the door, advising opposite Allen & Overy (A&O) on CVC’s proposal to buy the European brands of Campbell Soup (excluding its UK arm) in a deal worth around $400m.

Cleary is fielding a team that includes Brussels M&A partners Laurent Legein and Jacques Reding, Paris M&A partner Jean-Marie Ambrosi and London partner David Billington who advised on finance matters.

A&O is advising the iconic company famously portrayed by Andy Warhol in the 1960s out of Belgium, where the European base of Campbell Soup is located. The team is being led by corporate head Pierre-Olivier Mahieu, alongside employment head Pieter De Koster, tax head Patrick Smet and environmental law head Gauthier van Thuyne.

According to a release by the private equity house, CVC has raised fully committed senior debt financing, with Linklaters advising Rabobank, ING and BNP Paribas Fortis, the joint underwriters and bookwriters on the deal.

david.stevenson@legalease.co.uk

Legal Business

Resurgence in debt and equity capital markets sees Allen & Overy claim top spot for issuer and manager roles

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Finance Allen & OveryClifford ChanceSimpson Thacher & Bartlett
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Allen & Overy (A&O) has topped Thomson Reuters’ table of legal advisers on global debt and equity capital markets work for the first half of 2013, landing roles on 456 deals.

The Magic Circle firm came out in first place for both manager and issuer roles, advising on 350 and 106 deals respectively.

Clifford Chance, which held the top spot this time last year for issuer roles, has fallen into second position followed by US rivals Simpson Thacher & Bartlett in third, Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom in fourth and Sidley Austin in fifth. Linklaters came in joint eighth position, down from fifth place at the half year in 2012, however for manager roles it claimed second place, advising on 234 deals.

Philip Smith, a capital markets partner at A&O told Legal Business: ‘It’s been an incredibly busy period since October last year until about three weeks ago. A combination of huge volumes in the emerging market space combined with a resurgent European high yield market have driven volumes. The uptick in equity markets has also driven increased activity in the equity-linked market.’

In high yield the firm has recently expanded its team by making Jeanette Cruz up to partner and high profile debt capital markets deals have included advising the Co-operative Group Limited and The Co-operative Bank on a plan to fill a £1.5bn capital deficit led by Alistair Asher, who joined the Co-op as General Counsel at the start of the month.

Boyan Wells, former head of A&O’s capital markets group and now a member of the global board, told Legal Business: ‘The past year has been one of a high level of issuance and we are delighted to have played a large part in that.’

The combined debt and equity capital markets activity was valued at $3.4tn in the first six months of the year, which is 5.9% higher than the first half of 2012. As for continued growth in the area, Wells remains cautious, commenting: ‘Market reports suggest that market level will continue to be high but only time will tell.’

 

david.stevenson@legalease.co.uk

Legal Business

Clifford Chance underperforms Magic Circle with 9% drop in PEP

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Financial results 2013 Clifford ChanceFreshfields Bruckhaus Deringer
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Clifford Chance (CC) has underperformed its Magic Circle rivals in its 2012/13 results as the firm today announced a 2.5% decline in revenue to £1,271m and a 9% drop in profit per equity partner (PEP) to £1m.

The firm, which has expanded the number of equity partners year-on-year from 379 in 2010-11 to 411 in the past financial year, pointed to factors including the predicted Eurozone crisis together with a slowdown in the Asia-Pacific market and a change of political leadership in China as having a negative impact on its bottom line.

Managing partner David Childs said: ‘We are living through an extended period of choppy conditions in global markets. However, our continued investment across geographies and practices have given us a broad-based business with the resilience to weather this volatility, as shown by our results over recent years as well as the major mandates and awards that we have been proud to win.’

Last year CC posted a 7% increase in revenue to $2,048m and 12% increase in PEP to $1.66m, as reflected in Legal Business Global 100 for 2011-12.

The past year has seen the 3,017-lawyer global firm open an office in Seoul as well as winning approval to enter into the first ever mixed partnership arrangement with a Saudi Arabian firm, Al-Jadaan & Partners Law Firm, in March this year.

CC also entered into an alliance in Singapore with litigation boutique Cavenagh law, giving it access to the lucrative Singapore litigation market. ‘We are the first full service firm in Singapore offering litigation advice,’ said Childs.

Deals highlighted by the firm include acting for the sponsors and financial advisers on Glencore International’s acquisition of Xstrata and Anheuser-Busch InBev on the bank financing of its $20.1bn acquisition of Mexican brewer Grupo Modelo.

Childs singled out litigation and banking and finance as having a good year, commenting: ‘Our global litigation and dispute resolution practice put in another excellent performance, with roles on some of the most high-profile and complex matters around.’

But despite Clifford Chance remaining as the leading Magic Circle firm in this year’s Legal Business Global 100 in revenue terms, in fifth place behind DLA Piper, Baker & McKenzie, Laham & Watkins, and Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom, the firm underperformed Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer in seventh position. Freshfields last week reported a 7.2% increase in turnover from £1.139bn to £1.22bn and PEP rose by 7.6% to £1.398m.

Linklaters, in eighth place in the Global 100 2012-13 saw its revenue drop by 1% to £1,195bn but its PEP was up by 6% to £1.260m. Allen & Overy, meanwhile, in ninth place, reported a 0.6% increase in revenue to £1.19bn and flat PEP of £1.1m for 2012/13.

david.stevenson@legalease.co.uk

Click here to see the Global 100 results

Legal Business

Back at the gate: US invaders raise fresh questions over private equity status of CC and Linklaters

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Corporate Clifford ChanceLinklaters
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David Stevenson surveys a fast-changing buyout landscape to find US ‘barbarians’ once again pressing in on City leaders

Unfortunately for top City firms looking to defend their position in private equity, it takes more than a five-year freeze in credit markets and a sustained downturn in leveraged buyouts to stop foreign rivals trying to move in on their patch.

Such a dynamic has once again thrown scrutiny on Linklaters’ now decade-long effort to carve a credible position in the private equity market and the position of Clifford Chance (CC), by contrast traditionally established as the market leader in Europe’s buyout scene.

In the former case, the debate continues among peers (and some internally at Silk Street) over the extent to which Linklaters has forged a practice worthy of its much-vaunted general corporate team. In CC’s case, a purple patch in public M&A last year arguably did not extend to private equity, while the firm has had to contend with the resignation in April of global head of private equity David Walker for Latham & Watkins.

Legal Business

CC to boost London corporate and regulatory insurance capability with hire of NRF’s Ashley Prebble

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Strategic recruitment Clifford ChanceNorton Rose Fulbright
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Clifford Chance (CC) has hired Norton Rose Fulbright (NRF) corporate insurance partner Ashley Prebble as the Magic Circle firm aims to boost its Lloyds and London market and general insurance capability.

Prebble, who will work closely with the firm’s private equity and regulatory teams, specialises in corporate and regulatory insurance work including initial public offerings (IPOs), mergers and acquisitions, Part VII transfers, distribution agreements and regulatory matters.

While at NRF, Prebble advised on a number of high profile insurance transactions including the Part VII transfer of Royal Bank of Scotland’s Churchill, Direct Line and NIG businesses into UK Insurance last year, said at the time to be the largest general insurance portfolio transfer ever completed in the UK, with the four insurance business together worth in excess of 20 million policies.

Other headline deals he has advised on include the £135m sale of HSBC Insurance Brokers to Marsh, Admiral Group’s £711 million IPO and Brit Insurance Holdings’ $300m sale of Brit Insurance Limited to Riverstone Holdings.

Katherine Coates, head of the corporate insurance practice at CC, said: ‘Ashley joins us at a key time for the insurance industry, which faces unprecedented challenges and uncertainty due to market and regulatory pressures.

‘Ashley’s particular experience of the London market and general insurance operations will be a valuable addition to our current team, which is uniquely placed to support our clients across the sector on a wide range key strategic projects and transactions in both mature and growth markets.’

CC’s global insurance industry sector group comprises over 180 lawyers from its corporate, banking & finance, capital markets, M&A, regulatory, dispute resolution, antitrust, tax, real estate, pensions and employment teams.

Prebble added: ‘Joining Clifford Chance is the perfect opportunity to develop my practice in the London market and internationally, working as part of a leading global insurance sector team. I look forward to working closely with the firm’s pre-eminent private equity and regulatory teams, as financial investors are playing an increasing important role in the sector and sweeping changes in regulation and regulator approach pose new challenges for clients.’

caroline.hill@legalease.co.uk

Legal Business

CC bumps starting pay to £63,500 with bonuses giving junior associates chance to earn over £100,000

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Salaries Clifford Chance
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Despite generally gloomy market conditions there were renewed signs of underlying confidence at top London firms with Clifford Chance (CC) joining its peers today (4 June) in announcing rises in associate and trainee pay and bonuses for the year ahead.

The firm is the last of the Magic Circle to announce pay changes across the board, adding an extra £2,000 to newly-qualified (NQ) lawyers’ pay packets, up to £63,500 from last year’s £61,500, a rise of 3%.

The next largest rise was made to second-year post-qualified experience (PQE) lawyers, who will take home £1,900 more, totalling £78,200. The firm also increased first-year PQE pay by £500 to £69,500 and third-year PQE by £800 to £87,800.

CC was the only City firm to detail its associate bonuses for 2013/14, awarding maximum total compensation of £76,200 to NQ lawyers and £90,350, £101,660 and £114,140 for first, second and third–year associates respectively. Trainee pay also rose to match its peers, increasing first and second-year salaries by £1,000 to £39,000 and £44,000.

The firm’s increase to NQ pay puts it just behind Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer, which is offering NQ associates £65,000-£72,500, and Linklaters on £64,000. Slaughter and May is offering NQ associates £63,000 while Allen & Overy currently pays £61,500 after taking the decision to freeze base salaries at last year’s level.

CC London managing partner David Bickerton said: ‘The London office has had another successful year. We continue to win great mandates from our clients and, again, have been more highly ranked by the directories than any other firm in the UK, Europe and globally.

‘It’s important to invest in our future trainees and we hope that by providing enhanced maintenance support, those individuals will be able to focus fully on their studies and develop the skills to become the outstanding lawyers that we require for our business. This is part of our overall commitment to breaking down any perceived barriers to entering our profession.’

The firm also substantially raised its maintenance grants for future trainees on its legal practice course (LPC) and graduate diploma in law (GDL), hiking the LPC grant from £4,900 to £7,000 while the latter rises from £5,000 to £7,000.

CC’s unusual decision to set out its bonus packages in detail will be seen as part of a bid to position itself as a choice recruiter of aspiring lawyers against City peers and US rivals.

Despite a run of job cuts at major UK law firms in recent weeks, the Magic Circle has so far avoided such measures and this year announced the first notable rises in underlying pay rates for associates since the boom. Despite this, real term pay for junior lawyers in the City has generally fallen by more than 15% since 2008 due to a combination of inflation and cuts made in 2009 by many firms to associate pay bands.

 

Jaishree.Kalia@legalease.co.uk

Legal Business

Lateral push sees key UK players switch to US firms

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Strategic recruitment Clifford ChanceHerbert Smith FreehillsQuinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan
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US firms in the City continue to demonstrate their appetite for big name lateral hires from leading UK firms, with Latham & Watkins and Reed Smith picking up experienced partners from Clifford Chance (CC) recently, while Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan announced the hire of disputes expert Ted Greeno from Herbert Smith Freehills (HSF).

Latham & Watkins’ acquisition of CC’s global head of private equity, David Walker, particularly caught the eye last month. This is one of the most significant blows to CC’s corporate practice since the departure of Adam Signy to Simpson Thacher & Bartlett in 2009.

Legal Business

HSF ends exclusive association in Saudi Arabia

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Middle East and Africa Al-Ghazzawi Professional AssociationClifford ChanceHerbert Smith Freehills
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Herbert Smith Freehills (HSF) is to end its five-year exclusive tie-up with Saudi Arabia’s Al-Ghazzawi Professional Association (GPA), as international activity in the region shows no sign of slowing down.

The two firms’ association formally ends on 1 August, but HSF will continue to co-operate with GPA on a non-exclusive basis. Neither firm has plans to enter into another exclusive association at this time.