Legal Business

Revolving doors: High profile hires for DLA; Chadbourne; Dentons; Osborne Clarke; Simmons and Winston & Strawn

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Strategic recruitment DentonsDLA Piper
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High profile lateral moves between some of the largest global law firms last week saw DLA Piper hire a four-strong real estate team from RPC in London led by Stephen Malley; Chadbourne & Parke strengthen its City project finance team with the hire of Shearman & Sterling partner Julien Bocobza; Dentons bring in Clifford Chance (CC) partner Perry Zizzi to head its banking & finance group in Bucharest; with further international hires for Osborne Clarke, Simmons & Simmons and Winston & Strawn.

In the City, DLA’s hire of non-contentious construction & projects head Stephen Malley and his team is part of the top 10 Global 100 firm’s strategic effort to boost its real estate offering. Property heavyweight Malley is acknowledged as ‘responsive, and an incredible networker’ by The Legal 500.

Senior associates Jonathan Northey, Peter Lowe and Gareth Williams join the real estate team. Northey, who is also recommended by The Legal 500 joins DLA Piper as a partner.

The hires follow the arrival this year of Berwin Leighton Paisner trio, real estate finance head Laurence Rogers, corporate tax partner Neville Wright and real estate partner Richard Hopkinson-Woolley.

The 3,962-lawyer firm’s UK real estate group head, Ian Brierley, said: ‘Stephen and Jonathan are very impressive individuals. We are delighted to welcome them to DLA Piper where they will strengthen our real estate expertise even further.’

Also in the City, Chadbourne & Parke announced last week that the firm has strengthened its project finance team in London through the addition of international partner Bocobza. Bocobza joins Chadbourne from the project development and finance group of Shearman & Sterling, where he had a particular focus on renewable energy and thermal power. He is the seventh lawyer to join Chadbourne’s London office in the last year.

‘We continue to seek opportunities to add to our project finance capabilities around the world, and Julien brings his deep experience acting for project sponsors and lenders across Africa, the Middle East and Turkey,’ said Adrian Mecz, managing partner of the London office. ‘He fits well with our team and will play an important role in growing our practice throughout the region.’

Bocobza has advised sponsors, financiers and government agencies on energy and infrastructure projects in a broad range of industries, including the mining, transportation, water and telecommunications industries.

In Europe, Dentons’ hire of Clifford Chance (CC) partner Perry Zizzi to head its banking & finance group in Bucharest, meanwhile, comes almost seven years after the M&A corporate specialist left legacy Salans, which merged with SNR Denton in March 2013.

With nearly 19 years of experience practising law in the US, Latin America, Western Europe and the emerging markets of Central and Eastern Europe, Zizzi advises on numerous real estate development, financing, acquisition and leasing transactions.

Bucharest managing partner, Anda Todor, said: ‘[Perry’s] return marks yet another step in Dentons Bucharest’s growth strategy, which saw the arrival of a new competition team in April. Perry’s previous experience with the firm and his strong reputation for legal excellence make him a great fit with our existing practice and a valuable addition to the team.’

Also on the Continent, Osborne Clarke hired Baker & McKenzie commercial partner Carsten Dau, who specialises in distribution law and commercial competition, into its Hamburg office, which the top 35 UK firm announced it would be opening in October 2012.

Simon Beswick, CEO of Osborne Clarke said: ‘Following our expansion in Europe, we are keen to continue investing in our offices. Our latest hires bolster our commercial offering both locally and internationally.’

On the 2nd June 2014, Osborne Clarke opened in Amsterdam office with three ex-Baker & McKenzie Partners.

In Asia, meanwhile, DLA Piper saw Hong Kong-based partner duo Jolyon Ellwood-Russell and Giovanni Marino exit the firm for Simmons & Simmons and Winston & Strawn respectively. It’s the third hit to DLA’s Hong Kong office in recent weeks, following the exit of corporate partner Esther Leung to Chinese firm Jun He in June.

Sarah.downey@legalease.co.uk

Legal Business

DLA sees leading criminal litigator Rickards leave for Kingsley Napley

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Kingsley Napley has made a key hire to its criminal litigation team, as DLA Piper partner Jo Rickards, who recently represented former News of the World (NotW) editor Andy Coulson in the phone-hacking trial, is set to join the firm this August.

Acknowledged as a leading individual for corporate crime work by The Legal 500, Rickards’ appointment brings the number of partners in Kingsley Napley’s criminal litigation practice to 13.

Rickards recently represented Coulson in criminal proceedings where in late June he was found guilty and sentenced to 18 months for conspiring to intercept voicemails at the now-defunct Sunday tabloid following an eight-month trial at the Old Bailey. The trial also saw Rickards cross paths with her new colleagues at Kingsley Napley, with partner Angus McBride representing Rebekah Brooks.

Hers is the second high-profile departure from DLA’s City disputes practice, which in March also saw IT litigation head Lee Gluyas defect to Nabarro. The world’s largest firm made a significant splash when it hired Rickards in 2010 from Peters & Peters in 2010 – and other clients ahave included Silvio Berlusconi and the Maxwells

Kingsley Napley’s criminal litigation head Stephen Parkinson said the firm ‘…is the natural home for someone of Jo’s talent. Having worked alongside her in high profile trials, we recognise her tenacity, meticulous preparation and sound judgement. Her reputation is wholly justified.’

On her appointment, Rickards added: ‘Criminal and regulatory scrutiny of major corporates and senior employees has never been more challenging for clients or for us. In an increasingly competitive environment, I am delighted to join Kingsley Napley and play my part in upholding its reputation as the go-to firm for high-profile criminal and financial regulatory defence work.’

sarah.downey@legalease.co.uk

Legal Business

Weil Gotshal heads H1 global private equity table as DLA Piper enters top 20

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Finance DLA PiperWeil, Gotshal & Manges
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Weil Gotshal & Manges has come out on top of the latest H1 private equity league tables in a top 20 which also includes DLA Piper, driven by a strong performance on the Continent and after a series of notable hires in the area.

Weil Gotshal leads Bloomberg’s announced private equity deals table by value – ahead of Latham & Watkins in second place and Simpson Thacher & Bartlett in third – with 46 deals worth a combined $56.8bn for the first six months of 2014.

The Wall Street firm was ranked ninth during the same period of 2013, this year boosted by instructions including from CCMP, Providence Equity Partners, THLee and Quadrangle on the €7.2bn sale of Spain’s largest cable broadband provider Ono to Vodafone in March. Other notable deals included acting for Baring Private Equity Asia on a $3bn deal to take private Chinese online gaming group Giant Interactive, which was previously listed on the New York Stock Exchange.

US firms dominate the table as the value of global M&A involving private equity firms rose from $214bn during the first half of 2013 to $319bn during the first six months of 2014, with 13 US firms making the top 20.

Latham was involved in $40bn worth of deals with a deal count of 62 to justify its second place ahead of Simpson Thacher & Bartlett, which advised on 45 deals worth $36bn.

The results reveal improved rankings among the Magic Circle, with Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer ranked fourth, having led on 43 deals worth $36bn, up from sixth position this time last year. Rival Clifford Chance rose eight places to sixth after having been instructed on 30 deals worth a combined $28bn, and Linklaters, which lost private equity co-heads Ian Bagshaw and Richard Youle to White & Case last year, handled 36 deals worth $26bn, rising from nineteenth to seventh.

However, according to the table the Magic Circle trio all lost market share.

Weil’s London-based co-head of international private equity, Marco Compagnoni told Legal Business: ‘A number of our key clients have been very busy over the last year and these results show that the private equity deal space has been strong for a while now. The US law firms are increasingly the ones dominating that market as they have the true international reach and the ability to handle all types of financial structure, not least ones involving the US debt markets.’

DLA Piper, meanwhile, was boosted by a buoyant Spanish office led by partner Juan Picon, who advised Vodafone on its takeover of Ono. The firm, which came in at number 17 with 30 deals worth a total of $12.8bn, advised British private equity firm Bridgepoint in its €450m acquisition of French automotive parts maker Flexitallic Group at the start of May.

The past year has seen DLA hire private equity heavyweight Tim Wright from King & Wood Mallesons SJ Berwin and launch a private equity group in Australia after the hire of Bryan Pointon from Gilbert + Tobin as its Asia Pacific corporate head.

David Raff, a private equity partner at DLA Piper, told Legal Business: ‘We’ve had a very good year in terms of volume and value, partly because of very good teams in France and Spain, as well as new hires in the US and Australia. International reach is increasingly a problem for UK firms due to the internationalisation of deals taking place. It’s not just about having offices, it’s about having private equity expertise in those offices.’

Tom.moore@legalease.co.uk

Legal Business

Revolving Doors: DLA hires in France and the US; Simmons grows Bristol; Gibson Dunn expands in Beijing and Hong Kong

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Strategic recruitment DLA PiperSimmons & Simmons
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International expansion last week saw DLA Piper hire Holman Fenwick Willan’s (HFW) Paris head of tax Hervé Israël and bolster its US practice with a double litigation partner hire from Greenberg Traurig, while Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher expanded in Beijing and Hong Kong. Closer to home, Simmons & Simmons bolstered its growing Bristol presence with the hire of Osborne Clarke corporate partner Patrick Graves.

Israël, who was previously head of tax at Hogan Lovells in Paris before assuming the same position at HFW, joins DLA Piper in the French capital with more than a decade of experience in corporate tax matters, including the structuring and financing of M&A transactions, asset financing and securitisation transactions and acquisition structuring.

DLA has also added litigation partners Kevin Finger and Jeffrey Torosian, the former co-chairs of Greenberg Traurig’s Chicago litigation practice, to strengthen its US operations. The firm’s Chicago office has been at the centre of its recent expansion stateside, with technology and sourcing partner Gregory Manter having joined in February from Mayer Brown.

Elsewhere, Los Angeles-headquartered Gibson Dunn sought to bolster its presence in Asia Pacific, with partner hires in Beijing and Hong Kong as it targets local clients. Patricia Tan Openshaw joins the firm from Paul Hastings in Hong Kong, bringing with her significant experience in energy and infrastructure.

Openshaw said: ‘The strength of the firm’s corporate and disputes practices in Asia and globally forms a compelling platform that will assist me in delivering excellent service in a broad range of areas to clients.’

The top 10 Global 100  firm has also taken on Beijing-based corporate transactions lawyer Fang Xue, who becomes a partner after moving across from Shearman & Sterling, where she was counsel. Xue, who has practiced since 2003 in New York, Hong Kong and Beijing, offers the ability to provide East-West advice and recently represented state-owned Shanghai Pudong Science and Technology Investment Co. in its proposed acquisition of NASDAQ-listed RDA Microelectronics.

Joseph Barbeau, partner in charge of Gibson Dunn’s Beijing office, said: ‘Fang’s experience with Chinese clients on outbound work and with international companies on their interests in China will be an asset to the firm as we continue to expand in China and the Asia region.’

Back in the UK, Simmons & Simmons has welcomed its fourth partner hire in Bristol in two months with the addition of Graves. The firm launched its Bristol office in 2012 with 5 partners as a lower-cost proposition and Graves becomes the ninth partner and thirty-fourth lawyer at the office.

His arrival follows that of Burges Salmon’s head of fund structuring Mahrie Webb, DLA Piper’s transactions partner Hinal Patel and DAC Beachcroft partner Jocelyn Ormond, all of whom have joined since the beginning of May.

Simmons’ head of corporate, Mark Curtis, said: ‘Patrick Graves’ arrival marks a further milestone in the expansion of our corporate practice. His extensive ECM experience and knowledge of all aspects of corporate finance will be invaluable to our international practice. Together with the recent appointments of Hinal Patel and Jocelyn Ormond, we have an even stronger team with the capability to provide our clients with the full service of corporate requirements.’

tom.moore@legalease.co.uk

Legal Business

DLA Piper stands by scandal-hit lawyer Nick West as he issues apology

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Following a conduct review, DLA Piper has opted to stand by Nick West, whose sexist email exchanges with Premier League chief executive Richard Scudamore were leaked last week, after the partner today (21 May) publically apologised for letting down the firm and its clients.

Like the Premier League, which resisted calls to sack its chief executive, DLA Piper will stick with media lawyer West following a conduct review. A spokesperson for the firm said in a statement: ‘We have concluded that there was a failure to meet the high professional standards in which we take pride as a firm, whilst recognising that these were emails exchanged between friends and accessed without permission.’

The firm has ‘accepted Mr West’s assurances that these emails are not reflective of his beliefs and values and that there will be no recurrence of this behaviour’.

An email exchange between West and Scudamore, which was contained sexually explicit and sexist comments about a female colleague of Scudamore’s – who the pair had nicknamed ‘Edna’ – was made public by Scudamore’s former personal assistant Rani Abraham.

West said in a statement: ‘I sincerely apologise for my actions. In sending the emails in question I let myself, my firm and its clients down. I have an obligation to uphold the highest professional standards and I give my assurance that this will be the case going forward.’

Meanwhile, a spokesperson for the Premier League told Legal Business that ‘Nick West is still one of our lawyers’ but refused to rule out changes to its outside counsel in the near future.

TV deals with the Premier League continue to climb and provide lucrative work for law firms. The last British broadcasting battle, intensified by the competition for matches between BSkyB and BT, pulled in over £3bn for three seasons from 2013. The Premier League has brought forward its next auction, for the season beginning with 2016-17, to later this year.

tom.moore@legalease.co.uk

Legal Business

Asia: Ashurst bolsters Singapore with W&C hire; DLA appoints Asia corporate head; Fenwick & West opens in Shanghai

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Strategic recruitment AshurstDLA PiperFenwick & West
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The Asian market has over the past week seen investment from international law firms including DLA Piper, Fenwick & West and Ashurst, which most recently bolstered its finance practices in both Singapore and Hong Kong.

Ashurst this week hired White & Case finance partner Kate Allchurch in Singapore, as it relocated London-based finance partner Chris Tang and Sydney-based Doos Choi to Hong Kong.

Allchurch joins from White & Case’s Singapore office, which she relocated to from London in 2009. She specialises in acquisition finance, structured lending, asset-backed lending, debt buy-backs, telecoms finance, restructuring and secondary debt market transactions. Her arrival brings Ashurst’s Singapore office up to three banking partners, as well as two project finance partners.

‘Kate is a highly experienced lawyer with strong international experience and a great reputation for her work in South East Asia’s emerging markets, particularly Indonesia. Her arrival complements our existing finance practice, which already has a very strong position in Indonesia and other South East Asia-related work,’ said Matthew Bubb, Asia managing partner of the firm.

Ashurst’s Hong Kong office now has four banking partners as Doos Choi and Chris Tang join fellow partners Matthias Schemuth and Dominic Gregory. Choi specialises in acquisition finance, and investment grade and sub-investment grade corporate finance. Tang, meanwhile, is a specialist in derivatives and structured finance products.

‘Through a combination of targeted lateral hires and the relocation of some of our brightest international talents to the region we have built a very strong team across Asia, offering a full range of services in relation to bank lending, structured products, derivatives, restructuring and investment banking services, as well as dedicated banking litigation and regulatory coverage,’ said Paul Jenkins, co-global head of the firm’s finance division.

Elsewhere, DLA Piper has regrouped after a four-lawyer team that included Asia corporate head Mabel Lui left for US firm Winston & Strawn earlier this month. The firm has appointed US M&A partner Paul Chen as its new head of corporate for Asia, with Chen relocating from DLA’s Silicon Valley office to Hong Kong in June.

Chen has previous experience in the role as he was Hong Kong managing partner for the now defunct Dewey & LeBoeuf. His experience includes advising corporates and private equity funds on a mix of transactions including M&A, capital raising, investments, joint ventures, leveraged buyouts and divestitures, with a particular focus on insurance clients.

Chen’s appointment follows on from DLA’s decision last year to boost the number of US partners in Asia. The firm set up a US-led, three-partner Asia management committee in December to develop more synergies between its US and Asia offices.

Meanwhile, US technology and life sciences firm Fenwick & West has opened a representative office in Shanghai. The office will be led by partner Eva Wang, who joined the firm last year, along with four associates. Wang’s clients include US and China-based venture capital funds that invest in China, emerging growth companies based in China and the US and public companies based in China and listed on the US and Hong Kong stock markets.

Wang’s pre-Fenwick & West experience includes acting as general counsel at Spreadtrum Communications during its initial public offering on the Nasdaq stock market in 2007.

‘In response to increasing work for technology and life sciences clients based in China as well as U.S. companies doing business in China, we’re making additional investments including recruiting lateral partner Eva Wang a year ago, and now, opening an office in Shanghai and expanding the team to 20 attorneys, including those who reside in the firm’s US offices,’ said Richard Dickson, chairman of the firm.

David.stevenson@legalease.co.uk

Legal Business

DLA Piper hires King & Wood Mallesons SJ Berwin private equity partner Tim Wright

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Strategic recruitment DLA PiperKing & Wood Mallesons
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DLA Piper has hired King & Wood Mallesons SJ Berwin (KWMSJB) City private equity partner Tim Wright, whose resignation from the partnership was announced internally late yesterday (7 May).

Wright, a former Clifford Chance (CC) partner, specialises in a variety of private company transactions including sales, purchases, equity arrangements and joint ventures.

He has acted for private equity houses such as Duke Street on the sale this year of its controlling stake in leading UK debt purchaser, Marlin Financial Group, to Cabot Credit Management in a deal which values the company at £295m. Other deals for Duke Street include the sale in 2012 of specialist engineering group Deloro Stellite, and in the same year he advised TDR Capital and VPS on the acquisition of SitexOrbis.

Wright joined SJ Berwin in 2004 from CC, where he became a partner in 2001.

Bob Bishop, UK head of corporate at DLA Piper, said: ‘Private equity has long been a key pillar of our corporate offering. With signs that the PE market has turned a corner, we’re delighted to welcome a lawyer of Tim’s calibre and experience in this space.’

DLA last year targeted King & Wood Mallesons for a number of hires, taking a group of five finance and projects lawyers in January 2013 led by partner Carolyn Dong.

KWMSJB, meanwhile, saw a reshuffle in its corporate team at the end of last year, when corporate head Steven Davis stepped down after seven years in the position. He was succeeded by partners Michael Goldberg and Richard Lever as co-heads of the practice group.

A spokesperson for KWMSJB confirmed that Wright was leaving, commenting: ‘We wish him every success for the future.’

david.stevenson@legalease.co.uk

Legal Business

DLA’s partner promotions up by a third with latest round of 45

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DLA Piper has promoted 45 lawyers to its partnership, a 33% increase on last year.

The lion’s share of promotions fell to the US, effective from 1 January this year, where 21 associates were made up to partner.

In Continental Europe there were 10 promotions, seven in the UK, one in the Middle East, two in Asia and a further four in Australia.

Echoing earlier promotion rounds at global firms such as King & Wood Malleson, by practice group corporate has seen the largest investment by DLA, with the firm making up 13 partners. Litigation and regulatory benefited from 12 partner promotions, while IP and technology accounted for nine. In real estate there were three as there were in tax, with two going to restructuring, and one apiece to finance, projects and employment.

‘The quality of our lawyers never fails to impress and this new generation of partners will be instrumental in realising our ambition to be the leading global business law firm,’ said Tony Angel, global co-chairman of the firm.

‘Our newly-promoted partners are a reflection of the strategic course of our business and the ever-evolving needs of our clients across jurisdictions, services and sectors,’ added Roger Meltzer, co-chairman of the Americas practice at the firm.

david.stevenson@legalease.co.uk

Partner promotions in full:

Amsterdam, Netherlands

Ewald Netten, Litigation & Regulatory

Atlanta, United States

Daniel Rollman, Corporate

Brisbane, Australia

Sophie Devitt, Litigation & Regulatory

Lyndon Masters, Corporate

Chicago, United States

Thomas Horenkamp, Corporate

Matthew Sperry, Corporate

Matthew Satchwell, Intellectual Property and Technology

Raja Gaddipati, Litigation & Regulatory

Brian Cohen, Real Estate

Cologne, Germany

Christian Schneider, Litigation & Regulatory

Dallas, United States

Eliot Burriss, Litigation & Regulatory

Dubai, United Arab Emirates

James Iremonger, Restructuring

Edinburgh, United Kingdom

Alasdair Wood, Corporate

Frankfurt, Germany

Burkhard Fuhrmeyer, Intellectual Property and Technology

Fabian Muhlen, Real Estate

Hong Kong, China

Doris Ho, Tax

Houston, United States

Christina Ponig, Litigation & Regulatory

Leeds, United Kingdom

Stuart Ponting, Litigation & Regulatory

Anna Robson, Finance & Projects

London, United Kingdom

Mark Chivers, Corporate

Luca Gori, Corporate

Anthony Day, Intellectual Property and Technology

Paul Dineen, Real Estate

Los Angeles, United States

Robert Weber, Litigation & Regulatory

Madrid, Spain

Paz De la Iglesia Andres, Employment

Miami, United States

Adam Rogers, Corporate

Milan, Italy

Giulio Coraggio, Intellectual Property and Technology

Moscow, Russia

Julien Hansen, Corporate

Paris, France

Sarmad Haidar, Corporate

Fabienne Panneau, Intellectual Property and Technology

Philadelphia, United States

William Bartow, Intellectual Property and Technology

Matthew Goldberg, Litigation & Regulatory

San Diego, United States

David Clark, Corporate

Jesse Hindman, Intellectual Property and Technology

Erica Pascal, Intellectual Property and Technology

Matthew Dart, Litigation & Regulatory

San Francisco, United States

Amy Carbins, Real Estate

Seattle, United States

Byron Dailey, Corporate

Alison Maxwell, Tax

Silicon Valley, United States

Robert Buergi, Intellectual Property and Technology

Rajiv Dharnidharka, Litigation & Regulatory

Sydney, Australia

Gitanjali Bajaj, Litigation & Regulatory

Amelia Kelly, Restructuring

Tbilisi, Georgia

Avto Svanidze, Corporate

Tokyo, Japan

Makiko Takewaki, Tax

Legal Business

Regions cash in on corporate spike as Wragges sells NEC and DLA Piper floats Manchester’s Boohoo

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Corporate DLA PiperGowling WLG
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Two multi-million pound regional deals have been announced in the past week, as Wragge & Co advises Birmingham City Council on the sale of the iconic National Exhibition Centre (NEC) for around £300m and DLA Piper’s Manchester office leads on the £560m float of local success story Boohoo.com.

After a competitive pitch, Birmingham-headquartered Wragges won the mandate to sell NEC Group, which also owns the National Indoor Arena and the International Convention Centre. The deal is being led by corporate partner David Vaughan and real estate partner Robert Caddick.

The NEC Group brings in more than £2bn a year to Birmingham and the West Midlands and supports around 29,000 jobs.

‘With our experience in corporate transactions and market-leading real estate offering, we are well placed to advise on this project,’ said Vaughan.

The sale has been widely reported to be driven by an equal pay settlements bill owed by NEC Group.

In Manchester meanwhile, DLA Piper, led by corporate partners Elia Montorio and Stephen Devlin, has won a role advising online fashion retailer Boohoo.com on its initial public offering on the alternative investment market (AIM).

Founded in Manchester by Mahmud Kamani, Boohoo.com is to place 6oo million new ordinary shares priced at 50p a share, which gives the company its market capitalisation of about £560m.

Montorio said: ‘We are delighted to have been able to advise this Manchester-based business on its maiden IPO and to be involved in such an astonishing and rapidly growing e-commerce business.’

The deal is drawing some comparison with the rapid rise of Bolton white goods company AO, which last month floated on the main market with a value of around £1.6bn, led by Herbert Smith Freehills.

david.stevenson@legalease.co.uk

Legal Business

DLA and Weil lead on Vodafone’s €7.2bn acquisition of Grupo Corporativo Ono

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Corporate DLA PiperWeil, Gotshal & Manges
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Vodafone has turned to DLA Piper for its latest major M&A deal: the €7.2bn acquisition of Grupo Corporativo Ono, with Weil, Gotshal & Manges leading for the Spanish cable company’s principal shareholders.

Vodafone, which typically instructs Linklaters but last year selected Slaughter and May to advise on the $130bn disposal of its US group, whose principle asset is its 45% stake in Verizon Wireless, turned to DLA’s Madrid-based group and sector co-managing director Juan Picon.

Weil Gotshal led by private equity partner Marco Compagnoni (pictured) took the lead advising Ono’s private equity shareholders: Providence Equity Partners, CCMP, THLee and Quadrangle on the sale, which is one of the largest in the European market for several years and was agreed against the backdrop of a well-advanced dual track initial public offering process.

Weil also advised the shareholders on tax matters led by Oliver Walker, with competition advice provided by Doug Nave.

Local Spanish advice was given by corporate partner Renata Mendana at Spanish firm Garrigues.

‘The market has been back for a few months. There are a number of people looking to do exits or exits with a twin agenda of an IPO, which is more common now,’ Compagnoni told Legal Business.

The deal also follows Vodafone’s €7.7bn acquisition of German cable TV company Kabel Deutschland in June last year, led by Linklaters and leading German firm Hengeler Mueller.

david.stevenson@legalease.co.uk