Legal Business

Eversheds and Gowling WLG target Singapore with high hopes for booming ASEAN economic region

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International firms target local mergers in regional hub

Asia’s burgeoning economic growth coupled with new initiatives from the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) community has seen further interest in Singapore’s legal market spike as Global 100 firms explore new ventures in the city-state.

Legal Business

Germany and east Asia next targets as Gowling WLG merger made official

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As the combination between Wragge Lawrence Graham and Gowling Lafleur Henderson to create a £400m practice has gone live today (22 February) the firm already wants to deliver a new tie-up by 2018, and is targeting Germany and east Asia.

Albeit one month later than expected, the 622-partner law firm now called Gowling WLG boasts 18 cities across Canada, Europe, the Middle East and Asia, but there are already plans for more growth.

Gowling WLG head of international projects Quentin Poole (pictured), said the firms took their time after the New Year to ensure everything was in the right place, with T’s crossed and I’s dotted for the over 1,400 head Gowling WLG venture.

Poole said: ‘You can imagine with a project like this you don’t know how long various things are going to take. There are a whole range of things that just need managing and coordinating around integration of systems.

Beyond integrating the offices, the firm has its sights set on further expansion. Poole said partners at both firms are on the same page, with a joint strategy memorandum sent out before the vote on the combination took place. That plan includes that the firm will deliver a new tie-up by 2018.

‘We will be looking for combination firms. Strategically our priorities would be Germany and east Asia, so we’re proactively working on that. There are one or two other places where we’d be opportunistic, so if a really good firm in one of the other jurisdictions we would go for it, but the main focus for us at the moment is Germany and east Asia.’

A six-member international board has been formed comprising three members from each of the legacy firms. From the UK chief executive David Fennell, strategic development director Jenny Hardy and chairman Andrew Witts have places, while from the Canadian side chief executive Peter Lukasiewicz, partner Scott Joliffe and managing partner James Buchan all have roles.

Lukasiewicz believes their joint experiences together will make them strong players in the international market.

‘Our vision is for Gowling WLG to be one of the top sector-focused law firms in the world – and we plan on adding like-minded firms to our combination in the near future in order to grow and enhance our practice in the sectors, services and geographic regions where our clients need us to be.’

madeline.farman@legalease.co.uk 

Read our cover feature on the merger in: The road to Ottawa – why WLG believes Gowlings can put it on the global map

Legal Business

Comment: The limits of culture – WLG needs more than common ground to fulfil its ambitions

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Let’s get this out of the way up front. The least expected new entrant to the Global 100, Gowling WLG, is going to have to work very hard to avoid being the classic 2 + 2 = 4 union when its tie-up goes live in January.

Yes, it’s hard to see much downside given the hand WLG was playing, after a necessary and credibly integrated union between Wragge & Co and Lawrence Graham last year. The Gowlings fit is close enough to be acceptable, if not beyond debate. But the relative lack of interaction between the UK and Canadian economies, and the awkward realities of a dual-hub structure mean it will be perilously easy to settle into two firms existing under the same brand, rather than becoming more than the sum of its parts.

Such a fate has, to varying degrees, faced most multi-profit-centre unions – who would bet that WLG, composed of two legacy firms striving to put periods of drift behind them, will buck the trend? Perhaps ominous is the lengths to which both firms have gone to emphasise the (apparently genuine) cultural common ground between them.

As Gowlings’ Scott Jolliffe (pictured left) puts it: ‘Culture trumps strategy.’ Perhaps. But it most certainly does not trump execution or the willingness to address awkward issues when they occur.

On paper, Gowling WLG looks like an industry play and there is certainly common ground to the client base. But in discussion, it is clear that partnership affinity, similar positioning in respective markets and two influential intellectual property teams were more the driving force in this union.

As such, the combined firm will have to quickly demonstrate that it can build on the progress that legacy Wragges had made in recent years in streamlining and improving decision-making.

That said, the sniping over the choice of a Canadian suitor looks wide of the mark. It is hard to see how a US deal was a realistic option for either firm and both have substantial referral business out of the States.

Ruling out a US move for the medium term looks pragmatic for a firm rightly planning to focus its investments in several key international markets, such as Germany and Asia Pacific.

Given that Gowling WLG has evolved in an opportunistic fashion, getting the message right for what will be a very distinctive but widely-spread law firm will be important.

Leaving aside the debatable decision to ditch the Wragges brand, the firm would be well advised to remember the lessons from the legacy Birmingham firm’s glory days. A collaborative culture, quality of life and an engaged but creative approach to client service were hallmarks of Wragges back when City rivals laughed such PC nonsense out of town.

In the age of New Law and northshoring, the firm needs to rediscover its progressive credentials, especially as it now must compete with a City mid-tier in far better shape than the 1990s.

The potential is there for a distinctive place for Gowling WLG in the global legal market… if it can claim it. But the firm should have no illusions over the scale of that task, and that culture only takes you so far.

alex.novarese@legalease.co.uk

Subscribers can read more in this month’s feature: ‘The road to Ottawa – why WLG believes Gowlings can put it on the global map.’

Legal Business

Property panel: Hogan Lovells, Wragges and CMS Cameron McKenna take places on M&G Real Estate roster

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Prudential investment arm M&G Real Estate has finalised its external legal panel with places going to Hogan Lovells, Wragge Lawrence Graham & Co (WLG), and CMS Cameron McKenna following a tender process.

The panel review for M&G, which holds £22.5bn of assets under management, was conducted by its head of legal, Chris Brierley.

Hogan Lovells is a longstanding adviser to M&G, and this year was shortlisted for real estate team of the year at the Legal Business Awards for its work on M&G’s acquisition from EY as administrators of 500,000 square feet of prime Manchester office space. The deal involved the purchase of two properties, on behalf of two separate funds for over £300m and was one of the largest ever regional office deals in the UK.

Other recent transactions Hogan Lovells advised M&G on include the property investor’s £55 million acquisition of The London Fruit & Wool Exchange building in London’s Spitalfields earlier this year, the purchase of 375,000 square feet of office space in Madrid’s central business district for £125 million and M&G’s acquisition of WLG’s Birmingham headquarters for £140m in September last year.

CMS has also worked with M&G in the past, having been instructed for an asset swap deal in relation to the Friary Guildford Shopping centre in 2013.

Brierley’s panel exercise was part of Prudential’s tender of its own legal roster that has seen some of the leading Global 100 firms compete for places.

Last assessed in 2011, firms including Linklaters, Baker & McKenzie, and legacy Norton Rose won spots after a five-month competitive tender led by Prudential’s former group general counsel Margaret Coltman. 

Coltman has since retired from her role within the business and is succeeded by company secretary Alan Porter who is understood to be reviewing the final panel.

Other recent panel reviews saw Ashurst, RPC, Shoosmiths, and Lewis Silkin retain places on Coca-Cola Enterprises UK legal panel, with the drinks company selecting Devereux Chambers as its preferred barristers set ahead of a review of its internal legal function.

sarah.downey@legalease.co.uk

 

 

Legal Business

The limits of culture – WLG needs more than common ground to fulfil its ambitions

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Let’s get this out of the way up front. The least expected new entrant to the Global 100, Gowling WLG, is going to have to work very hard to avoid being the classic 2 + 2 = 4 union when its tie-up goes live in January. Yes, it’s hard to see much downside given the hand WLG was playing, after a necessary and credibly integrated union between Wragge & Co and Lawrence Graham last year. The Gowlings fit is close enough to be acceptable, if not beyond debate. But the relative lack of interaction between the UK and Canadian economies, and the awkward realities of a dual-hub structure mean it will be perilously easy to settle into two firms existing under the same brand, rather than becoming more than the sum of its parts.

Legal Business

The road to Ottawa – why WLG believes Gowlings can put it on the global map

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Wragge Lawrence Graham has nailed its international aspirations to an ambitious tie-up with Canada’s Gowlings… to the bewilderment of peers. Why?

In September 2002, a Legal Business article on Wragge & Co likened the Birmingham giant’s fledging London branch to a troublesome toddler, describing international expansion as ‘just a twinkle in [then senior partner] Quentin Poole’s eye’. Thirteen years on, Wragges has swapped a best friends policy for offices in ten locations, including Paris, Dubai, Munich and Guangzhou, and transformed its London arm through its 2014 union with City practice Lawrence Graham (LG).

Legal Business

Business as usual: WLG’s Andrew Witts wins contested election for chair

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Wragge Lawrence Graham & Co (WLG) chairman Andrew Witts has been re-elected to serve as chairman for a further four years, after serving an initial two-year term after the merger between Wragges and Lawrence Graham (LG).

Witts previously served as chairman of legacy firm LG for three years before the firm’s merger with Wragges went live on 1 May 2014. Following the tie-up, Witts then took the chairman role at WLG for an initial period of two years, which was due to end on 30 April 2016.

However following an election which he won against one other candidate, Witts will continue to serve on WLG’s board alongside chief executive David Fennell in what is seen as a strong partnership endorsement of the existing management team ahead of WLG’s combination with Canadian firm Gowlings in January.

Although chair of the firm, Witts maintains an active practice, advising clients on complex fraud and asset recovery cases, and has been involved in a number of high-profile matters, working for administrators, liquidators, corporates, banks and governments. Alongside LG’s former managing partner Hugh Maule, Witts was instrumental in bringing through the merger with Wragges, opposite current head of international projects Quentin Poole and Fennell’s predecessor at Wragges Ian Metcalfe.

Witts was also involved, along with Fennell, Poole and director Jenny Hardy, in senior management talks which finalised WLG’s combination with Gowlings, while Gowlings’ chief executive and chair Scott Jolliffe, partner Lorne Segal and one of the firm’s two managing partners, Peter Lukasiewicz, led for the ten-office firm.

Speaking to Legal Business at the time, Witts said the union, which will house around 1,400 lawyers, was part of a strategy endorsed by the partnership last Christmas.

‘On the WLG side we made a commitment to find and establish a combination on this scale as a critical first step in becoming an international, sector-focused law firm. That was the agreed headline strategy and conveniently Gowlings fitted.’

Gowling WLG, which goes live on 18 January 2016, will be structured as a UK company limited by guarantee (CLG) with both profits and partnerships kept separate. The combination will be governed by a joint board consisting of Fennell, Gowlings’ duo Jolliffe and Lukasiewicz, and two other representatives from both firms, though these positions have yet to be announced. Witts will remain in his role for WLG’s offices in the UK, Europe and Asia.

Meanwhile Jolliffe will step down as chair at Gowlings after almost eight years, with Lukasiewicz to become chief executive and chair.

kathryn.mccann@legalease.co.uk

Legal Business

Gowlings longstanding leader Jolliffe to step down prior to Wragges tie-up

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Gowlings joint managing partner Peter Lukasiewicz will be the next chief executive officer (CEO) and chair of Gowlings, as long-term leader Scott Jolliffe prepares to step down from both posts after almost eight years.

Jolliffe is currently CEO and chairman of the full service Ottawa-bred firm which is combining with Wragge Lawrence Graham & Co (WLG) on 18 January.

Lukasiewicz is one of Gowlings’ two firm managing partners alongside Tina Woodside and has held the role for one year after being Toronto managing partner for six years.

He sits on the firm’s current executive committee with Jolliffe, Woodside and chief operating officer Rob Landry.

Lukasiewicz played a key role alongside Jolliffe and partner Lorne Segal in talks surrounding Gowlings’ tie-up while WLG chief executive David Fennell and head of international projects Quentin Poole led on the other side, along with chair Andrew Witts and director Jenny Hardy.

As the new CEO and chair Lukasiewicz, alongside Jolliffe and three representatives from WLG will play a central part of the joint board which will govern the combined firm Gowling WLG when it launches next year. There will be an additional two representatives from both firms which are yet to be announced.

Lukasiewicz is a senior commercial litigator and is primarily responsible for the firm’s relationships with clients such as Novartis, Exxon Mobil and the Royal Bank of Canada.

Jolliffe, who is also a litigator, has over 30 years’ experience at Gowlings and has served as the firm’s national managing partner for over ten years. He regularly serves as an adviser to Canadian and international corporations, including technology and manufacturing based companies, financial institutions, and chemical and natural resource companies.

Jolliffe said in a statement that in his new role on the global board he will take a ‘senior role in the growth and development of the new Gowling WLG.’

‘This transition has been a long time in the making, and received overwhelming support from our partnership when the decision was made earlier this year. Peter and I have worked side by side for nearly two decades — first, through his role as managing partner of our Toronto office, and most recently, through his role as Gowlings’ external firm managing partner over the past two years.’

kathryn.mccann@legalease.co.uk

Legal Business

‘A critical first step’: WLG sets sights on global stage with Canadian tie-up

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Wragge Lawrence Graham & Co (WLG) has set out its global ambitions, following the announcement in July of its union with Canadian firm Gowlings. Gowling WLG will create a 622-partner law firm across 18 cities, and is billed as a new Global 100 practice with revenues estimated at over £400m.

Although some peers have expressed surprise at WLG’s decision to go into the Canadian market, the combination is being pitched by management as a platform to reboot the combined firm as truly global.

Legal Business

Financials 2014/15: Wragge reveals £181m turnover for first full year post-merger

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Ahead of its recently announced tie-up in Canada, Wragge Lawrence Graham & Co has posted turnover of £181m for its first full financial year post-merger, a moderate revenue increase of 5% over the combined results of the legacy firms Wragge & Co and Lawrence Graham.

At the time of their merger on 1 May last year, Wragges and Lawrence Graham had created a firm with £172m in revenue for the financial year 2013/14. Profit at the firm is down 3%, from £58.7m to £57m, with the firm operating at a margin of 32% down from 34% last year due, according to the firm, to ‘one-off costs related to merger integration and UKGAAP accounting requirements related to the firm’s new premises in Birmingham’.

The firm has not yet revealed PEP or confirmed the number of full equity partners at the combined firm but using the combined 139 equity partners at the legacy firms from the Legal Business 100 last year, would give a PEP figure of £410,000.

Speaking to Legal Business magazine, Wragge’s chief executive David Fennell (pictured) said the figures represent a strong platform for the firm to go into its combination with Canadian firm Gowlings, which the firm announced earlier this week.

‘We are really pleased with the results given it is our first year of merger and there was quite a lot of consolidation and integration work to do that in that period,’ he said. ‘The standout performance in the firm last year was our real estate group. For that group, turnover rose to £61m in addition to £11m for the firm’s construction and real estate finance team – a significant success story for us.’

The firm was also named Real Estate Team of Year at this year’s Legal Business Awards for its work on the Nine Elms regeneration project.

The firm’s corporate, finance and private capital group also delivered a strong year, with UK revenues of £36m. Highlights included acting for Formation Capital on its £477.7m acquisition of NHP Group and advising Birmingham City Council on the £307m sale of the NEC Group.

In life sciences, the firm advised AstraZeneca on its $1.275bn collaboration agreement with Innate Pharma to develop new cancer treatments, while the technology sector team secured a Court of Appeal judgment in favour of ASSIA in its high-profile IP dispute with BT Infinity broadband. The energy team advised Grid Essence on the sale and £40m re-financing of a portfolio of solar PV parks, and supported the first ever solar farm project in Sierra Leone.

According to Fennell, the firm’s offices in Paris and Munich also performed well, with the Paris office growing to €12m, an increase of 38% year-on-year, while Munich has seen growth of 58% year-on-year. ‘Those are very good performances if you think about what is happening in the wider European economy,’ he added.

kathryn.mccann@legalease.co.uk