Legal Business

Hogan Lovells loses Asia restructuring head Neil McDonald in Hong Kong

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Strategic recruitment Kirkland & Ellis
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Top ten global firm Kirkland & Ellis continues to build its Asia offering hiring Hogan Lovells head of restructuring in Asia, partner Neil McDonald, in Hong Kong.

McDonald, who heads Hogan Lovells’ business restructuring and insolvency practice in Asia, is understood to have resigned recently. The firm’s regional managing partner for Asia and the Middle East, Patrick Sherrington, is now tasked with considering McDonald’s successor and is understood to be looking to make the appointment internally.

A leading individual according to the Legal 500, McDonald is described as knowing ‘the market exceptionally well, and really makes himself available to clients’.

He advises on all aspects of financial distress such as consensual workouts, shareholder disputes, liquidations, receivership’s, and is ‘equally skilled at handling both contentious and non-contentious matters’.

Hogan Lovells has a highly respected tier one restructuring practice in Hong Kong, and houses the ‘best all-round practice in town’. Clients include Bank of America Merrill Lynch, Goldman Sachs, FTI Consulting (Hong Kong) and KPMG, and the team previously advised an ad-hoc committee of bondholders on Sino-Forest Corporation’s default of its obligations under $1.8bn of notes.

Kirkland & Ellis expanded its sizeable Chinese footprint in September last year by opening an office in Beijing, with corporate partners David Zhang, who joined from Latham & Watkins in 2011, and Chuan Li, the founding partner of the firm’s Hong Kong and Shanghai offices, to spearhead the launch.

sarah.downey@legalease.co.uk

Legal Business

Life During Law: Neel Sachdev, Kirkland & Ellis

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Life During Law Kirkland & Ellis
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I had training offers from a couple of Magic Circle firms, but I chose SJ Berwin because at that time they were at the forefront of private equity – it was a dynamic firm then. On qualification I wanted to be a finance lawyer and felt I would have got strong technical training in a firm like Freshfields.

I moved to Kirkland as a fourth year to develop business. I felt there would be more freedom to develop client-winning skills as well as doing deals. I am happy with my choices. It wasn’t a conscious decision that private equity would be such a prominent area – I’ve enjoyed a lot of luck.

Legal Business

Weil’s City banking head Stephen Lucas joins Kirkland

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Strategic recruitment Kirkland & EllisWeil, Gotshal & Manges
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One of the best-known names in the leverage buyout market, Stephen Lucas, is set to join Kirkland & Ellis from Weil, Gotshal & Manges, where he heads the Wall Street firm’s City banking practice.

Lucas handed in his resignation last month and leaves Weil Gotshal just three years after he joined in June 2011 from Linklaters, where he was a banking partner. Prior to that, he was a partner at Magic Circle rival Clifford Chance.

He will be replaced as banking head at Weil by former Hogan Lovells partner Mark Donald.

Legal Business

‘We’ve got 40 finance lawyers left’ – Weil’s City banking head Stephen Lucas joins Kirkland

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Strategic recruitment Kirkland & EllisWeil, Gotshal & Manges
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One of the best-known names in the leverage buyout market, Stephen Lucas is set to join Kirkland & Ellis from Weil Gotshal & Manges, where he heads the Wall Street firm’s City banking practice.

Lucas handed in his resignation this week and leaves Weil Gotshal just three years after he joined in June 2011 from Linklaters, where he was a banking partner, prior to which he was a partner at Magic Circle rival Clifford Chance.

He will be replaced as banking head at Weil by former Hogan Lovells partner Mark Donald.

Lucas leaves Weil Gotshal’s banking team with six partners – two of which are structured finance specialists and four leveraged finance partners – and a team of around 35 associates.

The top 20 Global 100 firm’s City practice has seen some key departures over the last year, including private equity partner Mark Soundy and City tax head Sarah Priestley, who exited to Shearman & Sterling.

However, Weil Gotshal’s London managing partner Mike Francies told Legal Business: ‘We have got 40 finance lawyers left and they will continue to provide clients with a top quality service. We are very confident of Mark’s abilities of leading the group.’

Lucas will join Kirkland’s debt finance practice group with 10 years’ experience of advising sponsors, financial institutions, and funds and has previously represented Credit Suisse, Goldman Sachs, Barclays Bank, Citibank, Deutsche Bank and HgCapital.

Last year he advised UBS, Credit Suisse, Goldman Sachs and Barclays, on the financing for The Carlyle Group’s acquisition of Chesapeake’s paperboard packaging business, and in October 2012 represented Advent International in its leveraged buyout of KMD from Swedish financial investor EQT Partners AB and ATP Private Equity Partners.

‘Stephen is widely recognised as among the top finance lawyers in London. He is a brilliant, hard-working lawyer and strategic thinker, and a significant addition to our already strong and very active European debt finance group,’ said Jeffrey Hammes, chairman of Kirkland’s global management executive committee.

Jaishree.kalia@legalease.co.uk

Legal Business

Sliding doors: Norton Rose Fulbright exits Prague; Kirkland launches in Houston

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Europe Kirkland & EllisNorton Rose Fulbright
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In the same week as Kirkland & Ellis announced it is opening in Houston, top 10 LB100 firm Norton Rose Fulbright (NRF) has confirmed it is withdrawing from the Prague market, closing its local office due to ‘difficult market’ conditions with effect from 1 May.

NRF’s Prague head Milana Chamberlain will return to London where she will take up a senior position within the London business, ethics and anti-corruption practice. Meanwhile, Prague partner Pavel Kvíčala will join Czech-Slovak law firm Havel, Holásek & Partners along with his immediate team on 1 May.

There are currently 18 staff in the office, 10 of which are fee-earners including two partners. It is the second time legacy City firm NRF has exited the Czech capital, having previously closed its doors in the region in 1996.

The new office was launched in 2006, and ranked second-tier for corporate and M&A according to the Legal 500.

NRF’s deputy managing partner for the Europe, Middle East and Asia regions, Tim Marsden said: ‘Prague is a difficult market for firms with a global business model to compete in. We have been keeping the Czech market under review for some time. With no strong signs that market conditions are likely to change, we have decided that now is an appropriate time to effect a managed exit. The smooth transition of relevant client matters to Pavel Kvíčala will be a priority, and we look forward to working closely with Pavel and his team at Havel Holásek in the future.’

In the US, meanwhile, Kirkland has launched an office in Houston, the firm’s seventh office in the jurisdiction, with the hire of M&A partner Andrew Calder from rival US firm Simpson Thacher & Bartlett.

Calder, who joins with associate Rhett Van Syoc, specialises in M&A, corporate and securities law, and corporate governance, with a particular focus on the energy sector. He comes with experience of advising private equity funds such as Blackstone Energy Partners and KKR, and companies like GeoSouthern Eagle Ford Development, Alta Energy Luxembourg, Arch Coal, Petrohawk Energy Corporation and PPL Corporation.

Kirkland corporate partner Benjamin Clinger is also relocating to Houston from the firm’s Chicago office. Clinger has experience of representing private equity sponsors in M&A, leveraged buyouts and portfolio company operations and exits.

Chairman of Kirkland’s global management executive committee, Jeffrey Hammes said: ‘Andrew is a first-class lawyer with an exceptional track record of achieving excellent results for top-tier clients on their most significant energy transactional matters. We are very pleased to both welcome him to the firm and to enhance the service we provide to all of our clients in the energy industry.’

Jaishree.kalia@legalease.co.uk

Sarah.downey@legalease.co.uk

Legal Business

Deal Watch: Slaughters advises on £3.6bn ICI pension annuity buy-in and £390m Ignis buyout; Travers leads on $3.1bn Nets sale

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Corporate Kirkland & EllisSlaughter and MayTravers Smith
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Standout corporate mandates over the past few days have included a high profile run by Slaughter and May on deals including a £3.6bn bulk annuity buy-in over the ICI Pension Fund and Standard Life’s £390m acquisition of Ignis Asset Management, as Travers Smith and Kirkland & Ellis led on the $3.1bn acquisition of Nordic card-payment business Nets Holding.

Slaughters pensions and employment partner Charles Cameron led a multi-disciplinary team for Imperial Chemical Industries and Akzo Nobel on the de-risking of the ICI Pension Fund, under which the trustees of the fund entered into bulk annuity buy-in policies with Legal & General Assurance Society and Prudential Retirement Income, representing the largest bulk annuity policy arranged by a pension scheme in the UK.

Also on the team were corporate and commercial partner Jonathan Marks, financing partner Philip Snell and associates Victoria MacDuff, Eleanor Hart and Victoria Judd.

Allen & Overy led by insurance partner Philip Jarvis and pensions partner Neil Bowden advised the trustee of the ICI Pension Fund.

The deal came as Marks led for Slaughters on investment group Standard Life’s acquisition of Ignis Asset Management for £390m in cash. Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer led by Robert Stirling advised Ignis.

Last week the Magic Circle firm announced its role alongside Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison advising RSA Insurance Group on a fully underwritten rights issue to raise approximately £773m, led by corporate partner Andy Ryde, and separately for Dong Energy on its disposal of a 50% interest in offshore windfarm Westermost Rough to Marubeni Corporation and UK Green Investment. Linklaters led by John Pickett advised the buyers.

Meanwhile, at Travers Smith a team led by senior partner Chris Hale, along with senior corporate associate Adam Orr, worked alongside Danish law firm Bruun & Hjejle, to advise management on the acquisition of Nets Holding by a group of private equity firms including Advent International, Bain Capital and Danish pension fund ATP for $3.1bn.

A Kirkland & Ellis team advised the buyers, with a team that included London-based corporate partners Sam Pakbaz and Justin Hutchinson along with debt finance partners Neel Sachdev and Christopher Shield, tax partner Ian Taplin and competition partner Sarah Jordan.

Announced on Monday, the deal requires that the buyers pay Nets shareholders roughly $17 in cash for each of the Copenhagen-based target’s shares. Nets shareholders will also receive a dividend worth about 50 cents per share. The deal is expected to close in the second quarter, pending regulatory approval.

Nets provides payment solutions, card and information services and digital security solutions in the Nordic region and has 2,600 employees. Last year the payment processor handled more than six billion card transactions supporting more than 33 million payment cards and over 500,000 merchants in the Nordics.

Travers Smith on the same day announced its role advising Cyprus-based online broker IronFX Global on its sponsorship agreement with FC Barcelona.

The arrangement will see IronFX, which has 15 platforms trading over 200 instruments in forex, spot metals and CFDs on US and UK stocks and commodities, become an ‘official partner’ of the renowned football club throughout the world, giving it extensive marketing and promotional rights over FC Barcelona’s brand and player images.

Francesca.fanshawe@legalease.co.uk

Legal Business

Kirkland opens up in Beijing to expand 65-lawyer Chinese operation

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Asia Kirkland & Ellis
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Kirkland & Ellis has expanded its sizeable Chinese footprint by opening an office in Beijing, the top 10 global firm announced today.

With 55 lawyers in Hong Kong and 10 in Shanghai, the new Beijing presence will focus on M&A and private equity transactions, international capital markets transactions, fund formation and government enforcement and investigations.

Corporate partners David Zhang, who joined from Latham & Watkins two years ago, and Chuan Li, who is the founding partner of the firm’s Hong Kong and Shanghai offices, will spearhead the Beijing launch.The firm is not expected to hire new lawyers in Beijing for the time being. 

‘Cross-border transactional activity between Greater China and the rest of the world continues to grow, and our strong platform in Asia, the U.S. and Europe positions us to provide the best advice and service to our clients across the globe. Our presence in Beijing expands our reach throughout the region and ensures our ability to serve our clients better,’ said Jeffrey Hammes, chairman of the firm’s global management executive committee.

‘Kirkland has advised on some of the most sophisticated and significant transactions in Greater China in recent years, including the largest leveraged buyout in China to date, the largest Hong Kong IPO this year and the only U.S. IPO from China this year,’ Zhang added.

‘Having a strong on-the-ground presence in Beijing will better position us to access and efficiently serve our target client base and underscores our ongoing strategy in Asia of focusing on diversified high-end, high-value transactional practices that enable us to provide the best advice and representation through diverse market conditions.’

Kirkland has been involved in a number of standout deals in China, including representing Focus Media’s independent committee in connection with its $3.7bn going-private transaction; representing Tudou Holdings Limited in its merger with Youku and representing Koor Industries in its $2.4bn going-private sale of Makhteshim Agan Group to China National Chemical Corporation.

China is a target for many US and UK law firms with both Eversheds and Clyde & Co launched in Beijing this year, although partners regularly report fee pressures in the region and Asia as a whole is still regarded by many as a long term game.

david.stevenson@legalease.co.uk

Legal Business

Kirkland’s trophy hire – Robert Khuzami to join the firm in Washington

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Strategic recruitment Kirkland & Ellis
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If securing senior US regulatory agency lawyers can be compared to a highly competitive game of cards, then Kirkland & Ellis has just called poker with the hire of Wall Street’s top federal enforcer Robert Khuzami.

Khuzami (pictured, who, incidentally, has a Wikipedia listing running into several pages) joins as a partner in the top 10 Global 100 firm’s global government, regulatory and internal investigations practice group after leading the Securities and Exchange Commission’s (SEC’s) enforcement division for four years.

Reported today by the New York Times to be joining on a package of over $5m a year (also said to be guaranteed for two years), he will be based in both the firm’s Washington and New York offices.

Senior SEC official Kenneth Lench is also set to join Khuzami within the same practice group in Washington at the end of July. Lench has headed the structured and new products unit within the SEC enforcement division since January 2010.

The recent additions will strengthen the firms white collar and securities defence practice in line with the growing client demand of regulatory and enforcement issues.

Kirkland’s global management executive committee chairman Jeffrey Hammes said: ‘Rob is one of the most respected and experienced attorneys within global enforcement and brings invaluable public and private sector experience to our growing government, regulatory and investigations practice.

‘Rob and Ken joining our existing team of talented lawyers furthers our ability to provide our clients with the highest level of resources, advice and counsel globally.’

As a prosecutor, Khuzami tried 12 federal criminal trials to verdict, including the successful prosecution of Omar Ahmed Ali Abdel Rahman and nine co-defendants in connection with the 1993 bombing of the World Trade Center. Before the SEC, he worked at Deutsche Bank in New York as global head of litigation and regulatory investigations in 2002, before becoming general counsel for the Americas from 2004 until 2009. He has also served as a federal prosecutor within the US Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York, including three years as chief of its Securities and Commodities Fraud Task Force (between 1991 and 2002.)

The hire is a coup for Kirkland, which is understood to have had stiff competition to hire Khuzami since his departure from the SEC in January.

Lench, meanwhile, joins Kirkland after 23 years at the SEC. His role as structured and new products chief was created by Khuzami in 2010 to focus on abuses in markets for complex securities, including asset-backed securities and derivatives.

Kirkland litigation partner Gene Assaf added: ‘Washington, D.C. regulatory and enforcement issues have become critical to global clients, and the addition of this senior team continues the expansion of our enforcement and regulatory capabilities and presence here.’

 

jaishree.kalia@legalease.co.uk

Legal Business

Comment: A star signing is one thing but who needs a lateral?

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Strategic recruitment DLA PiperKirkland & EllisLatham & Watkins
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The worlds of business, politics and sport have since the 1970s fallen increasingly under the spell of the star individual and law has been anything but an exception. As partnership mitigates the heaviest excesses of the winner-takes-all compensation cultures seen in banking, sports and plc management, in law the star culture has manifested to a considerable extent via the partner recruitment market.

The emergence and massive expansion of this international bazaar for senior legal talent over the last 25 years has had a profound impact on the profession – often unhappily so.

This has happened despite widespread acknowledgement that the returns on partner recruitment are patchy – a finding backed by a significant and growing body of research. Compared to internal candidates, external recruits are more expensive even without counting direct recruitment costs, prone to fail in the first two years and more likely to leave. Added to which is the fundamental difficulty of accurately identifying and then persuading key business influencers to move.

Sound familiar?

Yet if such problems are rife in the legal profession, the impact of the sustained downturn in Western economies has done little to deflate the partner bubble. If anything, the upwardly mobile US law firms that have increasingly defined the partner recruitment market at home and abroad have pushed this merry-go-round towards even more aggressive levels.

And this has happened during a period in which the record of partner recruitment has arguably become worse not better. When partners first began moving in the late 1980s, a path was provided for ambitious and driven individuals to find better platforms or just check out of firms going nowhere. Those hires generally did well because there was a clear economic rationale for the move on both sides. The last decade has seen the emergence of a genuinely sideways market for partners who are just moving, well, laterally.

That’s not to suggest that all of this recruitment is irrational. Some firms have used partner recruitment to effectively super-charge their growth, with Latham & Watkins, Kirkland & Ellis and DLA Piper being among the most striking examples in recent years. The poor overall performance of lateral recruitment has always masked the vast discrepancies in individual performance.

Here is our assessment of the track record of partner recruitment: a small group of firms use it very effectively to deliver great results. A much larger group gets returns barely worth the effort once you account for the time and costs of recruitment. What’s left is another minority that performs so badly that firms in the club actually damage their business. But law – like many fields – remains poor at identifying the formula for success.

We consider the experience of a handful of the transferring partners that have excelled in this month’s edition and there are common factors in what makes a star signing an actual success, but it’s never easy. In essence, firms should be strongly biased towards organic progression unless there is a compelling, clear strategic reason to go to market. Then you must have a senior candidate that actually fits the bill and is energised about the opportunity of your team. The best lawyers don’t do it for the money or a home. They do it for the game. They play to win.

alex.novarese@legalease.co.uk

Legal Business

A star signing is one thing but who needs a lateral?

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Strategic recruitment DLA PiperKirkland & EllisLatham & Watkins
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The worlds of business, politics and sport have since the 1970s fallen increasingly under the spell of the star individual and law has been anything but an exception. As partnership mitigates the heaviest excesses of the winner-takes-all compensation cultures seen in banking, sports and plc management, in law the star culture has manifested to a considerable extent via the partner recruitment market.