Legal Business

Deal watch: Corporate activity in November 2014

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BATTERSEA POWER STATION SEES BAKER & MCKENZIE AND NRF TAKE THE LEAD

In one of the largest real estate financings in recent years, Bakers advised a syndicate of Asian and Middle Eastern banks on debt facilities worth £1.35bn. Norton Rose Fulbright (NRF) acted for the borrowers.

 

Legal Business

Media attention: Latham & Watkins hires six-partner team from O’Melveny & Myers

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US firm Latham & Watkins continues its aggressive hiring strategy with the recruitment of a six-partner team from O’Melveny & Myers, including the firm’s entertainment, sports and media group head Joseph Calabrese and high profile London-based partner Libby Savill.

On the US side, Calabrese and partners Christopher Brearton, Robert Haymer, Nancy Bruington and Kenneth Deutsch are set to join the firm.

Savill had joined O’Melveny from Olswang two years ago and was tasked with launching the firm’s UK media practice. She specialises in commercial work for major studios, independent producers, independent distributors and television content providers, and is also deputy chair of the British Film Institute.

She is the latest heavyweight to join the London office in a series of hires since 2013. Others include Macfarlanes environmental specialist Paul Davies, Nick Benson from Weil Gotshal & Manges; David Walker and Kem Ihenacho from Clifford Chance; Lucy Oddy from Berwin Leighton Paisner; and Tom Alabaster from The Carlyle Group. The office now has over 250 fee-earners including 65 partners.

O’Melveny & Myers, meanwhile, yesterday (11 November) named partners Stephen Scharf, Matthew Erramouspe, and Bruce Tobey as the new transactional co-heads of its entertainment, sports and media practice.

In a statement, the firm said: ‘Stephen, Matthew, and Bruce, together with our leading entertainment litigators, are furthering a legacy laid down by John O’Melveny, Deane Johnson, Donald Petroni, and others. Today, entertainment companies are facing an expanding global market and a changing digital media landscape, and O’Melveny’s award-winning entertainment lawyers are poised to help them achieve their goals.’

Latham & Watkins declined to comment. 

sarah.downey@legalease.co.uk

Legal Business

Dealwatch: Lathams, Linklaters and HSF lead on $700m Dealogic sale

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Lathams & Watkins, Linklaters and Herbert Smith Freehills have all won roles advising on The Carlyle Group and Euromoney Institutional Investor’s acquisition of Dealogic.

The Washington DC based private equity giant agreed to acquire the software and data company Dealogic for $700m, alongside two other co-investors – online information and events group Euromoney, and, co-founder and former CEO of Capital IQ, Randall Winn.

Latham & Watkins’ cross-border team advised Carlyle, led by London corporate partners Mike Bond and Richard Butterwick, and Washington DC corporate partner David Brown, with advice on financing matters by fellow Washington-based partners Jeffrey Chenard and Scott Forchheimer, and London partner Dominic Newcomb. Herbert Smith Freehills advised Euromoney with partners Mark Bardell and Howard Murray.

Linklaters advised Dealogic with London senior corporate partner Charlie Jacobs leading the team alongside corporate partner Nick Rumsby, and Scott Sonnenblick out of New York.

Barclays Capital and JP Morgan provided financial advice to Carlyle, while Investec acted as financial advisor to Dealogic, and Gleacher Shacklock acted for Euromoney.

Carlyle will be the controlling shareholder in Dealogic with its equity for the transaction coming from its $13bn US buyout fund Carlyle Partners VI. Dealogic’s long-serving chief executive Tom Fleming will continue in his leadership role.

Euromoney will acquire 15.5% of the equity of Dealogic for $59.2m, funding the investment through the sale Capital DATA and Capital NET, valued at $85m, and which Dealogic and Euromoney have jointly operated since the 1980s. In addition to its $59.2m share, Euromoney will also receive $4.6m in cash on completion and a further $21.2m of zero-coupon preference shares issued by Dealogic.

The transaction, which is expected to close by the end of 2014, is structured as a leveraged buyout by Dealogic and is subject to customary regulatory approvals.

jaishree.kalia@legalease.co.uk

Legal Business

Dealwatch: Latham & Watkins, Macfarlanes and Travers Smith lead on £200m Gorkana sale

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Latham & Watkins, Macfarlanes and Travers Smith have all landed key roles on the £200m sale of media database Gorkana to US rival Cision.

The deal marks one of the first heavyweight mandates undertaken by Latham & Watkins partner Tom Evans, who joined the US firm in April from Magic Circle firm Clifford Chance (CC). The firm’s corporate team, led by London partners David Walker alongside Evans and Chicago-based partner Bradley Faris, advised the buyer public relations software provider Cision.

Evans has previously been tipped as a rising star in the private equity field, and followed Walker, formerly CC’s global head of private equity, who left to join Latham in May 2013.

Sold by private equity house Exponent, the Gorkana Group was established when Exponent acquired cuttings business Durrants in 2006.

Macfarlanes also scored a leading role on the deal, advising its longstanding client Exponent and other selling shareholders, with corporate head Charles Meek leading a team including corporate partners Alex Edmondson and Emmie Jones, as well as tax group head Ashley Greenbank.

Travers Smith’s private equity head Paul Dolman, meanwhile, advised management alongside Kathleen Russ, head of the tax group, and senior associate Adam Orr.

sarah.downey@legalease.co.uk    

Legal Business

Leadership: Latham elects Bill Voge to take over from Bob Dell after eight-month selection process

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Following a rigorous eight-month selection process, London-based projects partner Bill Voge has been elected to take over from Latham & Watkins retiring global chair and managing partner Robert Dell, who leaves the firm after two decades in management and an increase in revenue from $260m at the start of his tenure to $2.285bn in the latest financial year.

Voge (pictured), whose appointment will take effect on 1 January 2015, emerged as a frontrunner to replace Dell in March, identified by a succession committee appointed on Dell’s announced retirement. The committee was chaired by New York litigation partner Miles Ruthberg, with the remainder of the group drawn from across Latham’s different offices and practices.

Voge, who also works in New York, joined 2,060-lawyer Latham & Watkins in 1983 and has held a string of leadership positions since making partner in 1991, including acting as global chair of the finance department between 2007 and 2008 and global chair of project finance between 2004 and 2007.

He served an eight-year term on the executive committee between 1998-2002 and 2008-2012 and has helped to spearhead Latham & Watkins’ global strategy and practice integration for markets outside the US.

Voge’s practice focuses primarily on project development and project financings and he has acted for project sponsors, banks, underwriters and other parties on a wide variety of electricity and oil and gas projects in the US and globally.

Dell said of his successor: ‘Bill brings an impressive mix of experience and leadership qualities to the role: astute strategic vision; superb judgment; smart business instincts; and, above all, strong character. He is clear-sighted and a consensus-builder who is highly attuned to our unique culture, client service and the external market forces driving change in the legal profession.’

Voge added: ‘Bob has driven our relentless focus on quality and client service and he has exemplified our culture in all that he has done. Bob is that rare leader that combines incredible humility and integrity with a tough, competitive drive. He is known for his fairness, judgment and selfless leadership, and in whose footsteps I hope to follow.’

Under Dell’s helm revenue at the top-five Global 100 firm rose from $260m in 1995 to $2.41bn during 2013, with profit per equity partner up from $550,000 to $2.5m, making it one of the most profitable US firms and one of the few that has achieved growth largely without merger.

Despite this organic approach, Latham’s number of offices has risen from 11 at the start of Dell’s term to 31 today and headcount under his watch has increased from 586 on 31 December 1994 – the day before he took over aged just 42 – to over 2,060.

Tom.moore@legalease.co.uk

Legal Business

Linklaters corporate heavyweight Charlie Jacobs leads on Carlyle’s circa £2bn RAC exit talks

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Linklaters senior corporate partner Charlie Jacobs is leading for Carlyle Group on the US buyout house’s early stage discussions to exit UK roadside recovery service RAC for a sum reported to be in the region of £2bn.

An IPO remains Carlyle Group’s preferred route for RAC, which the private equity house acquired from British insurer Aviva for £1bn in 2011, but it is understood that no decision has yet been taken and talks are reported to have taken place with potential buyers including Apax and BC Partners.

Carlyle Group is a longstanding Linklaters client, with relationship manager and private equity partner Alex Woodward having advised on its £600m acquisition of Integrated Dental Holdings and Associated Dental Practices in a move that created a combined entity with 450 dental practices. However, the group is also a major client for Los Angeles-founded US firm Latham & Watkins, which last year advised Carlyle on its acquisition of Chesapeake Packaging from private equity house Irving Place Capital and funds managed by Oaktree Capital Management, and later on Chesapeake’s merger with Multi Packaging Solutions, led by former Clifford Chance partner David Walker.

Latham earlier this year hired senior Carlyle counsel Tom Alabaster as a partner in London.

Jacobs, who is the relationship partner for many of Linklaters international clients including mining groups Gold Fields and Implats, last year advised Glencore on its $45bn merger with Xstrata, having advised the mining giant on its 2011 IPO, in a listing on the London and Hong Kong exchanges valued at £7.3bn.

Carlyle discussions to dispose of RAC follows the recent IPO of rival roadside recovery group the AA, which private equity owners CVC and Permira floated in June for £1.4bn.

Revenue at RAC, which has over seven million members and attends 2.5m breakdowns every year, increased by 6% to £486 million in 2013.

Tom.moore@legalease.co.uk

Legal Business

Latham goes green with latest City hire of Macfarlanes environmentalist Paul Davies

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In the latest of a series of heavyweight City hires, Latham & Watkins is to bring in Macfarlanes’ environmental specialist Paul Davies as a partner in its environment, land and resources group.

Davies will become the first sole environmental specialist to join the 20-strong European team, charged with developing the Los Angeles-founded firm’s transactional and contentious environmental practice in London.

Davies, who has been at Macfarlanes since 2001 and became a partner in 2005, will particularly focus on servicing existing corporate clients who have environmental needs across the energy sector. He will work closely with the firm’s US offices, particularly Houston where Latham already has an established energy practice, and alongside global chair of environment, land and resources, Bob Wyman.

‘The firm has a strong corporate client base and energy practice in the US but needed tier-one environmental expertise in Europe,’ said Latham’s London managing partner Nick Cline (pictured).

Davies’ experience includes providing advice on the environmental aspects of corporate, regulatory and contentious issues, as well as on contaminated land, environmental risk and climate change. He has previously advised Oak Hill Capital on the $2bn secondary buyout of Firth Rixson, a manufacturer of specialised metal products for the aerospace industry.

The Slaughter and May-trained lawyer is the fifth partner hire announced by Latham’s London office since January, following the appointments of Nick Benson from Weil Gotshal & Manges; Kem Ihenacho from Clifford Chance; Lucy Oddy from Berwin Leighton Paisner; and Tom Alabaster from The Carlyle Group. The office now has over 250 fee-earners including 65 partners.

Cline added: ‘Our growth in London, particularly our investment in our corporate and litigation practices, has created an obvious opportunity to develop a market-leading transactional and contentious environmental practice, while also significantly enhancing our existing EU environmental regulatory credentials.’

Davies added: ‘Latham has a top-ranked global environmental practice, and a reputation for advising on the most complex cross-border transactions involving lawyers from multiple jurisdictions. This international capability will give me an ideal platform to further develop my practice.’

Jaishree.kalia@legalease.co.uk

Legal Business

Latham recruitment spree continues with key arbitration and private equity hires

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It’s been another week and another set of significant acquisitions for Latham & Watkins, with the global elite firm announcing a significant arbitration lateral hire and a key industry appointment to its London private equity practice.

The firm announced yesterday (24 April) that it had hired Shearman & Sterling international arbitration partner Fernando Mantilla-Serrano, who will become global co-chair of the firm’s international arbitration practice, based in Paris.

Mantilla-Serrano has had a distinguished career. Prior to joining Shearman in 2003, he was head of Iberian powerhouse Garrigues’ international arbitration practice and was also counsel at the secretariat of the ICC International Court of Arbitration, where he remains a member of the court.

Mantilla-Serrano will head the practice alongside Hamburg-based Sebastian Seelmann-Eggebert and Claudia Salomon in New York. His practice focuses on disputes arising in the oil and gas, power, natural resources, construction, manufacturing and automotive industries and has a particular focus in Latin American disputes. He is a member of the Colombian, New York, Paris and Madrid Bars and regularly serves as tribunal chairman, sole arbitrator or party-appointed arbitrator.

Latham has made a significant push in arbitration recently. In February last year the firm hired its co-head of the international arbitration group Claudia Salomon from DLA Piper in New York, followed by Ing Loong Yang from Sidley Austin to its the Hong Kong office in  March 2013. In June last year, the firm hired also hired Markus Rieder from Shearman, who represents clients in the automotive, industrials and manufacturing sectors.

Olivier du Mottay, Paris office managing partner, said: ‘Fernando’s arrival, coupled with the talented members of our arbitration group around the globe, confirms Latham’s stature as a key player in the arbitration market. We are particularly delighted to welcome Fernando in Paris, which is a key centre of international arbitration.’

Earlier this week, Latham announced a move to further strengthen its City private equity practice and cement its relationship with the Carlyle Group by taking on the buyout house’s senior counsel, Tom Alabaster, as a partner in its London office.

Alabaster had previously focused on fund formation, restructuring, deal financing, and regulation at Carlyle. Before moving in-house, he was a senior associate with Debevoise & Plimpton and had also been an associate at Slaughter and May.

The links between Carlyle and Latham have long been established and general counsel Jeffrey Ferguson is a former Latham associate. The firm has significantly bolstered its London PE practice recently, with the hires of Clifford Chance’s global head of private equity David Walker and CC partners Tom Evans and Kem Ihenacho.

david.stevenson@legalease.co.uk

For more analysis of Latham’s challenge to the Wall Street hierachy, see Taking Manhattan – can the Wall Street elite hold out in the age of the $5bn law firm?

Legal Business

Asia: Latham hires V&E ex China co-head in HK; NRF hires DLA’s Singapore corporate head; Clayton Utz ends HK association

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The past week has seen global top three firm Latham & Watkins hire Vinson & Elkins’ former China co-head David Blumental in Hong Kong, as Norton Rose Fulbright (NRF) takes on DLA Piper’s Singapore corporate head Sheela Moorthy and big six Australian firm Clayton Utz ends its association in Hong Kong with Haley & Co.

Blumental’s practice covers cross-border M&A, joint ventures, project development and financing, and private equity investments focusing on oil and gas, LNG, infrastructure and mining. He has worked in China, North and South America, Africa, Russia and the CIS, Southeast Asia and Australia.

The oil and gas partner relocated to Hong Kong after Vinson & Elkins closed its Shanghai office in August last year, as energy specialist Tju Liang Chua left the firm to join US rival Sidley Austin in Singapore.

‘As we continue to position ourselves as one of the leading global oil and gas firms David has a unique blend of Asian experience and knowledge that makes him an exciting and important addition to our existing Asian energy and natural resources team,’ said David Miles, chair of Lathams’ Asia practice and a partner in the firm’s Hong Kong office.

Elsewhere NRF, which last month had its Singapore qualifying foreign legal practice (QFLP) licence extended for another five years, has bulked up its presence in the region with the hire of Moorthy, who becomes the fourth partner exit from DLA’s Singapore office in two years.

Moorthy has over 20 years’ experience working on cross-border transactions in Singapore, Indonesia, India, Korea, Malaysia, the Philippines, South Africa, Thailand and Vietnam.

QFLPs, which enable law firms to practice some Singapore law, are highly sought after and held by only nine international law firms in total, despite 23 applying in 2012.

‘Her dual qualification in England and Singapore is significant for the practice, and her experience in the energy, life sciences and technology sectors makes her a great fit for our team and our clients,’ said Jeff Smith, head of NRF’s Southeast Asia practice.

Meanwhile, Clayton Utz has called time on its association with Hong Kong firm Haley & Co after four years. Chief executive partner Darryl McDonough said the move reflected the evolution of Clayton Utz’s international strategy and its focus on being Australia’s top-tier independent law firm. This comment follows recent tie-ups between peer group firms such as Freehills, Mallesons Stephen Jaques and Blake Dawson with global firms Herbert Smith, King & Wood (and subsequently SJ Berwin) and Ashurst respectively.

‘With the changes in the legal services market we have developed a clear strategic focus on being Australia’s pre-eminent top-tier independent law firm with deep relationships with a comprehensive network of “best in market” law firms in key international jurisdictions. The success of that clear strategic focus led us to a mutual agreement with Haley & Co to withdraw from our association,’ said McDonough.

Glenn Haley, the senior partner of Haley & Co, said that the end of the association will have no effect on the firm’s Hong Kong office. The association is due to end on June 30.

Caroline.hill@legalease.co.uk

Legal Business

Latham bolsters City arm with hire of partner Lucy Oddy as BLP finance departures keep coming

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Berwin Leighton Paisner (BLP) structured finance partner Lucy Oddy is set to join Latham & Watkins, representing a further City partner hire for the acquisitive US firm and further fallout from BLP’s beleaguered finance team.

Oddy moved to BLP from Clifford Chance in 2010, where she worked in the structured finance team for 12 years in both London and Tokyo. She advises clients on a broad range of complex, cross-border finance matters in the UK and across Europe, with particular experience in securitisations and structured products.

Her departure follows the news yesterday (24 March) that the top 20 firm has lost another two City banking partners, with real estate finance duo Andrew Flemming and Jo Solomon set to join top 10 LB100 firm Hogan Lovells.

For Latham, meanwhile, the hire follows the high profile recruitment last month of Clifford Chance private equity partner Kem Ihenacho and Weil, Gotshal & Manges funds partner Nick Benson in January. Ihenacho was Latham’s third CC partner hire after global head of private equity David Walker joined in April last year followed by Tom Evans in October. The office now has 250 fee earners including over 60 partners.

Nick Cline, Latham’s London office managing partner, said: ‘Lucy’s hire continues the firm’s significant investment in the London office across our core practices. Her excellent reputation and wealth of experience will enhance the first-class finance offering that we provide to our clients, from our top-ranked bank and bond practices, through restructuring and project finance, to derivatives and structured finance.’

david.stevenson@legalease.co.uk