Linklaters News, Analysis and Updates - Page 34 of 37

Ashurst delves into Magic Circle for Linklaters DCM partner as Beddow named corporate co-head

9 December 2013 15:11pm19 January 2018 14:36pm | Jaishree Kalia

Strategic recruitment Ashurst Linklaters Corporate

Ashurst has tapped into the magic circle in a bid to strengthen its finance practice, hiring Linklaters debt capital markets (DCM) partner Francis Kucera to its City-based securities and derivatives practice.

In his new role, Kucera will strengthen Ashurst’s DCM offering in the emerging markets. He joins a two-partner team – including former Linklaters’ colleague Stephen Edlmann who joined in 2010 and Clifford Chance senior associate Derwin Jenkinson, who joined as a partner in January this year. The team is led by Anna Delgado, who joined from Allen & Overy ten years ago.

Kucera will begin his role at Ashurst in March 2014. The firm confirmed it is also actively looking to increase its DCM partner headcount globally, with the next hire most likely to be in Asia.

At Linklaters, Kucera gained wide-ranging expertise in international securities work on both the debt and equity side, particularly transactions across central and eastern Europe and the CIS region. He joined the Magic Circle firm as a trainee in 1989 and became managing partner in 2005 and co-managing partner of the Warsaw office in May 2009.

Recent work includes advising Barclays Capital on establishing an MTN Programme for Getin Bank of Poland and acting for the ministry of finance of the Czech Republic on its €3bn debt instrument programme.

Head of the debt capital markets team at Ashurst, Anna Delgado, said: ‘The expectation that there would be significant growth in the importance of debt capital markets following the financial crisis has certainly been borne out. There has been growth both in terms of size and the nature of participants in the market. We have a strong debt capital markets practice, which continues to be of strategic importance for the firm and one in which there are considerable opportunities.

‘Francis has a reputation for legal excellence and a strong client following, which make him a valuable addition to our existing practice. We have ambitious plans for the practice and we are confident that Francis will play a key role in helping us deliver on them.’

Kucera added: ‘I am delighted to be joining Ashurst. The demand for London-based capital market financings is strong and is only going to get stronger. There are huge opportunities for law firms and their clients in this area. Ashurst has a well-known practice and brand and I look forward to being part of the team that builds on that to create a full service, top tier capital markets practice.’

In other news, Simon Beddow has been named co-head of the firm’s global corporate, commercial and competition division, a role he will undertake with Sydney-based co-head Phil Breden. The post was previously held by Stephen Lloyd, who resigned from the firm in November and is set join to Allen & Overy, subject to partnership approval.

jaishree.kalia@legalease.co.uk

More for most or less for some? Links is latest top firm to sidle towards merit pay

5 December 2013 14:33pm15 February 2018 12:29pm | David Stevenson

Salaries Linklaters Magic Circle

Even at the top of the market, the slow march towards performance-driven pay for associates continues with Linklaters this week becoming the second top City player to unveil changes to its associate remuneration.

Linklaters is to introduce a performance-based element to salaries for its London-based associates with two years or more post-qualification experience (PQE) as part of what it dubs its ‘Our Deal’ strategy.

The City firm issued a somewhat obtuse statement over the move but the new model, which kicks in from 1 May 2014, is expected to see roughly 10% of pay handed out on the basis of individual merit past the two-year PQE point. An existing bonus scheme remains unchanged.

It is unclear whether the new system is cost neutral or whether it overlaps a conventional associate lockstep, thereby allowing star mid-levels to be paid more.

Either way, it is the latest in a series of moves by top London firms away from strict lockstep compensation, in which lawyers are paid strictly on seniority, in favour of more flexible, contribution-based systems.

Slaughter and May earlier this week adjusted its bonus system for associates to include a performance element after earlier in the year introducing an element of merit to its associate pay structure.

Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer put into place a merit-based system last year, with associate careers divided into three distinct ‘milestones’.

Such a trend has seen elite London firms follow smaller rivals, who have in many cases abandoned associate lockstep over the last decade for mid-level associates. City advisers have come under particular pressure to retain their prized mid-level associates in the face of predatory recruitment from higher-paying US rivals.

Linklaters – in common with its peers – had earlier this year also unveiled rises to the pay bands it operates for UK lawyers. The collective rise was the first substantive increase in the market rate in City associate pay since 2008, reflecting a relative revival in confidence through during 2013. Linklaters increased newly-qualified pay from £61,500 to £64,000. Years two and three PQE respectively earned £78,250 and £89,000.

Michael Bennett, a litigation partner at Linklaters who led the salary review, said in a statement: ‘Feedback from associates indicates they would like to see individual performance playing a greater role in overall remuneration. The changes we are proposing will help address this and reflect the firm’s commitment to offer our people the most attractive overall package.’

David.stevenson@legalease.co.uk

Investigations: RBS appoints panel firm Clifford Chance to conduct independent review

26 November 2013 09:26am25 January 2018 11:50am | Francesca Fanshawe

In-house Clifford Chance Linklaters The Royal Bank of Scotland

Investigations have become big business for the City’s thriving litigation teams although the majority of them happen behind closed doors for valued clients and are not said to offer an ‘independent’ assessment.

A recent exception is the Royal Bank of Scotland’s (RBS) disclosure yesterday (25 November) that it has appointed Clifford Chance (CC) to conduct an independent inquiry into the treatment received by small business customers in financial distress, after allegations that the bank deliberately drove them to collapse for its own gain.

While large City firms are undoubtedly sophisticated providers of complex legal services their close relationship with many of the large banks and financial institutions at the very least raises questions over their ability to give a truly independent viewpoint.

Despite bank panels shrinking over recent years it is still common for them to include a number of the Magic Circle and larger firms, with RBS 21-strong legal roster, unveiled in July, including CC, Allen & Overy, Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer and Linklaters as well as many of the larger City and transatlantic firms such as Eversheds, Hogan Lovells and Norton Rose Fulbright.

CC itself is on the panel for Europe, the Middle East and Asia, with a mandate to act in most of the jurisdictions where it has offices.

However, when asked to discuss how the inquiry will work given the Magic Circle client’s existing relationship with the bank, a spokesperson declined to comment.

CC’s instruction by RBS comes after independent reports from both the former Bank of England deputy governor Sir Andrew Large and government adviser Lawrence Tomlinson raised concerns over the bank’s treatment of struggling small businesses, with the report by Tomlinson accusing the bank of pushing small firms into its turnaround unit, the Global Restructuring Group (GRG), so it could charge higher fees and take control of their assets.

In a letter published on RBS’ website, group chief executive Ross McEwan noted that changes had already been put in place but added: ‘to ensure our customers can have full confidence in our commitment to them I have asked the law firm, Clifford Chance, to conduct an inquiry into this matter, reporting back to me in the new year.’

On a more general level, City law firms’ investigations practices are highly developed and their ability to provide detailed evidentiary analysis, often alongside accountants, is increasingly being used to show seriousness of intent.

Only recently, fellow Magic Circle firm Linklaters, alongside accountants PwC, entered into an ongoing independent review of client private securities company G4S, following allegations that employees engaged in false billing practices between 2005 and 2013.

As G4S attempts to rebuild its brand the company asked Linklaters to assess whether there was evidence of dishonesty or criminal conduct by employees who billed the Ministry of Justice as part of an electronic monitoring contract.

The firm is also advising G4S in relation to a Serious Fraud Office (SFO) probe on the same matter.

francesca.fanshawe@legalease.co.uk

Linklaters’ private equity ambitions dealt a blow by departures

4 November 2013 00:15am16 February 2018 15:43pm | David Stevenson

Corporate Linklaters

Linklaters’ now decade-long effort to carve a credible position in the private equity market has been dealt a serious blow as co-heads Ian Bagshaw and Richard Youle leave to join White & Case.

The long-term friends, having started their careers together at Eversheds, had to build the Magic Circle firm’s private equity practice largely from scratch after the departure of Graham White and Raymond McKeeve in 2006 for Kirkland & Ellis.

Youle, who joined the firm in 2001 from SJ Berwin (becoming a partner in 2006), and Bagshaw, who moved across from Clifford Chance in 2007, are credited with building a dedicated team of lawyers whose buyout expertise is supplemented by strong banking, restructuring and high-yield capabilities.

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Comment: 2006 and all that – an oh-so-familiar mess at Linklaters

1 November 2013 09:36am22 January 2018 15:49pm | Alex Novarese

Corporate Linklaters White & Case

The most hackneyed cliché of the pundit is history repeating itself, a claim that rarely holds up upon closer examination. But with the recent departure of Linklaters’ private equity co-heads Ian Bagshaw and Richard Youle for White & Case, well, sometimes you just can’t escape the past.

Personality clashes, a mid-market practice not gelling with Linklaters’ M&A business, finance supposedly not supporting sponsor clients, prolonged rumours over exit talks, and, finally, a dramatic exit to a big spending US rival; yes, it’s 2006 all over again when Graham White and Raymond McKeeve quit for Kirkland & Ellis.

All in, it’s better that this was resolved than the soap opera kept running – no wonder Linklaters’ management asked for a pledge of loyalty from the pair following earlier discussions with Ropes & Gray and Fried, Frank, Harris, Shriver & Jacobson.

Still, it’s a set-back for Linklaters that over a decade after embarking on its bid to become a force in private equity, it has a practice that not only lacks the potency expected of Silk Street, but one in which it can’t even retain partners. With due respect to Sweden and its lawyers, you don’t expect to be drafting in partners from Stockholm to re-enforce your City operation.

The departure earlier this year of Chris Howard for Sullivan & Cromwell had deprived Youle and Bagshaw of one finance partner comfortable with leveraged buyouts but, given the depth and calibre of Linklaters’ deal finance team, it’s hard to see lack of debt coverage being a problem.

Linklaters is a superb firm but it seems at present to struggle to sustain the trick seen at Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer and Slaughter and May of balancing institution-wide links in corporate with that splash of entrepreneurial drive essential to the best M&A teams; there’s just a little too much office politics these days. At least it can reboot with a practice more fitting its business and sensibility and now the firm boasts a broader buyout team than back in 2006. But, for Linklaters, you have to wonder if the goal of having a self-standing private equity team – as opposed to functional coverage – is really worth the trouble.

And White & Case? Well, the reputed multi-million dollar, multi-year guaranteed deal certainly looks aggressive. You have to give the firm credit in one regard – after its European banking team was gutted in 2010 by Latham & Watkins, the firm has come back swinging in a far more emphatic style than expected. But many would question how smoothly the strong-willed pair will integrate into White & Case, a firm which has also had more than its fair share of office politics in London.

The wider backdrop has changed in one key respect from 2006. Despite prolonged convulsions in the debt markets severely cutting the buying power of private equity houses, it has turned out that client portability has trumped deal size; US advisers have continued a steady and sustained encroachment into the City private equity market at the expense of London’s finest.

White & Case may not look the most threatening in this regard but there is no shortage of rivals out there. With Charlie Geffen prompted to re-examine his options last month – US law firms will surely try to secure one of the genuine heavyweights of the City buyout scene.

alex.novarese@legalease.co.uk

Click here for more analysis on Linklaters’ private equity practice

Comment: ‘2006 and all that – an oh-so-familiar mess at Linklaters

28 October 2013 14:53pm16 February 2018 15:46pm | Legal Business

Comment Linklaters US

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Linklaters private equity ambitions dealt a blow by departure of Bagshaw and Youle

17 October 2013 10:59am12 January 2018 15:36pm | David Stevenson

Strategic recruitment Linklaters White & Case Corporate

Linklaters‘ now decade-long effort to carve a credible position in the private equity market has been dealt a serious blow as co-heads Ian Bagshaw (pictured) and Richard Youle leave to join White & Case.

The high profile pair, long-term friends having started their careers together at Eversheds, had to build the Magic Circle firm’s private equity practice almost from scratch after the departure of Graham White and Raymond McKeeve in 2007, although it has been an enduring irony that their own reputations in private equity exceed that of the firm.

Youle, who joined the 2509-lawyer firm in 2001 from SJ Berwin (becoming a partner in 2006) and Bagshaw, who moved across from Clifford Chance in 2007, are credited with building a dedicated team of lawyers whose buyout expertise is supplemented by Linklaters’ strong banking, restructuring and high-yield capabilities. Newly promoted Alex Woodward, while still comparatively junior, shows significant promise.

But while the City buyout pair have undoubtedly pushed the private equity practice comfortably into the mid-market on the back of clients including HgCapital and Montagu Private Equity, many feel it has yet to make enough ground with leading sponsor clients.

News of Bagshaw and Youle’s departure will cause a stir in the private equity market but comes as no surprise, as the pair have been in talks with a number of US firms, including most recently Ropes & Gray and Fried Frank. It was these discussions with other firms that ultimately brought the pair’s future at Linklaters to a head, with two independent sources suggesting that it led to an internal ultimatum.

The move comes as White & Case’ London office pushes hard to raise its profile, having recently hired Kirkland & Ellis private equity star Ross Allardice. The top 15 Global 100 firm today (17 October) welcomed the duo, with head of global M&A John Reiss commenting: ‘As the European economy continues its recovery, private equity in Europe will see increasing opportunities. The addition of these talented individuals will allow us to capitalise on these opportunities.’

However, rivals have yet to be convinced of the business case, with one leading private equity partner commenting: ‘I’ve more money on Linklaters doing well in private equity than White & Case, and another adding: ‘Linklaters are still a world class firm.’

A statement from Linklaters said: ‘We thank Ian and Richard for their contribution to the firm and wish them all the best in their future careers.

‘Linklaters has considerable strength in depth in its global private equity team and dual strength in both private equity and banking. We remain committed to providing our clients with excellent service in this area.’

The private equity market has been particularly fluid this year, with David Walker having left Clifford Chance for Latham & Watkins while Raymond McKeeve recently joined Jones Day from Berwin Leighton Paisner.

david.stevenson@legalease.co.uk

For a more detailed look at Linklaters’ private equity practice see Back at the gate: US invaders raise fresh questions over private equity status of CC and Linklaters

Line up, line up: Twitter, Royal Mail and Foxtons go to market

13 September 2013 14:11pm12 February 2018 14:39pm | David Stevenson

Corporate Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer Linklaters Slaughter and May

After a flurry of initial public offerings (IPOs) earlier in the year, with Esure, Countrywide and Partnership Assurance among the UK companies to go public, a new wave of IPOs are lining up to go to market, including Royal Mail, Foxtons and, most recently in the US, Twitter.

Twitter rather aptly tweeted its intentions to float on the stock market yesterday (12 September) with leading technology IPO specialists Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati tipped for the role.

The social media giant, estimated by the Wall Street Journal to be worth around $10bn, took advantage of a rule adopted last year by the Securities and Exchange Commission, which allows growth companies with under $1bn in revenues to keep their financial details confidential until closer to the float.

According to Reuters, Twitter’s lead adviser will be Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati, famous in Silicon Valley for taking public big names such as Apple, Netscape and Google.

Yesterday also saw the UK government notify the London Stock Exchange that the long running Royal Mail IPO is imminent, with lead advisers Slaughter and May, Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer and Linklaters now gearing up to do a deal that has been in the pipeline for over a year. Royal Mail is being advised by Slaughters, led by equity capital markets (ECM) partner John Papanichola alongside corporate finance partner William Underhill.

The past year has seen the Slaughters team assisting Royal Mail in its preparations for float, advising on numerous thorny issues including its employee share scheme, which will see the postal group’s employees take 10% of the shares and the remainder go to institutional investors and the public. ‘It is a slow process and is not expected to go to market before November,’ one ECM partner said of the IPO.

Freshfields is advising the government, with corporate partner Tim Jones leading for the Department for Business Innovation and Skills on the IPO, backed by a team including pensions partner Charles Magoffin. Linklaters are advising the underwriters, Goldman Sachs and UBS.

Meanwhile, Foxtons IPO, also a private equity exit in which Dickson Minto is representing long-term clients BC Partners, which bought Foxtons in 2007 for £360m with £300m of bank debt, is expected this September. The company was badly hit by the financial crisis and lenders Bank of America and Mizuho stepped in in 2010 in a debt-for-equity swap after BC Partners breached its bank covenants, however, the private equity house kept its minority stake and regained control last year.

More recent estimates place the value of Foxtons’ IPO above £700,000 and, given the success of earlier IPO’s, there is a renewed buzz in the market, underlined by cautious optimism. ‘It’s a general question of confidence, the backdrop of the last few years consisted of private equity exits performing badly at market. There was talk of the pricing mechanism breaking down. But with the success of Crest Nicholson earlier this year, there is a renewed appetite for IPOs,’ said one corporate partner at a US firm based in London.

david.stevenson@legalease.co.uk

Asia Round-up: Linklaters and Sidley Austin hire in Hong Kong and Singapore while DLA suffers another Singapore exit

12 September 2013 08:15am22 January 2018 17:27pm | David Stevenson

Asia DLA Piper Linklaters Sidley Austin Revolving doors

Magic circle lateral hires still happen comparatively infrequently but if they do happen, these days it’s quite often in Asia. The past week has seen Linklaters appoint David Kidd of his own eponymous firm as a partner to lead its pan-Asian restructuring and insolvency practice. He will join the firm in October and be based in Hong Kong. Linklaters has been involved in high profile insolvencies such as MF Global and Lehman Brothers and Stuart Salt, Linklaters regional managing partner for Asia, said: ‘David is one of the leading R&I lawyers in the region and we are excited about further developing this side of our business with him.’

In Singapore Sidley Austin continues its drive to forge a substantial funds practice as former colleagues of Han Ming Ho, co-head of the firm’s Asia investment funds practice, come across to the US firm from Clifford Chance. Ho is joined by Josephine Law, who will serve as counsel, senior associate, Joel Seow and associate Reina Chua, significantly boosting the firms fund capabilities.

‘Han Ming and his team are joining Sidley at an exciting time, as the interplay between the Singapore and Hong Kong markets continues to shape the funds industry in this region,’ said Thomas Albrecht, managing partner for Asia Pacific.

Elsewhere Duane Morris & Selvam has also expanded its Asian operations by opening an office in Myanmar, following Singapore heavyweight Rajah & Tann, which opened there in March. The firm will serve clients on a range of business and investment matters including tax, regulatory issues, reporting requirements and the US Foreign Corrupt Practices Act as well as UK Bribery Act issues. This marks the first launch in the country by a US law firm, albeit through its tie up with Singapore’s Selvam in 2010.

‘Myanmar presents significant opportunities for foreign businesses, and our new presence there will allow us to provide on the ground, high quality counsel to foreign and domestic businesses seeking to seize those opportunities while minimizing the inherent risks,’ said Duane Morris chairman and chief executive, John Soroko.

The office will be run by Duane Morris’ current managing director in Singapore, Krishna Ramachandra. Benjamin Kheng, an associate director of Duane Morris in Singapore, will be a partner in Myanmar. In total the office will have ten fee earners.

‘Our team has built a strong relationship with Myanmar and its government, as a result of working closely with the Attorney General’s office for many years. This is a natural next step for us,’ said Ramachandra.

However, DLA Piper’s Asia fall out continues, as Will Harrison, head of the firm’s insurance practice in Hong Kong, moves into legal consulting. Having joined from Clifford Chance as a senior associate in 2007, he built a strong practice focusing on financial lines and speciality insurance, including directors and officers liability, professional indemnity and acting as defence counsel for insurers and insured. One of the most high profile cases he worked on was the collapse of Barings Bank and the resulting audit negligence litigation in London.

DLA has suffered a number of senior partner departures in the region, including Matthew Glynn, former managing partner of the firm’s Singapore office and head of its Asia intellectual property and technology group, who gave in his notice earlier this month. This followed on from the departure of another former Singapore managing partner, Martin David, who left for Ince & Co just a few months previously, and Justin Jagger, former co-chair of the firm’s global arbitration group and leader of its South East Asia disputes, who left for local Singapore firm Stamford Law last August.

david.stevenson@legalese.co.uk

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Linklaters news, updates and analysis | Page 34 of 37

Ashurst delves into Magic Circle for Linklaters DCM partner as Beddow named corporate co-head

More for most or less for some? Links is latest top firm to sidle towards merit pay

Investigations: RBS appoints panel firm Clifford Chance to conduct independent review

Linklaters’ private equity ambitions dealt a blow by departures

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Comment: 2006 and all that – an oh-so-familiar mess at Linklaters

Comment: ‘2006 and all that – an oh-so-familiar mess at Linklaters

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More Paris moves as Linklaters announces triple partner hire

Linklaters private equity ambitions dealt a blow by departure of Bagshaw and Youle

Line up, line up: Twitter, Royal Mail and Foxtons go to market

Asia Round-up: Linklaters and Sidley Austin hire in Hong Kong and Singapore while DLA suffers another Singapore exit