Legal Business

KWM loses historic SJ Berwin client as buyout firm NorthEdge picks Paul Hastings for £300m fund raising

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Corporate King & Wood MallesonsPaul Hastings
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Paul Hastings has won a first time instruction from UK buyout firm NorthEdge on the launch of a £300m fund, the second mandate the US firm has taken from King & Wood Mallesons (KWM) in as many months after it recently acted for historic KWM client Investindustrial.

Despite KWM pitching to retain the work, NorthEdge opted to follow funds partner Duncan Woollard with its instruction, after Woollard left the Hong Kong-based firm to join Paul Hastings eight months ago.

Woollard led on what is NorthEdge’s second investment vehicle, which is targeting companies based in the north of England worth between £20m to £75m. The buyout firm hit its hard cap of £300m within four months of fundraising, with commitments coming from leading institutional investors across Europe, North America and Australia.

When still at KWM, Woollard had led on NorthEdge’s previous investment vehicle, a £225m fund, in 2013.

Woollard was a core part of SJ Berwin’s much-lauded private equity funds team in the 2000s – which also contained Nigel van Zyl, who is now at Proskauer Rose. The firm’s private equity funds and M&A teams have since seen several exits, with deal heavyweights Tim Wright, Steven Davis and Richard Lever all departing following the City firm’s merger with KWM in 2013.

Woollard, who joined Paul Hastings as European head of funds last summer, also won an instruction on Investindustrial’s €2bn private equity fund at the end of last month after having advised it during his 19 years at KWM. The loss of these mandates comes amid a tumultuous period for the legacy SJ Berwin practice, with Europe and Middle East managing partner William Boss resigning in January as managing partner less than a year into the post, a partnership review last year that saw around 10% of the European partnership managed out and a business restructuring last month to reduce the number of practices in London from 17 to three.

Paul Hastings meanwhile has been rapidly recruiting into its City office, with Woollard being joined by Linklaters restructuring heavyweight David Ereira and Berwin Leighton Paisner’s head of structured debt and capital markets, Paul Severs, as the firm makes a play for finance, corporate and funds work.

tom.moore@legalease.co.uk

 

 

 

 

Legal Business

A record year: Paul Hastings posts 6% revenue rise as PEP reaches $2.5m

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Financial results 2015 Paul Hastings
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Paul Hastings has bucked the slowdown in the US legal market by posting record profits, with profits per partner crossing the $2.5m barrier.

Revenue at the Los Angeles-based firm rose 6% from $1bn in 2014 to $1.06bn last year. It comes as part of a return to form for Paul Hastings, with the firm crossing the $1bn barrier for the first time in 2014 to end a period of slow growth. Back to back years of strong growth means that revenue at the firm has risen 20% between 2011 and 2015.

Paul Hastings’ intellectual property, finance, white-collar and real estate departments performed strongly last year. The white-collar practice was reinvigorated by the arrival of Squire Patton Boggs rainmaker Robert Luskin, who represented Alstom in the largest-ever foreign bribery settlement with the US Justice Department in 2014 for $772m.

The firm also landed a number of large M&A mandates, acting for investment firm Kayne Anderson on its mega merger with Ares Management to create an $113bn investment manager last year.

Profits per partner increased 6% last year to hit $2.51m, while revenue per lawyer was slightly up. Its 912 lawyers generated 1% more on average at $1.16m each than in 2014.

The firm has been making an aggressive push in London over the last 12 months, bringing in restructuring heavyweight David Ereira from Magic Circle firm Linklaters and Berwin Leighton Paisner’s head of structured debt and capital markets Paul Severs. The firm also hired Duncan Woollard from King & Wood Mallesons to spearhead its private equity play in London and Ashurst banking partner Luke McDougall to expand its leveraged finance team in the City.

tom.moore@legalease.co.uk

 

 

Legal Business

Third lateral hire of the week: Paul Hastings appoints Clifford Chance corporate partner in Frankfurt

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Strategic recruitment Clifford ChancePaul Hastings
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Following two major hires in the City this week, US firm Paul Hastings has turned its attentions to Frankfurt with the addition of Clifford Chance corporate partner Bernd Meyer-Witting.

Meyer-Witting specialises in M&A work involving telecoms, media and energy companies and has a long history of acting for private equity firms making German acquisitions in this space.

He has been a senior figure in Clifford Chance’s German practice, sitting on the firm’s partnership council during the 2000s, but departs to become the seventh partner at Paul Hastings’ Frankfurt office.

With plans in place to double the size of its London office to 50 partners by 2020, Paul Hastings has ramped up recruitment as it targets finance and corporate work in Europe. Meyer-Witting’s arrival follows that of Linklaters’ finance veteran David Ereira and Berwin Leighton Paisner’s head of structured debt and capital markets Paul Severs this week alone.

Other arrivals this year include Duncan Woollard from King & Wood Mallesons in May to head Paul Hastings’ private equity practice in London and Ashurst banking partner Luke McDougall in April to expand its leveraged finance team in the City.

Fresh from crossing the $1bn revenue barrier in 2014, Paul Hastings has ramped up its recruitment of lateral partners across the network. Fried, Frank, Harris, Shriver & Jacobson’s former head of Asia, Douglas Freeman, joined with corporate colleague Victor Chen in Hong Kong; a nine-lawyer finance team from Ashurst led by US managing partner Eugene Ferrer arrived in the US; and heavyweight white-collar partner Robert Luskin led a five-lawyer team over to its Washington DC office from Squire Patton Boggs.

Meyer-Witting moves at a time of flux in the German market. Magic Circle rival Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer is mulling the closure of either Cologne or Düsseldorf and White & Case is closing its Munich office. 

The number of partners across Clifford Chance’s German network has shrunk in the past two years following several high profile exits. In the first three months of 2015, private equity co-head Oliver Felsenstein and his colleague Burc Hesse quit to join Latham & Watkins, former German corporate head Arndt Stendel exited for Milbank Tweed Hadley & McCloy in March and energy partners Peter Rosin and Thomas Burmeister departed for White & Case.

Last month, Clifford Chance announced the appointment of Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer partner Anselm Raddatz, who started working in the firm’s Düsseldorf office this week as co-head of the firm’s German corporate practice alongside Thomas Krecek.

tom.moore@legalease.co.uk

Legal Business

‘Depth and prestige’: restructuring heavyweight Ereira leaves Linklaters for Paul Hastings

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Strategic recruitment LinklatersPaul Hastings
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David Ereira, the City finance heavyweight who has spent 25 years as a partner at Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer and latterly Linklaters, has finally joined a US firm with Paul Hastings securing his hire.

Courted by a host of US firms, restructuring and debt finance partner Ereira will join Paul Hastings’ London office as a corporate partner. He made a rare jump between Magic Circle firms in 2007 when Linklaters senior partner Robert Elliott persuaded Ereira to join the Silk Street-based firm and has spent the majority of his time there advising PwC as the administrators of Lehman Brothers.

Arguably the most senior hire Paul Hastings has ever made in the City, Ereira’s arrival follows the announcement this week that Berwin Leighton Paisner’s (BLP) head of structured debt and capital markets, Paul Severs, has also agreed to join the firm. 2015 has also seen the hire of Duncan Woollard from King & Wood Mallesons to spearhead its private equity play in London and Ashurst banking partner Luke McDougall joining to expand its leveraged finance team in the City.

Paul Hastings restructuring chair Luc Despins said: ‘The addition of a lawyer of David’s standing and stature will be a great asset for us as we continue to enhance the quality and reputation of our restructuring practice in London. It is essential for us to offer leading-edge restructuring capability coherently across English law and US law, and having a partner of David’s experience adds significantly to our global strength.’

Ronan O’Sullivan, chair of the London office, added: ‘The development of a tier one finance and restructuring practice is a central component of our strategy in London and having someone of David’s reputation join us will continue our momentum and trajectory as we build out our capabilities in this practice. David’s arrival will add further depth and prestige to our practice here in London and will position us well to capitalise on restructuring opportunities that span across the UK, Europe and the US.’

tom.moore@legalease.co.uk

Subscribers can read about David Ereira’s career in: ‘Life During Law – David Ereira’ here.

Legal Business

Structured finance heavyweight Severs departs BLP for Paul Hastings

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Berwin Leighton Paisner‘s (BLP) head of structured debt and capital markets, Paul Severs, is leaving the firm to join Paul Hastings as part of the US firm’s latest City push.

One of BLP’s most high-profile partners, Severs has over 30 years’ experience in structured finance and securitisation, having built a reputation during his time as a partner at Clifford Chance.

He joined the firm a decade ago from bond insurer Financial Guaranty Insurance Company (FGIC), where he spent two years.

The Legal 500 recommends the ‘very impressive’ Severs for structured debt and capital markets, and securitisation.

Severs’ departure is a blow for BLP, which has suffered some high-profile finance exits over the past three years, with global head of structured finance Tamara Box exiting for Reed Smith in 2011, experienced partner Trevor Wood leaving for Mayer Brown in 2013, structured finance partner Lucy Oddy moving to Latham in early 2014 and real estate finance duo Andrew Flemming and Jo Solomon resigning to join Hogan Lovells shortly after.

The firm also recently lost corporate chief David Collins, who resigned from the firm after losing out to employment head Lisa Mayhew in the race for managing partner in May.

Severs’ arrival at Paul Hastings comes as part of a renewed push in the City from the US firm, with Duncan Woollard arriving from King & Wood Mallesons in May to spearhead its private equity play in London and Ashurst banking partner Luke McDougall joining in April to expand its leveraged finance team in the City.

Fresh from crossing the $1bn revenue barrier in 2014, Paul Hastings has ramped up its recruitment of lateral partners across the network. Fried, Frank, Harris, Shriver & Jacobson’s former head of Asia, Douglas Freeman, joined with corporate colleague Victor Chen in Hong Kong; a nine-lawyer finance team from Ashurst led by US managing partner Eugene Ferrer arrived in the US; and heavyweight white-collar partner Robert Luskin led a five-lawyer team over to its Washington DC office from Squire Patton Boggs.

Paul Hastings global chair of corporate Elizabeth Noe said: ‘The last five years has seen the rise of alternative financing platforms and a demand for multiple, diversified types of financing. Paul’s extensive experience in this space will materially enhance our ability to service that demand and will lend further impetus to our leading-edge finance offering in London.’

tom.moore@legalease.co.uk

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Legal Business

Team exit for Ashurst in US gifts Paul Hastings added finance strength in New York and DC

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Strategic recruitment AshurstPaul Hastings
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A nine-lawyer team will be leaving the US offices of Ashurst, including its US managing partner, to join Paul Hastings as it expands its structured finance team.

The team departure includes US managing partner and finance partner Eugene Ferrer based in New York and global co-head of the securities and derivatives group, Scott Faga, based in Washington DC, alongside three counsel and four associates.

The exits come six years after Ashurst launched its US structured finance practice with the hire of a team of 12 finance partners in New York and Washington DC from McKee Nelson.

Ferrer focuses on securitisation and structured finance, with a particular emphasis on structured credit products and collateralised loan obligation (CLO) transactions, while Faga’s practice covers securitisation and structured finance. In 2014, both partners were involved in representing the arranger or collateral manager in over $25bn worth of US CLO issues.

The mass hire comes as Paul Hastings looks to boost its CLO and structured finance capability in the US, London and Hong Kong. The firm recently also recruited Ashurst leveraged finance partner Luke McDougall, and private investment funds partner Duncan Woollard in London, and two M&A and private equity partners in Hong Kong.

The US group exit is Ashurst’s second team departure this year, after Ashurst partners John McClenahan, Mark Davies and Chris Bailey in Tokyo, and Rupert Lewi from Perth left the firm last month to join King & Spalding in Tokyo as it launched its second base in Asia.

‘Scott and Eugene come to us with impressive clients and experience that will be complementary to our growing London securitisation group,’ said Charles Roberts, a London-based partner at Paul Hastings. ‘In particular, we have seen significant demand for securitisation regulatory expertise, including risk-retention advice, for securitisation transactions that are offered in both the US and Europe and believe the addition of this team will help us to capitalise on this need.’

A spokesperson for Ashurst commented: ‘Our US business has performed very strongly over recent years. Head of the US and senior CLO partner Bill Gray, and the other partners, have done a great job in delivering impressive results and helping to develop our offering. It is obviously disappointing when colleagues leave but this is largely a reflection of the highly competitive market for top talent and that is a challenge for both us and our competitors.

‘The US market is very mobile and we can attract talent given our transatlantic offering in the CLO space. We are fully committed to strengthening the business and we are currently speaking to a number of potential senior hires.’

Jaishree.kalia@legalease.co.uk

Legal Business

KWM suffers another corporate exit in the City as Woollard leaves for Paul Hastings

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Duncan Woollard has become the latest private equity partner to leave King & Wood Mallesons, heading for Paul Hastings to spearhead its private funds practice in the City.

Private investment funds specialist Woollard, who will head Paul Hastings‘ London private funds practice, becomes the fifth big-name corporate partner to leave King & Wood Mallesons since its merger was announced with SJ Berwin in 2013.

Having been a core part of SJ Berwin’s much-lauded private equity team in the late 2000s, Woollard’s departure expands the hole left behind by private equity heavyweights Ed Harris, who left just before the official tie-up; Steven Davis, the firm’s former corporate chief who left for Proskauer Rose; Tim Wright, who left for DLA Piper; and most recently Richard Lever, who became co-head of the firm’s London corporate group after Davis stepped down before leaving for Goodwin Procter in April this year.

Woollard joins an expanding London office at Paul Hastings which now holds 25 partners and becoming the firm’s third lateral in the City this year, following the arrival of leveraged finance partner Luke McDougall from Ashurst and real estate specialist Mark Shepherd from DLA Piper earlier this year. He becomes one of a number of SJ Berwin alumni stationed in Paul Hastings’ London office, reuniting with real estate partners Shepherd and David Ryland.

Advising on a range of private equity and fund structuring matters, Woollard specialises in raising investment funds in the private equity sector as well as for venture capital, infrastructure, direct lending, real estate, mezzanine lending and distressed debt.

Recent work includes the €1.25bn Investindustrial V fund, the £500m Endless Fund IV, a series of single investment funds for Duke Street plus Terra Firma’s special situations fund and the associated £3.2bn acquisition of the Annington portfolio. Other clients include AllianceBernstein, Hutton Collins, MML Capital Partners, Babson Capital Europe and NorthEdge.

‘Duncan’s appointment allows us to further capitalize on the resurgence in the private equity fundraising market in Europe,’ said Lawrence Hass, global chair of the private investment funds practice at Paul Hastings. ‘Duncan will play a leading role for us in Europe by helping deliver a coherent high-end global investment funds offering to our clients around the world.’

tom.moore@legalease.co.uk

Legal Business

Staying put: A&O Brazil partner remains at the firm having been set for Paul Hastings

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Latin America Allen & OveryPaul Hastings
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Banking partner Bruno Soares, who decided to leave Allen & Overy’s (A&O) Brazil offering to join US firm Paul Hastings and help establish its Sao Paulo office in March, has made the unusual step of reversing his decision.

A&O has confirmed that Soares will retain his position as the sole partner of A&O’s Sao Paulo office, which also houses two associates. Three months ago Paul Hastings hired a trio of US and Latin America-based partners from A&O – New York-based Robert Kartheiser, who served as co-head of A&O’s Latin America practice, and capital markets specialist Cathleen McLaughlin, who served as head of the firm’s New York office’s international capital markets group – alongside Soares.

At the time, A&O thanked the trio for their contribution and wished them well for the future. Both Kartheiser and McLaughlin will be remaining with Paul Hastings as intended.

A spokesperson at A&O said: ‘We are all very pleased that Soares is staying with the firm.’

Paul Hastings said in a statement: ‘Individuals sometimes change their minds, which has happened here. We wish Bruno well, and we remain focused on the expansion of our Latin American business, including implementing a new office in Sao Paulo.’

Soares joined A&O as a partner in its banking, projects, energy and infrastructure group in 2010. He recently advised on a $3bn Brazilian steel mill project financing in what was the largest investment by Korean financiers in Brazil. For this, A&O represented the Brazilian project company Companhia Siderúrgica do Pecém and its controlling shareholders Brazilian metals and mining corporation Vale and Korean steel manufacturers Dongkuk Steel Mill and POSCO.

jaishree.kalia@legalease.co.uk

Legal Business

Office closures: Paul Hastings picks up Fried Frank’s Asia head in Hong Kong

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Strategic recruitment Fried, Frank, Harris, Shriver & JacobsonPaul Hastings
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Rival firms have been keen to pick up talent following Fried, Frank, Harris, Shriver & Jacobson’s exit from Hong Kong and Shanghai, with Paul Hastings being the latest firm to benefit from the closures.

The firm has hired Fried Frank’s corporate duo Douglas Freeman and Victor Chen, who will join Paul Hastings’ Hong Kong office as partners in the corporate practice.

Freeman previously headed Fried Frank’s Asia practice, and focused on cross-border M&A, reorganizations, leveraged buyouts, listed company transactions and hostile or contested control transactions, for public and private companies, private equity firms and investment banking firms. Some of his key clients include Goldman Sachs, Carlyle Group, Citic Capital Partners, Affinity Equity Partners, LionRock Capital Management, Lazard Freres and Duff & Phelps.

Chen joined Fried Frank as a partner in 2011, and represents private equity sponsors, multinational corporations and institutional investors in M&A transactions and investments, with a particular focus on Asia cross-border deals.

Recent work for the duo include advising the buyer group on a $3.7bn acquisition of Focus Media Holding, representing FountainVest Partners and China Media Capital in its investment in the Greater China business of IMAX, and acting for Lazard in connection with the Alibaba Group’s acquisition of AutoNavi Holdings. They will work closely with former colleague David Shine, who recently joined Paul Hastings from Fried Frank as chair of the New York M&A practice.

‘Doug and Victor’s arrivals represent a further step towards providing our clients with strategic regional and cross-border transactional advice,’ said Sammy Li, chair of Paul Hasting’s Hong Kong office. ‘Doug and Victor have worked together as a focused, effective team for seven years and I am confident that they will further enhance our Asia M&A and private equity practices by tapping into new opportunities whilst cross-selling other key practice areas which are natural business complements to their work.’

Paul Hastings is the second firm to pick up partners this week following Fried Frank’s decision to pull out of Asia, after Norton Rose Fulbright recruited a team of five lawyers from its disputes practice in Hong Kong. Fried Frank announced in January it would shut down its Hong Kong and Shanghai offices, leaving the US firm without an outpost in Asia, affecting 33 employees in total.

jaishree.kalia@legalease.co.uk

Legal Business

Building the team: Paul Hastings hires Ashurst banking partner

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Paul Hastings, which is intent on bulking up its English and US law finance practice in the City, has boosted its leveraged finance practice with the hire of Ashurst‘s banking partner Luke McDougall.

The US firm has hired McDougall, who focuses on European leveraged finance, cross-border acquisition finance and restructuring, only a year after he became partner. He will work alongside the US firm’s high yield bond partner Peter Schwartz, who joined from Milbank, Tweed, Hadley & McCloy in October last year in what was the firm’s first major step towards building an integrated bank/bond leveraged finance team in the City.

McDougall leaves Ashurst after more than eight years having joined in 2006 from Australia-based Minter Ellison where he had been an associate since 2004. Some of his key work includes acting for Goldman Sachs, Credit Suisse and Nomura as mandated lead arrangers of the €448m recapitalisation of Swiss-based Infront Sports & Media; and representing Bank of America Merrill Lynch as sole arranger and coordinator of the $4bn recapitalisation of Formula One.

Ronan O’Sullivan, chair of the London office, said: ‘This is the next step in the continuing growth of an integrated, versatile European bank finance and high yield practice, with strength in English law loans, New York law loans and high yield bonds.’

jaishree.kalia@legalease.co.uk