For a FTSE 100 company operating in 20 countries, BG Group’s panel of four law firms was already slim, but it just got slimmer, with news last month that Allen & Overy (A&O) and Herbert Smith Freehills (HSF) have been dropped in favour of Clifford Chance (CC), which wins a place alongside incumbents CMS Cameron McKenna and Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer.
The appointment of the firms – which will offer full-service advice to the energy giant – came into effect on 1 November and follows a relatively short pitch process, which began in September.
The review was handled by general counsel (GC) Graham Vinter – who joined the group in 2007 from A&O – alongside deputy GC Jason Klein.
A&O, HSF, Freshfields and CMS were appointed to BG’s panel back in 2010, after a complex seven-month pitch process that saw BG Group’s longer list of key legal advisers trimmed to just four.
Major work for the UK firms since 2010 has included Freshfields acting on the $1.7bn sale of the gas group’s majority holding in Brazil’s largest gas distribution company, Comgás, in 2012, led by City corporate partner Graham Watson.
The UK panel is one of four similar arrangements at BG Group, which also operates legal panels in Brazil, North America and Australia.
A BG spokesperson said: ‘BG Group has appointed Clifford Chance as a full-service firm to its panel alongside existing firm Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer. CMS Cameron McKenna also retains its place on the panel. The arrangements took effect from 1 November.’
This comes as GCs are moving towards smaller panels and closer relationships with their advisers. However, this panel is considerably smaller than many, including the likes of Vodafone, where the panel runs into double figures.