DLA Piper misses out as bank sets out new categories
Barclays picked a raft of firms, including Clifford Chance, Ashurst, Simmons & Simmons, Hogan Lovells and Reed Smith, as the banking giant overhauled its global roster last month and slashed its number of go-to advisers by over 60%.
Continue reading “Barclays slashes number of firms by over 60% in global review”
City lawyers faced the wrath of MPs during May and June in an inquiry over the sale of BHS. The April collapse of the retailer, following its sale by Sir Philip Green’s Arcadia Group for £1 to Dominic Chappell’s Retail Acquisitions, caused political fallout for advisers on the deal, including law firms.
Partners from Olswang, Linklaters, Eversheds and Nabarro all appeared before a joint committee of MPs from the Work and Pensions and the Business, Innovation and Skills departments.
Allen & Overy (A&O)’s growing private equity (PE) team has had a strong year, topping Dealogic’s European PE table after advising on 31 deals across the 2015 calendar year for clients including Apollo Global Management, The Blackstone Group and Carlyle Investment Management. The firm advised on deals equal to 21% of the European buyout market last year, acting on $23.95bn worth of deals.
The A&O team, led by co-heads Stephen Lloyd (pictured), Karine Kodde and Robin Harvey, edged out Magic Circle counterparts as well as US firms in the City.
Continue reading “Allen & Overy beats UK rivals to top 2015 deal table for European private equity”
Axiom and Ashurst follow with similar service to meet regulations
In the first marquee joint venture between a Magic Circle firm and a Big Four accountant, Allen & Overy (A&O) and Deloitte have teamed up to create a tech-driven service to help banks handle post-Lehman regulation.
Both Linklaters and Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer scored lead roles on an attempt by South Africa’s Steinhoff International Holdings to take over British retailer Poundland. Steinhoff, a $22bn homeware and clothing conglomerate, made a bid to take over Poundland, which it already had a 23.26% stake in. At press time, Poundland had rejected Steinhoff’s initial bid, but Steinhoff upped its holding in the UK discount retailer to 23.52%.
Steinhoff already owns PEP, which sells discount clothing, footwear and homeware across 1,800 stores in Africa, as well as UK chain Harveys Furniture.
Allen & Overy (A&O) and Slaughter and May have advised on the acquisition of British electronics company Premier Farnell by Swiss manufacturer Dätwyler for £615m.
A&O advised Leeds-based Premier Farnell, while Slaughters acted for Dätwyler on the transaction.
Announced in June, the deal sees London-listed Premier Farnell, which produces the Raspberry Pi single-board minicomputer, join the Swiss multinational. The deal is expected to be completed in the fourth quarter of 2016.
Continue reading “Magic Circle firms lead on £615m Swiss takeover of British electronics company”
With high-profile trust and estates disputes providing a rich diet to private client specialists for some time, City firms have recently made the push to get in on the act.
If the mass retreat of City firms from private client work in the 1980s and 1990s looked like folly when Mishcon de Reya, Forsters and others began to leverage their practices with commercial success during the recession, it looks like even more of a mistake today. With trusts and estates at the heart of some of the biggest global disputes currently, firms with significant commercial litigation practices have taken note.
Continue reading “Trusts and estates disputes – Back on board”
The alliance will see all UK work referred to Bond Dickinson
With US merger plays by Addleshaw Goddard and Berwin Leighton Paisner dominating headlines so far this year, last month mid-market UK national firm Bond Dickinson signed an exclusive strategic alliance with full-service US firm Womble Carlyle Sandridge & Rice.
The deal means that Womble Carlyle, which has operated on a non-exclusive referral basis with Bond Dickinson for approximately six years, will refer all UK work to the firm and vice versa.
Continue reading “American dream: Bond Dickinson seals exclusive tie-up with Womble Carlyle”
Ashurst closed the doors to two of its European offices in June, confirming it will dissolve its Swedish offering with the entire team of 30 staff in its Stockholm office moving to Hamilton.
The firm will also close its base in Rome with its remaining lawyers relocating to Milan following a review of its Italian offering after a string of exits. The fate of the office was sealed following the resignation of the Rome office’s sole partner Aian Abbas.
Continue reading “Ashurst retreats in Europe, closing Stockholm and Rome”
Victoria Young reviews the changing property finance landscape
Berwin Leighton Paisner (BLP) head of real estate finance Naveen Vijh surveys a much changed landscape: ‘We have a much more diverse client market now. It is important to know the whole of the market, its whole breadth.’
Victoria Young and Kathryn McCann talk mergers, leaks and pay with Addleshaws’ no-nonsense head
For a firm until recently associated with dithering, drift and under-performance, Addleshaw Goddard has been in decisive mode of late. Over the last two years the national player has assumed a more assertive style under the leadership of managing partner John Joyce (pictured). Joyce, who took over after an unhappy period under predecessor Paul Devitt, quickly overhauled the firm’s strategy. But in truth, strategy changed little from that of Devitt and then senior partner Monica Burch. Transformed instead was the leadership style and managerial mood music from Joyce, a man who at times appears to be doing a parody of the bluff northerner but who pulls it off thanks to results and a good dose of humour and charisma. Not since Mark Jones at the height of his powers a decade ago has Addleshaws had such an unyielding operational grip on the tiller.
The brewing giant’s legal and corporate affairs director discusses mergers and learning on the job
Anheuser-Busch InBev (AB InBev) legal director Anna Tolley describes the constant change at the drinks company as a rollercoaster she is still yet to get off. After joining (then) InBev as senior legal counsel in 2009, the young lawyer quickly moved up the ranks post-merger with AB InBev appointing her head of legal for UK and Ireland in 2011, two years after she joined. A year later Tolley was bumped up to UK and Ireland legal director and, following another promotion, is now the company’s legal and corporate affairs director for Northern Europe and sits on AB InBev’s UK operating board of directors.
Continue reading “Client profile: Anna Tolley, Anheuser-Busch InBev”
I haven’t the faintest idea why I became a lawyer. I’d signed up to be a management consultant after university and hated it. My brother said: ‘Why don’t you become a lawyer?’ I thought: ‘Oh, alright.’ Got as far as A in the directory and got work experience at Ashurst.
Continue reading “Life during law: Stephen Lloyd, Allen & Overy”
‘The idea that regulation is all from Brussels and the UK is deregulatory is a fantasy. That is just rubbish.’
James Palmer, Herbert Smith Freehills
In the wake of the shock 23 June referendum result on EU membership of the UK, we asked leading lawyers for their thoughts
Relationship counselling
‘The important thing we need to remember is that this vote doesn’t only change the UK’s relationship with the EU, it changes its relationship with the rest of the world as a lot of our trade deals are through the EU.
On a human level, we have a number of lawyers and business services people in the UK who will want to know what their position will be. I said: “You’re an important part of Linklaters, so don’t worry about it.”‘
Gideon Moore, managing partner, Linklaters
Cyber attacks, corporate scandals, environmental disaster… just some of the threats businesses face as they go global. Legal Business asks leading GCs how to handle – and avoid – a crisis.
‘I’ve dealt with many crises… government investigations, data privacy breaches, pollution… they’re all nauseating. Your gut churns when you get that call and know the next few weeks or even years are going to be tough.’
Bjarne Tellmann, general counsel, Pearson
‘What happened to Lehman Brothers? And to Bear Stearns? I’m not sure even the people at Lehman or Bear Stearns could tell you. The only certainty is the fourth and fifth largest investment banks in the US are no longer. And that it happened with breathtaking speed.’
Peter Beshar, general counsel, Marsh & McLennan
Continue reading “Keep calm and… The GC guide to handling a crisis”
While 2015’s Global 100 showed signs of regained momentum, the intervening year saw some contenders come to a shuddering halt. Legal Business looks at the few setting the pace and those faltering in the global race.
In the early hours of 24 June, the unthinkable happened. The UK had voted to leave the European Union by the narrowest of margins, sending stocks plummeting when the London Stock Exchange began trading. Sterling fell to its lowest level against the dollar since 1985. And while the panic had dissipated after several chaotic days, around the world shockwaves were being keenly felt.
‘The UK has embraced technology and alternative legal services faster than the US with some innovative and imaginative thinking.’
Kim Koopersmith, Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld
From downturn fears to investing for the future, law firm leaders give their perspective on the challenges facing elite global firms.
Big issue
‘How the global market evolves is the million-dollar question because we have got some key things lurking in the background and also in the foreground at the minute which would change things dramatically. There is very little organic growth, so you have this continuous battle for both clients and a share of the purse with clients.’
Bryan Hughes, chief executive, Eversheds
Since merging with King & Wood Mallesons, legacy SJ Berwin has lurched from one disaster to the next. Can the firm recover?
A dire 2015 brought matters to a head at the firm now known as King & Wood Mallesons (KWM). On a wet and windy evening on 22 March, 24 partners from legacy SJ Berwin were hauled in front of global managing partner Stuart Fuller and European and Middle East senior partner Stephen Kon to be told that they were to depart.
Continue reading “Global 100: Branded – Inside the troubled takeover of SJ Berwin”
Merger talks, management reshuffles and structural changes – here is our recap of the stories that defined the global legal market during the past 12 months.
August
Despite slowdown in China’s economy, Global 100 firms’ interest in Asia shows no sign of winding down with significant moves following another active year.
China’s slowdown has been a focal point of international headlines across the past 12 months as its tumultuous 2015 spilled into 2016. For Dentons, which took on 4,000 China lawyers at the start of 2015 through its landmark combination with Dacheng Law Offices, China’s faltering couldn’t have been more ill-timed. However, Dentons’ exposure in Asia is shared by many Global 100 firms and the attitude is certainly that it is a marathon not a sprint – growth for many firms in the world’s second-largest economy and across Asia shows no signs of abating. Anyway, a slowdown in China is a relative term, with many law firms still expanding.
