Making bail – getting Cyprus back on its feet

patched up Cyprus flag

A year ago Cyprus was heading for disaster. The banking crisis had hit hard and predictions of where it would leave the country ranged from the sublime to the ridiculous. Hyperbolic headlines screamed that Cyprus would be forced to quit the eurozone and that everybody would be out of a job. Foreign investors would leave in droves, said the naysayers, so the island had better just go back to fishing and tourism as its mainstay.

Thankfully for the majority, and certainly for the Cyprus legal community, such prophecies have proved overdone. Depending on who you speak to there is really only a mix of cautious or, for some, more courageous optimism about where the Cypriot economy is headed and the benefits that will be realised in the next couple of years by its advisers.

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Scale-up nation – chasing Israel’s high growth clients

'Hub' 'Start-ups' 'High-vale transactions'

Barry Levenfeld is a regular visitor to Silicon Valley. The technology and life sciences specialist at Israeli firm Yigal Arnon & Co has to fly from Tel Aviv to San Francisco, via New Jersey or Los Angeles. Currently the journey takes around 20 hours.

However, he hopes that an online petition to establish a direct flight between Tel Aviv and San Francisco will lead to a more civilised journey. The proposed 14.5-hour flight will usher Israeli high-flyers straight into the growth company and venture capital centre of the world.

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Deal Watch: Slaughters advises on £3.6bn ICI pension annuity buy-in and £390m Ignis buyout; Travers leads on $3.1bn Nets sale

Standout corporate mandates over the past few days have included a high profile run by Slaughter and May on deals including a £3.6bn bulk annuity buy-in over the ICI Pension Fund and Standard Life’s £390m acquisition of Ignis Asset Management, as Travers Smith and Kirkland & Ellis led on the $3.1bn acquisition of Nordic card-payment business Nets Holding. Continue reading “Deal Watch: Slaughters advises on £3.6bn ICI pension annuity buy-in and £390m Ignis buyout; Travers leads on $3.1bn Nets sale”

Partner promotions – Trowers, Nabarro and BLP see reduced numbers as Addleshaws holds on eight

Partner promotions at the UK’s leading firms have largely been down so far down this year, as firms including Trowers & Hamlins, Nabarro and Berwin Leighton Paisner all promote fewer senior associates than last year, with Addleshaw Goddard maintaining a promotion level of eight associates. Continue reading “Partner promotions – Trowers, Nabarro and BLP see reduced numbers as Addleshaws holds on eight”

Crown Estate halves coastal and rural property panel with appointment of Burges Salmon and Bond Dickinson

The Crown Estate has halved its rural and coastal portfolio and Windsor Estate legal panel from four to two, re-appointing Burges Salmon and Bond Dickinson but not Clarke Willmott or Thomas Eggar, the sovereign property portfolio announced today (1 April 2014). Continue reading “Crown Estate halves coastal and rural property panel with appointment of Burges Salmon and Bond Dickinson”

With an external legal spend in excess of $1bn since 2010, BP launches panel review

Energy giant BP, which has paid around $1bn in external legal fees in relation to the Gulf of Mexico oil spill in 2010, has announced a review of its UK law firm adviser line-up.

Firms have been asked to tender for a place on the FTSE 100 company’s new roster, pending the expiry in May of a three-year panel put in place in 2011. The review will be completed towards the middle of 2014.

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Global London – Top 50

The firms that appear in Global London are the 50 largest non-UK originated firms in London, ranked by headcount. Partner and lawyer numbers were all requested as full-time equivalents as of 1 January 2014. All partner hires were up to and including February 2014. Total lawyer numbers include partners, associates, assistants and trainees but not paralegals. The US Internal Revenue Service average exchange rate for the year 2013 was used for Global London calculations. This was $1=£0.665.

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The new ASOS? Boohoo.com announces new panel after expectation-surpassing AIM listing

Just a couple of weeks after online fashion retailer Boohoo.com became a stock market sensation, seeing its stock soar 50% on its first day of trading, netting its founders £125m in a matter of minutes, the Burnley-based start-up has appointed DLA Piper, TLT, Addleshaw Goddard and Pannone Corporate to its legal panel. Continue reading “The new ASOS? Boohoo.com announces new panel after expectation-surpassing AIM listing”

Revolving Doors: Brodies hires Transocean former GC as Squire Sanders and Bird & Bird make key hires

The past week was one for lateral hires outside the City, as Brodies boosted its oil and gas practice with the hire of former Transocean general counsel for Africa and the Mediterranean, Tom Hickey; Squire Sanders beefed up its construction team in Manchester with former head of construction and engineering and corporate services at Pannone, Sean McCay; and Bird & Bird bolstered its Brussels base with the second competition partner exit from Ashurst’s Brussels office in two months. Continue reading “Revolving Doors: Brodies hires Transocean former GC as Squire Sanders and Bird & Bird make key hires”

Succeed or fail, the merger talks between China’s Zhong Lun and Jun He are something of a game changer

With the weight of economic power widely-regarded to be shifting east, a tie-up between Chinese merger talks partners Zhong Lun and Jun He would give the merged entity unrivalled breadth in the People’s Republic of China (PRC) and beyond, although UK partners say they have no immediate concerns that the firm would be competing with them for deals on the world stage. Continue reading “Succeed or fail, the merger talks between China’s Zhong Lun and Jun He are something of a game changer”

Withers to appeal £1.6m negligence finding as former client also appeals point of judgment

Leading private client firm Withers has confirmed it will appeal a recent High Court decision that ordered the firm to pay £1.6m in damages after upholding a professional negligence claim, while the claimant Wellesley Partners (WP) has said it also intends to appeal a finding of the judgment. Continue reading “Withers to appeal £1.6m negligence finding as former client also appeals point of judgment”

Hogan Lovells, CC, Simpson Thacher and Ashurst secure roles on Investindustrial’s €2bn sale of Avincis

Hogan Lovells and Clifford Chance (CC) have secured leading corporate roles on European investment group Investindustrial’s €2bn disposal of aerial service provider Avincis to Babcock International, with Simpson Thacher & Bartlett and Ashurst also advising on the deal. Continue reading “Hogan Lovells, CC, Simpson Thacher and Ashurst secure roles on Investindustrial’s €2bn sale of Avincis”