CMS Cameron McKenna is to stretch its top of equity to accommodate the highest-earning Nabarro partners, as the firms prepare for their tripartite merger with Olswang on 1 May. Continue reading “Camerons to raise top of equity to keep Nabarro heavyweights”
Happy New Year, profession. Barely have we gotten into 2017 and the inevitable has happened: the legacy SJ Berwin business has entered administration, becoming the largest collapse in European legal history.
From the point last spring that a high-billing Paris private equity team quit for Goodwin Procter, it was hard to see King & Wood Mallesons’ (KWM) European business avoiding a bad outcome. But this comment is not really about KWM’s fate, more about how we try to interpret events and re-write history after the fact. Continue reading “As KWM cracks, beware re-written history and schadenfreude”
Today (4 January) the European partnership of King & Wood Mallesons (KWM) has stopped paying 100 staff as the firm heads towards administration. The firm confirmed its intention to file for administration in a court filing in December 2016.
Continue reading “KWM Europe halts pay for 100 staff as it prepares for administration”
King & Wood Mallesons (KWM) has confirmed that today (22 December) its European arm has filed a Notice of Intention to Appoint Administrators with the court. Continue reading “KWM Europe files notice of intention to appoint administrators”
Staff at the European arm of King & Wood Mallesons (KWM) have been told the firm is expected to move into administration on 16 January. Continue reading “January deadline looms as KWM Europe sets administration date”
Barclays has moved to take extra security over King & Wood Mallesons‘ assets with a second debenture, Companies House records show.
Continue reading “Barclays takes more security over KWM assets with second debenture”
Legacy SJ Berwin on the brink as global managing partner stands down
Persistent troubles at King & Wood Mallesons’ (KWM) beleaguered European arm came to a head in November as the partnership, which is carrying more than £30m in debt, failed to get a deal over the line to recapitalise its business. As Legal Business went to press, the firm was assessing its options for a merger or pre-pack administration deal. It was understood that a shortlist of potential suitors had been drawn up.
PARTNERSHIPS AT RISK IN AUTUMN STATEMENT
Chancellor Philip Hammond signalled a change to partnership taxation in November’s Autumn Statement, which is expected to impact law firm pay. Hammond said he will shake up profit-sharing arrangements, and according to UHY Hacker Young tax partner Roy Maugham, the government will propose that partnerships must decide their profit-sharing arrangements at the beginning of the tax year rather than at the end, regardless of how individuals perform.
Though it will be outdated by the time this issue hits desks, I am professionally obligated I suppose to return to the subject of King & Wood Mallesons (KWM) as the firm’s troubled European business reaches what must be the decisive chapter of its post-merger tale.
With the recapitalisation deal having failed to secure the required backing from the legacy SJ Berwin partnership that would have seen its Australian and Chinese counterparts offer much-needed support, the only obvious next step in Europe if the firm is to stay in anything like a coherent whole appears to be a transfer to another firm. With debts over £30m and partners peeling away, the chances of that outcome do not look great. That is even before you address the complications of shifting part of a business contained within a multi-profit centre verein.
Continue reading “Buck-passing and buyers’ remorse as KWM saga nears end”
King & Wood Mallesons‘ European arm has failed to complete its planned recapitalisation programme, which was paused last month after a number of partner departures. Continue reading “King & Wood’s European recap programme fails as firm considers options”
