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  • February 27, 2014 |

    King of the market: advisers prepare for listing frenzy as confidence returns

    If further proof were needed of the resurgence of global initial public offering (IPO) activity, the last few weeks have delivered it. In London, plans to list announced by Pets at Home and Poundland come as other retailers such as House of Fraser and Fat Face are expected to float later in the year. The last nine months have seen a major upsurge in IPO activity across the world. In London, there were 30 main market IPOs in 2013 with a total value of £7.7bn, compared with 18 in 2012 valued at £1.9bn.

    1 minute read

  • February 20, 2014 |

    Davis Polk and Slaughters land roles as ISS sizes up major Nordic IPO

    Davis Polk and local firm Gorrissen Federspiel have landed the mandates advising Danish facilities giant ISS on its planned DKK8bn (£883m) flotation. Slaughter and May has also secured a key role, acting on a refinancing facility being arranged ahead of the proposed listing.

    1 minute read

  • February 14, 2014 |

    US firms take lead roles on proposed $45bn cable merger

    Four New York heavyweights have secured advisory roles on the proposed $45bn (£27bn) merger between US cable operators Comcast and Time Warner Cable.

    1 minute read

  • February 6, 2014 |

    Best friends forever? Slaughters' international strategy comes under scrutiny

    One can't, so the old saying goes, choose one's family. Friends, on the other hand, are a different matter. The maxim has clearly resonated over the years with Slaughter and May. When it comes to its foreign policy, the City's most profitable – not to mention most idiosyncratic – firm has famously eschewed the option of settling down to raise little partnerships of its own. Instead, it has carefully cultivated a network of alliances: its illustrious 'best friends'. But as the legal market becomes ever-more internationalised, how sustainable is Slaughters' model?

    1 minute read

  • February 4, 2014 |

    Davis Polk and Latham aid Smith & Nephew's $1.7bn ArthroCare deal

    Davis Polk & Wardwell and Latham & Watkins have acted on Smith & Nephew's $1.7bn (£1bn) acquisition of Texas-based ArthroCare. The deal, which was run by lawyers' at the firms' US offices, sees the British medical technology company purchase the surgical device manufacturer at a 6% premium on the Friday's market valuation.

    1 minute read

  • January 24, 2014 |

    Lateral thinking - why Slaughters has finally hired a partner after 125 years

    Two remarkable things happened this morning: England beat Australia in a game of cricket and Slaughter and May hired a partner from another firm. Given such seismic events, it would be little surprise to see a pig in a bowler hat take to the skies over the Royal Exchange this afternoon.

    1 minute read

  • January 24, 2014 |

    Slaughters makes first ever lateral partner hire to add US capability in Hong Kong

    Slaughter and May has made its first ever lateral partner hire in Asia with the addition of Morrison & Foerster US capital markets partner John Moore in Hong Kong. The magic circle firm, which rarely makes lateral hires, has brought in Moore as part of a strategy to provide US law counsel in the region.

    1 minute read

  • January 14, 2014 |

    Vodafone-Verizon mega-deal fuels M&A hopes as Macfarlanes' international plans come good

    It was the moment when Macfarlanes' idiosyncratic international strategy paid off – and when Linklaters surprisingly lost out on a role on one of the biggest M&A deals of the decade. Vodafone's $130bn (£79bn) sale of its stake in Verizon – not only by far the biggest deal of the year but also the largest US-based corporate transaction since 2001 – was always likely to be a feeding frenzy for law firms. Accordingly, a number of the usual suspects landed roles on both sides of the Atlantic. Wachtell Lipton Rosen & Katz and Debevoise & Plimpton acted for Verizon in the US, while Simpson Thacher & Bartlett took the Vodafone mandate.

    1 minute read

  • January 9, 2014 |

    Recovery in question as 2013 sees lowest UK M&A deal value for 12 years

    Despite the rise in mega-deals towards the tail end of 2013, last year yielded the lowest overall value for UK M&A activity since 2001.

    1 minute read

  • December 23, 2013 |

    US trio join rivals in search for local Hong Kong litigation capability

    Cadwalader Wickersham & Taft, Milbank Tweed & Hadley and Morrison & Foerster are the latest in a string of international firms looking to ramp up or launch local litigation practices in Hong Kong.

    1 minute read