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  • February 22, 2011 |

    Renaissance man - Ashar Qureshi on quitting Cleary for a senior banking role

    "People are realising that a single event - even a major one - isn't enough to throw emerging markets off course anymore," remarks Ashar Qureshi, vice chairman of Renaissance Group, the Russia-based investment bank specialising in investments in the CIS and Africa. "Take Egypt, where we have investments and trade securities," he continues. "Despite the crisis, stocks in companies based there haven't shown the fragility many assumed they would." Qureshi's involvement with emerging markets work dates back to the early 1990s, when he was drafted onto the privatisation of Mexican telecoms company Telmex as a junior associate in Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton's New York office. "Emerging markets comes naturally to me. Maybe it's something to do with being brought up in Pakistan," he says. His specialism in this area gathered pace when, aged 27, he left the Big Apple to take up a role in Cleary's highly-regarded London capital markets team.

    1 minute read

  • February 18, 2011 |

    Davis Polk plans Sao Paulo launch as law firms continue to flock to Brazil

    Davis Polk & Wardwell has announced plans to establish a Brazil office later this year, reports The Am Law Daily. The office, the US firm's 10th around the world, could open as early as the middle of the year, though the date is subject to approval by Brazilian authorities. The announcement comes three months after Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton announced its intention to open in Sao Paulo.

    1 minute read

  • February 18, 2011 |

    Linklaters leads on much-touted Credit Suisse 'coco' bond

    Linklaters has taken a lead role for Credit Suisse on a ground-breaking securities deal designed to bolster the banking giant's financial strength. The deal saw Credit Suisse issue $8bn (£5bn) in 'cocos' - a form of bond that converts into equity if the issuing bank's balance sheet becomes impaired.

    1 minute read

  • February 15, 2011 |

    Freshfields announces first-ever spring bonuses for US associates

    Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer has announced that it will hand out spring bonuses to its US associates for the first time, reports The Am Law Daily. US regional managing partner Julian Pritchard announced the news in a letter to the firm's 160 US associates, with the bonuses ranging from $2,500 (£1,500) for the class of 2010 to $20,000 (£12,400) for the class of 2006 and earlier.

    1 minute read

  • February 15, 2011 |

    IPO outlook - finely balanced but still tipping the wrong way

    Equity capital markets (ECM) lawyers eyeing up another year of uncertainty must be wondering which will win out in 2011: irresistible force or immovable object? On one hand, you have the building pressure to tap the equity markets from the growing queue of companies that have been put off braving the market for more than two years thanks to tough market conditions. In theory, at some point issuers with solid stories for investors must accept that there will be no quick return to rosy valuations and just get on with it.

    1 minute read

  • February 10, 2011 |

    Linklaters and Wachtell lead on Deutsche Boerse/NYSE merger

    Linklaters and Wachtell Lipton Rosen & Katz have taken lead roles on the proposed merger between Deutsche Boerse and NYSE Euronext in a deal that looks set to create world's largest stock exchange by revenue and profits. Linklaters is advising longstanding client Deutsche Boerse on the proposed all-stock tie-up, which would see the merged business jointly based in New York and Frankfurt.

    1 minute read

  • February 2, 2011 |

    CC and Cleary lead on $500m float as Russian companies size up City market

    Clifford Chance (CC) has advised on a planned $500m (£314m) float on the London Stock Exchange (LSE) by a Russian commodities company. The City law firm has advised Siberian-based Koks Group on its intended initial public offering (IPO), with price ranges announced last week (26 January).

    1 minute read

  • January 25, 2011 |

    Russia and Ukraine: The bear in mind

    International firms are showing renewed interest in Russia with the proposed sell-off of state assets, the World Cup and the 2012 Winter Olympics generating a slew of mandates. Suzanna Ring reports on what's to come for the region's legal market Russia is never far off the business agenda, but after a torrid couple of years it is fair to say that many Anglo Saxon firms had scaled back their efforts in the region - albeit a temporary pause rather than a ceasefire.

    1 minute read

  • December 21, 2010 |

    Debevoise City arm leads on Russian merger creating $23.9bn company

    Debevoise & Plimpton's London and Moscow offices have picked up a lead advisory mandate on the merger of Russian potash companies Uralkali and Silvinit, in a deal that will create a combined business worth $23.9bn (£15.4bn). Debevoise has advised Uralkali on the merger, which will see Uralkali acquire 20% of Silvinit for $1.4bn (£903,300m) and complete the tie-up through a share swap.

    1 minute read

  • December 20, 2010 |

    Cleary votes in antitrust specialist as US firm's new managing partner

    Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton has elected a new managing partner, reports The Am Law Daily. Mark Leddy, an antitrust partner based in the US firm's Washington DC office, will succeed Mark Walker as managing partner in January. Walker, 69, has served as the New York-based firm's managing partner since 2005.

    1 minute read