Filter This View

  • March 4, 2014 |

    Slaughters, HSF advise on £1.1bn Premier Foods refinancing plan

    Slaughter and May, Herbert Smith Freehills (HSF) and Allen & Overy (A&O) are among a raft of firms landing roles on UK food manufacturer Premier Foods' £1.1bn refinancing package. The UK food manufacturer, which produces Mr Kipling cakes and Bisto gravy, is carrying out a capital refinancing plan that intends to raise a total of £353m through a placing of new shares and a rights issue

    1 minute read

  • February 21, 2014 |

    Incoming Clifford Chance corporate head faces PE challenge as firm continues to shed talent

    Clifford Chance's (CC) new global corporate head Guy Norman (pictured) will have a sizeable in-tray when he takes over from managing partner elect Matthew Layton in May.

    1 minute read

  • February 20, 2014 |

    Weil and Fenwick & West act as Facebook buys Whatsapp for $16bn

    Weil Gotshal & Manges and US technology firm Fenwick & West are advising on Facebook's $16bn (£9.6bn) acquisition of mobile messaging company WhatsApp. The deal includes $4bn in cash and approximately $12bn in Facebook shares. WhatsApp's founders and employees will get $3bn (£1.8bn) of the shares as restricted stock that will vest over four years after the deal closes.

    1 minute read

  • February 19, 2014 |

    Latham and Wachtell take headline roles as Actavis buys Forest Labs for $25bn

    Latham & Watkins and Wachtell Lipton Rosen & Katz have taken the lead roles on highly-acquisitive pharmaceutical company Actavis' $25bn (£15bn) purchase of Forest Laboratories. As a result of the deal - the second largest announced corporate acquisition of 2014 so far -Irish-American drugmaker Actavis will expand into higher-margin treatments for Alzheimer's, hypertension and other disorders.

    1 minute read

  • February 18, 2014 |

    Latham hires third Clifford Chance private equity partner in a year

    Latham & Watkins has hired its third private equity partner from Clifford Chance (CC) in a year, with the appointment of the magic circle's Africa co-head Kem Ihenacho. Ihenacho, who joins Latham's corporate department, advises private equity houses and their portfolio companies on a range of UK and international transactions, with a particular focus on Africa.

    1 minute read

  • February 17, 2014 |

    Transfer Window Asia: recent moves including Latham, Weil and Two Birds

    Shearman & Sterling has expanded is project development and finance practice with addition of Allens partner Anthony Patten in Singapore. Patten previously led Allens' oil and gas team in Asia and Australia, before which he was a partner in Ashurst's London energy, transport and infrastructure group. He also spent six years working in London and the UAE as a senior in-house counsel at Royal Dutch Shell.

    1 minute read

  • January 30, 2014 |

    Is Weil's partner exodus a sign trouble is brewing at the firm's London office?

    When Weil Gotshal & Manges last year announced 170 redundancies across its associate and support staff ranks, the market was shocked but viewed it as a difficult but necessary decision. A drop in high-profile restructuring and litigation work had contributed to flat global revenues for 2012 against a nearly 9% fall in profits. Executive partner Barry Wolf admitted at the time of announcing the cuts that some partners may decide to leave as a result of "meaningful compensation adjustments for certain partners" due to the changes in the economy, but no numbers were referenced. Since then more than 30 partners – equating to around a tenth of the global partnership – have left. This included at least 17 partners packing up in Houston and Dallas, as well as several senior partners from the firm's east coast bases. Market sentiment suggests at least some of the senior departures represent collateral damage.

    1 minute read

  • January 30, 2014 |

    Cleary grabs mandates on pair of Google deals including €3bn mobile sale

    Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton has scored roles on a brace of deals for Google, including the internet search giant's proposed €3bn (£1.8bn) sale of Motorola Mobility to Lenovo.

    1 minute read

  • January 8, 2014 |

    Latham makes fifth London hire in a year with Weil PE partner Benson

    Latham & Watkins has made another foray into the UK private equity market with the recruitment of Weil Gotshal & Manges partner Nick Benson.

    1 minute read

  • January 6, 2014 |

    A&O boosts Washington regulatory group with Weil partner hire

    Allen & Overy (A&O) has hired financial services partner Heath Tarbert from Weil Gotshal & Manges in a boost for its Washington office.

    1 minute read