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  • November 22, 2010 |

    Davis Polk hires second magic circle Beijing chief for Hong Kong office

    Davis Polk & Wardwell has recruited Linklaters' Beijing head for its burgeoning Hong Kong law practice, marking the US firm's second recent senior magic circle hire, reports The Am Law Daily. The New York-based firm has announced that Paul Chow is set join its Hong Kong office next May, following the hire of Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer's Beijing chief Antony Dapiran. Chow is expected to continue to work on client matters until his departure. Davis Polk has generally been regarded as conservative when it comes to recruiting lateral partners, but the US firm has moved aggressively to assemble a Hong Kong law group in recent months.

    1 minute read

  • November 19, 2010 |

    Cleary unveils plans to launch in Brazil

    Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton is set to launch in Sao Paulo next year as the US leader moves to reinforce its highly-rated Latin American practice. The firm is planning to relocate New York capital markets partner Juan Giraldez and Rome corporate finance partner Francisco Cestero to head up the Brazilian branch. The office will comprise 10 US-qualified lawyers initially covering international finance, cross-border M&A, regulatory issues and litigation. The launch, which is subject to regulatory approval, is set for 2011.

    1 minute read

  • November 2, 2010 |

    More worlds to conquer - Slaughters and the emerging economies

    Thirteen years after the firm moved to first publicly articulate its global outlook, the international strategy of Slaughter and May continues to spark intense debate among the upper reaches of the global legal market. Shunning the committed international expansion of its magic circle rivals in the 1990s, Slaughters, under then senior partner Giles Henderson, outlined a vision of elite independent law firms co-operating globally in a cover feature for Commercial Lawyer. Though the phrase was never used, it was the system that came to be widely known, somewhat incongruously, as 'best friends', a model built around a core of allied firms in Europe.

    1 minute read

  • November 1, 2010 |

    Cleary makes up City duo in quartet of global partner promotions

    Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton's London office has received half of the new partners made up in the firm's latest global promotions round. The US firm has made up four partners around the world including City-based corporate lawyers Sam Bagot and Mike Preston. Bagot, who specialises in public and private M&A, has worked on several high-profile deals including acting for the financial advisers to Cadbury on the company's acquisition by Kraft.

    1 minute read

  • October 27, 2010 |

    A&O wins RenCap panel role after Russian bank reviews legal advisers

    Allen & Overy (A&O) has won a first-time spot on Russian investment bank Renaissance Capital's (RenCap's) legal panel. The magic circle firm is the only new global addition to the roster following the review, which has seen all six existing advisers reappointed and a small number of firms added in specific jurisdictions. The overhaul means A&O will line up alongside existing panel members Herbert Smith, Hogan Lovells, Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton, White & Case, Skadden Arps Slate Meagher & Flom and Latham & Watkins to advise the bank.

    1 minute read

  • October 13, 2010 |

    Slaughters advises media coalition on NewsCorp-Sky takeover opposition

    Slaughter and May has won a role advising a coalition of media organisations opposed to NewsCorp chief Rupert Murdoch's bid to secure a full takeover of BSkyB. Slaughters' competition team is advising eight media rivals - which include the BBC, Channel 4, The Guardian and The Daily Telegraph - on NewsCorp's bid to acquire the remaining 60.1% of shares in satellite broadcaster BSkyB, a deal which values the company at more than £12bn.

    1 minute read

  • October 8, 2010 |

    Freshfields and Hogan act on milestone German 'bad bank' deal

    Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer, Hogan Lovells and Mayer Brown have taken lead roles on the transfer of €173bn (£152bn) in distressed debt from German bank Hypo Real Estate (HRE) to a specially-created 'bad bank'. The deal sees the portfolio of loans and securities transferred to FMS Wertmanagement, which was set up to take on distressed assets from HRE, one of Germany's largest commercial property lenders.

    1 minute read

  • October 6, 2010 |

    Big-ticket M&A boosts Q3 deals but partners remain guarded on upturn

    Global M&A activity for the third quarter has risen against 2009, with the European and US markets seeing marked increases in deal volume over the period. A total of 2,599 deals worth a combined $512.4bn (£322bn) were announced during the last quarter, up from 2,421 deals worth $321.3bn (£202bn) during the same period last year, according to the latest figures from Legal Week's exclusive data provider Mergermarket.

    1 minute read

  • October 5, 2010 |

    US duo on $21.5bn telecoms mega-merger

    US firms Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld and Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton have taken the lead roles on a $21.5bn (£13.5bn) tie-up which will create one of the world's biggest telecom companies. Russian telecoms operator VimpelCom is set to acquire Weather Investments in the first quarter of 2011, handing the company a presence in 20 countries across the world. Akin Gump is advising VimpelCom with a team led by London partner Dan Walsh alongside corporate partners Fred Heller, Pat Dooley and Sebastian Rice.

    1 minute read

  • September 28, 2010 |

    Norton Rose and leading indys act on China/Brazil financing

    Norton Rose has advised on a $.1.2bn (£758m) trade loan from the Export-Import Bank of China and the Bank of China in a deal that underlines the growing trade links between Asia and Brazil.

    1 minute read