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  • January 25, 2011 |

    Russia and Ukraine: Happily single?

    It was a grim morning in November 2008 when Andrey Goltsblat, managing partner of leading Russian law firm Pepeliaev Goltsblat & Partners (PGP), set out for one of the most difficult meetings of his 20-year career. Moscow was already deep in the grip of winter, the streets buried beneath inches of snow. But it wasn't the weather that troubled Goltsblat as he arrived at the firm's premises and headed to the office he shared with Sergey Pepeliaev, the firm's senior partner. Goltsblat had a dramatic announcement to make: he was leaving the business they'd spent the last two decades building together. And he was taking half the firm with him. Neither man will talk about exactly what was said in that meeting - Pepeliaev would only describe his reaction as "appropriate" - but it's safe to say that Goltsblat's news didn't go down well. In one fell swoop, nine partners and a full 70 lawyers - PGP's entire corporate practice and the firm's heads of real estate, dispute resolution and employment - left to join UK firm Berwin Leighton Paisner (BLP).

    1 minute read

  • January 20, 2011 |

    Outward bound - can Chinese giant King & Wood join the global aristocracy?

    Wang Junfeng does not come across as an empire builder. Chatting in an office strewn with Chinese antiques in Beijing's Guomao skyscraper district, the 48-year-old chairman of Chinese law firm King & Wood sounds modest about where his firm stands relative to the big names from UK and America. "The legal society here really admires the US and UK professions," says Wang. "They have such a long history. And in the last 20 to 30 years, the foreign law firms here have really given a lot of support."

    1 minute read

  • December 17, 2010 |

    Sullivan and Davis Polk advise on $1bn BG Group debt offering

    Sullivan & Cromwell and Davis Polk & Wardwell have taken lead roles on BG Group's inaugural debt offering into the US, with a $1bn (£640m) notes offer. Sullivan advised BG Energy Capital on the deal, which marks the New York firm's first mandate for the company. The firm advised on both English and US law, fielding a team led by London co-managing partner Vanessa Blackmore and corporate partner Bill Plapinger.

    1 minute read

  • December 8, 2010 |

    Cleary advises Citigroup on sale of final Treasury stake

    Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton is advising Citigroup and its underwriters on a multi-billion dollar stock offering, writes The AmLaw Daily, in a deal that will see the US Government sell its remaining stake in the banking giant. The share sale is expected to put $10.5bn (£6.6bn) in the US Treasury's coffers, while helping Citi move a step closer to independence.

    1 minute read

  • December 6, 2010 |

    Linklaters and Davis Polk lead on Pepsi's multibillion-dollar Russian acquisition

    Linklaters has won a role on PepsiCo's $3.8bn (£2.4bn) acquisition of a two-thirds stake in Moscow-based food and drink company Wimm-Bill-Dann, reports The Am Law Daily. John Goodwin, the managing partner of Linklaters's Moscow office, is serving as Russian corporate counsel to Pepsi on the deal, one of the largest ever by a US company in Russia.

    1 minute read

  • December 2, 2010 |

    Norton Rose partner joins Cleary to head up new Hong Kong law practice

    Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton is set to launch a Hong Kong law practice next year with the hire of Norton Rose's China corporate finance head. Freeman Chan will join Cleary to lead the new practice early next year, when the US firm intends to start practising local law. The practice will focus on Hong Kong-listed initial public offerings, capital market transactions, private equity and M&A.

    1 minute read

  • November 22, 2010 |

    Slaughters and Herbert Smith advise on £1.7bn food company merger

    Slaughter and May and Herbert Smith have taken roles on the merger of Northern Foods and Greencore Group, two food companies seeking to cut costs by combining operations, reports The Am Law Daily. The new company, called Essenta Foods, will be one of the largest frozen and prepared foods providers in the UK with combined sales of £1.7bn.

    1 minute read

  • 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 |

    Linklaters takes role for GM investor as car maker launches $23bn IPO

    Linklaters and Jenner & Block have won roles as General Motors this week increased the number of shares on offer in its landmark initial public offering (IPO), reports The Am Law Daily. The car maker, which is being advised by US firm Jenner, has responded to strong market demand by expanding the IPO by 31%, helping the company to raise $23.1bn (£14.4bn) in what could be the largest IPO ever.

    1 minute read

  • November 19, 2010 |

    Nixon Peabody enters HK with local alliance

    Top 100 US firm Nixon Peabody has established an office in Hong Kong through an alliance with local practice Cheng Wong Lam & Partners, reports The Am Law Daily. The affiliation will be known as Nixon Peabody in association with Cheng Wong Lam & Partners, the firms announced this week.

    1 minute read