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  • December 9, 2012 |

    Freshfields and McDermott snack on £500m KP sale by United Biscuits

    Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer and McDermott Will & Emery have taken the lead roles on Intersnack Group's acquisition of KP Snacks - the maker of well-known brands such as Twiglets and Hula Hoops - from United Biscuits. The deal, which is reportedly worth around £500m, will see German-headquartered Intersnack take control of KP's stable of brands, as well as four manufacturing facilities and head office. KP is the UK's second-largest snack business.

    1 minute read

  • December 7, 2012 |

    Freshfields high-yield partner quits for Weil in latest exit to US rival

    Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer high-yield partner Gil Strauss has resigned to join Weil Gotshal & Manges, marking the latest departure from the magic circle firm for a US rival. Strauss, whose practice focuses on US corporate finance and securities, will join Weil in London in the New Year to help build out the firm's European high-yield practice.

    1 minute read

  • December 6, 2012 |

    Herbert Smith Freehills shakes up post-merger partner notice terms

    Herbert Smith Freehills is overhauling its notice period in the wake of the merger between the two firms which went live in October, with the new six-month term halving the notice period previously in place at legacy Herbert Smith. Partners at both firms approved the change, which is in the process of being implemented, as part of the merger terms. The six-month term, which will be imposed at the discretion of the firm, effectively doubles the notice for legacy Freehills partners exiting, as they were previously subject to just three months.

    1 minute read

  • November 29, 2012 |

    Willkie Farr and Pinsents lead on Eurotunnel ferry deal

    Willkie Farr & Gallagher and Pinsent Masons have taken lead roles on Eurotunnel Group's controversial acquisition of assets owned by failed ferry operator SeaFrance, a long-running deal which was this month cleared by French competition regulators. The deal, which stems from SeaFrance's liquidation at the start of 2012, saw Eurotunnel, the operator of the Channel Tunnel, subsequently chosen by the Commercial Court of Paris as the successful bidder for three SeaFrance ferries.

    1 minute read

  • November 27, 2012 |

    Weil and Hogan Lovells among law firms on $6.5bn Lehman sell-off

    Weil Gotshal & Manges and Hogan Lovells are among a line-up of firms to have advised on Lehman Brothers Holdings' $6.5bn (£4.1bn) cash and equity sale of property group Archstone Enterprise. Archstone, Lehman's single largest asset, is set to be sold to real estate investment trusts Equity Residential (EQR) and AvalonBay (AVB). EQR will acquire 60% and AVB the remaining 40% stake.

    1 minute read

  • November 22, 2012 |

    Milbank to take on London trainees as firm bolsters City practice

    The London arm of Milbank Tweed Hadley & McCloy is to start taking on trainees as part of its strategy to grow its UK law practice. London managing partner Russell Jacobs said the firm is looking to take on one or two trainees in 2013, with this set to rise to four or five from 2014 once it starts targeting universities for recruitment efforts.

    1 minute read

  • November 22, 2012 |

    Travers takes top law firm prize at British Legal Awards 2012

    Travers Smith, Norton Rose and LV= were among the prize winners at last night's (22 November) British Legal Awards, which took place at London's Old Billingsgate Market. Travers saw off competition from Berwin Leighton Paisner, Clifford Chance, Latham & Watkins, Mishcon de Reya and Olswang to scoop the coveted Law Firm of the Year award.

    1 minute read

  • November 21, 2012 |

    Weil Gotshal makes up London trio in 12-strong partnership round

    Weil Gotshal & Manges has made up three London lawyers as part of a 12-strong global partner promotions round. The promotions in London, which are effective from January 2013, have seen the firm make up Simon Lyell and Samantha McGonigle in its private equity practice and Rupert Wall in structured finance.

    1 minute read

  • November 15, 2012 |

    Staging a slow comeback – PE and M&A markets are showing signs of recovery

    The rollercoaster continues lurching up and down. For private equity (PE) lawyers, it has been an eventful few years with advisers hard-pushed just to keep up with frenetic deal-doing during the boom years, only for the market to go into a sustained slump after 2007. The industry went on to stage something of a modest comeback through 2011, but the latest indications confirm that buyout activity remains volatile to say the least – and 2012 has unsurprisingly proved a mixed year.

    1 minute read

  • October 24, 2012 |

    RBS restructures panel with law firm line-up cut by 40%

    Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer, Berwin Leighton Paisner (BLP) and SJ Berwin are among a host of firms to have been appointed to the Royal Bank of Scotland's (RBS) new group and UK legal panel, following a review which has seen the bank cut back its adviser roster by 40%.

    1 minute read