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  • February 16, 2011 |

    Deutsche and JP Morgan push firms on costs and outsourcing

    Deutsche Bank is putting pressure on its legal advisers to increase their use of legal process outsourcing (LPO) as the bank nears the final stages of the first formal review of its external law firm relationships. Deutsche has told law firms that above all else they must be "innovative" about how they provide a cost-efficient service to the bank - in particular, the bank wants to see firms using LPOs wherever possible.

    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 8, 2011 |

    Latham and Simpson Thacher lead on AOL's $315m Huffington Post buyout

    Latham & Watkins and Simpson Thacher & Bartlett have taken lead roles on the $315m (£195m) sale of online news aggregator The Huffington Post to global media giant AOL, reports The Am Law Daily. AOL will pay $300m (£186m) in cash, while the remainder of the payment will come in the form of stock, according to a statement announcing the deal. The acquisition, which is expected to close early in the second quarter of 2011 at the latest, creates a new media group that the companies expect will draw 270 million unique global visitors each month.

    1 minute read

  • 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

  • December 20, 2010 |

    Skadden and Simpson Thacher win roles as Apax nears $8.5bn LBO deal

    Skadden Arps Slate Meagher & Flom and Simpson Thacher & Bartlett have won lead roles for Apax Partners as the buyout house closes in on a multibillion-pound deal that could become one of the largest European leveraged buyouts since the start of the credit crisis. Apax is in exclusive talks to buy Denmark-based facilities giant ISS after putting in an $8.5bn (£5.5bn) bid for the company.

    1 minute read

  • December 14, 2010 |

    Apax set to hire Goldman Sachs lawyer for senior in-house role

    Apax Partners is set to bring in Goldman Sachs lawyer Simon Cresswell for a senior in-house position with the buyout house. The appointment, which is expected to take effect from the New Year, follows an 18-month search for a legal chief by Apax.

    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

  • November 29, 2010 |

    US firms win lead roles as Del Monte says yes to $5.3bn leveraged buyout

    Gibson Dunn & Crutcher and Simpson Thacher & Bartlett have won lead roles on the $5.3bn (£3.4bn) leveraged buyout (LBO) of Del Monte Foods, reports The Am Law Daily. An investor group led by Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co (KKR), Capital Partners and Centerview Partners will pay $19 (£12) per share of Del Monte in cash. The deal - 2010's biggest LBO to date - also includes the assumption of about $1.3bn (£833m) in debt.

    1 minute read

  • November 24, 2010 |

    Simpson Thacher and Weil Gotshal promote seven partners apiece

    Simpson Thacher & Bartlett and Weil Gotshal & Manges have announced the results of their global promotions rounds, with just one City lawyer made up among 14 partner promotions at the two firms. Simpson Thacher's appointments, which will take effect as of 1 January next year, include six in the US firm's New York HQ, alongside one City promotion in its London corporate department.

    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