• December 1, 2008 |

    Citi fund seals $10bn motorway company buy-out

    Citi Infrastructure Partners has completed the $10bn (£6.75bn) purchase of a Spanish motorway operator from a company struggling with billions in debts, reports The Am Law Daily. Citi Infrastructure, a fund run by Citigroup, purchased motorway operator Itinere from Sacyr Vallehermoso, a Spanish construction company looking to raise money to pay off debts of $24bn (£16.2bn).Citi Infrastructure relied on in-house counsel and advice from CMS Albinana & Suarez de Lezo's team in Madrid.

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  • November 27, 2008 |

    JPMorgan, Morgan Stanley join fee cutting drive

    JP Morgan and Morgan Stanley are among a roster of leading banks attempting to slash fee agreements with panel law firms. Both banks are known to have contacted preferred advisers within the last month with a view to securing a reduction in fees - thought to be up to 15% - going forward. Banks including Lloyds TSB and Deutsche Bank are also understood to be in discussions with legal advisers with fees thought to be a key consideration.

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  • November 24, 2008 |

    Slaughters and Links lead on £1.78bn rights issue

    Slaughter and May and Linklaters have taken the lead roles on Standard Chartered's £1.78bn rights issue. The bank's largest shareholder, Singaporean sovereign wealth fund Temasek, came out in support of the deal, which was approved today (24 November), and will also underwrite the issue along with JPMorgan, UBS and Goldman Sachs.Slaughters has advised longstanding client Standard Chartered with corporate partner Nilufer von Bismarck leading the team along with pensions and employment partner Eddie Codrington and tax partner Jeanette Zaman.

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  • November 24, 2008 |

    Wall St duo lead on US Government's Citi bailout

    Davis Polk & Wardwell and Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton have taken lead roles on the US Government's high-profile rescue plan for Citi, announced last night (23 November). The two Wall Street firms picked up the mandates as the US Government agreed on a rescue deal including a $20bn (£13bn) direct investment into the banking giant.Davis Polk advised Citi fielding a high-profile New York team including three practice group heads - M&A head George Bason, financial institutions head Randall Guynn, and tax head Avishai Shachar. M&A partner Louis Goldberg was also part of the team.

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  • November 19, 2008 |

    Slaughters best friends network acts on Santander rights issue

    Slaughter and May and its network of elite 'best friend' firms have advised Spanish banking giant Santander on its €7.2bn (£6.1bn) rights issue announced last week. Slaughters took the lead for the bank on the UK aspects of the capital raising, working alongside Spanish ally Uria Menendez, which advised in its local market. Meanwhile, Manhattan's Davis Polk & Wardwell advised in the US.

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  • October 22, 2008 |

    Dealmaker: Nick Segal

    Nick Segal, one of the leading partners in Freshfields' restructuring team, talks war zones, BCCI and Northern Rock

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  • October 20, 2008 |

    Simpson Thacher set for $300k Treasury payout

    The Treasury Department has released its contract with Simpson Thacher & Bartlett, reports The American Lawyer. The firm will make $300,000 (£174,000) over the next six months for its work as the Treasury's lead adviser on the US Government's banking bailout. As The Am Law Daily has previously reported, the Treasury reached out to six law firms, requesting proposals for the work. Four declined: Davis Polk & Wardwell, Wachtell Lipton Rosen & Katz, Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton, and a mystery firm.

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  • October 15, 2008 |

    Cleary confirms US bailout plan role rejection

    Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton has confirmed that it was one of the six firms the Treasury Department considered as candidates for a role as lead adviser on the $700bn (£400bn) bailout plan. Only two of those six firms pursued the work that eventually went to Simpson Thacher & Bartlett. Four of the six law firms have confirmed that the Treasury reached out to them: Simpson, Cleary, Davis Polk & Wardwell, and Wachtell Lipton Rosen & Katz. The two others, including the firm the Treasury turned down, remain unidentified. Two of the most likely candidates - Sullivan & Cromwell and Latham & Watkins - would not comment on the matter. A third, Shearman & Sterling, has not responded to messages.

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  • October 14, 2008 |

    US duo join magic circle on UK bank bailouts

    Two New York firms have scored roles advising the UK Government on its £37bn plan to recapitalise three major banks, reports the Am Law Daily. Cravath Swaine & Moore and Davis Polk & Wardwell are advising HM Treasury on US securities laws and regulatory issues associated with the British Government's direct investments in The Royal Bank of Scotland, HBOS, and Lloyds TSB.Robbins Kiessling, the New York-based head of Cravath's banking practice, and London-based corporate and capital markets partner Philip Boeckman are advising the British Treasury with respect to US matters related to its preferred and common equity investments in the three banks.

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  • October 14, 2008 |

    Davis Polk wins role on new $250bn US bank rescue

    Davis Polk & Wardwell has been appointed as the sole adviser to the Federal Reserve Bank of New York on the US Government's $250bn (£142bn) plan to purchase shares in nine of America's largest banks. The plan, announced by US President George Bush today (14 October) will take $250bn from the $700bn (£399bn) bailout package passed on 3 October. The part-nationalisation will see the government invest in Bank of America (BoA), Citi, JPMorgan, Goldman Sachs, Wells Fargo, Morgan Stanley, Merrill Lynch, Bank of New York and State Street.

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