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  • October 9, 2008 |

    Banking turmoil sparks wave of takeover work for firms

    The ongoing chaos in the banking sector is continuing to generate roles for firms on both sides of the Atlantic as Benelux financial services group Fortis, Italian bank UniCredit and US bank Wachovia join the ranks of financial institutions striking deals.Linklaters and Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton have taken the lead roles as France's BNP Paribas takes control of Fortis in a E14.5bn (£11.2bn) deal. A Linklaters team lead by Brussels corporate partners Jean-Marie Nelissen Grade and Eric Pottier is advising Fortis on the deal, which will see BNP Paribas take over the main banking and insurance operations. Cleary Gottlieb has taken the main role for BNP Paribas, fielding a team under Paris corporate partner Pierre-Yves Chabert.Allen & Overy (A&O) also scored a role on the transaction, advising the Dutch authorities. The takeover follows an attempt to bail out Fortis through a E11.2bn (£8.9bn) cash injection from the governments of Belgium, Luxembourg and the Netherlands. Herbert Smith ally Stibbe won the lead role advising the Belgian Government as it took a minority stake in Fortis, as well as fellow bank Dexia, and advised on the sale of its stake in Fortis to BNP Paribas. Clifford Chance advised the Dutch central bank, De Nederlandsche Bank, on the purchase by the Dutch Government of Fortis's Dutch banking and insurance subsidiaries.Linklaters also advised Fortis on the unsuccessful cash injection, while Cleary Gottlieb advised Dexia, which is to receive a E6.4bn (£5.1bn) injection from the Benelux governments and shareholders. Cleary Gottlieb has also taken the lead for Italian bank UniCredit in its deal to secure up to E6.6 billion (£5.12bn) of funding. The firm's team is being led by Milan partners Roberto Casati, Michael Volkovitsch and Pietro Fioruzzi.Meanwhile, ongoing rescue negotiations for Germany's Hypo Real Estate have generated roles for Shearman & Sterling, advising the bank itself, as well as German independent Hengeler Mueller, which advised a consortium of financial institutions. Linklaters is also understood to have a role for the lender.In the US, Sullivan & Cromwell has taken the lead on negotiations for the rescue of Wachovia, which has seen both Citi and Wells Fargo bidding. Davis Polk & Wardwell is advising Citi on its bid for Wachovia's banking operations for $2.16bn (£1.16bn), while Wachtell Lipton Rosen & Katz is advising Wells Fargo on its bid to acquire all of Wachovia for $15.1bn (£8.7bn).

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  • October 1, 2008 |

    Davis Polk hires ex-US securities commissioner

    Davis Polk & Wardwell has hired former US securities and exchange commissioner Annette Nazareth as a partner in Washington DC. Nazareth will practise in the financial institutions group, advising on complex regulatory matters and transactions. She will also work closely with Davis Polk's Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) enforcement practice. She left her position at the SEC in January this year. She was a Davis Polk associate from 1981 to 1986.

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  • September 29, 2008 |

    US legal elite lead on Citi's Wachovia buy-out

    Four leading Wall Street firms have advised on the latest grand-scale banking rescue as Wachovia joins the ranks of banking giants to fall victim to the credit crunch. Davis Polk & Wardwell and Sullivan & Cromwell took the lead roles on Citi's acquisition of Wachovia's banking operations for $2.16bn (£1.16bn). Citi will take on around $53bn (£29bn) worth of Wachovia debt in the rescue deal, backed by the US Government.Sullivan advised Wachovia on the deal, while Davis Polk advised Citi, led by M&A partners John Ettinger and Phillip Mills and financial institutions partner Randall Guynn.

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  • September 22, 2008 |

    US could emerge as major player in suits stemming from financial crisis

    In the wake of most economic crises, the silver lining for lawyers and law firms is a surge in litigation. The present mess on Wall Street will no doubt…

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  • September 17, 2008 |

    US trio lead on AIG's $85bn Government bailout

    Details are slowly leaking out about how close AIG came to following Lehman Brothers into bankruptcy, only to have the Federal Reserve Bank of New York bail it out with an $85bn (£47.5bn) loan. Davis Polk & Wardwell represented the Treasury Department and the Federal Reserve on the deal, according to the firm. The team was led by partners Bradley Smith and Marshall Huebner. Two sources with direct knowledge of the deal say Sullivan & Cromwell represented AIG, while Simpson Thacher & Bartlett represented AIG's board of directors.

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  • September 9, 2008 |

    NY and DC elite line up for US mortgage bail-out

    Wachtell Lipton Rosen & Katz and Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton are among a long list of leading US law firms to have advised on the US Government's dramatic rescue of failing mortgage giants Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae.Wachtell advised the US Treasury on the rescue deal, which at the weekend saw the US Government take effective ownership of the ailing mortgage giants, which guarantee huge amounts of US mortgage-based securities.Wachtell's 17-lawyer team worked "flat-out" for more than two weeks ahead of the rescue deal, which was concluded at the weekend. The firm's team was led by partners Harold Novikoff and Edward Herlihy. The Treasury Department's team was led by general counsel Robert Hoyt.

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  • September 1, 2008 |

    Slaughters retains FTSE client rankings top spot

    Slaughter and May has held onto its position as the firm with the largest number of FTSE 100 clients, according to the latest research from Hemscott. The rankings show the elite magic circle firm picked up two additional FTSE 100 clients over the three-month period from 9 May to 4 August, taking its tally to 27 clients with a market capitalisation of £267bn.

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  • August 8, 2008 |

    Links tops Euro equity capital markets rankings

    Linklaters has retained the top spot in the European equity capital markets deal rankings, with the firm advising on double the amount of deals as its competitors. New research by Thomson Reuters shows the magic circle giant advised on 20 equity capital market deals totalling $14.6bn (£7.2bn) during the first half of 2008, keeping it above Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer, which advised on 11 deals worth $29.8bn (£15.3bn).

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  • August 6, 2008 |

    US duo take lead on £1.2bn Sony BMG share sale

    Top US firms Davis Polk & Wardwell and Paul Weiss Rifkind Wharton & Garrison have landed roles on the $1.2bn (£616m) sale of German music company Bertelsmann's 50% stake in Sony BMG to Sony Corp. The deal will see the Japanese music giant take full control of the Sony BMG joint venture that was created in August 2004.The newly-formed company will be called Sony Music Entertainment Inc (SMEI) and will be a wholly-owned subsidiary of Sony Corp.

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  • August 1, 2008 |

    O'Melveny signs up W&C partner for HK arm

    O'Melveny & Myers has bolstered its restructuring and insolvency capabilities with the hire of White & Case partner Mark Fairbairn for the firm's Hong Kong office. Fairbairn will join the US West Coast firm's restructuring and finance practices to focus on advising clients in North Asia on distressed and alternative high-yield investments, restructuring and insolvency.

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