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  • June 13, 2013 |

    Arabian night – the Corporate Counsel Middle East Awards 2013

    The cream of the Middle East legal community gathered in Dubai last month for the second annual Corporate Counsel Middle East Awards. Three hundred guests attended the event on 16 May at The Western Dubai Mina Seyahi hotel to celebrate the achievements of lawyers, law firms and in-house legal departments working across the Middle East. Allen and Overy (A&O), Al Tamimi & Company and The Emirates Group were among the big winners at the awards – which were jointly held by Legal Week and the Corporate Counsel Middle East Group (CCME) – scooping International Law Firm of the Year, Middle East Law Firm of the Year and Legal Department of the Year (Large Team) respectively. The top individual award – General Counsel of the Year – was won by Aluminium Bahrain's Afshan Akhtar. Commenting on the award, chief executive Tim Murray said it highlighted "the priority the company gives to upholding the principles of corporate governance and transparency across the organisation".

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  • June 13, 2013 |

    Litigation and Dispute Resolution Team of the Year: Shearman & Sterling

    Shearman & Sterling was named Litigation and Dispute Resolution Team of the Year for its work advising the Dow Chemical Company on one of the largest arbitration awards ever. Dow was awarded US$2.5bn (£1.6bn) in a dispute with state-owned Kuwaiti giant Petrochemical Industries Company that drew to a close in the London High Court in March 2013. The case set new standards because of both the size of the award and the strategic interest to Dow, whose share price jumped by 4% when the tribunal's decision was revealed.

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  • June 13, 2013 |

    Macfarlanes boosts real estate with Shearman partner hire

    Macfarlanes has strengthened its commercial real estate practice with the hire of Shearman & Sterling partner Clare Breeze. Breeze, who is due to join at the firm in the beginning of July, has been a partner at Shearman since 2009, and has acted for a range of developer and investor clients including Stanhope, AIG and Argent Estates.

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  • June 11, 2013 |

    Shearman offers jobs to 11 of 13 autumn qualifiers in London

    Shearman & Sterling's London office has offered 11 jobs to 13 trainees qualifying at the US firm this September. Although the number of acceptances has not yet been confirmed, the 85% offer rate is broadly in line with the previous year, when the firm offered seven of its eight-strong intake (87.5%) a role at the firm.

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  • May 30, 2013 |

    Paul Hastings among firms to score key roles as Manchester City makes US play

    Paul Hastings is among a line-up of US firms to have taken roles on a $100m (£66m) joint venture between Manchester City Football Club and the New York Yankees to create New York City Football Club (NYCFC). Major League Soccer (MLS), the top US football division, has announced that NYCFC will become the 20th club to join the league, and is expected to begin playing in 2015. Manchester City will be the majority owner of the new club, with the Yankees – one of the US's best-known baseball teams – as junior partner. The two clubs already have a commercial relationship.

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  • May 24, 2013 |

    Eight US firms close China's largest-ever leveraged buyout

    Seven US firms have come out on top this week after completing China's biggest ever management buyout - the $3.7bn (£2.2bn) take private of Chinese advertising display company Focus Media Holding. The deal, which finally closed last night, received shareholder approval in April for a buyer consortium to acquire the remaining shares in the Nasdaq-listed company for $27.50 per American Depositary Share.

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  • May 23, 2013 |

    Middle East legal community out in force to celebrate region's recovery at CCME Awards

    The Middle East legal community came out in force in Dubai last week to celebrate the achievements of lawyers, law firms and in-house legal teams at the Corporate Counsel Middle East (CCME) Awards. On 16 May, 300 lawyers attended the event at the Westin Mina Seyahi hotel, collectively reinforcing the impression that the legal sector is growing in self-confidence in line with the region's steady recovery from the financial crisis of 2009.

    1 minute read

  • May 17, 2013 |

    A&O, Al Tamimi, Emirates among winners at Middle East legal awards

    Al Tamimi & Company and The Emirates Group were among the big winners at the Corporate Counsel Middle East (CCME) Awards last night (16 May). The awards saw Emirates secure the Large Team Legal Department of the Year...

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  • May 16, 2013 |

    Host of US and UK firms advise as Thomas Cook sets out £1.6bn refinancing

    Slaughter and May, Linklaters and Allen & Overy (A&O) are among a host of firms to have landed roles on travel agent Thomas Cook's £1.6bn capital refinancing plan. The refinancing, which includes a £425m share placing and rights issue, £441m of new bonds issues and £691m of new lending facilities, is intended to reduce the travel company's £800m debt pile while strengthening its capital base.

    1 minute read

  • May 16, 2013 |

    Herbert Smith makes second German hire with Norton Rose partner

    Herbert Smith Freehills (HSF) has made its second partner hire in Germany, with the Anglo-Australian firm hiring Norton Rose's Frankfurt corporate partner Nico Abel for its recently-opened practice. Abel, who mainly advises strategic investors and private equity sponsors on multi-jurisdictional work, including joint ventures, carve-outs and distressed M&A, was a corporate team leader in Norton Rose's Frankfurt office.

    1 minute read