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  • September 24, 2013 |

    Cleary and Skadden among group of six on take private of Yongye

    Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton and Skadden Arps Slate Meagher & Flom have taken lead roles on the $340m take private of Nasdaq-listed Chinese crop and animal nutrients manufacturer, Yongye International. The Beijing-based company said in October last year it had received an offer from a group of buyers, including chairman and CEO Zishen Wu, majority shareholder Full Alliance International, MSPEA Agriculture Holding and Abax Global Capital, for $6.60 per share they didn't already own.

    1 minute read

  • September 18, 2013 |

    Shearman becomes best friends with Italian tax outfit Tremonti

    Shearman & Sterling has launched a non-exclusive best-friends agreement with leading Italian tax firm Tremonti Vitali Romagnoli Piccardi. The two firms expect the arrangement to "enhance the breadth and geographic reach of their services" by offering an integrated tax and corporate service to both international and Italian clients.

    1 minute read

  • September 17, 2013 |

    CC, Freshfields and Sullivan & Cromwell lead on Barclays £5.8bn rights issue

    Clifford Chance (CC), Sullivan & Cromwell and Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer have taken lead roles on Barclays' £5.8bn rights issue. The capital raising, which was originally flagged by Barclays in July, will help the bank meet regulatory demands to increase levels of equity held as a proportion of total assets.

    1 minute read

  • September 17, 2013 |

    Slaughters and Freshfields lead on landmark Lloyds disposal

    Magic circle duo Slaughter and May and Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer have taken advisory roles on the government's disposal of a 6% stake in Lloyds Banking Group, raising £61m for the Treasury. UK Financial Investments (UKFI), the company set up to manage the Treasury's shareholding in Lloyds, yesterday (16 September) announced its intention to sell a stake worth around £3.3bn by way of a share placement.

    1 minute read

  • September 12, 2013 |

    Boardroom battlefield – winning the right to re-elect directors in company boards

    Corporate governance practices continue to evolve in the US, with increased focus on board and director-related practices. In today's challenging environment – marked by public distrust of corporate management and board 'insiders' and increased shareholder activism – the US corporate governance environment is a battleground. Over the past decade, traditional proxy advisory groups – such as Glass Lewis and International Shareholder Services (ISS) – and several corporate reform groups have gained significant influence over many corporate issuers and institutional investors with respect to corporate governance practices.

    1 minute read

  • September 12, 2013 |

    West Coast tech duo online for LinkedIn's $1.2bn bond offering

    Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati and Cooley have taken the lead roles on LinkedIn's $1.15bn (£738m) secondary public offering of common stock. The social networking site, which has more than 238 million users worldwide, has listed $1bn (£642m) of registered Class A common stock, with the underwriters to the deal given the option to purchase an additional $150m (£96m). LinkedIn said the offering would help it strengthen its balance sheet, and plans to use the proceeds for general corporate purposes, including strategic acquisitions of other businesses.

    1 minute read

  • September 12, 2013 |

    Davis Polk and Simpson Thacher check in for $1.25bn Hilton IPO

    Davis Polk & Wardwell and Simpson Thacher & Bartlett have advised on hotel operator Hilton Worldwide's plans for an initial public offering (IPO). The hospitality company, which is owned by private equity firm Blackstone Group, is hoping to raise up to $1.25bn (£790m) through the listing, the proceeds of which will be used to pay down debt and for general corporate purposes.

    1 minute read

  • September 5, 2013 |

    Desert dreams – why law firms are reassessing their Middle East strategies

    In Abu Dhabi Herbert Smith Freehills (HSF) has been looking in recent months to sub-let half its office space on the 23rd floor of the prestigious Al Sila Tower. The firm stresses it remains committed to the city, but its move nonetheless reflects a broader readjustment of international law firm ambitions in the UAE capital. "It's no secret that we are looking to sub-let half of the floor we originally let," says Zubair Mir, head of HSF's Middle East operations, before adding that "we are not looking to return the lease in any way". He explains: "What happened was we bought an entire floor in Dubai which became more full than we expected, so when we negotiated in Abu Dhabi we took out more space than we needed to try to avoid the situation of not having enough room." HSF is not alone in rethinking its needs in Abu Dhabi. Hogan Lovells closed its outpost there last year and transferred its work to the firm's Dubai office, having decided that it made for a stronger regional hub.

    1 minute read

  • August 29, 2013 |

    CC joins diversity initiative targeting talent from state school backgrounds

    Clifford Chance (CC) has joined a scheme that will see recruiters from top employers meet undergraduates from state school backgrounds, in a bid to improve access to City professions. CC is hosting a new milk round event, called the 'City Careers Conference', which will see graduate recruiters meet more than 150 undergraduates who previously studied at state schools in London's most disadvantaged boroughs.

    1 minute read

  • August 20, 2013 |

    Bindmans and Matrix take roles on Miranda airport detention furore

    David Miranda, the partner of Guardian journalist Glenn Greenwald, has instructed Bindmans and Matrix Chambers to advise him on potential legal action against the Home Office and the Metropolitan Police after he was detained for nine hours at Heathrow airport this weekend. Miranda has instructed Bindmans associates Kate Goold and Gwendolen Morgan in relation to his recent detention under Schedule 7 of the Terrorism Act 2000. Bindmans has in turn instructed Matrix Chambers barristers Matthew Ryder QC and Edward Craven.

    1 minute read