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  • March 21, 2013 |

    UK duo lead as RBS gives up control of Direct Line

    Allen & Overy (A&O) and Slaughter and May have led on a deal that has seen the Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) give up control of UK insurer Direct Line with a £507m share sale. RBS, which sold a 34.72% share in Direct Line when it listed on the London Stock Exchange last year, has now sold a further 15.3%, reducing its stake in the insurer to just below 50%. A&O City corporate partner David Broadley advised RBS on the sale, while Slaughters corporate partner Andy Ryde provided counsel to Direct Line. Linklaters corporate partner Dan Schuster-Woldan and managing associate James Wootton represented the banks.

    1 minute read

  • March 21, 2013 |

    DLA boosts Hong Kong real estate practice with Skadden hire

    DLA Piper has strengthened its Hong Kong real estate practice with the hire of partner Ed Sheremeta from Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom. Previously head of the Asia real estate group for Skadden, Ed specialises in real estate investment both in the equity and finance space, advising on everything from acquisitions and institutional investments, to REITs, asset and property management and the establishment of real estate joint ventures.

    1 minute read

  • March 19, 2013 |

    Pinsents adds two financial services partners with Eversheds and CC hires

    Pinsent Masons has moved to strengthen its financial services team with the hires of Richard Tripp and Monica Gogna from Eversheds and Clifford Chance (CC) respectively. Tripp, who will joins Pinsents' Leeds office on 29 April, is a restructuring specialist who has acted on several high-profile matters including the administrations of Little Chef, Pindar and Modus Group.

    1 minute read

  • March 18, 2013 |

    Linklaters and White & Case win roles on record $2bn Thailand IPO

    Linklaters and White & Case have landed lead roles on the planned $2.1bn (£1.4bn) initial public offering (IPO) of BTS Group's new infrastructure fund, reportedly Thailand's largest-ever new listing. BTS, which operates Bangkok's SkyTrain transit system, is in the process of setting up the BTS Rail Mass Transit Group Infrastructure Fund, which will be independently managed.

    1 minute read

  • March 15, 2013 |

    A&O US financial services regulatory chief exits to join Milbank

    Allen & Overy (A&O) has seen the departure of US financial services regulatory head Douglas Landy to Milbank Tweed Hadley & McCloy. Landy, who has been at the magic circle firm since 2008 after joining from Cadwalader Wickersham & Taft, joined Milbank yesterday (14 March).

    1 minute read

  • March 14, 2013 |

    A&O and Slaughters called in once more as RBS cuts Direct Line stake below 50%

    Allen & Overy (A&O) and Slaughter and May have led on a deal that has seen the Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) give up control of UK insurer Direct Line with a £507m share sale. RBS, which sold a 34.72% share in Direct Line when it listed on the London Stock Exchange last year, has now sold a further 15.3%, reducing its stake in the insurer to just below 50%.

    1 minute read

  • March 7, 2013 |

    Slaughters and Ashurst lead on Esure's London float

    Slaughter and May and Ashurst have won lead roles on the planned London listing of Esure, the insurer behind brands such as Sheilas' Wheels. The UK insurance company, which also owns half of price comparison website gocompare.com, hopes to raise £50m through an offer of ordinary shares to repay outstanding debt.

    1 minute read

  • March 5, 2013 |

    DLA, Skadden among firms on take-private of US-listed China dairy giant

    DLA Piper, O'Melveny & Myers and Skadden Arps Slate Meagher & Flom have taken lead roles on the $147m (£98m) take-private of China dairy products company Feihe International. The deal, which is now in the final stages, has seen chairman and CEO You-Bin Leng, who owns approximately 50% of the company, acquire the remaining shares alongside Morgan Stanley's private equity arm, Morgan Stanley Private Equity Asia (MSPEA) for a price of $7.40 (£4.92) per share.

    1 minute read

  • February 26, 2013 |

    Cadwalader goes external for new deputy chairman with JP Morgan hire

    Cadwalader Wickersham & Taft has make the rare move of recruiting an in-house lawyer for a senior role, with JP Morgan's co-head of North American M&A James Woolery coming on board as the firm's new deputy chairman and corporate co-chair. Woolery, who prior to his work at JP Morgan was a partner at Cravath Swaine & Moore, is taking up the newly created role at the US law firm, which will cover business development, strategy and external relations.

    1 minute read

  • February 21, 2013 |

    Cravath splits global M&A leadership as former chief heads for UK

    Cravath Swaine & Moore has split the management of its global M&A practice ahead of the imminent relocation of former global M&A head Richard Hall to London to bolster the firm's European footprint. The firm's Americas M&A practice will now be jointly led by New York partners Robert Townsend and Faiza Saeed. Recent high-profile roles for Townsend have included acting for pharma giant Johnson & Johnson on its $19.7bn (£12.9bn) acquisition of Synthes in 2012, while Saeed counts major corporates such as Kraft Foods, Morgan Stanley and Time Warner among her key clients.

    1 minute read