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  • October 10, 2013 |

    Green shoots of recovery in Asia-Pacific as high deal flow in Q3 2013 props up sluggish year

    While Europe and the US have experienced a bounce in M&A activity, Asia has struggled to break free from three consecutive years of reduced deal flow. Figures from Mergermarket at the close of the third quarter showed that the Asia-Pacific region excluding Japan witnessed $259.7bn (£162bn) worth of deals during the first three quarters of 2013.

    1 minute read

  • October 10, 2013 |

    Top firms set to do battle at 2013 British Legal Awards

    Linklaters is leading the way in nominations for the top practice awards as the shortlist for the 2013 British Legal Awards has been unveiled. The magic circle has nominations M&A, banking, financing or restructuring, and commercial team of the year categories. However, it missed out on the law firm of the year shortlist.

    1 minute read

  • September 25, 2013 |

    Shearman and Skadden lead on $4.7bn bid to acquire BlackBerry

    Shearman & Sterling and Canadian firm McCarthy Tetrault are advising Fairfax Financial on its $4.7bn (£2.9bn) offer for struggling smartphone maker BlackBerry. Fairfax, BlackBerry's largest shareholder with a stake of approximately 10%, is offering $9 a share in cash to acquire the remaining shares in the firm, which is being advised by Skadden Arps Slate Meagher & Flom and Canada's Torys.

    1 minute read

  • September 24, 2013 |

    Tencent appoints Paul Weiss and Bakers for $448m Sogou deal

    Paul Weiss Rifkind Wharton & Garrison and Baker & McKenzie have advised as the owner of WeChat, Tencent Holdings, has taken a 35.6% stake in Chinese search engine Sogou for $448m. The deal, which is the latest in a string of mergers and acquisitions among Chinese internet companies, will see the two businesses jointly develop and cross-promote their products, with Sogou Pinyin and Sogou Search gaining access to the user base of Tencent's online and mobile social communities.

    1 minute read

  • 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 19, 2013 |

    Chinese meat giant recruits Simpson Thacher associate as GC ahead of Smithfields purchase

    Chinese meat processing giant Shuanghui International has hired Simpson Thacher & Bartlett senior associate Sandra Kister as its new general counsel. Kister, who previously worked in the corporate practice of the Wall Street firm, was recruited by Simpson Thacher in 2007. She worked in New York for two years before relocating to Asia to do a one-year public interest fellowship with not-for-profit organisation Grameen Foundation.

    1 minute read

  • September 19, 2013 |

    Will Dentons deliver? After a succession of mergers does Dentons add up to more than the sum of its parts?

    If this year's three-way mega-deal between SNR Denton, Salans and Canada's Fraser Milner Casgrain (FMC) still generates a large dose of scepticism among rivals, it does not seem to have knocked the confidence of the merged firm's chairman. Indeed, in an interview with Legal Week, Joe Andrew, an approachable American corporate lawyer, says that far from being the 'merger of weakness' that critics portray, his new 'polycentric' firm should be a blueprint for the world's leading legal practices.

    1 minute read

  • September 16, 2013 |

    Kirkland & Ellis opens third base in Asia with Beijing launch

    Kirkland & Ellis has opened an office in Beijing, giving the firm its third base in Asia. The Chicago-based outfit, whose focus in Asia has been predominantly on M&A, private equity and capital markets work, has fielded corporate partner David Zhang, who has 20 years' experience in China, and Chuan Li, who is currently chief representative of its Shanghai office, to lead the base.

    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 11, 2013 |

    Hong Kong opens second round of higher rights of audience applications

    The Hong Kong Law Society is this month accepting the second round of applications from solicitors for higher rights of audience (HRA) following new legislation introduced last year allowing non-barristers to appear in court. Solicitors from local and international law firms have been given one month from 1 September to apply for advocacy rights, with most required to undergo a litigation training programme overseen by the College of Law.

    1 minute read