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  • March 7, 2013 |

    Paper trail – are paperless trials the way forward for UK courts?

    Billed as the biggest trial in the British courts in terms of value, the case brought in 2011 by Boris Berezovsky against fellow Russian oligarch Roman Abramovich was always going to attract plenty of interest. With accusations of blackmail, breach of trust and breach of contract, as well as a damages claim of £3.8bn, the scene was set for high drama. The ensuing litigation proved to be a first on a number of counts, not least for being the first case to be heard at the High Court's commercial arm, the Rolls Building.

    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 |

    Essex Court, Doughty Street among big winners in 84-strong silk round

    The annual round of QC appointments has been announced today (27 February), with 84 taking silk, including four each from Brick Court Chambers, Doughty Street Chambers and Essex Court Chambers. The trio are the most successful sets in this year's round, while other chambers to be recognised include Hardwicke, 3-4 South Square, Landmark Chambers, Maitland Chambers and St Phillips Chambers, all of which are home to three newly appointed QCs.

    1 minute read

  • February 22, 2013 |

    Hogan Lovells and Skadden lead on Saudi investment in China retailer

    Hogan Lovells and Skadden Arps Slate Meagher & Flom have scored lead roles on Kingdom Holding Company's $125m (£89m) investment in Beijing retailer 360Buy Jingdong. The Riyadh based company, which is controlled by Saudi Arabian billionaire and the world's 14th richest man Prince Alwaleed bin Talal, led a consortium of investors in a Series F round of funding, raising a total of $400m (£262m) for the China business.

    1 minute read

  • February 19, 2013 |

    Macfarlanes continues hedge fund push with Akin Gump partner hire

    Macfarlanes has turned to US firm Akin Gump for the hire of an investment funds partner, not long after taking on a nine-strong City hedge fund boutique. Simon Thomas, who has been part of Akin Gump's London funds team for 10 years after joining from Dechert in 2002, joins Macfarlanes after the firm took over specialist hedge fund firm D Harris Co International (DHCI) last year, adding all of its nine City employees to its private equity practice.

    1 minute read

  • February 15, 2013 |

    Latham and Weil among US firms checking in for $11bn US airline mega-merger

    Latham & Watkins and Weil Gotshal & Manges are among a long list of US firms advising on the $11bn (£7.1bn) merger of US Airways and American Airlines parent company AMR, a deal set to create the world's largest airline. The boards of both companies have approved the merger with the majority share of the new company set to be owned by American Airlines' bankruptcy creditors with a 72% shareholding.

    1 minute read

  • February 14, 2013 |

    And now for the hard part – after five mergers, can Norton Rose's CEO tackle his biggest challenge yet?

    When Norton Rose's merger with US firm Fulbright & Jaworski goes live on 1 June, it will have completed its fifth tie-up in just three-and-a-half years. Given that even one merger is beyond the ability of many of the UK's leading players, the achievement cannot be underestimated. The unions mean that in just 42 months, Norton Rose will have transformed itself from an also-ran UK law firm with a smattering of international offices and turnover of £314m into a global giant operating in 55 locations around the world with revenues approaching £1.3bn.

    1 minute read

  • February 12, 2013 |

    CC, DLA and Skadden take roles on biggest IPO since Facebook

    Clifford Chance (CC), Skadden Arps Slate Meagher & Flom and DLA Piper are among a number of law firms to have advised on the initial public offering (IPO) of Pfizer's former animal health business Zoetis, in the largest IPO by a US company since Facebook. The listing, which went ahead on the New York Stock Exchange at the start of February, is said to have raised $2.2bn (£1.4bn), valuing the company at around $13bn (£8.3bn). Pfizer will retain an 80% ownership of Zoetis.

    1 minute read

  • February 8, 2013 |

    CC elects US restructuring chief as new Americas head

    Clifford Chance (CC) has elected head of US finance and restructuring Evan Cohen as its new US managing partner.

    1 minute read

  • February 8, 2013 |

    Fifteen Hong Kong lawyers win higher rights to appear in court

    Fifteen lawyers have been granted approval to appear in Hong Kong courts with exemption from litigation training, as the region moves to broaden the scope of work law firms are permitted to handle. Some of Hong Kong's top dispute resolution partners - including top-ranked Skadden disputes partner Paul Mitchard QC and Ashurst senior associate and former barrister Sanjay Sakhrani - are among the line-up receiving Higher Rights of Audience (HRA).

    1 minute read