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  • March 2, 2009 |

    White & Case splits with Singapore ally

    White & Case, one of the six international firms granted a licence to practise Singapore law in December, has shelved plans to merge with local alliance partner Venture Law. "We have agreed with Venture Law to bring our Singapore formal law alliance with them to an end," White & Case said in a statement. "Our commitment to Singapore, and our plans for the Qualifying Foreign Law Practice licence that we were recently awarded, are unchanged."The firm declined further comment, though a source briefed on the matter confirmed that White & Case's plans no longer included a merger with the 10-lawyer Venture Law.

    1 minute read

  • February 25, 2009 |

    Freshfields helps draft German state bank law

    Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer has advised the German Government on a draft law which could temporarily allow it to nationalise stricken banks. The magic circle law firm took the lead role alongside German leader Hengeler Mueller. Freshfields global head of corporate Andreas Fabritius advised the German finance ministry on the draft law, with a team co-led by fellow Frankfurt-based corporate partner Gunnar Schuster and Berlin-based regulatory partner Benedikt Wolfers.The Hengeler team, instructed by the German interior ministry, was led by Berlin-based partners Stefan Richter (corporate) and Wolfgang Spoerr (regulatory).

    1 minute read

  • February 19, 2009 |

    Shearman PEP down 9% but firm eyes 'opportunity'

    Shearman & Sterling has posted a 4.9% dip in revenues to $876m (£608m) for 2008, along with a 9.6% fall in profits per equity partner to $1.665m (£1.15m). The percentage declines recorded by Shearman were similar to those reported by Skadden Arps Slate Meagher & Flom and in the middle of the pack for major New York firms that have so far posted their results."It was the second-best year in the firm's history," said senior partner Rohan Weerasinghe. "That we did as well as we did is a testament to the strength of our platform globally."Shearman is more global than some of its US peers, with 45% of its lawyers based overseas, but less diversified in its practice mix, with only 22% of its revenues deriving from litigation.

    1 minute read

  • February 17, 2009 |

    A&O racks up $6bn New York debt deal double

    Allen & Overy's (A&O) New York office has won high-profile instructions on two US debt offerings worth a total of more than $6bn (£4bn). The magic circle firm took the lead role as US counsel to Novartis on its $5bn (£3.5bn) Securities & Exchange Commission (SEC) registered debt offering that closed last week (10 February).The Swiss-based pharma company instructed a team led by New York-based corporate partner Peter Harwich, also including senior associate Bernd Bohr and associate Michael Maier.

    1 minute read

  • February 11, 2009 |

    Clydes and Pinsents win Dubai Holding panel roles

    A raft of City firms have scored seats on Dubai Holding's new panel of preferred firms. Clyde & Co, Pinsent Masons, Eversheds and DLA Piper have all won spots on the panel. Clydes won its role on the back of its relationship with the investor and will advise on real estate, intellectual property, construction and corporate matters.All firms have a strong presence in the Middle East, with Clydes having opened in the region twenty years ago and Pinsents holding offices in Dubai. DLA Piper recently launched an office in Oman and Eversheds has offices in Abu Dhabi and Doha.

    1 minute read

  • February 10, 2009 |

    Skadden hires Shearman partner as Sao Paulo chief

    Skadden Arps Slate Meagher & Flom has recruited a new head of its Sao Paulo office with the hire of high-profile Shearman & Sterling capital markets partner Richard Aldrich. Aldrich was the founder and co-head of Shearman's Sao Paulo office, which opened in 2004. He joined the firm in 1975, made partner in 1983, and from 1984 to 1987 headed up the firm's Hong Kong office.Aldrich's practice focuses on public and private financings and he advises on securities offerings, structured financings, project financings and restructurings. He has worked on several high-profile US/Brazil-related deals and is also the former president of the Brazilian-American Chamber of Commerce.

    1 minute read

  • February 5, 2009 |

    SocGen shakes up adviser roster in global review

    A raft of City firms have won places on Societe Generale's (SocGen's) global legal panel, in a review that has seen Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer, White & Case and Orrick Herrington & Sutcliffe lose out. The bank has cut the number of global panel firms from nine to eight with Paul Hastings Janofsky & Walker and Salans winning places on the roster. The process has also seen Allen & Overy, Clifford Chance, Gide Loyrette Nouel, Shearman & Sterling, Linklaters and Norton Rose re-appointed.

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  • February 5, 2009 |

    Weil's City office boosts PEP by 22%

    The London office of Weil Gotshal & Manges has recorded a significant rise in profits per equity partner (PEP) for 2008, posting a 22% hike to a new figure of £1.65m. The office's revenues increased by 2.3% to £58.3m, up from £57m in 2007.The New York firm's City arm has been involved in a number of high-profile deals over the year, including the £1.1bn buyout of FoodVest by Lion Capital and the sale of AIG Private Bank to Abu Dhabi investment group Aabar Investments PSJC.

    1 minute read

  • January 28, 2009 |

    Switzerland: An island of calm

    In a country renowned for its banking prowess, the financial turmoil of the last months has been keenly felt in Switzerland. While the financial haven is proving less than rosy for many bankers with two of its major institutions, UBS and Credit Suisse, both caught up in the financial storm, Switzerland's legal elite has a more positive story to tell.For many of the country's main firms, the crisis has meant an inflow of lucrative instructions, landing roles in the wake of the collapse of Lehman Brothers - with its plentiful Swiss creditors - for example, or on one of the many reorganisations within Swiss banks.Several of Switzerland's largest firms, including Lenz & Staehelin, Baer & Karrer, Homburger and Schellenberg Wittmer, credit the banking crisis with a major upturn in work in the region."It is clear that last year was dominated by the financial crisis. It has taken a lot of our time and made us quite busy," says Homburger managing partner and co-head of M&A Heinz Schaerer.

    1 minute read

  • January 21, 2009 |

    Nice work... if you can get it

    These are bleak times for corporate lawyers. But there is one ray of light in this storm - sovereign wealth funds. These funds, which are loosely defined as investment vehicles owned by foreign governments, have generated many headlines over the past 18 months. Their high-profile transactions range from the buyout of luxury retailer Barneys New York to multibillion-dollar investments in Wall Street banks. In 2007 alone, sovereign entities spent $92bn (£61.3bn) in publicly recorded equity transactions, according to Monitor Group.But the real moment for sovereign wealth funds is now. These powerhouse investors globally control about $2.3trn (£1.5trn), a pocketbook that exceeds both the private equity and hedge fund industries. And they could quadruple in size by the middle of the next decade, even with the global slowdown and the recent decline in oil prices, according to Morgan Stanley chief currency economist Stephen Jen. Funds in the Gulf region account for more than half of those sums.

    1 minute read