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  • March 23, 2011 |

    Raft of magic circle, US and Euro firms act on $4.5bn cable buyout

    A raft of US and European firms have taken roles on Liberty Global's $4.5bn (£2.8bn) acquisition of Germany's Kabel Baden-Wuerttemberg (KBW) after a competitive auction led by private equity sellers EQT Partners. US cable operator Liberty instructed both Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer and US firm Ropes & Gray on the deal, with the firms advising on M&A and financing respectively.

    1 minute read

  • March 22, 2011 |

    Wragges recruits new partner for healthcare practice

    Wragge & Co has strengthened its healthcare practice with the hire of a new partner in London. Robert Breedon is set to join Wragges on 4 April from his own consultancy Nomos Legal, where he provides consultancy services to various in-house legal teams. These include the Department of Health, where he has spent much of his time as in-house counsel for the department's commercial directorate.

    1 minute read

  • March 21, 2011 |

    Sullivan and Wachtell take lead on AT&T's $39bn T-Mobile USA buyout

    Sullivan & Cromwell and Wachtell Lipton Rosen & Katz have taken lead roles on AT&T's $39bn (£24bn) purchase of T-Mobile USA from Deutsche Telekom, reports The Am Law Daily. The cash-and-stock deal will create the largest mobile phone company in the US. AT&T has 95.5 million subscribers, while T-Mobile USA has 34 million.

    1 minute read

  • March 18, 2011 |

    Winston signs up 15-partner Howrey team for Houston launch

    Winston & Strawn is launching in Houston with the hire of more than 40 intellectual property (IP) and commercial litigation lawyers from Howrey, reports The Am Law Daily. The group joining Winston includes 15 partners, with the remainder of the team comprising special counsel, associates and IP experts. The partners include Stephen Cagle, the former managing partner of Howrey's Houston office.

    1 minute read

  • March 16, 2011 |

    Latham names new non-US finance co-head

    Latham & Watkins has appointed London banking partner Dominic Newcomb to co-head its finance practice outside the US. Newcomb replaces London finance partner Christopher Hall in the role, with Hall's decision to step down announced at Latham's annual partnership conference in New York earlier this month (3 March).

    1 minute read

  • March 15, 2011 |

    Silk round 2011 - reaction and the chambers perspective

    Three sets of barristers' chambers will each gain four new queen's counsel (QC) next month as part of a 2011 silk round that saw applicants enjoy the highest success rate since 1995. The 120-strong round saw barristers from 76 chambers across the country securing the elite QC kitemark, with No5 Chambers, Thirty Nine Essex Street/82 King Street and Maitland Chambers all achieving the highest share of successful applicants, with four apiece.

    1 minute read

  • March 10, 2011 |

    Slaughters and A&O advise on £1.2bn Gatwick refinancing deal

    Allen & Overy (A&O) and Slaughter and May have taken lead roles on a £1.2bn refinancing for Gatwick Airport. The refinancing, which closed last week ( 2 March), saw Slaughters act for Gatwick Airport and its largest shareholder Global Infrastructure Partners (GIP), with A&O advising the lead arranger Royal Bank of Scotland. The two-part refinancing comprised a £600m bond issue combined with a new £600m bank loan, with the deal fully refinancing GIP's £1.5bn acquisition of Gatwick from BAA in 2009.

    1 minute read

  • March 10, 2011 |

    Simmons ECM team wins key corporate mandate from UBS

    Simmons & Simmons has won its first major corporate instruction from banking giant UBS, with the firm's equity capital markets (ECM) team advising on a multimillion-pound deal. The top 15 City firm advised UBS Investment Bank as lead financial adviser, sole corporate broker and sponsor to Henderson Group on its February acquisition of Gartmore Group for £392m.

    1 minute read

  • March 1, 2011 |

    CC's Popham awarded honorary QC status in 120-strong silk round

    The latest round of QC appointments has been announced today (1 March) with former Clifford Chance senior partner Stuart Popham awarded honourary QC status. One hundred and twenty of a total of 251 applicants have been awarded the QC title, equating to a success rate of 48% - a marginal increase on last year's rate of 47%.

    1 minute read

  • March 1, 2011 |

    Flying high - the rise and rise of Europe's high-yield bond market

    Last year was very busy for issuers and underwriters of high-yield debt securities and the lawyers who act for them. After closing down in August of 2007, the high-yield market in Europe re-opened in the latter half of 2009 and became increasingly busy in the following months. In 2010, global new issuances of high-yield debt securities reached an all-time high of approximately $317bn (£196bn), up from $189bn (£117bn) in 2009. In Europe alone, new issuances amounted to $66.1bn (£40.8bn), up from $44.1bn (£27bn) in 2009. In January 2011, $35.1bn (£21.6bn) of high-yield debt securities were issued globally, of which $9.4bn (£5.8bn) was issued in Europe. If this trend continues, 2011 will be an even bigger year for high-yield than 2010.

    1 minute read