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  • September 8, 2010 |

    International firms feel the pinch in Paris as UK practices post double-digit revenue drops

    Skadden Arps Slate Meagher & Flom was the fastest-growing international firm by turnover in the French market last year, expanding its practice by 20%. Revenue at the US law firm's Paris practice stood at €26.4m (£22m) for the last financial year, up from €22m (£18.3m) last year, according to research carried out by Juristes Associes. The firm is now the 34th largest practice by turnover in the country. Skadden's performance bucks the overall trend for international firms in the region, which for the most part have seen sizable drops in turnover. Clifford Chance (CC), Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer and SJ Berwin all posted double-digit declines in revenue for the year.

    1 minute read

  • September 3, 2010 |

    Quartet of US firms take roles on $4bn Burger King whopper deal

    Four US firms have won roles on the $4bn (£2.6bn) sale of Burger King to investment firm 3G Capital, as the world's second-largest hamburger chain returns to the private sector, reports The Am Law Daily. Skadden Arps Slate Meagher & Flom advised Burger King with a team led by Eileen Nugent, the co-head of the firm's private equity group, alongside M&A partners Thomas Greenberg and Richard Grossman, employee benefits chair Stuart Alperin, and banking partners James Douglas and Julia Czarniak.

    1 minute read

  • September 1, 2010 |

    Docklands' post-crunch lustre fades as a hub for City law

    While hardly representing a fatal blow to Canary Wharf's status as a world-class banking hub, the news that one of only three major law firms to have headed east in the 20-odd years since the development's launch is to now leave must be a tad disappointing for Docklands' backers. Allen & Overy's (A&O) decision to transfer 200 staff in its banking practice to its Spitalfields HQ leaves Clifford Chance (CC) and Skadden Arps Slate Meagher & Flom as the only major legal players on site. Given the lack of success the development has had in enticing law firms eastwards even during the boom years, the chances of a legal community by the Thames now look remote. Law firms are a funny breed - as much as they like to put their rivals down, they want to be in the community of their peers.

    1 minute read

  • August 16, 2010 |

    Freshfields Beijing managing partner joins Davis Polk for HK law launch

    Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer's Beijing managing partner is leaving the firm to launch a Hong Kong law practice for Davis Polk & Wardwell, reports The Am Law Daily. Antony Dapiran (pictured), a capital markets lawyer at Freshfields, has taken roles on several high-profile transactions for Chinese state-owned enterprises, including working side-by-side with Davis Polk representing Agricultural Bank of China on its dual listing in Hong Kong and Shanghai, which this week became the world's largest initial public offering (IPO) ever with over $22bn (£14bn) raised.

    1 minute read

  • August 12, 2010 |

    Weil and Skadden head up latest billion-dollar AIG sell-off

    Weil Gotshal & Manges and Skadden Arps Slate Meagher & Flom have taken the lead roles on AIG's sale of an 80% stake in its consumer finance lender, American General Finance (AGF), to the Fortress Investment Group, reports The Am Law Daily. The purchase price of the deal - which will allow AIG to offload between $17bn (£11bn) and $19bn (£12bn) worth of debt - has not been disclosed, but AGF has been previously valued at around $2bn (£1.3bn).

    1 minute read

  • August 3, 2010 |

    Milbank secures five-partner deal finance team from Latham

    Milbank Tweed Hadley & McCloy has made a daring attempt to upgrade its New York acquisition finance practice with the hire of a five-partner team from Latham & Watkins. The team comprises Marc Hanrahan, Ronan Wicks, Marcus Dougherty, Patrick Flanagan and Lauren Hanrahan, all of whom were partners in Latham's global banking and leveraged finance group.

    1 minute read

  • July 29, 2010 |

    Latham, Skadden and Hogan Lovells advise on $3.5bn Qatar development finance deal

    Latham & Watkins, Skadden Arps Meagher & Flom and Hogan Lovells have taken roles relating to Qatari Diar Finance's $3.5bn (£2.2bn) bond offering, as part of Qatar's plan to target international finance to fund domestic development. Latham represented Qatari Diar Finance, a subsidiary of Qatari Diar Real Estate Investment Company, the emirate's sovereign wealth fund. The team was led by finance partner Bill Voge alongside Doha-based corporate counsel Craig Stoehr.

    1 minute read

  • July 28, 2010 |

    RenCap reviews panel after Cleary hire in bid to expand outside counsel ranks

    Russian investment bank Renaissance Capital (RenCap) has kicked off a review of its advisers, aiming to double its panel to 12 law firms. The bank has asked around two dozen law firms to pitch for the review, which comes less than a year after the bank appointed its first formal panel last August. The review is being led from London by executive vice chairman Ashar Qureshi, who joined the bank earlier this year from Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton. RenCap is due to conclude the review in August and has not set a limit on the length of the panel appointments.

    1 minute read

  • July 23, 2010 |

    Letter from Asia: Should US firms build local practices in Hong Kong?

    The Agricultural Bank of China's initial public offering (IPO), expected to become the world's largest, debuted this week, landing squarely in the middle of a debate over whether leading Wall Street law firms should build local practice capability in Hong Kong. The IPO on the Hong Kong and Shanghai exchanges would seem an obvious rallying cry for those arguing that top US capital markets firms will miss out on deals without their own Hong Kong lawyers - except that the lead lawyers on the AgBank deal are from New York's Davis Polk & Wardwell, which only practises US law.

    1 minute read

  • July 20, 2010 |

    Brown Rudnick adds partner to City base with Skadden hire

    US firm Brown Rudnick has added a partner to its London office with the hire of a financial services specialist from Skadden Arps Slate Meagher & Flom. Ned Swan, a counsel in the financial services team at Skadden's Canary Wharf office, has more than 30 years' experience in UK, European, and US financial services law and regulation, with a focus on regulation and litigation within financial services.

    1 minute read