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  • September 17, 2009 |

    Slaughters and Linklaters take lead roles on $12bn Barclays debt sell-off

    Slaughter and May and Linklaters are among a host of top firms advising as a group of former Barclays bankers set up an offshore company to manage $12.3bn (£7.4bn) of the bank's most toxic debt. In addition to the magic circle duo, Skadden Arps Slate Meagher & Flom, Sullivan & Cromwell and Cadwalader Wickersham & Taft have all won roles in the creation of Protium Finance, a new hedge fund registered in the Cayman Islands.

    1 minute read

  • September 16, 2009 |

    Commentary: The gloom lifts but recovery seems to be the hardest word

    After all the talk about how much hinged on September, for M&A lawyers the post-summer kick-off couldn't have gone much better. Nine out of 10 economic indicators have been pointing north for the last month, the FTSE 100 last week broke back through 5,000 - marking a five-month revival - and this month has seen a string of notable bids. In particular, Kraft's £10.2bn unsolicited offer for Cadbury's, which threw up roles for Clifford Chance (CC) and Slaughter and May, was exactly the kind of deal needed to give the market a lift after nearly 15 months of strategic buyers sitting on their hands. Add in the joint venture talks between T-Mobile and Orange - CC again and Norton Rose - and it seems a growing number of trade buyers are calling the bottom of the market. This potentially clears the way for non-distressed M&A activity to revive after the enforced stasis since the collapse of Lehman Brothers a year ago.

    1 minute read

  • September 8, 2009 |

    Dealmaker of the Week: Morton Pierce of Dewey & LeBoeuf

    Three months ago, Dewey & LeBoeuf's M&A chair, Morton Pierce, was called in to Disney's Burbank offices...

    1 minute read

  • September 7, 2009 |

    CC and Slaughters lead on rejected £10.2bn Cadbury bid

    Clifford Chance (CC) and Slaughter and May are advising as US food giant Kraft Foods attempts to takeover Cadbury. Cadbury announced today (7 September) that it had rejected a £10.2bn offer made by Kraft at the end of August, however the US company is still committed to reaching a deal.

    1 minute read

  • September 4, 2009 |

    High-profile Skadden litigation partner quits firm to join Hogan

    Skadden Arps Slate Meagher & Flom partner Robert Bennett is leaving the firm to join Hogan & Hartson, reports The Am Law Daily. Bennett, who was co-leader of both the international government enforcement litigation group and the criminal and civil litigation practice in Skadden's Washington DC office, will join Hogan along with fellow defence litigator Carl Rauh. The pair had been at Skadden since 1990.

    1 minute read

  • September 1, 2009 |

    Dewey and Paul Hastings lead on multibillion-dollar Disney-Marvel deal

    Dewey & LeBoeuf and Paul Hastings Janofsky & Walker have taken lead roles on Walt Disney's $4bn (£2.4bn) cash and stock acquisition of Marvel Entertainment, a deal that gives Disney the rights to more than 5,000 Marvel characters, including Spider-Man and the Incredible Hulk. Dewey's representation of Disney, a longstanding client of M&A chair Morton Pierce, reaffirms the firm's role as the Mouse's go-to outside counsel, write The Am Law Daily.

    1 minute read

  • September 1, 2009 |

    Gibson Dunn and Debevoise get top marks in closely-watched associate survey

    Gibson Dunn & Crutcher has the highest mid-level associate satisfaction rate among AmLaw 100 firms, according to research by Legal Week sister title The American Lawyer. The magazine's annual survey of US associates with three to five years' experience at law firms across the US shows Gibson Dunn, which features at number four in the rankings, is the highest placed AmLaw 100 firm, with only three of the 100 largest firms in the US making it into the top 10 for workplace satisfaction.

    1 minute read

  • August 25, 2009 |

    Skadden to cut summer intake in half and overhaul recruitment process

    Skadden Arps Slate Meagher & Flom is cutting the size of its 2010 summer associate class in half and adjusting its recruitment strategy by making all of its offers on a single day in late September, reports The Am Law Daily. Skadden recruited 225 summer associates this year and expects to hire a little more than 100 next year, though the precise figure will depend on offer acceptance rates, said Skadden recruiting partner Howard Ellin.

    1 minute read

  • August 20, 2009 |

    US firms unite to oppose shareholder nominations to corporate boards

    Seven elite US law firms have come together to lobby the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) on how the agency should implement a proposal to allow shareholders to nominate company directors. Lawyers involved in drafting the letter acknowledge it was rare for one letter to come from all the firms, which included Cravath Swaine & Moore, Sullivan & Cromwell and Wachtell Lipton Rosen & Katz. At least four of the firms also sent separate letters addressing concerns with the policy direction the SEC is taking.

    1 minute read

  • August 20, 2009 |

    CC and Slaughters take top roles on $15bn debt refinancing deal

    Clifford Chance (CC), Slaughter and May, Skadden Arps Slate Meagher & Flom and Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton and are among a host of firms to advise on the $15bn (£9.1bn) refinancing of cement producer CEMEX's debt. The company, dual-listed in New York and Mexico, completed the debt restructuring last week (14 August), with the deal involving the agreement of all of the company's participating creditors on debt including syndicated loans, bilateral facilities and US private placement notes.

    1 minute read