Filter This View

  • October 26, 2011 |

    Ashurst brings in female quota for management roles in diversity push

    Ashurst has become the first leading UK law firm to introduce a quota for the number of women it wants to employ in management positions, with the City firm aiming to have one quarter of its management posts filled by women within the 
next three years. The target has been introduced by the Ashurst Committee, which was created at the start of 2011 by senior partner Charlie Geffen and global head of corporate Stephen Lloyd with the intention of improving the retention of female lawyers.

    1 minute read

  • October 26, 2011 |

    Spate of exits prompt questions about Ashurst's real estate ambitions

    "The practice was too top-heavy. We want to make clients happy by doing a range of less profitable work, but that work needs to be staffed at the junior level" - What do recent departures from Ashurst's real estate practice mean for the firm?

    1 minute read

  • October 26, 2011 |

    SJB and Ashurst among firms to win roles as Bain sells electrics arm to PE fund

    Latham & Watkins, SJ Berwin, Ashurst and Kirkland & Ellis have picked up roles on Bain Capital's €640m (£557m) disposal of the microconnections unit of French electrical goods manufacturer FCI to private equity fund manager 
Astorg Partners. The deal saw Latham advising Bain on French law and M&A aspects of the sale, with Paris private equity partner Thomas Forschbach leading a team that also included M&A partner Denis Criton. Forschbach initially advised Bain on its £724m acquisition of FCI in 2005.

    1 minute read

  • October 24, 2011 |

    Linklaters wins debut Cinven mandate on €5bn fundraising

    Linklaters has been instructed on Cinven's planned €5bn (£4.3bn) private equity fundraising, marking the magic circle firm's first major mandate for the European private equity house. London funds chief Jonathan de Lance-Holmes will take the lead role on the fundraising, which is due to kick off in the New Year.

    1 minute read

  • October 21, 2011 |

    Latham and SJ Berwin lead four-firm line-up on French private equity deal

    Latham & Watkins, SJ Berwin, Ashurst and Kirkland & Ellis have picked up roles on Bain Capital's €640m (£557m) disposal of the microconnections unit of French electrical goods manufacturer FCI to private equity fund manager Astorg Partners. The deal saw Latham advising Bain on French law and M&A aspects of the sale, with Paris private equity partner Thomas Forschbach leading a team that also included M&A partner Denis Criton. Forschbach initially advised Bain on its £724m acquisition of FCI in 2005.

    1 minute read

  • October 19, 2011 |

    Nomura and BarCap confirm job cuts in London in-house legal teams

    Nomura and Barclays Capital have both confirmed that they have made a number of redundancies in their UK legal teams. Nomura made between six and eight redundancies in London over the summer in a redundancy consultation overseen by European general counsel Piers Le Marchant.

    1 minute read

  • October 14, 2011 |

    Taylor Wessing Brussels corporate chief leaves for K&L Gates

    K&L Gates has bulked up its Brussels arm with the hire of Taylor Wessing's regional corporate head Jeroen Smets. Smets has joined the US firm after five years at Taylor Wessing, where he launched the firm's Brussels corporate practice. Prior to Taylor Wessing he was a senior associate at Ashurst.

    1 minute read

  • October 13, 2011 |

    Winston & Strawn seals hire of Ashurst litigation chief for City base

    Ashurst's outgoing litigation chief Michael Madden is set to join the London office of US firm Winston & Strawn. Madden, whose departure from Ashurst was first reported by Legal Week yesterday (12 October), has been hired with a remit to launch a London commercial litigation practice for Winston. The firm is planning to recruit additional laterals in the coming months.

    1 minute read

  • October 12, 2011 |

    Ashurst, Hogan and Travers act on acquisition of UK engineer

    Ashurst, Hogan Lovells and Travers Smith have taken lead roles on the £124m acquisition of British engineering company Halcrow by US infrastructure company CH2M Hill. Ashurst advised Halcrow, fielding a team under global head of corporate Stephen Lloyd, who worked alongside employment partner Paul Randall and tax partner Richard Palmer. The deal marks Ashurst's first mandate for Halcrow –which has an annual turnover of around £500m.

    1 minute read

  • October 12, 2011 |

    Ambitious but pressured - the global market reaches a crunch point

    The international market is going through a period of flux, as forces that have been bubbling away for years gradually twist the industry into different shapes. Looking at the results from this year's Global 100 gives some indication of how this is playing out, but the patterns are still far from set. There is a growing push for firms outside the top tier to achieve real scale fast – as typified by international moves from Norton Rose, Ashurst and Hogan Lovells. Certainly, there is an increasing premium being placed on scale. Whether articulated or not, a common aspiration among many major firms in the UK is to secure a good position in the global top 50 by revenue.

    1 minute read