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  • October 22, 2008 |

    Macfarlanes advises PE bidder circling beleagured Baugur as asset sale looms

    Macfarlanes is among a group of firms in line to benefit as potential bidders emerge for the assets of troubled Icelandic investor Baugur. The firm is advising regular private equity client Alchemy Partners, which is understood to have held talks with Mosaic Fashions, one of Baugur's major British investments. Corporate partners Ian Martin and Simon Perry are leading the Macfarlanes' team advising Alchemy. Mosaic - the company behind High Street names including Oasis, Coast and Karen Millen - has turned to Manchester-based Heatons for advice on any potential bid.

    1 minute read

  • October 16, 2008 |

    Global 100 league shows City closing gap on US

    UK law firms have moved sharply up the league of the world's 100 largest law firms as evidence mounts that the City's top firms are poised to outperform key US rivals in a prolonged slowdown.The Global 100, a joint project by Legal Week and The American Lawyer, this year ranks 17 UK-based law firms in the league of the world's largest law firms, including 10 in the top 50.The combination of robust growth at UK practices and the relative strength of sterling against the dollar during the last financial year saw many London-based firms rise up the revenue rankings.

    1 minute read

  • October 15, 2008 | International Edition

    Commentary: Icelandic meltdown promises pain and gain on High Street

    For a small country, the fallout from Iceland's banking crisis has been pretty spectacular. Standing at around £12bn, the country's entire gross domestic product works out to be roughly the same as the total revenues of the UK's top 50 law firms - yet its foreign liabilities are about five times that amount. Little wonder, then, that City lawyers are predicting a glut of work as the UK ramifications of last week's collapse of three of Iceland's largest banks become clearer.In recent years, there has been a stream of Icelandic investment into UK businesses, with rafts of City firms picking up mandates as Icelandic banks and investment houses made in-roads into everything from the retail sector to football clubs.

    1 minute read

  • October 15, 2008 |

    Commentary: Icelandic meltdown promises pain and gain on High Street

    For a small country, the fallout from Iceland's banking crisis has been pretty spectacular. Standing at around £12bn, the country's entire gross domestic product works out to be roughly the same as the total revenues of the UK's top 50 law firms - yet its foreign liabilities are about five times that amount. Little wonder, then, that City lawyers are predicting a glut of work as the UK ramifications of last week's collapse of three of Iceland's largest banks become clearer.In recent years, there has been a stream of Icelandic investment into UK businesses, with rafts of City firms picking up mandates as Icelandic banks and investment houses made in-roads into everything from the retail sector to football clubs.

    1 minute read

  • October 15, 2008 | International Edition

    Magic circle firms take lead on £37bn bailout for trio of banks

    Allen & Overy (A&O), Slaughter and May and Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer are among the top City firms winning roles on the UK Government's £37bn bailout of three of the country's biggest banks. Freshfields has reprised its role for longstanding client the Bank of England on the rescue plan, fielding a team under corporate partner Michael Raffan. Slaughters is acting for the Treasury on the agreement, which will lead to the Government owning a majority stake in Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) and a stake of 43% in the merged HBOS and Lloyds TSB.

    1 minute read

  • October 15, 2008 |

    Magic circle firms take lead on £37bn bailout for trio of banks

    Allen & Overy (A&O), Slaughter and May and Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer are among the top City firms winning roles on the UK Government's £37bn bailout of three of the country's biggest banks. Freshfields has reprised its role for longstanding client the Bank of England on the rescue plan, fielding a team under corporate partner Michael Raffan. Slaughters is acting for the Treasury on the agreement, which will lead to the Government owning a majority stake in Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) and a stake of 43% in the merged HBOS and Lloyds TSB.

    1 minute read

  • October 15, 2008 |

    Global 100: The English advantage

    In a downturn, business people like to point out, some truths are laid bare. "You only find out who is swimming naked when the tide goes out," Warren Buffett famously told investors in a 2002 letter. Which is why, after the 2000 dotcom crash, it was the City's elite that were found to be revealing a little too much skin.This time, it is different. After madly shedding partners, doubling-down their bets on foreign offices and tightening their management controls, the big four magic circle firms - Allen & Overy (A&O), Clifford Chance (CC), Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer and Linklaters - look a little better-dressed than many of their rivals in the US. The irony is that the English law firms have succeeded by following the lesson of their American peers: they have hedged their bets. For US law firms, in the past that has meant a healthy dose of litigation and bankruptcy work to balance a corporate shortfall. For UK law firms, the strategy has been geographic: spreading their risk across several continents.

    1 minute read

  • October 14, 2008 |

    US duo join magic circle on UK bank bailouts

    Two New York firms have scored roles advising the UK Government on its £37bn plan to recapitalise three major banks, reports the Am Law Daily. Cravath Swaine & Moore and Davis Polk & Wardwell are advising HM Treasury on US securities laws and regulatory issues associated with the British Government's direct investments in The Royal Bank of Scotland, HBOS, and Lloyds TSB.Robbins Kiessling, the New York-based head of Cravath's banking practice, and London-based corporate and capital markets partner Philip Boeckman are advising the British Treasury with respect to US matters related to its preferred and common equity investments in the three banks.

    1 minute read

  • October 14, 2008 | International Edition

    Northern Rock calls off negligence action

    Northern Rock is not intending to bring legal action against its former directors after taking advice from Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer and KPMG Forensic. The nationalised lender announced today that it has concluded that there are insufficient grounds to proceed with negligence action against the ex-directors with the bank's auditors also off the hook. The decision follows a review of the previous board's conduct carried out with the assistance of Freshfields and KPMG as external advisers. The former board was led by then chief executive Adam Applegarth, who stood down last year.

    1 minute read

  • October 14, 2008 |

    Northern Rock calls off negligence action

    Northern Rock is not intending to bring legal action against its former directors after taking advice from Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer and KPMG Forensic. The nationalised lender announced today that it has concluded that there are insufficient grounds to proceed with negligence action against the ex-directors with the bank's auditors also off the hook. The decision follows a review of the previous board's conduct carried out with the assistance of Freshfields and KPMG as external advisers. The former board was led by then chief executive Adam Applegarth, who stood down last year.

    1 minute read