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  • February 15, 2008 |

    Cohen Milstein lands $200m BA-Virgin settlement

    Class action giant Cohen Milstein Hausfeld & Toll has won a landmark victory in the US courts after securing a $200m (£102m) settlement from British Airways and Virgin in relation to price-fixing, it was announced today (15 February). The settlement will see £73.5m put aside for just over five million UK residents who will have until 2012 to claim up to £20 for a return flight after both airlines admitted to price-fixing fuel surcharges on flights between August 2004 to March 2006.

    1 minute read

  • February 14, 2008 |

    Editor's Comment: Fortune favours...

    It is hard to believe that there has ever been a US reporting season that has been as keenly watched by the magic circle as this one. Global market conditions, continued international integration and the weak dollar mean the City's leaders have never had a better chance of closing the gap on New York's elite. Last year, Linklaters joined Slaughter and May as the only UK practices in the world's 10 most profitable law firms. This year, given the initial results from the US, it looks like Allen & Overy (A&O), Clifford Chance (CC) and Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer will come tantalisingly close. On a rough estimate, to have an outside shot of making that select band, the UK triumvirate need profits per equity partner (PEP) of at least $2.4m (£1.2m). This means Freshfields needs bottom-line growth of 16%, A&O 17% and CC 18%.

    1 minute read

  • February 13, 2008 |

    Commentary: Sovereign wealth funds set to reign on international stage

    Ask top buy-out advisers if they have considered tapping into sovereign wealth funds and many will explain that they have been 'monitoring' these bodies for years. But the current indications are that 'monitoring' is swiftly about to become code for 'aggressively targeting' as M&A advisers scramble to get in on the ground floor with clients who look unaffected by the credit squeeze. As such, it is little surprise that private equity leader Clifford Chance (CC) has set up an informal cross-practice covering the area while sector rival Ashurst is considering setting up a similar team.

    1 minute read

  • February 13, 2008 |

    One for the PR community…

    While I’m not planning on boring readers with many blogs on the inner workings of Legal Week, I’ve repeatedly been told by our marketing department…

    1 minute read

  • February 11, 2008 |

    Those BHP mandates – credit crunch? What credit crunch?!

    Oh, for a part in BHP Billiton’s battle for mining rival Rio Tinto Group. While the two Anglo-Australian mining giants keep a long line of legal…

    1 minute read

  • February 11, 2008 |

    LG to take on banks after Dorsey litigation hires

    LG has bagged a four-lawyer litigation team from Dorsey & Whitney, as the City firm becomes the latest UK practice to target litigation work against banks. Jean-Pierre Douglas-Henry, James Curle and Thomas Ross joined LG's London office this week (11 February) as partners. Douglas-Henry and Curle were previously partners at Dorsey. They will be joined by associate Verity Barker.

    1 minute read

  • February 8, 2008 |

    Links and Herbies bag £1.2bn Biffa buy-out

    Linklaters and Herbert Smith have taken the lead roles on the £1.2bn acquisition of waste management company Biffa by a private equity consortium. Linklaters advised the buyers, which were led by longstanding Silk Street clients Montagu Private Equity and Global Infrastructure Partners (GIP). Private equity partner Richard Youle and banking partner Adam Freeman led the team for the City giant.

    1 minute read

  • February 6, 2008 |

    Dealmaker: Alan Samson

    Confirmed deal junkie Alan Samson co-heads Gibson Dunn & Crutcher's highly rated real estate team

    1 minute read

  • February 5, 2008 | International Edition

    Magic circle firms eye M&B pub chain sell-off

    A raft of City firms, including Slaughter and May, Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer and Allen & Overy (A&O), are in line to win roles on the potential sale of pub and restaurant company Mitchells & Butlers (M&B). The company, which owns chains such as Harvester and O'Neill's, last week (29 January) admitted it was open to offers after revealing a £274m post-tax loss from hedging an aborted property transaction with Robert Tchenguiz in 2007.

    1 minute read

  • February 5, 2008 |

    Magic circle firms eye M&B pub chain sell-off

    A raft of City firms, including Slaughter and May, Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer and Allen & Overy (A&O), are in line to win roles on the potential sale of pub and restaurant company Mitchells & Butlers (M&B). The company, which owns chains such as Harvester and O'Neill's, last week (29 January) admitted it was open to offers after revealing a £274m post-tax loss from hedging an aborted property transaction with Robert Tchenguiz in 2007.

    1 minute read