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  • February 21, 2007 |

    War for talent pushes retention rates past 90%

    The UK's top firms are keeping a tight grip on their trainees, with most City firms set to retain more than 90% of their intake during the next month as the battle for talent rages on. Major UK firms including Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer, Linklaters, Slaughter and May, Herbert Smith, Lovells and Ashurst are taking on at least 90% of their trainees in the coming intake in March.

    1 minute read

  • February 21, 2007 |

    Commentary: Losing AIM - three years of market boom has come to an end

    Barely into 2007 and already it seems a long time since the Alternative Investment Market (AIM) was somewhere everyone wanted to be. Yet only a few months back, London's junior market was booming, driven by high investor confidence and the queue of foreign companies waiting to list. As such, a sector once derided by bluechip advisers was being actively courted by the likes of Norton Rose and Ashurst, not to mention US players such as O'Melveny & Myers and Hunton & Williams.

    1 minute read

  • February 15, 2007 | International Edition

    City trio wrap up Smurfit Kappa IPO

    Lovells, Clifford Chance (CC) and Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer have landed lead roles on the initial public offering (IPO) of packaging company Smurfit Kappa, in a transaction that values the company at €5.5bn (£3.7bn). The cardboard box manufacturer - which is part-owned by buy-out houses CVC Capital Partners and Cinven - announced its intention to raise €1.3bn (£870m) on the Irish and London stock exchanges yesterday (14 February).

    1 minute read

  • February 15, 2007 |

    City trio wrap up Smurfit Kappa IPO

    Lovells, Clifford Chance (CC) and Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer have landed lead roles on the initial public offering (IPO) of packaging company Smurfit Kappa, in a transaction that values the company at €5.5bn (£3.7bn). The cardboard box manufacturer - which is part-owned by buy-out houses CVC Capital Partners and Cinven - announced its intention to raise €1.3bn (£870m) on the Irish and London stock exchanges yesterday (14 February).

    1 minute read

  • February 14, 2007 |

    Lovells LLP switch poses French partner dilemma

    Lovells is pressing ahead with its limited liability partnership (LLP) conversion even though the move means its French partners could become employees of the firm. The top 10 City firm is voting on the change and intends to convert on 1 May, although it is still waiting for confirmation from the French tax authorities on the tax treatment of UK LLPs.

    1 minute read

  • February 14, 2007 |

    Top students unconvinced by firm-tailored education

    Firm-specific Legal Practice Courses (LPCs) are proving a turn-off for one in five students at leading universities, according to a survey of more than 2,000 students. The survey, which was conducted by Legal Week's research arm, Legal Week Intelligence, found 23% of the respondents said they would be less likely to apply for a training contract at a firm-specific course compared with 21% who said they would be more likely to apply.

    1 minute read

  • February 14, 2007 |

    Slaughters lands double Grosvenor deal

    Slaughter and May has advised property developers Grosvenor on two transactions in the space of a week. Slaughters real estate partner Dermot Rice took the lead advising Grosvenor on an agreement with John Lewis to become the main department store in a 1.6 million sq ft project in Preston.

    1 minute read

  • February 14, 2007 |

    Deals: M&A 15/02/2007

    Kirkland & Ellis has bagged a lead role advising Bain Capital on its $3.5bn (£1.7bn) acquisition of African retailer Edgars Consolidated Stores - the largest leveraged buy-out on the African continent to date. Kirkland acted for regular client Bain, fielding a City-based team including corporate partners James Learner and Christopher Field, finance partners Stephen Gillespie and Neel Sachdev and tax partner Ian Taplin. Edgars was advised by Johannesburg firm Webber Wentzel Bowens. Legalweek.com (9 February)

    1 minute read

  • February 14, 2007 |

    Management and IT: The right resource

    The holiday season is still a distant prospect but for law firms the New Year means the rapid approach of Easter and the long summer break. Juggling staff levels with client demand and natural peaks and troughs in activity is essential to ensure a firm's workflow does not slip into 'go-slow' in the summer. Yet how can the law, a people-centred business, balance ever-fluctuating resource planning needs with a trading environment which encourages firms to constantly drive down overheads?

    1 minute read

  • February 8, 2007 |

    Ashurst raids Norton Rose for projects partner Inglis

    Ashurst has strengthened its Middle East projects capability with the hire of Norton Rose projects partner John Inglis. Inglis, the London-based head of Norton Rose's Middle East energy project finance group, has resigned from the City firm and is set to join Ashurst as a partner.

    1 minute read