• January 18, 2007 | International Edition

    Prowling banks move to take legal top 50 to stock market

    Some of the worlds top banks have begun wooing major UK law firms as investment targets, as the legal profession gears up for sweeping regulatory reforms. Leading investment banks including Goldman Sachs and Rothschild, as well as a host of smaller houses, such as investment manager Fleming Family & Partners, are understood to have contacted a range of major City firms in the run-up to Christmas to gauge their interest in outside investment.

    1 minute read

  • January 18, 2007 |

    Prowling banks move to take legal top 50 to stock market

    Some of the worlds top banks have begun wooing major UK law firms as investment targets, as the legal profession gears up for sweeping regulatory reforms. Leading investment banks including Goldman Sachs and Rothschild, as well as a host of smaller houses, such as investment manager Fleming Family & Partners, are understood to have contacted a range of major City firms in the run-up to Christmas to gauge their interest in outside investment.

    1 minute read

  • January 17, 2007 |

    Law-stradamus

    The dismal science thats economics, by the way, not law has generated numerous memorable quotes. Examples include: Give me a one-armed economist so he cant say on the other hand; He uses statistics like a drunk uses a lamp-post for support, not illumination; and When the facts change, I change my opinion. What do you do, sir?. Now, there is a proud new entry to the pantheon of memorable bon mots in economic punditry, thanks to a high-profile Ashurst partner.

    1 minute read

  • January 17, 2007 |

    Deals: M&A 18/01/07

    Olswang corporate partners Simon Morgan and Stephen Rosen have advised pharmaceutical company Vectura Group on its £130m acquisition of Innovata to create one of the UK's largest biotech companies. Innovata was advised by Bird & Bird corporate partner Simon Allport. Simmons & Simmons, led by corporate partner Gavin Weir and senior associate Isabella Roberts, acted for Vectura's financial adviser, Piper Jaffray.

    1 minute read

  • January 17, 2007 |

    Norton Rose loses another Dubai partner to rival

    Ashurst raids Norton Rose for Dubai corporate finance partner Tahir Ahmed.

    1 minute read

  • January 16, 2007 |

    LG recruit hands MoFo plum Skandia role

    MoFo closes Skandia outsourcing deal after hire of Jon Edgell from top 50 UK firm

    1 minute read

  • January 16, 2007 |

    GE names Curry as new corporate finance Euro GC

    GE Commercial Finance names Lorna Curry as general counsel for its European corporate finance arm.

    1 minute read

  • January 11, 2007 | International Edition

    Freshfields powers ahead of rivals in top M&A league

    Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer has increased its dominance in top-tier European M&A, outstripping its rivals in Legal Week's 2006 primary adviser rankings

    1 minute read

  • January 11, 2007 |

    Freshfields powers ahead of rivals in top M&A league

    Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer has increased its dominance in top-tier European M&A, outstripping its rivals in Legal Week's 2006 primary adviser rankings

    1 minute read

  • January 10, 2007 |

    Upbeat lawyers still fear leverage could prick M&A bubble

    Given that the value of European M&A rose 29% in 2006 according to Mergermarket, bullishness is unsurprisingly pretty widespread among deal lawyers sizing up this year's prospects. A weaker but still solid outlook for corporate earnings and a continuing supply of cheap debt to back up cash-driven acquisitions is obviously still proving a heady mixture 18 months into Europe's M&A revival. Cynics would dub these conditions as bubble-like.

    1 minute read