Followers of the tussle between UK and US private equity practices for European mandates were this week rewarded with an instruction to both camps by leading buyout house CVC in its acquisitions of Domestic & General and Campbell Soup. Advent International agreed earlier this week to sell extended warranty company Domestic & General (D&G) to …
European corporates are showing greater reluctance than last year to tap into the debt capital markets but Royal Dutch Shell this week issued a triple-tranche $3.75bn bond with Slaughter and May; Cravath, Swaine & Moore and De Brauw Blackstone Westbroek at the helm. Slaughter and May’s finance partner Matthew Tobin and tax partner William Watson led …
While the traditional August lull in corporate work may have seen Asia relax, the giant is far from asleep and has gifted a number of transatlantic and Magic Circle firms with eye-catching international M&A deals. Dentons led by corporate partner Jeremy Cohen is advising luxury car dealer HR Owen on the £32.5m hostile takeover bid by …
Aside from the big Asia Pacific news this week of SJ Berwin’s tie-up with King & Wood Mallesons, other major players are expanding in the region or re-freshing their leadership teams. Baker & McKenzie Wong & Leow, the Singapore arm of Bakers, has appointed a new managing partner. Andy Leck is to replace Edmund Leow, …
In what remains a gloomy cross-border deal market, US leaders Latham & Watkins and Wachtell Lipton Rosen & Katz have secured lead roles on the largest public merger of the year so far – the tie-up of Omnicom and Publicis Groupe. The Franco-US union creates a company with a combined market capitalisation of €26.5bn, forging …
Continue reading “Deal watch: Latham and Wachtell lead on largest public deal of the year”
Forming a ground-breaking union between a leading City firm and an Asia powerhouse, King & Wood Mallesons (KWM) partners confirmed this morning (31 July) that the Hong Kong-headquartered firm would merge with the UK’s SJ Berwin. KWM partners in Australia and China voted simultaneously in favour of the merger at 1pm Hong Kong time and …
Continue reading “What’s in a name? SJ Berwin and King & Wood Mallesons seal union”
Does abuse of tax rules for partnership require a major clampdown by the taxman? That’s the £300m question and the reason that the majority of large law firm partnerships in the UK are now facing an overhaul of the tax treatment of partners and retained earnings. Tax specialists and legal finance directors are currently sizing …
Continue reading “Do you need to think about tougher tax rules for your partnership? Er, probably”
Even in an age in which corporate investigations have become some of the most sought after work for legal advisers, Ropes & Gray has secured a notable role with the US law firm instructed by GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) to lead an investigation into claims that some staff in the pharma giant’s Chinese operations engaged in bribery. …
Continue reading “Ropes & Gray lands marquee role in GSK Chinese bribery investigation”
With Q1 2013 reported as one of the slowest starts to the year M&A-wise for a decade, the deal market appears to be gaining momentum with a handful of Global 100 firms in action in high-profile and high-value transactions recently. Linklaters is advising the recently formed Glencore Xstrata on the disposal of its Las Bambas …
The decline in Singapore M&A has seemingly done little to dampen the enthusiasm of international firms to launch or build their practices in the region. Sidley Austin – which despite having been in Singapore since 1982, has just 10 lawyers in the region and to date has not had the same impact as top-tier banking & …
