Global Elite line up on Nestlé’s $10bn skincare business sale to EQT

Posted on | News review |
Global Elite line up on Nestlé’s $10bn skincare business sale to EQT

Latham & Watkins is acting alongside US counterpart Kirkland & Ellis in advising EQT as the private equity house looks to acquire Nestlé’s skincare business, in what could be one of the largest transactions in Europe this year. Nestlé, which is being advised by Linklaters corporate partners David Martin and Michael Honan, confirmed talks with …

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Revolving doors: Freshfields hire to leave DWF managed services role after less than a year

Posted on | Blogs |
Revolving doors: Freshfields hire to leave DWF managed services role after less than a year

DWF’s New Law credentials have been dealt a blow as its managed services chief executive is set to leave the firm less than a year after his arrival in the first major exit since the firm completed its IPO in March. Anup Kollanethu was initially hired from Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer, where he led the Magic …

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Cash in hand: Slaughter and May to pocket £6m in fees for advice on failed hostile bid

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Cash in hand: Slaughter and May to pocket £6m in fees for advice on failed hostile bid

Slaughter and May is set to receive over £6m in fees after advising sub-prime lender Non-Standard Finance (NSF) on its failed £1.3bn takeover of doorstep lender Provident Financial, which collapsed on Tuesday night (4 June) due to insufficient regulatory capital and a lack of shareholder support. The mandate for Slaughters was led by corporate head Andy …

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Herbert Smith Freehills to scale back German operation with Berlin office closure

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Herbert Smith Freehills to scale back German operation with Berlin office closure

Herbert Smith Freehills (HSF) will be closing its Berlin office by the end of the year, reducing the firm’s German footprint to Frankfurt and Düsseldorf. The 10-lawyer office was first opened in 2013 and is currently led by corporate partners Dirk Hamann and Ralf Thaeter. All associates, trainees and business services staff in Berlin have …

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Slater and Gordon’s £637m Quindell claim to be heard in October

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Slater and Gordon’s £637m Quindell claim to be heard in October

The saga of Slater and Gordon’s (S&G) ill-fated Quindell acquisition is set to intensify with the national firm’s £637m claim headed to court in October. The case against Watchstone, formerly Quindell, sees S&G seeking to recoup the cost of acquiring the professional services division in 2015. S&G issued its claim in June 2017 for breach …

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Revolving Doors: City lateral market falls quiet as firms look further afield to strengthen benches

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Revolving Doors: City lateral market falls quiet as firms look further afield to strengthen benches

May has been a quiet month for the London lateral market, with Addleshaw Goddard making the only notable City move last week as the firm strengthened its City banking practice. However in the Middle East Ashurst and DLA Piper made significant hires, while Paul Hastings and Allen & Overy (A&O) both made plays in Europe. …

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UK legal industry plagued by sexual harassment and bullying, IBA survey finds

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UK legal industry plagued by sexual harassment and bullying, IBA survey finds

Law firm culture is again under the spotlight after a survey of almost 7,000 lawyers across 135 countries found sexual harassment and bullying is rife within the legal industry, with the UK reporting above average levels of bullying. The report, carried out by the International Bar Association, found 62% of female respondents in the UK …

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Can law tech’s big beasts Lexis and Thomson stay on top in a changing industry?

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Can law tech’s big beasts Lexis and Thomson stay on top in a changing industry?

So ubiquitous have two companies become in legal tech circles that they are rarely discussed directly, just accepted as facts of life, like gravity or air. Those two are, of course, LexisNexis and the legal division of Thomson Reuters, which have over the last 30 years positioned themselves as the dominant providers of the informational …

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Bench strengths – Sizing up the City’s top dispute teams

Posted on | Analysis Disputes Yearbook 2019 | , and
Bench strengths – Sizing up the City’s top dispute teams

The best dispute lawyers often have something of the diva or rockstar about them – argumentative, uncompromising and brash. Michael Davison, head of Hogan Lovells’ litigation, arbitration and employment group, describes Neal Katyal, who runs the firm’s Washington DC disputes team, as such a figure. It is easy to see why: at the age of …

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