Slaughter and May steps in for Siemens on €1.7bn sale of stake in NSN

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Corporate Shearman & SterlingSlaughter and May

Shearman & Sterling has led for Nokia on its €1.7bn buyout of Siemens’ stake in Nokia Siemens Networks (NSN) in a deal that has seen Slaughter and May step in for the German engineering giant.

Announced on 1 July, Shearman fielded a multi-disciplinary team across London and New York led by City M&A partner Jeremy Kutner for longstanding client Nokia. Slaughter and May led by London corporate partner Tim Boxell advised the Siemens team led out of its German headquarters.

NSN was formed in 2006 in a €16bn joint venture between Nokia and Siemens aimed at offering innovative mobile broadband technology and services. Advising on its formation was former Shearman City-based partner Jonathan Coppin opposite Clifford Chance (CC).

Litigation watch: SJ Berwin wins IP battle for Sky against Microsoft

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Litigation King & Wood Mallesons

SJ Berwin has scored a significant victory in the important tech area of intellectual property rights in cloud data storage, successfully representing broadcaster Sky on its successful trade mark infringement claim against US software giant Microsoft.

In a dispute dating back to 2011, the High Court ruled last week that the IT giant’s ‘SkyDrive’ cloud service infringed Sky’s brand in the UK and Europe. Sky had filed a claim over a breach of UK and Community trade marks following Microsoft’s use of ‘SkyDrive’ for cloud storage solution.

White & Case continues capital markets drive as Milan boasts full DCM suite

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Strategic recruitment White & Case

White & Case has made no secret of its strategic objective to boost its global capital markets capability and last week saw a debt capital markets (DCM) team join in Milan from Magic Circle rival Allen & Overy (A&O).

A&O’s DCM and regulatory partner Paola Leocani (pictured) joins the Milan office alongside counsel Elena Radicella Chiaramonte, two senior associates, an associate and two trainees.

Rated by Legal 500 as third-tier for ECM and DCM in Italy, White & Case claims that it is now one of the only firms in the region with a full spectrum of capital markets and regulatory services across products, at a time when Italy has seen a decrease in bank lending and a corresponding growth in DCM.

Guest post: Criminalising corporate law – proposed UK fraud penalties take a leaf out of the US sentencing guidelines

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Corporate

Tough new proposed sentencing guidelines for bribery have been published in a consultation which closes in early October.

The proposals are contained in a document running to 130 pages which deals with proposed sentencing guidelines for fraud, bribery and money laundering offences.

Financials update – Field Fisher Waterhouse pays the cost of merger mania

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Financial results 2013 Fieldfisher

After a turbulent year that saw it unsuccessfully attempt merger discussions with both Laurence Graham and Osborne Clarke, Field Fisher Waterhouse has unveiled a disappointing set of financial results, with revenues and PEP both down.

The firm posted a 2.5% drop in revenues to £95m, compared to £97.6m in 2012, while profit per equity partner has decreased by 7% on the figure published in the LB100 last year, from to £434,000 £402,000 – following a 16% drop in 2011/2012. Equity partner numbers are up slightly, from 41 to 46.

71 new shareholders and a Madrid chief – today on Baker Mac’s intranet

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Partnership promotions Baker McKenzie

It says something about the evolution of the legal market when a single global law firm makes up more partners annually than the total partnership of a sizeable UK practice like Travers Smith but a handful of players are now in that camp.

Passing that threshold with ease is Baker & McKenzie, which has just promoted 71 partners globally as the firm also today (1 July) announced that leading arbitrator Jose Maria Alonso will take over as managing partner of its Madrid practice just over a year after he joined from Garrigues.

Deferred Prosecution Agreements: Form over substance?

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Legal affairs Corker Binning

The Serious Fraud Office (SFO) last week published a draft Code of Practice setting out their approach to the use of Deferred Prosecution Agreements (DPAs) in a move that lawyers warn will open the floodgates to unduly lenient case settlement.

DPAs are to be introduced by the Crime and Courts Act 2013, expected to come into force next year, and offer a company charged with criminal activity, such as corporate criminal liability under the Bribery Act, the chance to reach an agreement with a prosecutor without going to trial.

Speechly posts flat financials but forecasts PEP boost next year

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Financial results 2013 Charles Russell Speechlys

Speechly Bircham has posted flat financials for the 2012/13 year following failed merger talks with Withers and a spate of partner exits.

The City-headquartered firm saw a slight drop in revenue to £57.5m from £57.6m in 2011/12, while profits per equity partner decreased from £299,000 to £293,000.

Asia-Pac continues to challenge new entrants as DLA Piper freezes Australia salaries

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Asia DLA Piper

The impact of the Australian downturn has once again been thrown into sharp relief after DLA Piper’s staff in the region were told not to expect pay rises and some partners to expect a drop in pay as the office failed to meet its targets.

As first revealed by RollOnFriday, an email from chief operating officer and stand in local managing partner Andrew Darwin told staff ‘for many…there will be no increase in base salary this year and for others there will only be a modest increase.’

Local partners, meanwhile, were told: ‘many partners will have no increases or, in some cases, a reduction in their remuneration.’ Further savings are also expected to be made on expenses.

Clyde & Co advises Olswang on claim arising from £460m Esporta sale

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Litigation Clyde & CoOlswang

Clyde & Co’s professional financial disputes team led by rated team head Sarah Clover is advising Olswang on a multi-million pound claim stemming from the £460m acquisition by a Halabi family trust of fitness club chain Esporta from private equity firm Duke Street Capital.

Olswang in 2006 fielded a cross-disciplinary team to advise the Ironzar III trust on the high-profile acquisition, led by corporate partners Graham Barber and David Roberts.

The fitness group fell into financial difficulty and was placed into financial administration in 2007, taken over by its lender Societe Generale in a debt-for-equity-swap in 2009 and in 2011 Virgin Active acquired its 55 sites for £77.6m.