Changes could mean a one-third increase for City offices
With bank debt and real estate costs two of the most common causes of law firm distress, increases in business rates were met with concern by real estate professionals and lawyers in the Square Mile last month.
With long-term managing partner Jonathan Watmough stepping down in December last year, insurance head James Miller has taken over the reins at RPC. Legal Business caught up with him to discuss the priorities for the new leader.
What is your immediate strategy for RPC?
So far it has been business as usual. I’m very lucky to come in on the back of 11.5% turnover growth over five years. Insurance has been one of our core strengths and we will continue to invest there, but my focus now is on the whole firm. Really we try to invest in people: if we felt we were under strength we would hire, but I am quite happy with our strategic balance.
Continue reading “Q&A: RPC’s new managing partner talks strategy, international expansion and tech”
Madeleine Farman on a rare team move between London-based international players
In one of the most significant team hires between major City players for some time, a group of five Paris corporate partners – collectively responsible for a book of business worth £8m – is moving from Ashurst to Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer. Continue reading “Ashurst Paris corporate team chooses Freshfields as Magic Circle firm reinvigorates offering”
Shell’s in-house legal team recently took the lead on the sale of $3.8bn worth of its own North Sea oil and gas assets, with help from panel firm Clifford Chance (CC), as part of a debt reduction push following its takeover of BG Group.
The deal sees British investment firm Chrysaor Holdings pay an initial sum of $3bn plus an additional payment of up to $600m, subject to commodity prices, and $180m for future discoveries. A Shell spokesperson said: ‘This approach to legal delivery, with a Shell team in the lead and backed up by limited external legal support, is typical for us. It allows our in-house business lawyers to work on the most complex, high-value projects, drawing on the expertise of a wide network of internal legal experts, and delivering value to the business at competitive cost and appropriate risk profile.’
Continue reading “‘Sign of things to come’: Shell leads on sale of own North Sea assets”
In the first transatlantic merger to make headlines so far in 2017, Kirkland & Ellis partners David Holdsworth and Paula Riedel have lined up opposite their old firm Linklaters on Reckitt Benckiser (RB)’s $16.7bn takeover of Mead Johnson & Company.
Kirkland fielded a transatlantic team to advise US-based Mead Johnson, the baby formula manufacturer, which had sales of $3.7bn in 2016. Mead and RB confirmed the deal on 10 February, which should complete in the third quarter of 2017.
Norton Rose Fulbright (NRF) has pulled off its second US merger, this time with New York-based Chadbourne & Parke, giving the Global 100 firm much-needed bench strength in Manhattan and project finance for what will be a $2bn-revenue firm.
The move will add considerable east coast capability to NRF, which the firm has lacked since its combination with Texas firm Fulbright & Jaworski in 2013, and is due to go live in the second quarter of 2017. The majority of Chadbourne lawyers will join NRF’s US business, while London partners are expected to join the Norton Rose Fulbright LLP within the Swiss Verein, which comprises the legacy Norton Rose business.
Office launches follow team hire from Troutman earlier this year
Clyde & Co continues to look for opportunities to expand in the US following the opening of new Chicago and Washington DC offices, after taking on a team of ten lawyers from Global 100 firm Troutman Sanders at the end of January.
It has already been a headline-grabbing start to the year for DLA Piper’s finance team. The firm turned heads with the decision to bring in serial entrepreneur Maurice Allen as a consultant, swiftly followed with a leadership change, as it was announced Leeds managing partner Sarah Day will head up the UK finance practice, with Martin Bartlam (pictured) promoted to international head of finance and projects.
While historically known for mid-market deal finance and classic volume work for retail banking clients, in recent years DLA has striven to push the practice up the value chain, particularly in the structured debt arena. The practice, which currently makes up 17% of UK turnover, including projects, has been a target for investment for years.
FRESHFIELDS SIGNS 20-YEAR LEASE ON NEW HQ
Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer has signed a pre-let agreement on a 20-year lease in February to move from existing premises in Fleet Street to 100 Bishopsgate in 2021. The Magic Circle firm will reduce its London real estate by roughly a third when it takes out 255,000 sq ft of office space.
SLAUGHTERS TAKES LEAD ON PHARMA MEGA DEAL
Slaughter and May has acted opposite Cravath, Swaine & Moore as Johnson & Johnson made a $30bn offer to buy Swiss-based biopharma company Actelion Pharmaceuticals earlier this year. Slaughters advised along with Zürich-based Niederer Kraft & Frey and Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz for the takeover target, as Cravath advised Johnson.
Continue reading “Deal watch: Corporate activity in March 2017”
