‘Our corporate practice now is the strongest it’s ever been. We feel confident about the future.’
Roland Turnill, Slaughter and May
Following on from our Legal 500 M&A feature, we ask leading London corporate partners what is driving the growing dominance of US firms in public M&A
Deeper focus
‘The entry point for many of the US firms in London has been transactional work for key private equity clients, which is a great model. In contrast, UK firms have typically continued to focus as much on their corporate client bases, on fuller service coverage, and on operating with deeper sector focus – which remains a differentiator of the leading UK firms.’
Gavin Davies, Head of Global M&A, Herbert Smith Freehills
In great shape
‘Our corporate practice now is the strongest it’s ever been. We’ve got 35-40 core partners across London and Hong Kong and they’re all really high performers. We’re particularly pleased to have a very strong and diverse group of younger partners, including five elected over the last two years. We feel confident about the future.’
Roland Turnill, head of M&A, Slaughter and May
F=M&A
‘US firms have been very successful in persuading clients that they should use them. On the Thermo Fisher/Qiagen deal, Thermo Fisher led with Wachtell, and on the Sanofi/Boehringer Ingelheim asset swap, Sanofi lead with Weil, New York. So if European firms don’t look at that and ask themselves “how did that happen?” then I worry for them.’
Jennifer Bethlehem, head of consumer and healthcare practice, Freshfields
What you know
‘When it comes to bet-the-farm public M&A territory, I still think most clients want to go for a firm that will deliver what they want and there’s only a few that can do that. They want the ones at the top, so I don’t see an incursion into our market.’
Jessamy Gallagher, global co-head of the infrastructure sector , Linklaters
Full package
‘I’ve been surprised to see some US firms getting instructed on a few public M&A mandates – it’s still mainly acting for private equity clients around take-privates though. I don’t think the US firms in London have the breadth and depth in the UK and across Europe to support corporate clients in the same holistic way that the Magic Circle does.’
Melissa Fogarty, co-head of corporate – London, Clifford Chance
Unravelling the mystery
‘The big bang has happened. The Magic Circle are no longer as big in either the global M&A tables or the UK ones. It makes sense that private equity was the first battleground – they’re professional deal doers and transact three times a year rather than once every few years like a corporate. But now that many US firms are properly established in London, they’re moving into the space of the Magic Circle.’
Patrick Sarch, co-head UK M&A, Hogan Lovells
Panic stations
‘Public M&A has higher barriers to entry than private equity. You can’t credibly deliver in the public M&A space unless you have a full-service offering and a public M&A pedigree. I’m sure it isn’t panic stations yet for the Magic Circle though, they are still involved in fantastic deals for great clients but there is a risk their roles could be increasingly marginalised if they can’t successfully compete in the US.’
Bruce Embley, M&A partner, Skadden
Centre of the universe
‘The globalisation of business means that major companies are increasingly looking for US advisory expertise and deal execution in multiple markets. If you have critical mass in the US, and you have strong European/Asian platforms, it’s easier to differentiate yourselves. A number of US heritage firms have grown significantly both in size and reputation in recent years and now present a compelling choice. Additionally, you also have movement of talent and expertise to platforms like ours, with deep ties to critical global industries, like tech in the Bay Area, life sciences in Boston, entertainment, sports, and media in LA, or energy in Houston – all key sectors that drive the world’s economy.’
Nick Cline, co-chair London corporate, Latham & Watkins