Legal Business

Revolving Doors: DWF and Fladgate bolster City recruitment as Ashurst goes large internationally

Posted on |
Strategic recruitment AshurstDWFFladgate

City recruitment was strong last week as DWF and Fladgate followed headline laterals at White & Case and Ashurst with London plays. International recruitment, meanwhile, continued a strong run of form.

DWF added to its City insurance practice with the hire of Iftikhar Ali from Simmons & Simmons, where he led the construction all risks practice. Ali will work on construction, power and engineering claims, and has represented clients including Chubb, Aviva, and Zurich.

Commenting on the hire, DWF partner Kieran Walshe said: ‘Iftikhar brings a breadth of expertise on managing coverage and liability claims all around the world and will provide a particular strength in construction market and sector expertise when working alongside our UAE and Latin America offices.’

Meanwhile, Fladgate also made moves in the City, with the hire of David Breslin as a partner to the firm’s dispute resolution team. Breslin joins from Gowling WLG, where he led the international arbitration and insurance teams, having previously been head of dispute resolution at legacy Lawrence Graham.

Fladgate chairman Richard Reuben commented: ‘David’s appointment reflects our continued commitment to building strength in depth in our core practices and to further developing our specialist capabilities.’

Further afield moves continued apace, led by Ashurst’s array of international moves. In Germany, the firm appointed Nicolas Nohlen as a partner to its dispute resolution practice in Frankfurt, having joined from Hengeler Mueller. Nohlen’s work covers commercial litigation, arbitration and alternative dispute resolution, with particular regard to corporate, capital market and commercial law disputes.

In neighbouring France, Ashurst made two hires to its Paris office with the appointment of Noam Ankri and Vincent Trevisani as partners to its corporate team. Ankri joins from the London office of DLA Piper, having begun his career at Willkie Farr & Gallagher in Paris in 2001. Trevisani joins from Watson Farley & Williams, where he had been a partner since 2012.

Ashurst rounded off its international shopping spree with the hire of partners Alex Guy and Dan Brown to the firm’s projects practice in Brisbane. The pair cover sectors ranging from transportation and infrastructure to renewable and conventional energy projects.

Returning to Europe, King & Spalding hired tax partner Jonathan Ivinson in its Geneva office from Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld, the second partner to join that office this year.

Across the Atlantic in the US, Cooley added Eric Kuwana to its securities and litigation practice. Kuwana will be based in Washington and New York, and joins from Katten Muchin Roseman where he was partner and co-chair of the firm’s securities litigation and enforcement practice.

Rounding off the international moves, Orrick Herrington & Sutcliffe announced the hire of Geoff Willard to the firm’s technology companies group as partner in Washington. Willard acts as a strategic adviser to technology and other growth companies, and focuses on equity investments, acquisitions and joint ventures.

thomas.alan@legalbusiness.co.uk

Legal Business

‘I like new challenges’: Bakers securitisation veteran exits for Ashurst

Posted on |
Strategic recruitment AshurstBaker McKenzie

The rebuild at Ashurst following a complicated end to 2017 in which three key partners left in a fortnight has gained some traction with the hire of a senior City lateral from Baker McKenzie.

Bakers’ former global co-head of securitisation Jonathan Walsh will leave the firm today (31 May) after 13 years and take a place in Ashurst’s securitisation team from next Monday (4 June).

A City veteran, Walsh was previously head of international securities at legacy Norton Rose until 2005, and went on to co-lead Bakers’ securitisation operations until January, when he stepped down from the role now held by Philippe Steffens.

‘I like new challenges and Ashurst is a fantastic international firm with a great platform,’ Walsh told Legal Business, adding that the move gave him the opportunity to help build his new firm’s securities capability.

He also looked forward to being reunited with his former colleague and fellow securities lawyer Martin Kaiser, who joined Ashurst in Frankfurt from Bakers in August last year: ‘I consider him an excellent lawyer, a very good colleague and friend.’

‘Jonathan is the missing piece to complete our core securitisation team for Europe,’ Michael Logie, head of Ashurst’s global markets practice told Legal Business. He pointed to Kaiser in Germany and younger City partner Tom Picton, who joined from Clifford Chance last month. ‘We were looking for someone with a senior pedigree and a track record for building securitisation practices. Jonathan ticks all those boxes amazingly well.’

For Bakers, Walsh’s departure comes at a time when the firm is busy building up its City transactional capabilities, most recently with the appointment of former Clifford Chance partner Kathy Honeywood to its energy, mining and industrials practice. The firm appointed three partners in its structured capital markets and banking teams last month, including former White & Case partner Michael Doran.

Ashurst is beefing up its City ranks after being hit by three big losses in November last year, with corporate partners James Wood and Dominic Ross leaving for Sidley Austin and White & Case respectively, while disputes stalwart Ben Giaretta joined Mishcon de Reya.

But the firm began 2018 with some City appointments, including litigator Alison Hardy from Squire Patton Boggs.

marco.cillario@legalease.co.uk

Legal Business

‘Some difficult decisions’: Ashurst set to cull up to 80 City secretaries

Posted on |
Job cuts Ashurst

Ashurst has launched a redundancy review which could result in 80% of its 100-strong secretarial team in London being axed, while a handful of secretarial roles in the Middle East are also at risk.

Women will make up the majority of those in the firing line, with Ashurst stating in its March 2018 gender pay gap report that 122 of its 125 secretarial staff – or 98% – are female.

Jan Gooze Zijl, chief financial and operations officer, justified the move, commenting: ‘Responding to changing client needs, evolving technology, market efficiency drives and embracing new ways of working are strategic priorities for Ashurst. The way legal work is undertaken has changed considerably and we need an approach to service delivery that most effectively supports the practices and our business.’

The firm’s scaled back support function will be divided into three different role types across the London and Glasgow offices. This will include four team leaders and 35 practice executives responsible for practice management and business development, as well as a number of team executives and team assistants to undertake the more traditional administrative work.

Existing staff will be able to apply for the roles, which will predominantly be based in London, with nine of the team executive and assistant roles to be based in Glasgow.

The consultation is due to last until June, with the new structure eventually being implemented globally.

Caroline Rawes, Ashurst’s chief people officer, said: ‘We have undertaken a comprehensive review of how our secretarial function operates and this requires us to make some difficult decisions in relation to the teams.’

She added: ‘Ultimately, however, it is critical to have the right people, with the right skills, doing the right work in the right location. We believe the new structure will achieve that and will also allow us to create a career path which motivates and retains staff and drives high performance. We will be fully supporting our people during this process’.

nathalie.tidman@legalease.co.uk

Legal Business

Revolving Doors: Ashurst and Greenberg Traurig strengthen City benches as Pinsents sees moves both ways

Posted on |
Strategic recruitment AshurstGreenberg TraurigPinsent Masons

A bumper week for City and international lateral hires followed the Easter break last week with Ashurst and Greenberg Traurig among those to make strategic additions in London, strengthening their real estate and white-collar practices respectively.

Ashurst announced the hire of Alison Hardy from Squire Patton Boggs where she was national head of its property litigation team. James Levy, head of Ashurst’s London disputes practice, said: ‘Alison is a highly regarded and experienced real estate litigator. We have every confidence that she will deliver great results for clients and play a key role in further developing our capability in high value disputes.’

Similarly, US firm Greenberg Traurig made a significant lateral move in the City as it secured the services of white-collar defence and investigations specialist Barry Vitou from Pinsent Masons, who will now lead its London practice.

Vitou holds expertise working on corruption, money laundering and the UK Bribery Act. Greenberg vice chair Paul Maher said: ‘We are always exploring ways to enhance what we can offer clients. This is one of the things we will achieve with the expected addition of Barry Vitou.’

Pinsents, for its part, strengthened its restructuring team with the addition of Samantha Palmer as partner. Palmer joins from Ashfords where she was a board member and head of professional and financial risks. She also has previous experience with the Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA), where she headed up the financial stability programme.

Pinsents said: ‘Samantha’s arrival enhances our ability to provide a market-leading offering in terms of the restructuring of professional practices, advising lenders to professional practices, business-structure work for investors into the legal sector and pure regulatory advice for law firms themselves.’

Elsewhere in London, experienced private client specialist Jonathan Kropman will be leaving post-merger Bryan Cave Leighton Paisner (BCLP) to join Trowers & Hamlins to lead its private wealth team. Kropman had led legacy Berwin Leighton Paisner’s private client group for 13 years.

BCLP however was at the forefront of European activity this last week, deepening its German footprint with the hire of Bernd Geier to lead the firm’s financial regulation practise in Frankfurt.

Geier leaves Dentons, where he occupied a similar role leading its financial regulation and funds practice. Roland Fabian, managing partner for BCLP Germany, said in a statement: ‘Through this expansion of our regulatory expertise, we will be able to offer clients comprehensive advice on their increasingly complex regulatory matters, particularly in the context of the impending Brexit.’

Despite the loss, Dentons also made moves in Europe as partner Giangiacomo Olivi joins the firm’s Milan office. Arriving from DLA Piper, Olivi will now spearhead Dentons’ data privacy team.

Further afield, Clyde & Co appointed Cameron Thomson as a partner in its Sydney office, with the real estate expert leaving Norton Rose Fulbright. In a statement Clydes said: ‘Cameron’s capabilities, along with the firm’s extensive footprint in the region, made establishing a dedicated non-contentious real estate practice in Australia the next logical step’

Stephenson Harwood was also among those that saw activity in Asia-Pacific, with the arrival of partner Allen Shyu from Troutman Sanders to its Beijing office, after the US firm announced the closure of its office earlier this year. Shyu, who joined Troutman from Orrick Herrington & Sutcliffe’s Hong Kong office, will lead on involved in capital markets deals, M&A and private equity matters.

Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher is also committed to international hires in Hong Kong by securing two partners from US counterpart Weil, Gotshal & Manges. John Fadely and Albert Cho are poised to join Gibson’s investment funds group after their respective stints at Weil, which lasted eight and four years respectively. Gibson chairman and managing partner Ken Doran said: ‘We are focused on building a premier corporate practise in Asia that complements our private equity and M&A practices in the US, Europe and the Middle East.’

thomas.alan@legalbusiness.co.uk

Legal Business

LLP latest: Ashurst management pay drops 18% amid turnover recovery

Posted on |
Financial results 2016/17 Ashurst

Ashurst’s management took home £8m in 2016/17, 18% less than the previous year, according to the firm’s recently published LLP accounts.

The City firm’s turnover saw an 12% boost to £541m from £505m the previous year, showing a recovery after two consecutive years of decline following its merger with Australian firm Blake Dawson in 2013.

The 2015/16 figure was a 10% decrease on 2014/15, coming on top of a 4% dip the previous year to £561m from £568m.

This year’s LLP accounts show PEP rose 12% to £672,000 in 2016/17 after a 19% drop in 2015/16, when numbers plummeted from £747,000 to £603,000.

Ashurst’s operating profit saw a slight uptick to £155m to £152m, while staff costs rose nearly 10% to £237m from £216m, despite a reduction in staff numbers to 2,609 to 2,722.

The firm’s highest-paid partner took home £1m, on a par with the previous year’s earnings. 2017 saw a rash of partner departures for Ashurst, topped off by a wave of three exits last November in London alone.

That month, corporate partners James Wood and Dominic Ross left for the London offices of Sidley Austin and White & Case respectively, while disputes stalwart Ben Giaretta went to Mishcon de Reya’s commercial arbitration practice.

In June, Ashurst lost a five-lawyer team from its Paris arm to Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher, led by litigation and restructuring partner Jean-Pierre Farges. The move came only four months after the departure of a five-partner team from the firm’s Paris office to Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer.

The firm didn’t fare much better across the pond, when in July a five-strong team of New York-based partners left for US finance firm Chapman and Cutler, completing the full departure of the ten-partner team the firm hired from McKee Nelson in 2009 to launch a structured finance practice.

nathalie.tidman@legalease.co.uk

Legal Business

Deal watch: Linklaters and Simpson line up on £6bn KKR deal as Ashurst leads on £575m float

Posted on | and
Corporate AshurstLinklaters

Capping off another busy year for European buyouts, Linklaters lined up opposite Simpson Thacher & Bartlett and Dentons as Unilever agreed to sell its spreads business to private equity giant KKR for €6.8bn (£6bn).

Corporate partner Matthew Bland (pictured) led the Magic Circle law firm’s team for the consumer goods group, which announced on Friday (15 December) that it had received a binding offer to sell brands including Becel, Flora, Country Crock, Blue Band, I Can’t Believe It’s Not Butter, Rama and ProActiv. Linklaters partner John Crozier also worked on the deal.

It is part of Unilever’s review of its business launched in April following the rejected $143bn takeover attempt by competitor Kraft. Linklaters advised Unilever at the time too.

Simpson Thacher acted for key client KKR, fielding a team under City corporate partner Clare Gaskell. The New York-bred law firm is also advising on the financing, antitrust and tax aspects of the deal, with a line-up including partners Ian Barratt, Sinead O’Shea, Nick Shaw, David Vann and Meredith Jones. The investment is backed by the European and North American funds of KKR. Dentons advised the buyout house on due diligence and carve-out aspects. Corporate partners Stephen Levy and Joe Altendorff led the global law firm’s team.

Unilever’s spreads business operates across 66 countries and turned over €3bn in 2016. Its chief executive Nicolas Liabeuf will continue to lead the business. The deal awaits antitrust clearance and will go through employee consultation in some jurisdictions. Completion is expected in mid-2018.

Ashurst, meanwhile, has acted on one of the largest initial public offerings to hit London in 2017, advising a syndicate of banks on the listing of motor insurance underwriter Sabre Insurance Group, which values the business at £575m. The underwriting consortium comprised Barclays, Numis, Peel Hunt and Berenberg, with Sabre receiving roughly £206m of primary proceeds through the float on the London Stock Exchange.  Ashurst’s team was led by London corporate partners Simon Bullock and Jennifer Schneck, alongside regulatory partner James Perry, tax partner Nicholas Gardner and employment partner Crowley Woodford.  Dickson Minto partners Colin MacNeill and Duncan Christison acted for the issuer.

marco.cillario@legalbusiness.co.uk

tom.baker@legalbusiness.co.uk

Legal Business

Life during law: Mark Elsey, Ashurst

Posted on |
Life During Law Ashurst

My father was in the Ministry of Defence. There was a naval base in Singapore. Our family moved there when I was a baby. Left on a boat and arrived three-and-a-half weeks later. Singapore was pre-independence – a low-rise post-colonial town. Now you can stand on the waterfront and see skyscrapers for miles.

I trained at Cameron Markby and they offered me work in property and banking when I qualified. I’d set my heart on corporate. I had to decide: Ashurst or Linklaters. The partners at Cameron were supportive. They universally said that they would go to Ashurst if it were their decision.

Legal Business

Addleshaws and Ashurst picked as favourites as GVC pitches in for Ladbrokes takeover

Posted on |
Dealwatch Addleshaw GoddardAshurst

Addleshaw Goddard and Ashurst are acting as gaming and betting company GVC Holdings launches a proposed £3.9bn takeover of rival Ladbrokes Coral.

The proposed deal, announced today (7 December), would create a global online gambling group that the boards of the two companies claim would have strong growth prospects and an enhanced position in some of the world’s largest regulated online gaming markets, including the UK, Italy and Australia.

GVC, which also owned the Sportingbet and Bwin brands, would own 53.5% of the combined business and has until early January to make a firm offer.

Addleshaws is representing existing client GVC on the deal, led by corporate partner Nick Pearey, while Ashurst is advising Ladbrokes on another significant transaction, led by corporate partners Simon Beddow, Tom Mercer and James Fletcher. Competition partner Ross Mackenzie and tax partner Alex Cox are also advising.

Jones Day is advising Houlihan Lokey as financial adviser to GVC, with team led by Leon Ferera.

Addleshaws previously acted for GVC in its £1.1bn contested takeover of gambling company Bwin, which was completed in 2016, as well as its £485m takeover of Sportingbet in 2013.It  also advised GVC on its transfer to a premium listing last year.

Ashurst, meanwhile, previously advised Gala Coral on its £2.3bn merger with Ladbrokes in 2015.

Gaming and betting has been a lucrative sector for law firms in recent years after a spate of consolidation, including a £5bn tie-up between Paddy Power and Betfair in 2015. Then last year, William Hill rejected a £3.6bn takeover bid from Rank Group and 888 Holdings, after 888 had failed in its bid to take over Bwin in mid-2015 for £898m.

hamish.mcnicol@legalease.co.uk

Legal Business

Ashurst and Hogan Lovells win roles on Palmer & Harvey administration as takeover plan goes up in smoke

Posted on |
Dealwatch AshurstHogan Lovells

City firms have landed lead mandates on the administration of beleaguered British tobacco wholesaler Palmer & Harvey (P&H) following the collapse of a rescue takeover by The Carlyle Group.

Ashurst and Hogan Lovells are advising administrator PwC, which was brought in when a sale process that would see US buyout giant Carlyle acquire the ailing business fell over.

Carlyle had signed a heads of terms and memorandum of understanding to acquire P&H – which counts UK supermarket chain Tesco as one of its biggest clients – following a competitive sale process in the summer. The deal was not done by the time the private equity firm’s exclusivity ran out at the end of November, with the company’s liquidity crisis giving it no other option than to call in the administrator.

The Ashurst team is led by Giles Boothman, global head of restructuring and special situations, and also includes banking partner Jane Fissenden. Restructuring partner Deborah Gregor is leading the Hogan Lovells team, which is acting for both PwC and P&H’s lending banks.

Allen & Overy is advising Imperial Tobacco as one of the largest trade creditors to P&H. Slaughter and May is acting for the other major trade creditor, Japan Tobacco International (JTI). P&H had tried to address its liquidity issues in April when trade debt owed to Imperial and JTI was converted into senior secured long-tenor debt.

The company was also hit by Tesco’s proposed £3.7bn takeover of rival tobacco supplier Booker, which shrouded the future of P&H’s relationship with its biggest customer in doubt. That deal was given the provisional go-ahead in mid-November by the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA).

‘P&H had been facing a number of systematic issues in which the company was caught between powerful tobacco manufacturers and retail giants, a position which was not sustainable in the face of severely squeezed margins’, one industry source said.

PwC’s Matthew Callaghan, Ian Green and Zelf Hussein are the joint administrators. Callaghan, joint administrator and partner at PwC, said: ‘The P&H Group has faced a challenging trading environment, and the need for significant restructuring has been recognised for some while. The company has insufficient cash resources to continue to trade beyond the short term and the directors have concluded that there is no longer any reasonable prospect of a sale. Therefore, the directors have had no choice but to appoint administrators’.

The P&H Group employed around 3,400 employees, of which roughly 2,500 have immediately been made redundant.

nathalie.tidman@legalease.co.uk