Legal Business

‘A true win’ – Baker McKenzie on record Ecuador $1.6bn debt-for-nature swap and winning Finance Team of the Year

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Legal Business Awards 2024 Baker McKenzie

Baker McKenzie won Finance Team of the Year at the Legal Business Awards for representing project manager Oceans Finance Company in structuring and implementing the government of Ecuador’s $1.6bn debt-for-nature swap and providing $300m for the Galápagos Islands – the largest marine conservation debt conversion to date.

LB spoke with partners Matthew Cox and James Tanner (pictured, middle) to learn more about their experience working on this landmark deal, the challenges they encountered, and what it meant to win Finance Team of the Year.

The deal saw the team work with colleagues in the firm’s US offices for two years to land an end result that exchanged Ecuador’s sovereign bonds, valued at over $1.6bn, for a $656m loan made from the proceeds from a marine conservation-linked bond, with political risk insurance from the US International Development Finance Corporation (DFC) and an $85m guarantee from the Inter-American Development Bank (IAB).

Ecuador also agreed to provide more than $300m of the savings it realises from the transaction to Delaware-based non-profit conservation fund the Galápagos Life Fund (GLF), to be used for marine conservation around the islands over the next 18 years.

What was your reaction to receiving this award?

Matthew Cox: We are delighted to receive the market recognition this deal deserves.  The Ecuador transaction has opened the market for debt for impact swaps to be done at scale.  The use case for this new product is far reaching and it is great to be at the forefront of the innovation.

James Tanner: It’s really refreshing, pleasing, and rewarding in itself to do something like this. Using our experience and skills as finance lawyers to support and advise on these deals is truly making a difference. It’s a rare example of a true win – for the people of Ecuador, the finance providers, and the market, which now has a whole new product. There are lots of positives for everyone involved.

What made the deal particularly interesting?

JT: From a capital markets perspective, this essentially functions like an exchange offer. The old debt is being swapped out and replaced with new debt, either issued to the same holders or to the broader market. While the process of retiring the old debt is complex, it isn’t particularly remarkable on its own. What stands out is the involvement of development finance institutions like DFC and the IADB and the conditions required for their participation. Such institutions insist that some of the funds be allocated for ‘good purposes’ – for example, environmental initiatives like saving endangered species. The challenge lies in how this requirement is implemented, which is where our role became critical.

Could you provide more detail about the challenges?

JT: First, the Ecuadorian government – or any government participating in such deals – has to agree to a range of commitments. In our case, for instance, they agreed to measures like installing monitoring devices on the national fishing fleet to prevent overfishing or illegal activity in protected areas. They also promised to establish a new national park with protected zones. These commitments are politically sensitive because they bind not just the current government, but future ones as well, ensuring continuity in environmental protection efforts.

The second aspect is more financial. A portion of the savings generated by the deal must be used for these ‘good purposes’. This is done by setting up a trust fund, which we helped establish. The money in the fund is then distributed through grants that align with specific objectives. Negotiating these objectives is also politically delicate, as even though Ecuador no longer directly controls the funds, the government wants to ensure they align with national priorities. This creates tension with the development finance institutions, which aim to direct as much money as possible into the trust fund while keeping the use of those funds tightly restricted.

In essence, the development finance institutions were imposing conditions on Ecuador in order to provide their credit support which makes the transaction work. Negotiating the structure of the trust fund was complex and sensitive, involving decisions about its goals, governance, and board composition. It required a delicate balance between including Ecuadorian government representatives and ensuring impartial oversight from third-party observers, civil society, and other stakeholders who initiated the deal. Our role was to advise the project manager and sponsor throughout this intricate process.

Where did the work originate from?

MC: It really was a happy accident. I’ve worked with this client for almost 15 years since the first deal of this type in the Seychelles, and the latest Ecuador deal was an evolution of that. I was working at a previous firm based in Boston, which happened to be where The Nature Conservancy was also located. They were working on bringing the Seychelles deal to fruition and needed English law advice. Since I was in the London office and chaired the pro bono committee, I got the call and jumped at the chance to help. I’d love to say the opportunity came through strategic planning, but in reality, I was just in the right place at the right time .

These types of deals are inherently global – typically involving US NGOs collaborating with sovereign nations that owe the debt, often island nations. While the financing elements primarily involve key financial centers like London and New York, the substances of the deals often focus on more remote countries like Ecuador, Belize, and the Seychelles.

JT: When we first started working with this client, it was through pro bono work, which is a great example of how pro bono can benefit everyone involved. Not only is it rewarding on its own, but it also demonstrates how pro bono efforts can lay the groundwork for future projects that eventually become billable and even award-winning. It’s a strong testament to the value of pro bono work, both in terms of its immediate impact and its potential to lead to meaningful opportunities down the line.

Do you expect more deals like this?

MC: We are currently working on three other live deals in three different countries, and the market for these types of transactions is incredibly hot. However, it operates like a barbell or hourglass, presenting challenges on both ends.

On one side, you have sovereign nations that are desperate for more fiscal space and financial resources. This product isn’t just about environmental conservation, like saving turtles – it can be applied to any of the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals, such as addressing poverty, hunger, education, and gender equality. These countries face resource constraints and need to tackle a wide range of priorities, like climate change, while managing countless other demands. The challenge is how to allocate these limited resources effectively, and this product helps by relieving some of the financial pressure and allowing more focus on ESG and sustainability goals.

On the other side, there’s strong investor demand in the capital markets. There’s a huge appetite for products that align with ESG goals and are used for positive, impactful purposes. The bottleneck, however, lies in securing the credit support (by way of credit insurance and guarantees) provided by appropriate financial institutions.  To date the majority of support has ultimately come from the US government. Given geopolitical and resource limitations, this support is crucial.  Finding ways to expand the number of institutions willing and able to support these transactions is something market is working hard to address.

The team that advised Oceans Finance Company on the deal was led by banking partner Matthew Cox in London and corporate and securities partner Tom Egan in Washington DC, with support from senior associates including James Tanner and Ben Bierwith in London, both of whom are now partners. Tax partners Glenn Fox in New York and Rodney Read in Houston assisted on the structuring of GLF. 

elisha.juttla@legalease.co.uk

Legal Business

‘I had strong support and people wanted me to continue’: Bakers’ Poulton seals second term as head of London office

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Leadership Baker McKenzie

Following his initial appointment to lead Baker McKenzie’s London office in 2021, managing partner Ed Poulton has been re-elected for another three-year term, starting from July.

Speaking to Legal Business, he described the process of being re-elected as ‘relatively straightforward’.

‘We conduct soundings so that the partners get a chance to speak to a small group of partners,’ he said. ‘The message was I had strong support and people wanted me to continue.’  

On the possibility of a third term in leadership, he added: ‘In theory, I could run again. But in my view, two three-year terms is good. It’s also good to have transition and change. There’s no one person in the running to take over.’   

In LB’s feature on Bakers two months ago (Baker McKenzie: One eye open), global chair Milton Cheng asserted that the firm is progressing with a 2020 strategy with three fundamental pillars: integration, innovation, and profitability.   

‘We are one firm, so our strategy is global and what we’re doing in London is very much aligned with what we want to do in the US and globally,’ shared Poulton. 

He emphasised growth in three main practice areas in London: the transactional practice, complex cross-border investigations and disputes practice, and complex advisory matters.  

Poulton underscored the projected expansion of the transactional practice: ‘We want to continue to grow our transactional practices. We’ve made some great strides over the last five years, but that continues to be an area where we have scope to grow more.’ 

He adds: ‘That’s not to the detriment of our disputes and investigations practice, or advisory practices. When you look at them in the market, they are both really strong in terms of size and quality. We still have some real ambition to grow further in that space.’ 

Leading an office of over 500 lawyers, the firm’s transactional teams closed several big-ticket deals. To take one example, in May, global M&A chair Jannan Crozier in London alongside other teams globally advised Swiss construction chemicals group Sika acquire Master Builder Construction Chemicals (MBCC) Group from private equity firm Lone Star Funds in a €5.3bn acquisition.  

Notable hires at the London office include Richard Needham, who returned to the corporate reorganisation team in December after a brief tenure at KPMG’s legal services arm as a partner. Banking partner Anthony Kay joined from Orrick in February and former Linklaters partner Natalie Ellerby joined the firm’s IP, technology and data practice in May. 

On juggling a managerial role and client-facing work in disputes practice, Poulton said: ‘I am still maintaining a very active practice. I’ve actually got an arbitration hearing next week, and then I’m going to India the week after to meet with clients. It’s really important in terms of remaining close to clients.’ 

Asked to sum up his managerial style in three words, he described himself as ‘Consultative, approachable, and ambitious’. 

He continued: ‘When I first got elected, I was asked “What’s it like being the boss?” and I said, “that’s not quite how it works in a law firm”. You have 120 partners who all think that they are the boss, which in a way is true. Law firms are hugely consultative and that suits me because naturally I like talking to and engaging with people.’  

Bakers’ London office relocated to 280 Bishopsgate in October, a shift that Poulton noted embodies the firm’s culture. ‘As part of designing the new office, we spoke to everyone to get their views and articulate what they wanted the office to reflect. We’ve spent five years designing off the back off that, which reflects that we are non-hierarchical between partners, associates and non-lawyers, and that’s created an amazing buzz.’ 

He added: ‘No one including myself has a fixed desk. I can move around and sit anywhere as can everyone else.’ 

When asked about the uptick of US firms making moves in London, he quips that it’s just business as usual. ‘I was still at university and got my offer to join Baker McKenzie as a trainee in 1998. And between me getting that offer and starting at Baker McKenzie in 2000, there was the first wave of big US firms moving into the London market,’ says Poulton. 

He continued: ‘While I was just minding my own business at university, my salary was going up because the first war for talent of that nature was taking place, and we’ve seen this happen at regular intervals for the last 25 years.’   

elisha.juttla@legalease.co.uk

Legal Business

Private Client perspectives: Ashley Crossley

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Profile Baker McKenzie

What made you decide to become a lawyer and why private client?

My parents divorced at an early age, and I became very interested in how the law dealt with people and their relationships. That grew into an interest in law generally and how it could be used to solve problems. Having an interest in people and problem-solving meant private client work was a natural choice for me. It combines dealing with individuals’ personal issues, when they are often in a stressful or difficult situation, with helping solve their problems for them so they can move forward. Private client just seemed a natural and interesting choice for me.

Legal Business

Baker McKenzie: One eye open

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Profile Baker McKenzie

‘What defines Baker McKenzie over the last few years is the sheer amount of work that has gone into financial integration. This is a massive achievement but it has come at a cost. Now, establishing the differentiator to attract the next generation is important. It isn’t going to turn into Kirkland & Ellis, but what is going to drive that entrepreneurial aspect now Bakers looks more like other firms?’ So speaks one commentator of the quandary facing Baker McKenzie, a sentiment reprising a prevailing theme of our 2017 deep dive into the firm, ‘Waking the Giant’, which found a firm struggling to maintain its unique international selling point amid escalating globalisation of Big Law.

Then, the firm had just embarked on a new and ambitious phase, with the respected veteran intellectual property (IP) partner Paul Rawlinson instated as its first British chair in October 2016. The mandate? To implement the firm’s 2020 strategy, which focused on integrating Bakers across three profit pools, increasing profitability and growing the firm’s transactional practices in London, New York and China.

Legal Business

Warning signs? Baker McKenzie records stagnant financials in year-end results

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Financial results 2022/23 Baker McKenzie

In what is perhaps an early bellwether of 2023 financial performance for the market at large, or a hangover from the second half of 2022, Baker McKenzie has released its financial results following its year end on 30 June, reporting a revenue of $3.3bn, the same as 2021/22, when turnover increased by 6%.

The firm’s net income has also stayed the same as the previous year at $1.2bn.

In a statement, the firm noted that the static revenue came ‘despite challenges including the financial impact of spinning off the firm’s former Russian operation, reduced deal flows across markets, and adverse currency and inflationary pressures’.

While its global revenue is unchanged, the firm claims that it has experienced significant growth in several key sectors, including: Industrials, manufacturing and transportation, which grew by 9%; healthcare and life sciences, which grew by 11%; as well as the energy and infrastructure sector, which the firm explained was driven by the ongoing global energy transition.

In terms of practice areas, the firm recorded an uptick in revenue in key areas, including a 6% rise in employment, a 4% rise in projects and M&A, and most notably, a 19% increase in antitrust.

Over the last 12 months, the firm’s transactional teams closed a number of substantial deals, including advising Swiss construction chemicals group Sika on its €5.3bn acquisition of the MBCC Group from private equity firm Lone Star; Gaw Capital Partners on its seventh Asia Pacific real estate fund, which raised $3bn in total equity; Emerson on its $14bn sale of its Climate Technologies business to Blackstone; Iberdrola in the $6bn sale of over 8400MW of combined cycle gas in Mexico; and Colt Technology Services on an agreement relating to the $1.8bn purchase of Lumen Technologies’ EMEA business.

Global chair Milton Cheng (pictured) said: ‘The world’s leading companies are today entrusting us with major transformations as they reshape their businesses and turn to our firm to make sense of an increasingly complex regulatory environment. We value the trust that our clients place in us, based on the years of experience working together on complex matters and business solutions.’

ayesha.ellis@legalease.co.uk

Legal Business

Dealwatch: Bakers and Weil cement €5.3bn MBCC deal as advisers see renewed energy in M&A

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Dealwatch Baker McKenzieWeil

Amid a continued dearth of big-ticket deals, Sika’s €5.3bn acquisition of Master Builder Construction Chemicals (MBCC) Group has been the standout in recent weeks, landing lead mandates for Baker McKenzie and Weil.

The deal saw Swiss construction chemicals group Sika acquire MBCC from private equity firm Lone Star Funds, which acquired it in 2019 after BASF disposed of that part of its business.

Headquartered in Germany, MBCC (formerly BASF Construction Chemicals) supplies chemicals and solutions within the construction industry across the globe in over 60 countries, turning over a total of €2.7bn every year in sales.

Baker McKenzie advised Sika on the transaction, coordinating with six major regulators to align behind a global timeline to remove competition concerns and divest MBCC’s concrete admixtures business to Cinven. The team was led by Florian Kästle in Frankfurt and global M&A chair Jannan Crozier in London and also included partners Alan Zoccolillo in New York, James Heller in London and Christian Atzler in Frankfurt.

Weil acted for Lone Star with a team led by London managing partner Mike Francies and including corporate partner Max Oppenheimer in London, antitrust partners Niklas Maydell in Brussels/London, Brianne Kucerik in Washington DC and Adam Hemlock in New York. The team also included corporate partner Manuel-Peter Fringer in Frankfurt.

Bakers’ Florian Kästle spoke to Legal Business about the significance of this transaction: ‘On a personal level, Sika was my first client at Baker McKenzie and this has been the biggest deal of my career. 20 years ago, Sika looked up to MBCC as the giant in the market and the idea of Sika actually buying MBCC was out of reach– no one would have thought that was possible. Now Sika is the undisputed number one.

‘This was also the first deal to be closed since Brexit that posed cross-UK/EU antitrust concerns which had to be resolved by the authorities in both jurisdictions in an aligned way. We found a timetable that both authorities were able to work alongside and found a remedy package that they accepted. This has never been done before in the post-Brexit era. I am glad it worked out as it was complex to get there.’

London-based Crozier told Legal Business about what this deal represents in the context of the current M&A market: ‘There is increased regulatory scrutiny regarding transactions and we had six regulators who would not approve of this one. We worked alongside Sika to get them to align on a regulatory global timeline for this deal and enable the deal to go forwards. What we were able to do in this transaction was not only overcome these regulatory hurdles, but we were able to find a buyer for the parts of the business we couldn’t own and implement a carve-out of several jurisdictions and implement them on the same day.

‘A key message in all of this to the market is that this period of increased scrutiny on deals does not have to represent an obstacle to M&A. A proper understanding of the market and the right advisers can get these deals done and provide an opportunity for clients.

‘We managed to agree with Lone Star who were the ultimate owners that it would commit a huge amount of work to carve out the business before Sika even owned it. If you look at the market several years ago, carve-outs were considered a trend but now they are a way of achieving deals that before now the market thought were not doable. These are not deals that are too complex to close – there is always a pathway through if you are willing to find it.’

When asked about predictions for the market and the pipeline of work, Crozier added: ‘We have seen a dip in the volume of deals lately which is a facet of inflation, of the banking crisis and geopolitical risk. I expect there will be an uptick in the market in the latter part of the year. One of the focuses will be on deals that were not considered possible to achieve.’

Kästle concluded: ‘I currently have a nice transaction in the healthcare space on my desk. The fears that carve-out and reorganisation is too complex are declining. There were two other major firms involved on the consulted by Sika for the antitrust analysis deal and all three said that it could not be done. Standing up and saying, “yes there are difficulties to overcome, it is not a piece of cake but in the end, we can do it” paid off.’

Meanwhile, American private equity firm TowerBrook Capital Partners acquired a majority stake in UK-based electric vehicle charging port manufacturer and installation provider Envevo.

This is the second deal struck via TowerBrook’s positive impact initiative which aims to invest in industries and businesses that are focused on improving the wider community, society and environment.

Goodwin’s London private equity team advised TowerBrook on its latest acquisition, having already provided counsel on its acquisition of telecom network hardware and asset management services company TXO in the same week (the first investment that was made in the name of its positive impact scheme).

Envevo was represented by Addleshaw Goddard partners Arran Mackenzie and Alan Shanks.

Goodwin’s Iwasko discussed TowerBrook’s acquisitions of Envevo and TXO with Legal Business: ‘These deals are significant because they are the first two investments by TowerBrook’s new impact fund, TowerBrook Delta. Delta invests in businesses that are making a positive impact around the world.

‘I have seen multiple electric vehicle charger businesses come across my desk in the past few months as private equity sponsors focus on renewable energy targets and impact investing more generally. It is notable that a private equity firm of TowerBrook’s size and stature has decided to devote time and capital to making these socially and environmentally meaningful investments. Other sponsors are showing interest as well. It is a positive story.’

When asked about market prospects, Iwasko said: ‘European private equity activity is picking up. People around the City were talking about writing off 2023 earlier in the year, but that is not the case. I am seeing increased activity in a number of sectors.’

Tong added: ‘In addition to the uptick in LBO activity, we are also seeing traditional private equity sponsors continue to be quite creative in how they are deploying capital, such as through minority investments and structured equity.’

Elsewhere in the sustainable energy market, subsidiary of the Ocean Winds collection of UK renewable energy developments, Moray West offshore wind farm, has secured £2bn in limited-recourse project financing for its 882MW project to reach financial close.

Moray West is the first project from the 2022 Allocation Round Four of the UK government’s initiative for assisting the generation of low-carbon energy, Contracts for Difference, to reach financial close, as well as the first wind farm in the UK to depend on mostly corporate power purchase agreements for the commercialisation of its production.

Ashurst advised Moray West’s lenders in the securing of the project financing, with partners David Wadham and Nick Hilder leading on the deal, while Norton Rose Fulbright’s Rob Marsh acted as lead counsel on behalf of the project’s sponsors.

In the same line of work, last month also saw Burges Salmon advise German corporation BayWa on the sale of the sixth wind farm, Dalquhandy, to Greencoat UK Wind (represented by Natasha Luther-Jones and Stephen Atkinson from DLA Piper). Based in South Lanarkshire, Scotland, Dalquhandy is a 42MW wind farm that will produce enough electricity to provide 31,000 homes with power in the UK.

Having advised before on BayWa’s initial purchase of Dalquhandy, Burges Salmon also negotiated a ten-year fixed price power purchase agreement with the BT Group for 80% of its output.

Partner Danny Lee in Burges Salmon’s corporate team who led on the deal, gave his insights on the renewable energy market for Legal Business: ‘The market is reasonably buoyant, but energy prices have led to uncertainty, particularly with the levy the government was proposing to introduce. Project connection times are putting certain investors off but there are also new technologies coming on the scene, hydrogen being an obvious example but also battery energy storage systems which are galvanizing the sector. These are forces that are driving a lot of the deal activity we are involved in.’

Focusing on the sale of Dalquhandy wind farm, Lee explained: ‘This deal clearly demonstrates that there is still an appetite for good quality projects in the offshore wind space. In terms of BayWa, we acted for them to acquire the assets when it was a consented project and they built it out and constructed it and ultimately sold it.’

He concluded: ‘One of the interesting things is that the arrangements surrounding the stakeholders who purchase the outputs of windfarms are becoming particularly innovative. We are going to see corporations like BT enter into purchase agreements with windfarms because of ESG obligations. Companies must demonstrate that they are doing the right thing to reach net zero. The best way to do that is to enter into purchase agreements with windfarms.’

ayesha.ellis@legalease.co.uk

Legal Business

Baker McKenzie breaks up UAE alliance following homophobic tweets

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International Baker McKenzie

Baker McKenzie in September announced that it is ‘parting ways’ with Dr Habib Al Mulla, name partner of member firm Habib Al Mulla & Partners, following a series of anti-gay Twitter comments.

Confirming that the ‘separation process is underway’, the firm said in a statement that it ‘strongly believes that however much we may disagree with the beliefs and personal views of others, we must find ways to disagree respectfully, encourage inclusive dialogue and to ensure an inclusive work environment for all.’

Legal Business

Life During Law: Samantha Mobley

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Life During Law Baker McKenzie

My family story is not one of generations of lawyers. My great grandfather was a coal miner in Wales.

I went to school in South Africa and grew up in the apartheid era. My parents moved there when I was a small child and I had always wanted to move back to the UK. I applied to read law at Bristol University and I’ve never regretted it. I worked at the Albion pub in Clifton to pay some of my way through university.

Legal Business

Legal Business Awards 2020 – Finance Team of the Year

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Legal Business Awards 2020 Baker McKenzieClifford Chance

After much back-and-forth between the judges in this keenly contested category, we are now delighted to reveal the winner of Finance Team of the Year for the 2020 Legal Business Awards.

The winner of this award operates at the cutting edge of the finance industry and has provided one standout example of work taken from a wide range of disciplines, including bank lending, acquisition finance, structured finance, project finance and debt capital markets.

 

 

Sponsored by

Cantab Asset Management

Winner – Clifford Chance

Clifford Chance (CC)’s advice to NatWest Markets on the first bond switch from Libor to Sonia turned the heads of judges, not least as it saw Associated British Ports (ABP) become the first sterling borrower to switch its floating rate bonds over to the new rate.

CC laid claim to being ‘uniquely placed’ to advise the solicitation agent on this novel deal due to its membership of the Bank of England’s working group on risk-free rates, not to mention its work in the Euro legal working group on Libor reform. From such a favourable position in the market, CC has subsequently advised a number of oher issuers and agents on the restructuring of Libor-linked bonds to reference Sonia.

The transaction saw CC’s winning team, led by Paul Deakins, advise the solicitation agent, NatWest Markets, as the UK’s biggest port operator successfully delivered a consent solicitation process on £65m floating-rate notes due 2022 – flipping to Sonia – the rate chosen by regulators to replace Libor – by the end of 2021.

ABP was the first company to amend legacy debt accordingly and establish a model for other issuers to follow. The change in interest basis was intended to minimise risks of value transfer for both the borrower and investors, and no consent solicitation fee was paid to investors.

ABP has exposure to Libor across a range of financial instruments including revolving credit facilities, term loans, US private placements, interest rate swaps, cross-currency swaps and listed bonds. In September 2018 the company started exploring a possible restructuring of its Libor-linked floating rate notes and held discussions with interested investors on the proposed methodology prior to the public launch of the consent solicitation.

As the transaction was the first of its kind, ABP made the legal documentation freely available to the market so that others could follow suit, and the fact that the pricing approach has been used in a number of sterling deals since is testament to its quality.

Highly Commended – Baker McKenzie

A pioneering attitude was the order of the day for the Bakers team as it advised Saudi shopping mall giant Arabian Centres Company on its $748m IPO, the first-of-its-kind in Saudi Arabia with a full international offering, including an offering into the US under Rule 144A.

The team, jointly led by Robert Eastwood and Karim Nassar of the equity capital markets group of legal advisers in Riyadh and EMEA head of capital markets Adam Farlow in London, had to draw on all its resources to tackle regulatory challenges with novel legal solutions and innovative problem-solving.

With an implied market capitalisation of $3.3bn, not only was this Saudi Arabia’s biggest IPO since 2015, it claims to have included the largest-ever syndicate of banks of any Saudi IPO, including several international banks that had never before had a role in that market.

The independent financial adviser described Bakers as ‘absolutely instrumental’ in obtaining Capital Market Authority approval and making the deal happen.

Other nominations

Dechert

Representing Kazakhstan’s national rail company on a bond issue that was groundbreaking on several levels, including being the first corporate bond listed on the Astana International Exchange and the first combined offering document for dual-listed securities under its rules.

Hogan Lovells

Advising the International Finance Corporation and the City of Belgrade on a landmark PPP project to redevelop the city’s existing waste management infrastructure, the first project of its kind in Serbia.

Shearman & Sterling

Acting for the joint venture company Trivium Packaging on a $2.85bn bond offering, the proceeds of which would be used to finance the creation of the JV out of a combination of Exal Corporation and Ardagh Group’s Metal Food & Specialty Packaging businesses.

Simmons & Simmons

Advising Mantos Copper on a comprehensive $250m financing package to expand production at its Mantos Blancos copper mine in Chile. The deal featured three facilities that were based on offtake contracts, the largest of which was a $150m senior secured facility from the Glencore subsidiary, Complejo Metalurgico Altonorte.

White & Case

Advising The Co-operative Bank Finance on a £200m bond issue to help support the Co-op Bank, the first time a high-street lender successfully issued MREL-eligible debt under new bank capital adequacy requirements.

Legal Business

Legal Business Awards 2020 – Private Client Team of the Year

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Legal Business Awards 2020 Baker McKenzieMcDermott Will & Emery

We are delighted to announce the winner of Private Client Team of the Year for the 2020 Legal Business Awards.

This award recognises the top private client teams in the country, either offshore or onshore, handling high-value work in the areas of estates, charities, family, contentious and non-contentious trusts and probate, as well as personal tax, particularly to high-net-worth individuals and families.

 

 

 

Sponsored by

Winner – Baker McKenzie

Bakers claims that it is ’unmatched in the market in terms of our international coverage and ability to serve the world’s wealthiest families’ and, on the evidence, such claims are justified, according to our judges. The global firm’s offering comprises lawyers (litigators and tax experts), accountants, transfer pricing specialists, economists and VAT/customs experts, to provide a one-stop shop for clients with complex structuring needs.

Recent work includes acting for a well-known and successful ultra high-net-worth individual in global litigation that has been running since 2010. The client is seeking to recover more than $15bn in assets that belonged to his father, the deceased founder of an Asian conglomerate, and are now held by various trustees, individuals and companies. Two separate claims are underway in Bermuda (and are believed to be the largest trust dispute ever in that jurisdiction) in addition to similar US proceedings. The firm successfully obtained summary judgment in 2019 (Wong v Grand View Private Trust Company Limited), which is currently being appealed. The Bermuda claims raise novel, Privy-Council-worthy questions of trust law, particularly involving non-purpose trust structures.

The team also advises a selection of the wealthiest clients in the Middle East including advice on fund and other structures for very high value commercial and private projects and continued advice on disclosure, including under the common reporting standard, beneficial ownership registers and the new European Directive on Administrative Cooperation (DAC 6) now needing consideration in relation to any structure put in place. The firm is coordinating all transactions, including a particular project representing the highest value transaction in the careers of the team, for these clients globally. A worthy winner.

Highly commended – McDermott Will & Emery

McDermott acted for the beneficiary of a Bahamian trustee and her adult children in the landmark UK Court of Appeal case of Dawson-Damer v Taylor Wessing. This case, which has garnered ongoing media attention, transformed the right of trust beneficiaries to documents and personal data held by trustees and their lawyers.

Led by London co-head of private client Ziva Robertson, the McDermott team secured a momentous victory for Dawson-Damer, seeking the release of personal data held by their trustee’s law firm, Taylor Wessing.

Other nominations

Forsters

A major highlight for this private wealth-focused firm was its coordination of a global succession plan for the second generation of an Asian family, which involved the development of a family constitution and a structuring exercise involving the reorganisation of 100 companies worldwide.

Gherson Solicitors

Throughout 2019 this firm represented Zamira Hajiyeva, the woman at the centre of the so-called McMafia ‘dirty money’ investigation, including successfully defending an extradition request from the Republic of Azerbaijan.

Macfarlanes

This respected team acts in a general legal capacity to a major family office as an outsourced legal adviser on a range of issues, including the restructuring of a series of trusts holding a majority stake in a major non-UK listed business.

Taylor Wessing

Representing Equity Trust (Jersey), the appellant, in the Z Trust litigation, running proceedings in the Jersey and English courts in which it successfully argued and established new principles of trust law.