Legal Business

‘We are a true partnership’: Slaughter and May names Wittmann new practice head as CC re-elects senior partner

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Leadership Clifford ChanceSlaughter and May
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Slaughter and May has appointed David Wittmann as the firm’s practice partner with the role’s current holder, partner Paul Olney, stepping down at the end of the year.

Wittmann will be responsible for the firm’s overall practice strategy and development both within the firm and its ‘best friends’ relationships with leading law firms outside the UK.

Slaughter and May has offices in London, Brussels, Beijing and Hong Kong, and Wittman rejects the view that Slaughter and May is a UK focused firm. ‘We operate from four offices,’ he said. ‘The competition like to paint us into a UK domestic firm but a large amount of the firm’s work is international across all out practice areas.’

Wittman told Legal Business that while ‘it will be business as usual’, he will focus on maintaining the firm’s culture. ‘We are not a heavily managed firm, we are a true partnership and this is very central to the way we operate. We don’t direct partners on how to manage their practices but try and build a consensus,’ he said. ‘M&A has been somewhat patchy this year, but we have been busy in disputes, regulatory work, competition and investigations.’

The role, when it goes into effect on 1 January 2015, will see him work closely with senior partner Chris Saul and executive partner Richard Clark. He succeeds Paul Olney who announced previously that he would retire from the firm at the end of 2014, after six years in the role and having been a partner at the firm since 1990.

Wittmann became a partner in 1997, having joined Slaughter and May as a trainee solicitor in 1988. His time at the Magic Circle firm has seen him advise on corporate, corporate finance and private equity work.

Meanwhile, Clifford Chance has re-elected Malcolm Sweeting as senior partner to serve a second four-year term and chair the firm’s Partnership Council. Sweeting said, ‘The legal landscape is not immune to change, and it is clear that our clients are increasingly challenging us to innovate and adapt. It is also clear from discussions with our clients, across sectors and from around the globe, that there are fantastic opportunities for Clifford Chance to support them as they look to achieve their ambitions and navigate this rapidly changing environment.’

jaishree.kalia@legalease.co.uk

Legal Business

Testing times: CC’s Myers and Felsenstein talk partner exits and having probably ‘the best private equity team in the world’

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Leadership Clifford Chance
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It’s fair to say Clifford Chance’s (CC’s) traditionally esteemed private equity team has faced testing times in recent years, as evidenced by the ongoing recruitment of the Magic Circle firm’s quality lawyers by US outfits.

There are reasons to believe that the ship is still unsettled as it’s understood the firm’s global private equity co-head, London-based Jonny Myers, was himself approached by the rapidly growing Gibson Dunn, which recently hired PE heavyweight Charlie Geffen from Ashurst, while other names have come to the fore as considering their options.

But Myers and co-head Frankfurt-based Oliver Felsenstein, are unfazed by such tactics. ‘We are constantly the subject of rumour because we’re number one in private equity and it’s always the leaders who are scrutinised the most’ says Myers.

With its 30C high flying days firmly in the past, the Canary Wharf-headquartered CC has been the subject of considerable scrutiny over widely reported partner exits that brought into question its position as housing a preeminent buyout team. Significant departures of late included one of its biggest billers, David Walker, to Latham & Watkins in 2013. Walker was followed by Tom Evans and Kem Ihenacho only months later, constituting another blow as both were touted as rising stars to watch in the private equity space.

CC, which this year unveiled revenues of £1.36bn, can still boast a deep bench of players within its 50-strong sector group with the likes of partners Spencer Baylin, Nicholas Hughes, up-and-comer Amy Mahon, and David Pearson, while client names on the books include Barclays Bank and private equity houses Permira, Cinven, Clayton Dubilier & Rice, Electra Partners, and, to a lesser extent following certain departures, Carlyle. ‘We have the best private equity practice in the world,’ says Felsenstein. ‘Associates join us because they want to play in the Champions League. And they want to have the best training – even if they decide to leave us, they’ve got the best career opportunities wherever they go.’

Indeed, acclaim for the group saw it shortlisted for private equity team of the year at the Legal Business Awards 2014 after advising Cinven on its parallel acquisitions of Mercury Pharma for £465m, and Amdipharm for £367m, in a buy-and-build strategy aimed at combining the two pharmaceutical businesses. Together the two deals made up one of the largest UK buyouts last year.

Given this performance, Felsenstein is confident that many of his colleagues believe their ambitions are best served at CC, and says: ‘There are always people who are after short term money – our compensation system, which has a long term view, may see people go from time to time – but we must make sure that as a firm we’re bigger than any individual partner could be and not only in revenue terms but also with client relationships. When some partners left – we thought some client relationships would be at risk but clients stayed with us because they want the best advice from the best PE firm. We all get calls from recruiters almost every day – the majority have decided to stay.’

sarah.downey@legalease.co.uk

Legal Business

‘Ahead of the curve’: Allen & Overy and Clifford Chance act on UK government’s landmark renminbi bond issue

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Finance Allen & OveryClifford Chance
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Magic Circle firms Allen & Overy (A&O) and Clifford Chance have advised on the UK’s renminbi debut bond issue, the first for a non-Chinese sovereign and signalling the first steps of China’s currency internationalising.

The 2.70% three year bonds were almost twice oversubscribed and, at RMB3bn, it was the largest renminbi issue so far by a non-Chinese issuer. The bonds were allocated to a wide range of investors including central banks, bank treasuries and fund managers across the world.

Clifford Chance represented the Bank of England and HM Treasury, led by banking partner David Dunnigan, while A&O advised Bank of China, HSBC and Standard Chartered as joint arrangers on the transaction, led by London-based capital markets partners Geoff Fuller and international markets partner Matthew Hartley.

Hartley said: ‘The Renminbi bond market has been growing in the last few years. The UK government is the first non-Chinese sovereign to come into that market and brings in a new asset class. So far, it has been the Chinese government, Chinese banks and other multinationals that have offered Renminbi bonds. I anticipate that this will encourage other governments to bring similar products to the market.’

The deal marks the UK governments’ interest in becoming a renminbi hub, as well as representing a significant step in the internationalisation of the Chinese currency. The funds will be used to diversify the UK’s reserves, which have only included financial assets denominated in Canadian and US dollars, euros and yen. The proceeds are expected to be reinvested in the small but rapidly-growing renminbi offshore market.

A&O capital markets partner Geoff Fuller said: ‘The renminbi is quickly becoming a vital part of the currency mix, and the UK has shown itself to be ahead of the curve once again by being the first Western sovereign to raise debt finance in this way. We expect this will prompt market participants from both the private and public sectors to follow.’

jaishree.kalia@legalease.co.uk

Legal Business

Dealwatch: Linklaters and Clifford Chance drive webuyanycar.com owner’s IPO

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Corporate Clifford ChanceLinklaters
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As the rush by British companies to float on the London Stock Exchange (LSE) continues apace, Magic circle pair Linklaters and Clifford Chance (CC) have secured leading advisory roles on the high profile initial public offering of BCA Marketplace, Europe’s second largest second-hand vehicle auctioneer and the owner of webuyanycar.com.

Plans were unveiled Monday (6 October) by the company, formerly called British Car Auction, of its intention to float with the expectation of raising £200m in proceeds, a move which could value the business at up to £1.2bn.

Linklaters senior corporate partner trio John Lane, Charlie Jacobs, and Jason Manketo took leading roles advising BCA Marketplace, while CC finance partners Simon Thomas and Chris Walton advised the bookrunners which included JP Morgan and UBS.

Linklaters has been gifted with major listings of late, including advising on Just Eat’s corporate mandate valued at between £700m to £900m alongside Herbert Smith Freehills; Lloyds Bank on its £1.5bn floatation of a 25% share of its TSB business alongside Freshfields; and only last month taking a role alongside Allen & Overy on Emaar Malls Group’s near $1.58bn initial public offering.

Heavyweight IPO work secured by CC includes advising alongside Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer on the debut of bargain store chain B&M on the LSE, which in June was valued at £2.7bn.

US private equity group Clayton, Dubillier & Rice acquired BCA in 2009 for £400m including debt and own 70% of the company, with management holding the remainder. Travers Smith secured the role advising BCA’s management team, with corporate partner Adrian West leading a team and assisted by senior partner Chris Hale, founder of the firm’s private equity group and who is currently the relationship partner for the longstanding client, while tax partner Russell Warren also advised.

BCA acquired webuyanycar.com in August 2013 and since then the latter business has continued to expand rapidly in the UK, and recently started expanding into the European market with a Netherlands branch this year.

Non-executive chairman of BCA Fred Kindle said: ‘I have been impressed by the significant growth that BCA has delivered as a private company, but there is much more to come. The business will build on its strong market positions, its digital presence and its trusted relationships with professional buyers and vendors. BCA has a bright future and its listing on the London Stock Exchange is the ideal foundation for the group to move to the next stage of its development’.

sarah.downey@legalease.co.uk

Legal Business

Perspectives: Simon Davis, Clifford Chance

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Disputes Yearbook 2014 Clifford Chance
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When I was at school trying to figure out what to study at university, the school organised a series of individuals to give us a talk. They were all fine – from major multinationals and different industries – but none of them made me think: ‘Wow, this is what I want to do with my life.’ It wasn’t until a solicitor from Woking turned up – a specialist in criminal law – and he was hilarious. He was the only one who was enormously enjoying what he was doing. That was the first inkling that work could be enjoyable.

You wonder about becoming a solicitor or a barrister. I knew if I went the barrister route – which would have worked quite well since I like the sound of my own voice – if I failed as a barrister, I would be stony broke. If I failed as a solicitor, at least I could pay my expenses along the way. Also, the barrister profession can be quite a solitary existence compared to solicitors meeting clients. My personality led me to being a solicitor. I made the right choice.

Legal Business

Offshore firms join in as Cleary and Clifford Chance lead on Rusal’s $5.15bn debt restructuring

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Finance Cleary Gottlieb Steen & HamiltonClifford Chance
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Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton and Clifford Chance picked up the lead roles along with a raft of offshore firms as Russian aluminum giant Rusal carried out a $5.15bn debt restructuring following a slower than expected recovery in the commodities market.

London-based partner Polina Lyadnova led for Cleary as Hong Kong-listed Rusal extended two financial agreements, a $4.75bn facility agreed in 2011 with lenders led by French bank BNP Paribas and a $400m facility created in 2013 with a gaggle of financial institutions that includes Dutch bank ING, from 2018 to 2020. The lenders were advised on the deal by Clifford Chance’s Moscow managing partner Logan Wright and London-based partner Iain White.

It is Rusal’s largest restructuring since 2009, when Lyadnova served as counsel on its $16.8bn restructuring, the largest ever for a Russian company.

With some of the lenders involved having originally held out of the deal, Cleary Gottlieb also advised on a proposed parallel schemes of arrangement in England and Jersey, where Rusal is incorporated, to secure a court-binding sanction forcing holdout creditors into the agreement. However, given that more than 75% of the lenders approved the extension and readjustment of terms, the $5.15bn restructuring was eventually agreed voluntarily on 18 August.

Lyadnova was supported by London-based associates Jim Ho, David Stubbs and Michael Rackham, and a similar sized team in Moscow. Additional advice was provided in Jersey by local firm Bedell, with senior partner Anthony Dessain and litigation partner Edward Drummond. Cleary tapped Pestalozzi for local advice in Switzerland and Harneys in Cyprus.

tom.moore@legalease.co.uk

Legal Business

‘I’m a great one for re-inventing myself’: Clifford Chance global COO Amanda Burton steps down

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Magic Circle firm Clifford Chance (CC) has confirmed that global chief operating officer Amanda Burton will be stepping down from the role at the end of this year to ‘focus on non-executive board work’.

The news of Burton’s step-down emerges as major changes to the firm’s governance structure go live this month. In July it voted to overhaul its governance including establishing a 12-strong executive leadership group, on which Burton had secured a place as chief operating officer. Replacing the firm’s former 16-strong executive committee and chaired by global managing partner Matthew Layton, the slimmed-down executive group is tasked with setting and implementing the City giant’s strategy.

It is understood that the firm, which this year revealed its highest ever financial results to date with revenue up 7% to £1.36bn, will now seek potential candidates both internally and externally to succeed Burton in the role.

Having joined CC in 2000 from the now-acquired British builders merchant group Meyer International, where she served as legal and corporate services director, the Slaughter and May-trained Burton has been involved in streamlining the firm’s business services efforts and spearheading various initiatives including its New Delhi-based knowledge centre, a project set up in 2007 to provide support for CC’s global network on tasks including research and analysis. Burton was further involved in establishing the firm’s India-based global shared service centre (GSSC), a project designed to give the firm better control of costs and tighter central coordination of administration services.

On her departure, Layton said: ‘Amanda has made a fantastic contribution to the success of the firm over the 14 years that she has been with us. She leaves with our thanks and very best wishes for her future’.

Burton added: ‘I’m a great one for re-inventing myself. I’ve been with Clifford Chance for 14 years, the last four as global COO and I’ve come to the conclusion it’s time to move on and build a board portfolio. I’ve never had a career plan in my life and that has stood me in good stead; when opportunities have come along I’ve not automatically gone “that doesn’t suit me”, I’ll always have a look at it’.

sarah.downey@legalease.co.uk

Legal Business

Dealwatch: Phones 4u, with £105m profit and ‘cash in the bank’, enters administration with CC, A&O and CMS acting

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Corporate Allen & OveryClifford ChanceCMS
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Allen & Overy (A&O), Clifford Chance and CMS Cameron McKenna have all landed key roles advising on the administration of high street retailer Phones4u.

With PwC acting as administrator, the company went into administration on Sunday [14 September] after the withdrawal of EE, O2 and Vodafone products from its stores, placing 5,596 jobs and more than 700 outlets at risk.

Owned by pan-European private equity house BC Partners, a statement from the company said on Sunday: ‘Following the decisions of Vodafone and EE, Phones 4u has no option but to seek the appointment of administrators from PwC’.

The statement continued:’Phones 4u is a profitable, well-managed business with 550 standalone stores, employing 5,596 people. The company has a turnover of over £1bn, EBITDA of £105m for 2013 and significant cash in the bank.’

A&O restructuring and corporate insolvency partner Ian Field is leading a team advising Phones4u alongside the firm’s managing partner of the global restructuring and insolvency group Mark Sterling.

Clifford Chance is understood to be advising the lenders of the company’s rolling credit facility on the administration with a team led by finance partner Charles Cochrane.

CMS Cameron McKenna is also advising on the mandate, and is acting for the security trustee, ING Bank, with corporate recovery and restructuring partner Martin Brown advising.

Shortly before the administration, Moody’s downgraded its outlook over the company’s ability to repay its debts following Vodafone’s decision to not renew its network agreement with Phones 4u, which represented more than 20% of the latter’s revenues and gross profit.

Sarah.downey@legalease.co.uk

Legal Business

Clifford Chance takes HSF partner in bid to boost its capital markets practice in Paris

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Strategic recruitment Clifford ChanceHerbert Smith Freehills
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Magic Circle firm Clifford Chance has hired longstanding Herbert Smith Freehills’ partner Alex Bafi, one of London’s high-profile US securities lawyers, as it expands its capital markets practice.

Bafi will relocate to Paris as part of the move, joining the firm’s finance and capital markets practice in January 2015. Bafi, who has been at HSF since 2001 after joining from white shoe firm Davis Polk & Wardwell, recently advised Bank of America Merrill Lynch on a high yield debt offering by Kuwait Energy, Credit Suisse on a £350m rights offering by Premier Foods and the £920m London IPO of Zoopla.

Bafi, who is fluent in French, Italian and Arabic, told Legal Business: ‘The move will allow me to use my languages and run further interesting mandates, and will reinforce Clifford Chance’s offering in France, Italy, Turkey, North Africa and the Middle East. Clifford has a great platform with offices in all the major centres in Europe, the Middle East and North Africa.’

Bafi, who is the global relationship partner for Credit Suisse, for whom his new firm is on the legal panel for, was elected to HSF’s partnership council in May 2011 for a three-year term.

Yves Wehrli, managing partner of Clifford Chance’s Paris office, commented: ‘Alex will further strengthen our equity and debt capital markets teams, as well as our acquisition finance team for high yield offerings, and our projects team, which is increasingly turning to the US bond markets for financing.’

Adrian Cartwright, global head of Clifford Chance’s capital markets practice, added: ‘The appointment of Alex in a major financial centre such as Paris was an obvious choice given the increasing importance of the US market for capital markets transactions. His expertise in high yield offerings will also be particularly useful on the French market.’

The move follows CC’s hire, earlier this week, of ex-Freshfields corporate partner Fabrice Cohen into its Paris office from Willkie Farr & Gallagher, alongside two other lawyers.

tom.moore@legalease.co.uk

Legal Business

Clifford Chance takes corporate team from Willkie Farr two years after leaving Freshfields

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Strategic recruitment Clifford ChanceWillkie Farr & Gallagher
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Magic Circle firm Clifford Chance has made a private equity push in continental Europe with the hire of Willkie Farr & Gallagher partner Fabrice Cohen in Paris, who moves as part of a three-lawyer team.

Cohen specialises in private equity transactions, domestic and cross-border M&A and securities law. Europe’s largest commercial aircraft maker Airbus is a longstanding client, with Cohen having advised the group  on the creation of the new Airbus Defence and Space division, which grouped Astrium Cassidian, and Airbus Military and Airbus Helicopters into one legal entity, in January.

General Motors is another major client of Cohen’s, who handled the US carmakers’ strategic alliance with France’s Peugeot Citroën, which included its acquisition of a 7% stake in the company. Counsel Gabriel Flandin and senior associate Basma Paradin also make the move, keeping intact a team that has been together since their days at rival Magic Circle firm Freshfields, where Cohen was the Paris head of corporate.

The latest move comes just two years after switching to Willkie Farr and Cohen becomes the third partner at Clifford Chance’s Paris office focusing on private equity. The team’s arrival brings the number of lawyers at Clifford Chance’s Paris office, headed by sports lawyer Yves Wehrli, up to 59 with Cohen becoming the tenth partner.  

Yves Wehrli, managing partner of Clifford Chance’s Paris office, said: ‘Fabrice will be a fantastic addition to our M&A group bringing a strong mix of private equity and general M&A expertise to our existing client offer. He is amongst the leading individuals in the market. The French economy is not that great so the busiest areas for us are those with international dimensions, which are likely to support the activity of the office, such as our finance and capital market practices, as well as cross-border M&A and international litigation.’

Cohen added: ‘I am convinced that the combination of our shared expertise in the French market, the synergies with our clients and Clifford Chance’s leading global M&A and private equity platforms will be a great success for the firm.’

Tom.moore@legalease.co.uk