Legal Business

Deal watch: Eversheds Sutherland races to advise Formula 1 team on administration as Cooley acts on $126.8m tech IPO

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Corporate CooleyEversheds Sutherland

Eversheds Sutherland has landed a major role on the administration of Formula 1 team Force India as Cooley advises a UK IT company on its $126.8m IPO and Herbert Smith Freehills (HSF) acts on a $388m Philippines agribusiness deal.

Finance partner Jamie Leader led Eversheds as it represented Brockstone Limited, the services company linked to Force India driver Sergio Pérez, on a High Court administration application intended to safeguard the jobs of 400 employees.

With the application approved, Eversheds will now advise administrators Geoff Rowley and Jason Baker of FRP Advisory on the management of Force India.

Force India’s financial crisis comes as its team principal, Indian businessman Vijay Mallya, fights a worldwide freezing order and is also attempting to ward off an effort by India to extradite him from Britain to answer fraud charges.

According to Leader, it was a challenging mandate for the Eversheds team due to the timescale; the administration application was made on 20 July with the hearing taking place a week later on 27 July.

The hearing was also subject to a last-ditch intervention from soft drink company Rich Energy, which had a £30m cash injection rejected by the court.

Leader told Legal Business: ‘Most of the major stakeholders felt that the team be put under the control of independent professionals to solve its financial problems. The company was under the control of directors who were not in a position to support it. It’s really important that we were able to save 400 jobs.’

Elsewhere, Cooley has represented UK IT company Endava on its IPO on the New York Stock Exchange. The listing saw Endava issue 6.3 million shares at $20 each, giving the flotation an overall value of $126.8m.

A transatlantic team including Boston partner Nicole Brookshire, Reston, Virginia-based partner Richard Segal and London partner Ed Lukins picked up the instruction.

Lukins told Legal Business: ‘It is a first in terms of a UK plc going straight for a US listing with a dual-share class structure, similar to that employed by Snap and Google. Enhanced voting rights are not a feature of European markets, but afford management greater flexibility to execute Endava’s stated strategy.’

Davis Polk & Wardwell also landed a role on the listing, advising bookrunners Morgan Stanley, Citigroup, Credit Suisse and Deutsche Bank.

Finally, HSF has exercised its foreign law alliance with Singapore firm Prolegis to advise on a $338m deal financing.

The firm acted for a bank syndicate as it financed Philippines company AEV International’s buyout of Gold Coin Management Holdings, one of Asia’s predominant agribusiness companies. The syndicate consisted of DBS Bank, Mizuho Bank, MUFG Bank and Standard Chartered.

HSF partner and head of Asia finance Adrian Cheng led for the firm, alongside a team of associates.

tom.baker@legalease.co.uk

Legal Business

Eversheds wins key Rolls-Royce mandate as Norwegian group lands marine business

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Dealwatch Eversheds Sutherland

Nigel Cooke leads the team advising the UK giant on its £500m sale

Engineering giant Rolls-Royce turned to long-term adviser Eversheds Sutherland for the £500m sale of its unprofitable commercial marine division to Nordic technology company Kongsberg Gruppen.

Legal Business

Sole-adviser relationships: Commitment issues

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In-house DLA PiperEversheds Sutherland

Commitment. Marriage. Honeymoon. Divorce. Conversations about single-supplier legal advisory mandates are rife with relationship-strewn analogies.

While no two arrangements are the same, most begin with a commitment from a company and its in-house legal team to reduce external legal spend and get a better handle on its multitude of legal connections.

Legal Business

Revolving Doors: City laterals pick up with hires at Dentons and Eversheds as international moves maintain momentum

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Strategic recruitment DentonsEversheds Sutherland

City recruitment picked up after a lull last week as Dentons strengthened its bench in London at the hand of Eversheds Sutherland, which saw moves both ways.

Dentons announced the hire of Howard Barrie, who re-joins the firm after several years at Eversheds Sutherland. Barrie had previously spent 19 years with Dentons in his first stint at the firm, and returns to its finance practice.

Barrie focuses on projects and project finance, as well as structured trade finance and commodity finance. Paul Holland, head of Dentons’ UK and banking finance practice, commented: ‘Paul brings an immense amount of international experience – in particular with regards to Africa – to the table, and we are confident he will help us to further enhance and grow our project finance work across the African continent and elsewhere’

Coming the other way, Eversheds made an addition to its City real estate practice in the form of Morgan Lewis & Bockius partner Paul Beausang. He was previously London head of tax at K&L Gates, and specialises in real estate tax structuring and transactional execution.

David Watkins, global co-head of real estate at Eversheds, commented on the hire: ‘The depth and market knowledge of UK real estate structuring offered by our real estate practice is a great match for Paul’s strength and expertise.’

Also in London, Hogan Lovells announced the hire of Jennifer O’Connell as finance partner to its London international debt capital markets practice. Jennifer returns to the firm from an in-house role at CACIB, the corporate and investment banking arm of the Crédit Agricole Group.

International recruitment continued apace last week, with CMS hiring Michał Mężykowski in Poland from Dentons. Mężykowski will join the firm’s banking and finance practice, bringing experience advising financial institutions with a particular focus on the real estate market. Mężykowski had been a partner at Dentons for eight years.

Across the Atlantic, Kennedys bolstered its New York office with the hire of Mark Dessi from US firm Skarzynski Black. Dessi had previously been at Sharzynski Black since 2014, and has experience representing insurers in negotiating and litigating first and third party insurance claims.

Dessi commented: ‘This move appealed to me for many reasons, including joining Kennedys’ impressive financial lines practice. Given the nature of my practice, the breadth and depth of the firm’s global network was especially important.’

Further afield, Stephenson Harwood announced the hire of Kevin Lee to its global private wealth practice. Lee will join the firm’s Hong Kong office from Zhong Lun Law Firm, where he had been since 2015.

Stephenson Harwood partner Ian Devereux commented on the hire: ‘Having a lawyer of Kevin’s quality – seen by many as the premier Canadian tax and private wealth advisor in Hong Kong – enables us to broaden the support we can provide to our clients.’

In South America, Mayer Brown announced the hire of Raúl Fernández-Briseño, who joins the firm as partner in Mexico City. Fernández joins from American firm White & Case, and has experience in transactional matters and financing, particularly in the aviation and private equity industries.

Fernández had spent nearly 20 years at White & Case and will serve as the head of M&A at Mayer Brown in Mexico City. Commenting on his move, Fernández said: ‘Mayer Brown has a sterling reputation among different industries, which view the firm as a fantastic resource for solving complex problems and steering clients through sophisticated transactions’

thomas.alan@legalbusiness.co.uk

Legal Business

‘A clear validation of our strategy’: Eversheds bounces back with double-digit revenue and profit growth

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Financial results 2017/18 Eversheds Sutherland

In its first full financial year since its transatlantic merger, Eversheds Sutherland (International) has recorded a robust increase in both revenue and profit per equity partner (PEP).

In revenue terms – which apply to the legacy Eversheds portion of the business – the firm saw a 13% increase from £438.6m to £494.6m. PEP, meanwhile, grew by a similar margin of 12% from £726,000 to £812,000 – the highest-ever PEP figure achieved by the firm.

Chief executive Lee Ranson (pictured) conceded that the positive results owed significantly to the knock-on effect of the firm’s recent international expansion, which includes the  February 2017 tie-up with US outfit Sutherland Asbill & Brennan,  but also asserted there had been ‘organic growth’.

Due to the merger or not, the results will be welcome after last year’s lacklustre performance, where the firm’s net profit and PEP dipped by 4% and 2% respectively as the firm shouldered the costs of the union.

On that point, Ranson commented: ‘It is particularly pleasing to see a strong uptick in profitability after a number of years of flat or negative growth – a clear validation of the success of our strategy. A year ago I said that confidence in the business is high, and it remains so as we build momentum and look forward to another year of growth.’

In February, on the one year anniversary of the US combination, Eversheds Sutherland unveiled combined global revenues as just under $1bn – a 5% increase on the year before.

The international results cap off a particularly expansive financial year for the firm, opening offices and forging alliances in Singapore, Dusseldorf, Moscow, St Petersburg, Amsterdam and Rotterdam.

While revenues are rising, Eversheds revealed a flat partnership promotion round last month. The firm made up 20 partners globally, the same figure as last year.

The results also come as the firm expands its tax practice in London, this week hiring Paul Beausang from Morgan Lewis. Beausang, who will fill the role of head of real estate tax, previously served in a similar position at K&L Gates.

tom.baker@legalease.co.uk

Legal Business

UK Litigation Outlook sponsored briefing: Three is a crowd! The rise of third-party funding in international arbitration

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Disputes Yearbook 2018 Eversheds Sutherland

Eversheds Sutherland assesses the key issues of using third-party funding in international arbitration

The use of third-party funding (TPF) has been a hotly debated topic in the international dispute resolution community for some time, with all signs pointing to its continued growth. The funding market appears to be on a constant expansion trajectory, with the number and geographic diversity of funders increasing, and new funders continuing to enter the market.

Legal Business

Eversheds Sutherland settles £100m Northern Rock negligence case

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Finance Eversheds Sutherland

A £100m claim brought against Eversheds Sutherland by Northern Rock Asset Management (NRAM) has been settled.

NRAM’s claim, which came to light in late 2016, alleged professional negligence in relation to advice the legacy Eversheds firm provided following a review of two annual statements for a ‘together loan’ – a combination of a secured mortgage and an unsecured loan at a single interest rate with one combined monthly payment.

The £100m claim was understood to have first been made in 2014, although progress in the early years had been slow. Eversheds and NRAM have now agreed a resolution, however, before the matter reached court.

An Eversheds spokesperson said: ‘The resolution was agreed at a mediation on 6 February 2018 and the terms are confidential.’ An NRAM spokesperson confirmed the resolution.

NRAM had claimed the annual statements Eversheds advised on in 2010 ‘did not comply with the requirements of the Consumer Credit Act’ and the advice failed to be provided within a ‘reasonable time’. It also alleged the advice meant the loans were not enforceable and NRAM became liable to repay or refund all charges and interest it had charged to borrowers.

Eversheds denied the claim and in 2016 said it was being ‘vigorously defended’.

hamish.mcnicol@legalbusiness.co.uk

Legal Business

Flat partner promotions round at Eversheds Sutherland a year after merger

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Partnership promotions Eversheds Sutherland

Eversheds Sutherland’s international business has made 20 partner promotions globally, the same as last year, with more than half outside the UK.

In the UK the firm made up nine partners across Cardiff, Manchester, Leeds, Nottingham and London, where four were promoted. The 11 promoted outside the UK are in Dubai, Dublin, Hong Kong, Johannesburg, Milan, Munich, Riyadh, Rotterdam and Warsaw.

Eight of the overall promotions are female, while 11 promotions were in the company commercial practice group, four each in litigation and real estate, and one in human resources. The 20 promotions match last year’s rounds, but are down on the previous year’s 26 promotions . In December, Eversheds Sutherland US made 17 partner promotions.

Chief executive Lee Ranson commented on the international promotions round, which also includes nine legal director promotions: ‘Each of our new partners and legal directors has demonstrated outstanding technical ability in their specialist areas of law, a strong reputation within their teams and a dynamic approach to developing their client base and wider practice teams. Additionally, the breadth of geographies represented by our newly promoted colleagues reinforces our global coverage goals.’

Partner promotions have generally been mixed so far this year , with LB100 top-30 firms Taylor Wessing increasing to three promotions, Holman Fenwick Willan (HFW) increasing its round to eight partners, and Dentons recording a drop in London promotions as it took on 36 new partners globally. Elsewhere, Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer announced it had promoted a modest five lawyers to its London partnership, while Linklaters increased the size of its promotions round for the fifth year in a row, adding 27 lawyers to its partnership.

hamish.mcnicol@legalease.co.uk

 

Eversheds Sutherland 2018 partner promotions in full:

Anmar Al Gharifi, company commercial, Riyadh

Gareth Ashfield, real estate, Cardiff

Nicola Brookes, company commercial, Manchester

Greg Falkof, litigation, London

Marta Gadomska-Golab, company commercial, Warsaw

Simon Harris, real estate, Leeds

Holger Holle, company commercial, Munich

Aleksandra Kunkiel-Krynska, company commercial, Warsaw

Richard Kyle, company commercial, London

Lucas Lustermans, company commercial, Rotterdam

Shalagh Massingham, litigation, Dubai

Alexander Mehdevy, company commercial, London

David Milne, company commercial, Leeds

Julia Neal, litigation, London

Terry O’Malley, real estate, Dublin

Marie O’Riordan, real estate, Dublin

Gabriele Pignatti Morano, company commercial, Milan

Mark Pipkin, human resources, Nottingham

Helen Westman, litigation, Johannesburg

Amy Yu, company commercial, Hong Kong

 

 

Legal Business

Eversheds and HFW disclose gender pay gaps for partners but calls mount for an end to cherry-picked stats

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Gender diversity Eversheds SutherlandHolman Fenwick Willan

The one-upmanship and tactical disclosures from law firms are gradually revealing more about entrenched gender pay gaps. Next up, Eversheds Sutherland has reported that its female equity partners are paid 10% more on average, while top 50 UK firm HFW has provided breakdowns for its entire workforce.

Eversheds’ report, published today (28 March), reveals its statutory pay gap for employees is 23% on average, rising to 25% on a median basis. The bonus difference is 43% on average, dropping to 31% median.

But the firm also disclosed partner pay figures, as others including Clifford Chance (CC), Pinsent Masons and Norton Rose Fulbright have recently done. These figures show Eversheds’ female equity partners earn 10% more on average, and 8% more on a median basis. The fixed share partner pay difference is 4% more for males on average, and 6% for the median, however. The firm’s partnership is currently 27% female.

Eversheds chief executive Lee Ranson commented: ‘Our numbers, in keeping with most of our peer firms, clearly demonstrate there is work to be done here. As a profession, we must all seek to address the issues that have been thrown in to sharp relief through the gender pay reporting process.’

Earlier this week, Pinsents senior partner Richard Foley called for changes to the gender pay reporting regime ahead of next year, saying there was a perception hardening that lawyers and accountants are trying to duck the issue by not publishing their partner numbers. CC, meanwhile, reported its overall pay disparity which included total partner earnings, including any bonuses or profit share entitlements, revealing a 66% pay gap on a mean basis and 44% on a median basis.

Also publishing breakdowns today was HFW, which cited no differential in average hourly pay for its fee-earners, while its female associates are paid 5% more on average than males. The firm noted, however, that the outwardly strong numbers on female associates were in part a result of having a concentration of highly-paid associates beneath a male-dominated partnership.

The energy and shipping specialist’s statutory pay gap (meaning all staff, not including partners) sees men paid 17% more on an average basis, rising to 31% for the median. Its bonus gap is 41% more for males on average, and 54% on a median basis. Male partners at the firm earn 9% more on average, while the median gap is 28%.

HFW managing partner Marcus Bowman commented: ‘We take our commitments to diversity and inclusion very seriously, so we are very pleased that our report confirms that there is no difference in average pay or access to a bonus for male and female fee-earners at the firm. But we also acknowledge that the results show that we need to work harder to ensure gender diversity across all of our roles, particularly at the most senior levels of the firm. This is a serious challenge facing the entire legal industry and one that we are determined to overcome.’

The flurry of disclosures have been met with an increasing recognition of the difficulty of establishing benchmarks that are both meaningful and provide realistic like-for-like comparisons. Growing numbers are calling for the industry to come together to agree some common approaches. It would certainly help the ranks of innumerate legal hacks.

hamish.mcnicol@legalease.co.uk

Legal Business

High street collapse sees Global 100 players line up on Toys R Us and Maplin failures

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Corporate Eversheds SutherlandKirkland & Ellis

In a worrying trend for high-street retailers, Toys R Us and Maplin have announced their UK domestic businesses are going into administration, allowing Kirkland & Ellis and Eversheds Sutherland to land key insolvency roles.

Kirkland was led by restructuring partners Kon Asimacopoulos and Elaine Nolan, as the firm was called in to advise Moorfield as administrator on Toys R Us, while Eversheds Sutherland was led by David Gray advising PwC on the Maplin collapse.