Legal Business

Deal Watch: Freshfields and HSF lead on Liberty Global’s £481m acquisition of stake in ITV

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Corporate Freshfields Bruckhaus DeringerHerbert Smith Freehills
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Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer’s London managing partner Julian Long has advised Liberty Global on the US media group’s £481m purchase of BSkyB’s 6.4% stake in UK broadcaster ITV, with Herbert Smith Freehills acting for BSkyB.

Freshfields lifer Long, who was elected as London managing partner in March after a three-year stint as the office’s head of corporate, worked alongside corporate partner David Sonter. Sonter was also instructed in May by Liberty Global on its £550m joint-purchase with Discovery of All3media, the maker of Midsomer Murders and The Only Way is Essex.

Herbert Smith Freehills’ global head of M&A, Stephen Wilkinson advised BSkyB on the deal, alongside M&A partner Malcolm Lombers and corporate partner Charles Howarth.

A longstanding client, Wilkinson also led on BSkyB’s £160m acquisition of Virgin Media Television from Virgin Media. Lombers, perhaps best known for his advisory role for Qatar Investment Authority and UBS on their £8bn consortium bid for RWE Thames Water last year, was previously instructed by BSkyB on News Corporation’s attempt to take full control of the broadcaster for £7.7bn in 2010. 

Mike Fries, Liberty Global’s CEO, said: ‘This is an opportunistic and attractive investment for us in our largest cable market. ITV is the leading commercial broadcaster in the U.K. and we’re excited to be shareholders.’

As required by the UK Takeover Code, Liberty Global confirmed that it does not intend to make an offer to acquire ITV.

Tom.moore@legalease.co.uk

Legal Business

Dealwatch: HSF and Slaughters UK advisers on AbbVie’s $51bn bid for Shire

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Herbert Smith Freehills‘ corporate partners James Palmer and Gillian Fairfield have taken the UK lead on US drugmaker AbbVie’s proposed $51bn takeover of Ireland’s Shire Pharmaceuticals, which has selected Magic Circle firm Slaughter and May.

AbbVie upped its bid for Shire, which is listed on the London Stock Exchange, from $46bn to $51bn earlier this week after Shire felt the previous offer significantly undervalued its business, which has built up a more diverse rare diseases division in recent years.

HSF has been instructed alongside Sullivan & Cromwell by AbbVie, which was yesterday (9 July) forced to retract comments made by its chief executive Richard Gonzalez on shareholder support for its bid after breaching UK Takeover Panel rules.

Stephen Cooke, who has headed Slaughter and May’s M&A group since 2001 and is well known for lead roles on high-profile M&A, including Cadbury’s takeover by Kraft in 2010, is leading the team advising Shire, alongside corporate partners Martin Hattrell and Adam Eastell.

Slaughter and May has been selected by Shire to work with US advisors Davis Polk & Wardwell, which also advised AstraZeneca along with Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer on the £69bn hostile takeover approach made by Pfizer earlier this year.

Davis Polk’s global co-head of M&A George ‘GAR’ Bason, who was instructed on multiple mandates by Citigroup following the fallout from the financial crisis and last year advised China National Offshore Oil Corp on its $15.1bn takeover of Canadian energy producer Nexen in what became the largest foreign takeover by a Chinese entity, leads the US end of Shire’s deal, alongside corporate partners William Chudd and John Meade.

Tom.moore@legalease.co.uk

Legal Business

Herbert Smith Freehills launches German competition practice with hire of Taylor Wessing head Michael Dietrich

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Herbert Smith Freehills (HSF) has moved one step closer to offering clients a full service out of its still fledgling German offices with the launch of local competition capability led by Taylor Wessing’s former regional practice head Michael Dietrich.

A specialist in German and EU competition law, Dietrich focusses on merger control, regulatory investigations, litigation and compliance programmes. He has led Taylor Wessing’s German competition, EU and trade practice since 2013, having joined the firm in 2007 from Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer.

Dietrich becomes HSF’s sixth partner hire in Germany since it opened for business in April 2013 with offices in Frankfurt and Berlin. He follows corporate lawyers Ralf Thaeter, Nico Abel, and real estate specialist Hans Thomas Kessler who joined from Gleiss Lutz, Norton Rose Fulbright, and legacy SJ Berwin respectively.

In February the top 10 UK firm launched a German disputes practice with the hire of former Baker & McKenzie partner Mathias Wittinghofer, while finance partner Kai Liebrich joined the firm last month from Mayer Brown.

Sonya Leydecker, HSF’s joint-CEO recently pointed to Germany as a core focus for international growth and the firm has acted on deals including Air Liquide’s €2.7 billion acquisition of Messer Griesheim’s industrial gas activities in Germany, the UK and the US.

Thaeter, who is leading the firm’s development in Germany, said: ‘Michael’s arrival represents an important milestone for our German offices. By enabling us to offer transactional and behavioural competition expertise to clients in Germany and German companies with overseas operations, he complements both our corporate and disputes practices and brings us a step closer to full service capability in Europe’s largest economy.’

James Quinney, co-chairman of HSF’s global competition, regulation and trade practice, added: ‘Adding German capability significantly enhances our global competition practice. Our German client base is looking for this expertise, as are our clients based in other jurisdictions who are increasingly looking for guidance about one of the most actively enforced competition regimes in Europe. Equally the need for competition expertise in Germany is underlined by the fact that it is now one of the main jurisdictions of choice for follow-on cartel damages litigation.’

Tom.moore@legalease.co.uk

Legal Business

Financial results 2013/14: Herbert Smith Freehills’ first full financial results post merger show revenue of £800m and £741k PEP

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Financial results 2013/14 Herbert Smith Freehills
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Herbert Smith Freehills’ (HSF’s) first full financial results post merger has seen it unveil revenues of £800m and profit per equity partner (PEP) of £741,000 for 2013/14.

The firm’s net income stood at £232m.

In July last year the top 10 UK firm reported revenues of £471.2m for only the seven months from October 2012 to April 2013 that the merger had been in effect.

Extrapolated over a year the revenue figure was estimated to be £796m and the firm’s full 2012/13 numbers have not been published, however it claimed today that its 2013/14 revenue of £800m was a 5% increase on the previous year, suggesting that last year’s revenue figure was just over £760m.

Sonya Leydecker, HSF’s joint-CEO, told Legal Business: ‘It’s been a year of two parts for quite a lot of our non-contentious practices, with challenging economic conditions in the first half of the year followed by a return of market confidence and with that the return of transactional activity. That was true across the world.

‘This year we’ve internationalised the practices and had a much greater focus on promoting our sector expertise. We’ve been working hard on our client relationships and professionalising systems for dealing with that. UK revenues were up on the back of a very strong disputes performance but also the transactional practices coming back in the second half. Germany is producing good revenues in our first year there and our New York office, which launched in 2012, is profitable and successful in its own right but having New York law capabilities is a great addition for clients right across the network and it wins us work.

‘What’s helped us the most is the flows across regions, with much greater cross-office working over the last year than previously, particularly across Australia and Asia and there are numerous examples of matters where we wouldn’t have run work as separate firms but joined up we do.’

The firm experienced strong growth in the UK, China and Germany, where it is currently recruiting, having opened its first German offices in Frankfurt and Berlin in April 2013 and made its fifth partner hire in the country in June, with the arrival of finance specialist Kai Liebrich from Mayer Brown.

HSF brought together the previously separate remuneration structures of Herbert Smith and Freehills earlier this year and joint-CEO Mark Rigotti told Legal Business that ‘the global profit pool is designed to make us joined up and a truly global business as we seek to become the leading firm in Asia Pacific’.

Tom.moore@legalease.co.uk

Legal Business

Herbert Smith Freehills boosts US investigations with hire of former assistant attorney and SEC chief John O’Donnell

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Herbert Smith Freehills’ (HSF’s) Manhattan office has capitalised on the US revolving door with the hire of John O’Donnell, a former assistant US attorney and branch chief in the Securities and Exchange Commission’s enforcement unit, who joins to boost the top 10 UK firm’s New York investigations division.

O’Donnell joins the firm after spending ten years as an assistant US attorney in the criminal division of the Southern District of New York, five of which were in the securities fraud unit, where he was involved in over 100 investigations ranging from securities fraud to market manipulation and RICO (Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organisations Act work.)

He has been tasked with helping to expand HSF’s investigations and financial services litigation group and will work closely with the practice’s US head Scott Balber.

HSF opened its New York office in September 2012, a launch largely made on the back of a series of lateral hires from Chadbourne & Parke. The 24-office firm, which has put disputes as the core of its offering in New York, is targeting growth in cross-border investigations as US regulators seek greater co-operation with their overseas counterparts.

The New York office has become an important part of HSF’s international network since opening for business, with an international arbitration team led by Larry Shore, a cross-border litigation team led by Thomas Riley, and an investigations and financial services litigation team led by Balber.

Kyle Wombolt, global head of HSF’s corporate crime and investigations practice, said: ‘The increase in governmental regulation means that businesses frequently find themselves under investigation by authorities in multiple jurisdictions at the same time. With specialist partners in London, New York, Hong Kong, Paris and Australia, Herbert Smith Freehills is one of the few firms that is able to provide clients with joined-up representation in all of the key regulatory centres, and given the global reach of US-based prosecutors and regulators John’s arrival significantly enhances our capability in the crucial New York market.’

Thomas Riley, managing partner of HSF’s New York office, added: ‘John’s experience in the Southern District of New York – one of the US’s leading federal prosecutor’s offices – as well as in a regulatory environment at the Securities and Exchange Commission, will enable us to provide clients with an added dimension in this strategically important and dynamic market.’

tom.moore@legalease.co.uk

Legal Business

HSF shakes off post-merger politics in favour of sole global corporate head as Ferraro takes over

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Setting aside the notoriously difficult post-merger politics of selecting one partner to run a core practice area, Herbert Smith Freehills (HSF) in mid-April announced that joint global head of corporate Mike Ferraro will this month take over as sole head.

Fellow co-head Patrick Mitchell will, after four years as head of corporate, take up a new role as head of the firm’s infrastructure practice in both the UK and EMEA. Mitchell will work closely with Andrew Clark, head of projects for Australia and Asia, in the continued development of what the firm describes as ‘this strategically important practice’. Mitchell will also maintain his role in developing the firm’s presence in Germany.

Legal Business

Partner promotions: even split across Australia and London as HSF promotes 23

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Herbert Smith Freehills (HSF) today announced that it has promoted 23 of its lawyers to the firm’s partnership. The promotions will take effect on 1 May, the same day that Mark Rigotti and Sonya Leydecker take over as co- chief executive officers of the firm.

The number of partners promoted is up on last year, which saw 19 added to the partnership.

The appointments are spread fairly evenly across HSF’s global network, covering nine offices, with 12 partners being based in the UK and EMEA region. 11 partners will be based in the Asia-Pacific region. The City office saw the most number of promotions, with 11 new partners, while seven associates were made partner in Australia.

Senior partner Jonathan Scott said: ‘Congratulations to all our new partners. Their technical ability and commitment to clients across a diverse range of practices, sectors and geographies mark them out as lawyers who will make an important contribution to the firm as we continue to take advantage of the enhanced global platform from which we are now operating.’

Of the 23 partners, nine are being made up in disputes, five in London alone. The firm was hit by a string of high-profile dispute partner departures following the merger of legacy Herbert Smith and Freehills in October 2012, including Ted Greeno leaving for Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan last year; Kevin Lloyd joining Debevoise & Plimpton in December 2012; and Simon Bushell leaving for Latham & Watkins last February.

david.stevenson@legalease.co.uk

 

The full list of partner promotions:

Steve Bell – Employment, Pensions and Incentives, Melbourne

Thomas Bethel – Finance, London

Tim Briggs – Competition, Regulation and Trade, London

William Breeze – Finance, London

Natalie Bryce – Corporate, Brisbane

Chris Bushell – Disputes, London

Andrew Cannon – Disputes, London

Dominic Geiser – Disputes, Hong Kong

Ante Golem – Disputes, Perth

Phil Hart – Corporate, Sydney

Julie Jankowski – Real Estate, Sydney

Natasha Johnson – Disputes, London

Nanda Lau – Corporate, Shanghai

David Nitek – Disputes, London

Matthew Osborne – Projects, Singapore

Ruth Overington – Disputes, Melbourne

Sarah Pollock – Corporate, London

Emma Rohsler – Employment, Pensions and Incentives, Paris

Gregg Rowan – Disputes, London

Patrick Sands – Disputes, Melbourne

Fergus Smith – Finance, Hong Kong

Gavin Williams, Corporate, London

Christine Young – Employment, Pensions and Incentives, London

 

Legal Business

Herbert Smith Freehills shakes off post-merger politics in favour of sole global corporate head as Ferraro takes over

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Leadership Herbert Smith Freehills
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Setting aside the notoriously difficult post-merger politics of selecting one partner to run a core practice area, Herbert Smith Freehills today (15 April) announced that former Freehills joint global head of corporate Mike Ferraro will take over as sole head.

Former Herbert Smith partner and co-head Patrick Mitchell will, after four years as head of corporate, take up a new role as head of the firm’s infrastructure practice in both the UK and EMEA. Mitchell will work closely with Andrew Clark, head of projects for Australia and Asia, in the continued development of what the top 10 firm describes as ‘this strategically important practice.’ Mitchell will also maintain his role in developing the firm’s presence in Germany.

The appointment marks a shift from the post-merger dual global management team put in place in the summer of 2012, and the reshuffle is said to have come after the firm recognised the need for a single head to achieve its longstanding corporate ambitions. Sonya Leydecker, who takes over as joint CEO with former Freehills managing partner Mark Rigotti on 1 May, told Legal Business: ‘It is important to have one person to look over the whole thing.’

The firm has also appointed corporate partner Alvaro Sainz to the newly-created role of regional head of practice (RHoP) for EMEA. Sainz will work alongside Ferraro and fellow corporate RHoPs, Austin Sweeney in Asia, Andrew Pike out of Australia and senior partner of funds Scott Cochrane in the UK.

Global head of M&A Stephen Wilkinson will also be taking on an enhanced role to focus on driving growth in the M&A practice across the UK, Europe and the US.

In his former role, Melbourne-based corporate partner Ferraro managed the London and Australian corporate teams after Herbert Smith combined with Freehills. Before joining Freehills, Ferraro was chief legal counsel at BHP Billiton. He will continue to be based in Melbourne for his new role, which takes effect on 1 May 2014.

The statement from the firm said: ‘Mike has been joint global head of corporate with overall responsibility for the London and Australian corporate teams since the merger of Herbert Smith and Freehills, and in that time has made a major contribution to the performance of those regions.’

Leydecker added: ‘The global corporate practice is of huge importance to the future success of the firm. These management changes will allow for greater join up across our network as we continue to compete successfully for the top cross-border deals. With Mike as global head supported by a strong team around him we are confident of achieving these objectives.’

In a sign of what can be expected further down the line, the post-merger dual UK-US leadership of Hogan Lovells recently came to an end with joint chief executives Warren Gorrell and David Harris set to stand down from their respective roles in June 2014, when Washington DC-based partner Stephen Immelt takes over as sole CEO, while London-based partner David Hudd will become deputy CEO.

Jaishree.kalia@legalease.co.uk

Legal Business

‘There’s no-one of the scale to rival us’ – HSF’s new litigation head talks strategy

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Justin D’Agostino has taken over as global head of dispute resolution at commercial litigation heavyweight Herbert Smith Freehills. Here the Asia-based lawyer talks to Legal Business about joining the dots of an expanding practice.

What effect will a Hong Kong-based disputes head have on the global practice?

Being based in Asia gives me a good opportunity to be in the middle of it all; it’s a positive from that respect. It will be different having the global head not being based in London but we have very strong local disputes managers in London. I will be joining the pieces across the globe.

What areas would you like to strengthen?

From a practice point of view I’m looking at where the growth areas are. Disputes is at the heart of the firm. Corporate crime and investigations is a big growth area: we appointed a new head, Kyle Wombolt last year and he’s done really well.

International arbitration is growing all the time, the practice is very busy but we have room to grow. Two of our arbitrators have taken silk, which is a game changer.

Which regions would you like to move into?

I’d like to exploit the axis between Asia and the US. Arbitration with [New York-based partner] Larry Shore, and mainstream litigation with [New York managing partner and litigator] Tom Riley. There’s a lot of investment from China to the States and vice versa. Disputes arise from those investments and investigations.

How have you reacted to the senior departures within the disputes practice?

We have a very deep bench, even just in London. In late March we appointed Tim Parkes to take ownership of the commercial litigation practice in London. He’s a heavyweight and an important appointment. Tim is but one of a number of partners of that ilk, the heavy bench is still there in London. One of the things that all firms need to do is invest in the next generation of heavyweights as well.

US firms in London are increasingly disputes focused, are you worried about growing competition?

The depth of bench in the main offices is second to none. Our unique selling point is the global platform, if you’re doing a big cross-border dispute, we have that depth.

Obviously the market’s moving and there’s competition, but there’s no-one of the size and scale to rival us in London and globally.

david.stevenson@legalease.co.uk

Legal Business

Q&A with HSF’s new global head of disputes Justin D’Agostino

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Litigation Herbert Smith Freehills
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Justin D’Agostino has taken over as global head of dispute resolution at commercial litigation heavyweight Herbert Smith Freehills. Here the Asia-based lawyer talks to Legal Business about joining the dots of an expanding practice.

What effect will a Hong Kong-based disputes head have on the global practice?

Being based in Asia gives me a good opportunity to be in the middle of it all; it’s a positive from that respect. It will be different having the global head not being based in London but we have very strong local disputes managers in London. I will be joining the pieces across the globe.