Legal Business

‘Additional depth’: Kirkland recruits from Freshfields again for real estate finance partner Birks

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Finance Freshfields Bruckhaus DeringerKirkland & Ellis
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Kirkland & Ellis has returned to Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer for another finance recruit, taking Jonathan Birks.

Listed by the Legal 500 as a key partner in Freshfields tier two real estate finance practice, Birks was made up to partner at the Magic Circle firm in 2014.

His practice covers leveraged finance, real estate finance and private equity and he has advised clients such as The Blackstone Group. He will join former Freshfields partner Michael Steele who joined Kirkland in 2015.

In October it emerged Kirkland was taking on corporate partner Doug Bacon from the Magic Circle firm’s New York office. Bacon’s client list includes Novartis, Honeywell International, Blackstone , KKR, TPG, Apax Partners, MSD Capital and First Reserve Corp.

Kirkland private equity partner Matt Elliott said: ‘[Birks] will add significant additional depth to our debt capabilities in real estate private equity, which has grown to become a core practice area of the London office in the past few years.’

Going the other way, Kirkland lost capital markets partner Andrew Hagan to Freshfields, which is steadily building its debt markets team, in February. The hire followed the recruit of high-yield heavyweight Ward McKimm who quit Kirkland to co-head Freshfields European leveraged finance team in London in June 2015.

Freshfields reshuffled its finance practice earlier this year and global finance head David Trott was replaced by Simon Johnson.

The ‘recalibration’ saw leveraged finance split into its own team, giving the department four groups.

Other recent exits from Freshfields finance team include real estate finance partner Jeffrey Rubinoff, who announced his move to White & Case in July this year, and Ian Frost who quit for Vinson & Elkins in February.

madeleine.farman@legalease.co.uk

Read more in: ‘Recasting finance at Freshfields: high ambition married with gently lowered expectations’

Read more on Kirkland’s City practice in: ‘Kiss the ring – patronage, in-fighting and exits threaten to stall Kirkland’s bandwagon’

‘Kiss the ring – patronage, in-fighting and exits threaten to stall Kirkland’s bandwagon’


Legal Business

Kirkland and Skadden lead on $710m Hong Kong float for selfie app Meitu

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Corporate Kirkland & EllisSkadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom
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Kirkland & Ellis and Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom have both advised on the planned $710m initial public offering (IPO) of Chinese tech group Meitu in a deal that will value the company at up to $5.2bn.

Meitu, which means ‘beautiful picture’ in Mandarin, highlights certain beauty characteristics for social media pictures and has more than 450 million monthly users.

The company will launch its float on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange on 15 December in what is set to be the largest tech IPO since Alibaba raised $25bn in 2014.

The tech company was advised by Skadden corporate partners Christopher Betts and Julie Gao. Gao was a rare lateral move from Latham & Watkins in 2009, while rising star Betts joined from Paul Hastings in 2012.

Meitu was advised on PRC law by Beijing headquartered Jingtian & Gongcheng. Offshore firm Conyers Dill & Pearman also picked up a role advising on Cayman Islands law.

Kirkland advised the underwriting banks along with Chinese firm Global Law Office. The Kirkland team included Hong Kong corporate partners Dominic Tsun (pictured), Li-Chien Wong, David Zhang and Judy Yam and Beijing-based Steve Lin. The IPO underwriters include Morgan Stanley, Credit Suisse and China Merchants Securities.

Also on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange, earlier this year Postal Savings Bank of China raised $7.4bn, the world’s second biggest IPO in two years. US firm Davis Polk & Wardwell advised the bank, while local firm Haiwen & Partners acted as Chinese counsel on the deal.

Magic Circle firm Clifford Chance advised the underwriters, while King & Wood Mallesons acted as Chinese counsel.

Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba floated on the New York Stock Exchange two years ago, raising $25m and raking in $15.8m in legal fees for firms including Simpson Thacher & Bartlett and Sullivan & Cromwell.

matthew.field@legalease.co.uk

Legal Business

Kirkland wins first mandate from Singapore’s GIC in biggest European real estate deal of the year

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Property Freshfields Bruckhaus DeringerKirkland & Ellis
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Kirkland & Ellis has advised opposite Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer in the largest European real estate transaction of the year as Singaporean sovereign wealth fund GIC picked up P3 from TPG Real Estate for $2.7bn.

GIC signed a deal to acquire P3 from TPG Real Estate and its shareholder Ivanhoe Cambridge last week (4 November) in a deal which spans across nine jurisdictions. The transaction is subject to regulatory approval and is expected to close by the end of 2016.

Acting for the wealth fund for the first time, Kirkland advised GIC with a team including London corporate partners Matthew Elliott and Celyn Evans, debt finance partner Michael Steele, competition partner Paula Riedel and tax partners Jonathan Kandel and Frixos Hatjantonas.

Freshfields acted for TPG Real Estate with a team led by co-head of the firm’s Sovereign Wealth Fund Group Alex Watt, corporate partner Patrick Ko and finance partner David Trott.

Elliott (pictured) said: ‘The transaction is representative of the recognition by the market of the demand and value for Pan European logistics and warehouse space. Opportunities of scale are in limited supply which plays into the hands of those investors whose strategic focus lies in growing sector coverage.’

Freshfields previously advised GIC on its acquisition of a 28.5% stake in UK pension insurer Rothesay Life from Goldman Sachs in October 2013, and again when the wealth fund acquired half of Carlyle’s majority stake in roadside recovery service RAC in September 2014.

Trott said: ‘Real estate is an interesting space, it’s interesting sovereign wealth continues to take strategic investments looking for long term quality assets. This is a further signal that Singaporean wealth funds are strong and only going to continue. The deal shows health for real estate, no shortage of opportunities and buyers, as Europe and the UK are cheap.’

The transaction comes as real estate, equity capital markets and M&A practices are expected to slow down significantly in the year ahead in the light of Brexit, according to NatWest’s latest Perspective on Legal Market report out today (8 November).

georgiana.tudor@legalease.co.uk

Legal Business

Double hire for Dechert as White & Case PE player Allardice exits with K&E finance partner

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Strategic recruitment DechertKirkland & EllisWhite & Case
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Dechert has strengthened its private equity and finance practices hiring White & Case‘s Ross Allardice and Kirkland & Ellis partner John Markland to boost its presence in the City.

Private equity partner Ross Allardice (pictured) joins from White & Case having moved from Kirkland in 2013. Recently, Allardice has advised HgCapital on its £200m acquisition of The Foundry from Carlyle. He also guided Mid Europa through its acquisition of Danube Foods Group BV and Clates Holding which had combined revenues of more than €400m in 2014. Other clients include Better Capital, Arle Capital, Nordic Capital and Rhone Capital.

Markland has been with Kirkland for 12 years after making the move from Weil, Gotshal & Manges and founded the firm’s European debt finance team. Markland has advised clients such as Palamon Capital Partners, Mid Europa Partners and Bain Capital.

Chair of Dechert’s London office management committee Camille Abousleiman said: ‘The London office is expanding and adding some very dynamic partners. With the addition of John and Ross as a team, we have significantly enhanced our private equity and global finance offerings both in London and on the continent.’

In August, the Philadelphia headquartered firm bolstered its finance team in the City with the hire of two DLA Piper partners, Philip Butler and David Miles. Miles was DLA’s head of debt finance in London while Butler was head of finance and projects, and global co-chair in the firm’s financial services sector. Going the other way, Dechert recently lost real estate partner Jeremy Trinder to Latham & Watkins in July this year.

Dechert posted global robust revenues growing 6% from $839.5m in 2014 to $890m in 2015 driven by strong growth in the firm’s litigation practice which was up 17%. The firm’s PEP also grew by 8.5% from $2.32m to $2.5m. The firm has 127 fee earners in the City, and its partnership ranks in London fell 9% to 39 partners in 2015.#

madeleine.farman@legalease.co.uk

For more on Private Equity in the City see: ‘ABC – the brutally simple world of a private equity lawyer’


 

Legal Business

Bringing home Bacon: Kirkland takes US private equity partner from Freshfields

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Strategic recruitment Freshfields Bruckhaus DeringerKirkland & Ellis
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Kirkland & Ellis has gone back to Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer for another lateral hire, this time taking corporate partner Doug Bacon from the Magic Circle firm’s New York office.

Advising private equity firms, companies and corporations on complex multinational mergers and acquisitions, Bacon’s client list includes Novartis, Honeywell International, The Blackstone Group, KKR, TPG, Apax Partners, MSD Capital and First Reserve Corp. Prior to Freshfields, he was an associate at Simpson Thacher & Bartlett.

Bacon joins returns to his hometown to join Kirkland’s Houston office which the Chicago-headquartered firm has been working to boost following its opening in 2014. Today (26 October) the office has 93 lawyers.

Bacon said: ‘It was a tough decision, but when the opportunity arose to return to my hometown with a firm of the calibre of Kirkland & Ellis, I was thrilled to join.’

Kirkland and Freshfields are renowned for swapping talent, with the Magic Circle firm taking on capital markets partner Andrew Hagan in February this year. The move followed Kirkland’s hire of Freshfields finance partner Michael Steele in the City in July last year, one month after high-yield heavyweight Ward McKimm quit the US firm to join Freshfields and become co-head of its European leveraged finance group.

The US firm has continued to post robust numbers with a global revenue of $2.3bn from $2.15bn in 2015. While turnover is up 7%, profits per equity partner had a slower uptick growing just 3% to $3.6m. In 2014, partner profits surpassed the $3.5m mark rising 7% to $3.51m, which came after a 1% increase in 2013 to $3.28m. Its non-US revenue was up 10%, growing faster than overall revenue and driven by London.

madeleine.farman@legalease.co.uk

Legal Business

The IT crowd: Travers, Kirkland and Freshfields team up on $8.8bn Micro Focus/HPE deal

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Corporate Freshfields Bruckhaus DeringerKirkland & EllisTravers Smith
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Travers Smith and Kirkland & Ellis last month teamed up to advise UK tech firm Micro Focus on its $8.8bn acquisition of Hewlett Packard Enterprise (HPE)’s software business.

In a deal primarily structured under Delaware law, Travers head of corporate Spencer Summerfield advised Micro Focus alongside corporate partner Jon Reddington on English law. Kirkland fielded a team led by New York corporate partners William Sorabella, David Feirstein and John Kupiec.

Legal Business

Perspectives: Robert Khuzami

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Litigation Kirkland & Ellis
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My parents were professional ballroom dancers. My father managed the Arthur Murray studios on 5th Avenue. They met in the office and had a secret relationship. One day they got on the subway down to City Hall and got married on their lunch hour. Have you heard the saying: ‘The cobbler’s son goes shoeless?’ Well, the dancing instructor’s son went without dancing ability!

Legal Business

Partner promotions: Kirkland makes up six in London in subdued round

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Partnership promotions Kirkland & Ellis
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Kirkland & Ellis has made up six to partner in London in an 81 global partner promotion round. The US firm has made up two fewer in the City than last year, when it made up eight in London of a total of 90 promotions.

In investment funds both Theodore Cardos and Amala Ejikeme join the partnership, while capital markets associates Gilles Teerlinck and Tim Volkheimer also made partner. The firm also made up debt finance lawyer Susannah Amini and financial regulatory partner Prem Mohan.

Chicago took the bulk of the promotions with 28 partners welcomed to the firm’s home base. Across the US, 67 were made up to partner.

The promotions come as the firm’s non-US revenue grew around 10% in 2015, faster than the firm’s overall revenue, which was driven by London growth. The firm’s global revenue was up from $2.15bn to £2.3bn while turnover rose by 7%.

Kirkland has been rapidly recruiting from Magic Circle firm Linklaters taking on private equity partner David Holdsworth in May of this year who joined follow corporate partner Roger Johnson, Linklaters’ UK head of competition Paula Riedel and M&A head Matthew Elliott over the course of 2015.

Earlier this year Kirkland saw the exit of a six-partner team which joined Sidley Austin to set up its City private equity team earlier. In the past eighteen months, the firm also lost capital markets partner Andrew Hagan and high-yield heavyweight Ward McKimm to Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer.

madeleine.farman@legalease.co.uk

London partner promotions:

Susannah Amini – debt finance

Theodore Cardos – investment funds

Amala Ejikeme – investment funds

Prem Mohan – financial services regulatory

Gilles Teerlinck – capital markets

Tim Volkheimer – capital markets

Legal Business

Media matters: CC, Kirkland and Jones Day act on $1.56bn Informa bid for US publisher

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Corporate Clifford ChanceJones DayKirkland & Ellis
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Clifford Chance (CC), Kirkland & Ellis and Jones Day have all won mandates on FTSE 100 publishing company Informa’s $1.56bn bid for US trade publisher Penton Business Media.

The Magic Circle firm is advising UK-headquartered Informa on the proposed acquisition with a cross-border team of lawyers in New York and London. The deal is expected to close before the end of 2016.

Kirkland is acting as legal adviser to Penton and co-owner MidOcean Partners on the sale, while co-owner Wasserstein & Co is being advised by lawyers from Jones Day. The Jones Day deal team was led by private equity partner Andy Levine and corporate partner Ben Grossman.

CC’s team was led by corporate partners Benjamin Sibbett in New York and Steven Fox in London, while London-based partner Michael Bates advised on finance and John Connolly and Robert Trefny advised on capital markets aspects.

The firm previously advised Informa on the sale of its corporate training business in the US in 2013 and its re-domiciliation to and re-listing in London in 2014.

Kirkland’s team was based out of the UK and US, led by New York corporate partner Mark Director and London partner Christopher Field.

Multinational publishing company Informa has a presence in more than 40 countries and annual turnover exceeding £1.2bn. While the weeks since the Brexit vote have seen a number of takeovers of UK companies in M&A, the deal represents a high-profile acquisition for a UK-headquartered company.

Another recent media transaction saw Magic Circle firms Linklaters, Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer and Allen & Overy all advise on a £1bn deal, with US company General Atlantic taking majority stake in UK-based Argus Media.

Linklaters advised Argus Media, along with Travers Smith and Macfarlanes. Freshfields advised General Atlantic with support from US firm Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison.

matthew.field@legalease.co.uk

Legal Business

Kirkland acquires litigation boutique to bolster US Supreme Court practice

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Strategic recruitment Kirkland & Ellis
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Kirkland & Ellis has bolstered its US appeal court credentials with its latest heavyweight lateral hires, bringing in former US Solicitor General Paul Clement and former Assistant Attorney General Viet Dinh alongside the rest of the team at litigation boutique Bancroft.

Bancroft’s 15-strong legal team will join the firm’s founder Dinh along with Clement at Kirkland’s Washington office on 1 October, working alongside Kirkland’s 435 litigation lawyers across the US, Europe and Asia.

Clement, who served as Solicitor General for three years from 2005, has argued over 80 cases before the US Supreme Court with 30 of those in just the last five terms. His focus is on appellate matters, constitutional litigation and strategic counselling, representing clients in the Supreme Court as well as in federal and appellate courts.

Well-regarded litigator and constitutional law expert Dinh advises on corporate governance and regulatory compliance. He held his position as Attorney General for legal policy from 2001 and currently serves on the boards of directors of 21st Century Fox, Revlon, and LPL Financial Holdings.

Chairman of Kirkland’s global management executive committee Jeffrey Hammes described Clement as ‘one of the most well-regarded Supreme Court lawyers in the country’, adding: ‘The team he and Viet have assembled at Bancroft is truly remarkable. Their skills and experience and Kirkland’s global platform will be a very powerful combination for clients.’

Another member of the firm’s executive committee, Gene Assaf, said: ‘The accomplishments of the Bancroft team are amazing, with 120 US Supreme Court arguments, nine Supreme Court clerkships, 17 courts of appeals clerkships and five Presidential appointments. We see immense opportunity in combining forces.’

The team will join Kirkland ahead of the new Supreme Court term.

madeleine.farman@legalease.co.uk