Legal Business

Linklaters ramps up associate salaries and rolls out flexible working after remuneration review

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Salaries Linklaters
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Magic Circle firm Linklaters has ramped up associate take-home pay after a lengthy review of its remuneration.

Newly-qualified lawyers at Linklaters can expect to take home at least £81,000 next year including bonus. High performers will on average earn £91,000 including bonus. This is up on the basic £68,500 salary newly-qualified lawyers at Linklaters earned last year.

1PQE associates will on average receive £90,000, with 2PQE and 3PQE associates receiving £100,000 and £111,000. High performing lawyers will receive substantially more, with 1PQEs set to earn £101,000. High performing two year PQEs will earn £119,000 and high performing three year PQEs will earn £130,000. That is up on the £98,500 basic salary 3PQEs would receive last year.

The firm said the changes follow ‘a comprehensive review’ to better understand how the firm can improve and differentiate its reward offering – including salary, bonus and benefits – ‘to continue to attract, motivate and retain the highest quality people, in a way that is sustainable’.

Working from home for one day per week will be made available across all practice groups, replaced the ad hoc system previously in place. Standard annual leave entitlement will also increase, rising from 25 to 27 days, with a new birthday leave policy adding an extra day.

The partners consultation was run by global HR consultancy Towers Watson and took feedback from The Jam, a 72-hour crowdsourcing initiative that the firm ran at the end of last year. The changes become effective on 1 May 2016.

Linklaters partner Satindar Dogra said: ‘The objectives of this review were to improve and differentiate our reward offering, which is key to attracting, motivating and retaining the highest calibre and highest performing talent in the market. We believe that the changes we are implementing do that, providing a strong and positive message to our people while standing out within the market as an extremely competitive and well-rounded proposition.’

In contrast last August Travers Smith boosted its by newly qualified associate pay by £6,000 to £70,000 from £64,000, constituting a 9% rise and putting its rates on a par with Slaughter and May and Hogan Lovells.

tom.moore@legalease.co.uk

Legal Business

Linklaters and Clifford Chance take roles on latest lender float as Metro Bank lists

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Corporate Clifford ChanceLinklaters
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Magic Circle duo Linklaters and Clifford Chance have advised British lender Metro Bank on its float on the London Stock Exchange. 

The challenger bank managed to raise £400m in equity capital ahead of its initial public offering (IPO) today (7 March) which values the bank at around £1.6bn – which is estimated to come in around two times its book value.

Linklaters acted for Metro Bank on the equity capital raise with a team led by capital markets partner Jason Manketo and corporate partners John Lane and Charlie Jacobs.

Clifford Chance acted as counsel to the sponsor RBC Europe and private placement advisers, with capital markets head Adrian Cartwright and US securities partner John Connolly representing.

The float comes after the bank reduced the size of its proposed IPO following a sell-off of shares in the banking sector at the beginning of this year.

The IPO marks a return to the stockmarket for banks after in January both Clifford Chance and Linklaters, alongside Allen & Overy and King & Wood Mallesons all won roles advising on Clydesdale and Yorkshire Bank’s proposed IPO as its owner National Australia Bank announced a cut-price share offer ahead of the float.

Linklaters is also advising property developer Countryside Properties as it prepares to float, in a listing expected to value the housebuilder at around £1bn. Countryside, which is owned by private-equity firm Oaktree Capital Management, is planning an initial public offering (IPO) to raise £114m.

At the end of 2014, Legal Business reported that Eversheds and Hill Dickinson won spots on Metro Bank’s lending and securities panel alongside 12 other firms following the last review in 2012.

The tender process, which began in June 2014 and was finalised in early November of that year, has resulted in 14 firms being named on the new roster.

jaishree.kalia@legalease.co.uk

Legal Business

Revolving doors: Linklaters makes private client play in a big week for US firm moves in the City

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Linklaters has made a key trusts hire in the City, while US firms Mayer Brown, Baker & McKenzie, Morgan, Lewis & Bockius and Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe have all made strategic appointments in London.

Linklaters has added Forsters partner Peter Golden to its ranks, to lead the firm’s trusts practice. Golden has a variety of private clients in trusts, tax wills and probate law. Linklaters global head of corporate Matthew Middleditch said: ‘Peter is highly experienced in establishing trusts for UK and offshore individuals and assists in the ongoing management of clients’ assets, affairs and estates. I am excited about the breath of fresh air he will bring to the trusts practice at Linklaters.’

Mayer Brown has added to its London ranks with the addition of Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) lawyer Guy Wilkes. Wilkes joins as a partner having been the acting head of department within the enforcement and market oversight division, retail and regulatory investigations at the regulator.

On his return to private practice, Wilkes will advise on both UK and cross-border enforcement actions and investigations of UK and non-UK financial service firms, including working on the UK component of enforcement actions that more and more frequently have a multi-jurisdictional character. The co-leader of the firm’s finance services regulatory and enforcement practice Thomas Delaney said: ‘There is an increasing need for our clients to conduct internal investigations as well as continuing to deal appropriately with enquiries from regulators and other authorities. Guy brings significant strategic expertise to this area.’

Morgan, Lewis & Bockius is another US firm which has made a key appointment in London, expanding its competition practice with the hire of partner Omar Shah, its tenth partner hire in London since last summer. Arriving from Latham & Watkins, Shah handles civil claims for alleged breaches of competition law and represents clients in commercial and regulatory proceedings, including judicial reviews. Firm chair Jami McKeon said Europe is a key area for antitrust enforcement, with the European Commision very active in pursuing investigations into alleged cartels. She added: ‘In addition, clients are increasingly litigating in Europe for breaches of EU competition law.’

In the same week, Latham also lost corporate lawyer Angus Miln to Taylor Wessing. Venture capital lawyer Miln joins the firm’s corporate technology team. Taylor Wessing international head of technology, media and communications Mike Turner said: ‘Angus’ established market position and industry expertise fit seamlessly with our strategy and existing client base. We are very excited by his arrival within the team, which will further consolidate our position as the destination practice at the top end of the market.’

Baker & McKenzie has hired Scott Nelson from ENSafrica in order to boost the firm’s private equity practice. Nelson has more than two decades of experience and was head of ENSafrica’s Africa practice group in London. Baker & McKenzie global head of private equity Mike Fieweger said: ‘Seeking growth opportunities in emerging markets is currently the number one priority for the PE industry. With interest in Africa at record levels we are delighted to welcome Scott to the firm at a time when fundraising, investments and exits are all rising and look set to continue to do so over the coming years.’

In a move to continue the expansion of its energy offering, Orrick has hired oil and gas sector adviser Peter Roberts as the new head of its global oil and gas practice. Roberts, who was the head of the oil and gas practice at Andrews Kurth, will be based in the firm’s London office and is the seventh member to join Orrick’s London energy team in the past year.

Hired from Ashurst in 2013 to lead Andrews Kurth’s London outpost when the Texan firm launched in the City, Roberts is recommended by the Legal 500 for his work in projects, energy and natural resources. Orrick chairman Mitch Zuklie said: ‘We are thrilled to add such an experienced and well-known oil and gas advisor as Peter to our London office and global team. With the talent Orrick has added recently in Houston, London, Africa and beyond, the firm is building a truly distinctive offering for the energy sector.’

Meanwhile Eversheds has enhanced its corporate team by appointing Sebastian Orton from Jones Day. Recent mandates for Orton include advising Made.com on a fundraising round and Peel Hunt on its IPO of real estate trust Regional REIT. Eversheds commercial practice group head Keith Froud said: ‘We have a strong and active capital markets client base, with a healthy balance between banks and issuers, and Sebastian’s appointment is testament to our commitment to provide our clients with the highest quality advice and to build this part of our business still further.’

victoria.young@legalease.co.uk

Legal Business

Revolving doors: Linklaters, Hogan Lovells, Mayer Brown reach into lateral hire market

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Strategic recruitment Hogan LovellsLinklatersMayer Brown
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In a busy week for Global 100 firms, Hogan Lovells, Mayer Brown, and Linklaters have all added to their partner ranks across a diverse range of practice areas.

Hogan Lovells has made two laterals as it strengthens its executive compensation and share incentives capability. Paul Randall joins the firm as its new co-head of the executive compensation and share incentives team. He was previously at Ashurst where he was head of employee benefits and incentives. Hogan Lovells has also hired Allen & Overy’s Stefan Martin, who has joined as partner.

The firm’s head of London employment, Elizabeth Slattery, said: ‘Stefan and Paul are well-respected in the London market and very experienced. Their arrival significantly bolsters our employment and executive compensation and share incentives offering and they will be a tremendous asset to our UK and global teams.’

Meanwhile US firm Mayer Brown has again added a City finance partner in Kieron Dwyer from Gowling WLG, where he was partner and head of international energy and natural resources and established the energy and infrastructure finance practice at legacy firm Wragge & Co.

Co-head of the global finance practice at Mayer Brown, Dominic Griffiths, said: ‘We are seeing an increasing appetite from our clients for structured finance expertise in the energy market and Kieron’s in-depth experience in this sector and project finance in Europe, Africa and the Middle East will further boost our global offering.’

Finally, Linklaters has hired white-collar crime and civil litigator Adam Lurie as a partner in its US dispute resolution practice. Joining from Cadwalader, Wickersham & Taft, he will head Linklaters’ Washington litigation and government investigations practice.

The head of Linklaters’ global US practice Scott Bowie said Lurie’s hire was one of a series of moves.

‘As US law in the context of increasingly complex regulatory regimes is progressively shaping and governing cross-border transactions and disputes, building a strong and global US platform is integral to our strategy. Adam’s hire is a key development in progressing Linklaters’ global ambitions to strengthen further our government risk, FCPA and civil litigation offering.’

Elsewhere, Travers Smith has confirmed the appointment of partner Edward Smith, who joins the firm’s restructuring and insolvency practice. Smith joins arrives from K&L Gates, where he was a partner in the firm’s bankruptcy/insolvency practice group.

The firm’s head of finance, Matt Ayre, commented: ‘Edward is a hugely experienced restructuring lawyer, who will add further depth to our existing capabilities. His arrival demonstrates our commitment to providing clients with first-class specialist restructuring expertise and will strengthen our position in the marketplace.’

madeleine.farman@legalease.co.uk

Legal Business

Magic Circle trio land roles as London City Airport sold to Canadian consortium in £2bn deal

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Three Magic Circle firms won positions to advise on the sale of London City Airport to a Canadian-led consortium of investors in a deal worth £2bn.

Linklaters, Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer and Slaughter and May acted on the sale of the airport, located 6 miles from London’s financial centre at Canary Wharf, which was completed yesterday with the Canadian consortium successfully outbidding two Chinese firms.

Slaughter and May advised Global Infrastructure Partners (GIP) on its 75% interest in the airport. The multinational private equity firm acquired its interest through two successive transactions in 2006 and 2008.

Slaughters corporate partner Mark Horton, who has a focus on domestic and international corporate finance, led the firm’s team on the deal alongside finance partner Philip Snell and tax partner William Watson. Horton has advised GIP in the past, acting as the fund bought London Gatwick Airport back in 2009.

Both Linklaters and Freshfields are advising the Canadian-led consortium, which includes Alberta Investment Management Corporation, Borealis Infrastructure, Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan Board and Wren House Infrastructure Management Limited.

Linklaters acted for the consortium on infrastructure matters with partner Ian Andrews taking the lead on the deal along with planning law partner David Watkins. The team for Freshfields’ was led by the co-head of the firm’s energy and natural resources group Laurie McFadden with corporate partner Martin Nelson-Jones. 

Andrews who understands the consortium solidified the sale with a lower offer after a competing bidder with a higher offer failed to show certainty of funds, told Legal Business he was pleased with the result.

He added: ‘It’s important to make sure the bid’s ready. [The certainty of funds failure] shows it’s really important to be ready. It’s a huge amount of work and effort, so it’s pleasing for everybody involved. London City Airport is an airport that’s got a lot of potential and I think that was why it was such an attractive asset for so many people.’

madeleine.farman@legalease.co.uk

Legal Business

Merger take-three: Freshfields and Linklaters advise as LSE and Deutsche Börse re-visit talks

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Nearly 16 years since talks first began, the London Stock Exchange (LSE) and German rival Deutsche Börse are engaged in merger discussions again, and Magic Circle duo Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer and Linklaters have won roles advising on the potential combination.

Both stock exchanges confirmed yesterday (23 February) they are in negotiations about an all-share merger with Freshfield partners Andrew Hutchings, Mark Rawlinson and London M&A co-head Piers Prichard Jones leading the firm’s team to represent LSE.

Linklaters corporate partner Roger Barron is acting for Deutsche Börse along with Simon Branigan in London; Ralph Wollburg and Staffan Illert in Germany. The Magic Circle firm had advised the stock exchange when it set up a clearing house in Singapore in 2015, as well as the acquisition of foreign exchange trading platform 360T Beteiligungs GmbH in July last year for €720m.

The London and Frankfurt exchanges said they were in ‘detailed discussions about a potential merger of equals’, which if it goes ahead, will create a European trading powerhouse under a new holding company that would give Deutsche Börse shareholders a 54.4% stake and LSE shareholders 45.6%.

However, both exchanges said in their respective statements that ‘there can be no certainty that any transaction will occur’.

The decision to combine comes after both stock exchanges first attempted to merge back in 2000, and tried to form a new company called iX but the deal collapsed, resulting in both listing their own stock separately instead. In December 2004, Deutsche Börse made a £1.3bn approach for the LSE but saw its offer rebuffed.

Under the terms of the potential merger however, LSE shareholders would receive 0.4421 new shares in exchange for each LSE share, and Deutsche Börse shareholders would receive one new share in exchange for each Deutsche Börse share. The combined group would have a unitary board composed of equal numbers of LSE and Deutsche Börse directors.

Discussions between the parties remain ongoing regarding the other terms and conditions of the potential merger.

jaishree.kalia@legalease.co.uk

Legal Business

Linklaters incoming global banking chief reshuffles deck in shadow finance push

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Just weeks into his new role as Linklaters global head of banking, Tony Bugg told the firm’s 200 banking lawyers in London that a reorganisation will take place, with four group leaders introduced with greater power to set individual and group targets.

Bugg, who assumed the role after incumbent Gideon Moore was appointed managing partner of the firm, is reorganising the group as it pivots towards fast-growing shadow banking clients, starting with the London practice.

He cites the shake-up as an effort to put Linklaters’ finance practice back in the expansive mode it sustained through the 1990s and early 2000s. Linklaters’ banking practice makes up almost 20% of the firm’s income, but with traditional lenders losing market share over the past decade, Bugg wants to reposition the practice to attract a different breed of client. ‘We’re in good shape but our markets have changed,’ he said. ‘The fastest-growing area in the banking group is alternative lending.’

Bugg is dispensing with the banking team’s existing floor leader-management system to hand responsibility to four specialist team heads to ‘bring in more accountability’.

The firm’s London banking practice – a group that spans leveraged finance, restructuring, insolvency, high yield, asset finance and real estate finance – is currently spread across four floors of the City office and largely managed by floor-leaders insolvency partner Rebecca Jarvis, leveraged finance partner Adam Freeman, mainstream banking partner Philip Spittal and financial structuring partner Tom Wells.

This often led to a lack of accountability as partners could be set targets and appraised by someone outside of their specialism. It also made it difficult to create specific agendas for each team.

Instead, Bugg will appoint four practice heads for leveraged finance (including high yield), restructuring and insolvency, global loans (including asset finance, real estate finance and emerging markets) and financial structuring.

Leveraged finance will be led by Freeman, global loans by Spittal and financial structuring by Wells. The global head for restructuring and insolvency, the position Bugg held prior to running the banking group, is still going through a formal consultation.

While the group has made strong gains in the shadow banking space, transforming The Blackstone Group’s credit business GSO into a major client, London partner Yen Sum has been selected to lead a push for greater market penetration. A partner since 2010, Sum had previously worked in Barclays Capital’s leveraged finance unit and has since emerged as a rising star of the group.

Bugg said: ‘It requires a change of thinking. We’ve got some really great lawyers in the group who can lead by example and help people grow. So I want to encourage more partners to find ways of drawing other people into some of our key client relationships and give them the opportunities they need to develop themselves.’

He added: ‘We don’t have to reinvent the practice, but there are several things we need to better. We need to improve our understanding of these institutions, their people and what they want. We also need to better communicate what our experience looks like and how we can use that to help the client. Finally, we want to encourage partners to be more ambitious and entrepreneurial so the realignment of the practice will help us provide clients with an enhanced offering.’

Despite the fact that much of the group’s successful restructuring and leveraged finance arms were built around lateral hires in the late 1990s and early 2000s, Bugg said there is no need for lateral hires in the UK.

However, he does plan to review the firm’s property finance team, given real estate’s increasing popularity as an asset class among alternative finance providers. The team was trimmed during a restructuring by former managing partner Tony Angel in the 2000s and currently has three partners in London.

tom.moore@legalease.co.uk

Legal Business

Linklaters’ new global banking chief reshuffles deck in shadow finance push

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Bugg targets renewed growth for Linklaters’ finance team in shake-up at Silk Street

Just weeks into his new role as Linklaters global head of banking, Tony Bugg told the firm’s 200 banking lawyers in London that a reorganisation will take place with four group leaders introduced with greater power to set individual and group targets.

Legal Business

Linklaters picks merger targets in Shanghai as Asia exits stack up

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Linklaters has selected Shanghai Capital Law & Partners and Shanghai Kai-Rong Law Firm as targets as management works to establish a Chinese law offering. The plans come as the firm’s Asia practice has been rocked by a series of senior exits.

Linklaters wants to become the first Magic Circle firm to practise Chinese law through new Shanghai free-trade zone rules after decades of protectionism in the communist country.

Legal Business

Linklaters doubles up on IPOs as UK capital markets move swiftly into gear for 2016

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Linklaters has got the year off to a flying start for equity capital markets work, leading on the announced initial public offerings (IPOs) of CMC Markets and Countryside Properties, while also advising the underwriters as Clydesdale Bank plans to float.

The Magic Circle firm is providing English and US legal advice to online spread-betting company CMC Markets on its planned flotation on the London Stock Exchange in what will be the year’s first IPO.