Legal Business

Shearman London tax head Priestley quits as exits mount for US firm

Posted on |
Strategic recruitment Shearman & Sterling
legal-business-default

Shearman & Sterling‘s London tax head Sarah Priestley has now also quit the firm, closely following in the footsteps of global private equity chief Mark Soundy who confirmed he is leaving the firm earlier this week.

Priestley joined Shearman’s private equity (PE) team as a partner in 2013 from Weil Gotshal & Manges, where she was head of the corporate tax group. She moved over with Soundy and Simon Burrows, who also joined Shearman from Weil Gotshal in 2013.

Priestly had been at Weil for over 15 years since 1997, before joining Shearman three years ago. Her practice focuses on UK, multi-jurisdictional and pan-European M&A and PE transactions. Clients include Advent International, APAX Partners, Bridgepoint and Electra.

Shearman declined to comment on the news, and Priestley was also unavailable to discuss the matter.

This is the latest in a string of exits this week from Shearman as Paris partners Arnaud Fromion and Frederic Guillox announced yesterday (October 6) they will join Goodwin’s private equity practice in Paris as of mid-October. Goodwin’s Paris practice opened this summer with six partners and specialises in M&A, leveraged buyouts, private equity and public-to-private transactions for French and foreign private equity funds.

In March Shearman posted global revenue up 2% to $860m, with the firm’s M&A group putting in a strong performance. Shearman’s City office again outperformed the rest of the firm, though only by a small margin this year, with revenue up 3% to $149m.

georgiana.tudor@legalease.co.uk

Legal Business

Shearman exits continue as Paris duo follow global head out the door

Posted on |
Finance Goodwin ProcterShearman & Sterling
legal-business-default

Goodwin Procter announced today (5 October) that a team from Shearman & Sterling will be joining their private equity practice in Paris as of mid-October.

The move follows Shearman’s global head of private equity Mark Soundy confirming his exit earlier this week. It is not yet known where Soundy is headed next.

The incoming team includes partners Arnaud Fromion, Frederic Guillox and counsel Adrien Paturaud and specialises in acquisition and corporate finance. The team also acts for lenders and borrowers on ‘crossover’ and telecom financings.

Chair of Goodwin in Paris Maxence Bloch said: ‘We are delighted that Arnaud and Frédéric, together with Adrien, are joining Goodwin in Paris. Their talent and market-leading expertise, acting for both lenders and sponsors, adds further depth to our team and momentum in building out the firm’s private equity and M&A practices in Europe.’

The co-founder of Goodwin’s private equity practice John LeClaire added that the biggest asset that Fromion, Guillox and Paturaud bring to the firm is their deep experience in handling sophisticated financing structures. He said: ‘As we continue to expand our private equity footprint in Europe, we are excited to add this accomplished trio to the seasoned team we have in place in Paris.’

Goodwin’s Paris PE team was created just this summer, within a year of their new PE practice was set up in London after hiring King & Wood Mallesons’ Richard Lever. Opening with six partners and focused primarily in the middle market, the Paris practice specialises in M&A, leveraged buyouts, private equity and public-to-private transactions for French and foreign private equity funds.

georgiana.tudor@legalease.co.uk

Legal Business

Shearman private equity head Mark Soundy to exit firm

Posted on |
Strategic recruitment Shearman & Sterling
legal-business-default

Shearman & Sterling’s global private equity head Mark Soundy is to depart the firm after a three year stint.

Soundy moved to the firm from Weil, Gotshal & Manges in 2013 as Shearman looked to establish a private equity offering in the City. He joined the US firm along with Sarah Priestley, a corporate tax specialist focusing on private equity and hedge funds. Associate Simon Burrows also moved over from Weil to Shearman as partner at the same time.

London-based Soundy focuses on UK and international M&A work, and has advised a number of institutional investors, international businesses and senior management teams. His client base includes APAX Partners, Bridgepoint, GMT Communications and HgCapital/Mercury. He resigned from the firm last week.

Meanwhile, leveraged finance partner Arnaud Fromion, based in Shearman’s Paris office, is also set to leave the firm.

Earlier this year, New York-based Jeremy Dickens, the co-head of private equity left for McDermott Will & Emery after three years at Shearman.

In 2016, Shearman’s London office again outperformed the rest of the firm, though only by a small margin, with revenue up 3% to $149m. Deals carried out by the London office last year include two mandates for cable company Liberty Global, advising on its $8.2bn purchase of Cable & Wireless Communications and its investment in Lions Gate Entertainment, and a role advising the underwriters on ABN Amro’s €3.8bn IPO at the end of the year, the largest ever Dutch privatisation.

Over the past five years the City office has grown by 43% and accounted for 17% of the firm’s global revenue last year.

sarah.downey@legalease.co.uk

Legal Business

Quinn Emanuel in talks to take on Shearman’s Brussels partnership

Posted on |
Europe Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & SullivanShearman & Sterling
legal-business-default

Disputes leader Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan is in talks to hire a team from Shearman & Sterling’s Brussels arm, including office head Stephen Mavroghenis and competition partner Trevor Soames.

A total of five partners are negotiating with Quinn, constituting the entirety of Shearman’s Brussels partner ranks. With Mavroghenis leading the discussions, the other partners involved are Soames, Geert Goeteyn, Miguel Rato and Matthew Readings. Goeteyn and Readings are based in Shearman’s London and Brussels offices. It is expected that associates may follow the team to Quinn.

Soames, who specialises in merger control, monopolies, state aid and cartel investigations, joined Shearman in 2009 from the Brussels arm of the now-defunct Howrey, taking a team of four partners and 13 associates with him.

The Brussels office had previously proved to be a headache for Shearman, when earlier in 2009 it was left without a partner locally after antitrust lawyers Annette Schild and Silvio Cappellari departed for Arnold & Porter. News of the current Quinn talks were first reported on Rollonfriday.

Should the team sign on the dotted line, it will serve as a major boost to Quinn’s Brussels offering, which was launched in 2014. Despite by its expansive standards seeing a poor financial year globally in 2015, with revenue down 6% to $1.042bn and profit per equity partner falling 10% to $4.42m, Quinn continues its strategy of expansion via laterals.

Quinn bolstered its antitrust capabilities in London this year, having hired DLA Piper UK competition head Kate Vernon in March. Other laterals included Herbert Smith Freehills’ James Bremen as its chair of the construction practice and Clyde & Co litigator Paul Friedman as part of a bid to expand its Israel practice.

sarah.downey@legalease.co.uk

Legal Business

Shearman and Shepherd to battle out $5.6bn Cairn Energy tax arbitration against India

Posted on |
Litigation Shearman & SterlingShepherd and Wedderburn
legal-business-default

Oil and gas exploration and development company Cairn Energy has picked lawyers from Shearman & Sterling and Shepherd and Wedderburn, as well as former India solicitor general Harish Salve, to bring a $5.6bn arbitration claim against India over a disputed tax assessment.

The claim has been brought through Cairn UK Holdings, a direct subsidiary of London-listed Cairn Energy, under a bilateral investment treaty between the UK and India. The arbitration will be seated in The Hague in the Netherlands with hearings set to begin in 2017. The disputes follows a tax crackdown by India on offshore subsidiaries, often demanded retroactively.

Cairn Energy bought a concession in the Indian state of Rajasthan for $7.5m in 2002 from Anglo-Dutch energy giant Shell and subsequently discovered a vast oil deposit. The Scottish company sold a majority stake in Cairn India, which it had incorporated in Jersey, for $8.5bn to Vedanta, which is majority owned by billionaire Anil Agarwal’s Indian mining group Vedanta Resources.

Cairn’s long drawn out sale of its remaining 9.8% stake in Cairn India to Vedanta was blocked by Indian tax authorities on the grounds that Cairn owes the government $1.6bn in taxes on the original venture, as well as $2.8bn in interest.

Cairn said in a recent London Stock Exchange filing: ‘Cairn has also commenced international arbitration proceedings against the Republic of India under the UK-India Bilateral Investment Treaty on the basis that India’s actions have breached the Treaty by (1) expropriating Cairn’s property without adequate and just compensation, (2) denying fair and equitable treatment to Cairn in respect of its investments and (3) restricting Cairn’s right to freely transfer funds in connection with its investment. Based on detailed legal advice, Cairn is confident that it will be successful in such arbitration.’

Shearman & Sterling’s team for Cairn includes London-based international arbitration partner Mark McNeill and San Francisco-based Robert Nelson. They are being supported by lawyers at UK firm Shepherd and Wedderburn and Indian firm S&R Associates, with Cairn having also enlisted Harish Salve, a former solicitor general of India, to wage its legal battle. Blackstone Chambers barrister Salve recently acted on a similar dispute with the Indian tax authorities, advising for Vodafone India on a $2.6bn dispute over unpaid capital gains tax currently in international arbitration.

tom.moore@legalease.co.uk

Read more on the oil & gas industry in: ‘Power struggles – the challenges facing counsel in the $5trn oil and gas industry’

Legal Business

Shearman and Goodwin Procter crunch into £300m Tyrrells deal

Posted on |
Corporate Goodwin ProcterShearman & Sterling
legal-business-default

Shearman & Sterling and Goodwin Procter have taken the lead instruction on the sale of upmarket crisp and popcorn business, Tyrrells, to US snacks firm Amplify Snack Brands in a £300m deal.

Amplify will pay Tyrrells’ current owner, Bahrain-based Investcorp, about £278m in cash with the remainder in Amplify shares.

Investcorp and Tyrrells were advised by the US firm’s London office, with a team led by Shearman & Sterling corporate partner Mark Soundy.

Shearman has been a longtime adviser to Investcorp, acting in 2013 for the private equity firm on the financing of its acquisition of the Hydrasun Group from Equistone Partners Europe. The US firm also acted on financing for Investcorp’s purchase of GL Education Group from private equity and debt capital firm Veronis Suhler Stevenson back in 2012.

Goodwin Procter acted as legal counsel to Amplify, which is part owned by Boston based private equity shop TA Associates. Goodwin has a long history of acting for TA Associates, for the firm in 2015 when it acquired Russell Investments, an asset management company, from the London Stock Exchange Group. The US firm also acted for TA Associates when it acquired a majority investment in NorthStar Financial Services Group in February 2015.

Founded at Tyrrells Court Farm in Herefordshire in 2002, the company was taken over by Investcorp in August 2013 for £100m, following which an extensive overhaul of the company was carried out where sales doubled and employee numbers grew by over 70% globally.

Amplify, the US owner of SkinnyPop popcorn, plans to increase US sales of Tyrrells products, which include parsnip crisps and sour cream flavoured tortillas with poppy seeds. Tyrrells’ chief executive David Milner will stay on as international president at Amplify, which specialises in healthier snacks.

sarah.downey@legalease.co.uk

Legal Business

Life during law: Apostolos Gkoutzinis, Shearman & Sterling

Posted on |
Life During Law Shearman & Sterling
legal-business-default

Describe myself in three words? Passionate, impatient and aspirational.

I come from a small fishing town in northern Greece most lawyers would not know. A very traditional family, my father was a local civil servant, my mother a homemaker. We weren’t poor, nor rich. Modest in Greece in the 1970s meant no car, no television. But there was a drive to do better. My pushy mum, when I was ten, would give any Indian or Chinese mum today a run for their money!

Legal Business

Shearman ramps up associate pay as war for talent intensifies

Posted on |
Associates Shearman & Sterling
legal-business-default

Newly-qualified UK lawyers at Shearman & Sterling will see salaries pushed up £7,000 to £95,000 this year as City salaries soar. Rises of between 7% and 10% have been dished out across the associate ranks, with more experienced associates set to trouser up to £12,000 extra a year. The salary increases took effect from 1 May, 2016.

Newly-qualified lawyers salaries are up from £88,000 in 2015 to £95,000 this year, an 8% rise. This is £4,000 more than their peers at Linklaters, £10,000 more than their equivalents at Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer and a whopping £23,500 more than at Slaughter and May.

Mid-year associates, with three and a half year’s post-qualified experience (PQE), scooped the biggest percentage increase in pay, with salaries up 10% to £126,000. That’s £11,000 more than last year.

Senior associates, with six and a half year’s PQE, scored the biggest monetary rise as pay rose by £12,000 to £156,000. That equates to a 7% increase.

Trainee salaries have been frozen at £45,000 for first year trainees and £50,000 for second year trainees. Nonetheless, these salaries received substantial hikes last year, with first year salaries topped up by £6,000 and second year salaries topped up by £6,000.

The changes apply to UK lawyers across the firm and took effect on 1 May.

Shearman & Sterling has also introduced an agile working policy for London-based counsel and associates. While the firm has had an informal remote working arrangement in place in its London office, it has formalised the policy following an internal consultation with staff.

The firm claims that the policy provides more structure and transparency to counsel and associates across all practice groups to work from home and meet the needs of the business, but there is no set number of days that associates and counsel can work remotely. Instead associates and counsel are asked to obtain authorisation from their line manager for consideration.

Shearman London managing partner Nick Buckworth (pictured) said: ‘In a recent internal survey, our staff clearly told us that having the ability to work flexibly was of increasing importance. We are pleased to have put in place new processes that enable our team to work in a more agile way and we have the full support of our partners to ensure this is success.’

tom.moore@legalease.co.uk

Legal Business

Pinsent Masons, Shearman and Clyde & Co major winners at 2016 Legal Business Awards

Posted on |
Clyde & CoPinsent MasonsShearman & Sterling
legal-business-default

Pinsent Masons, Shearman & Sterling and Clyde & Co were among the major winners at the 2016 Legal Business Awards, with Slaughter and May’s outgoing senior partner Chris Saul named Lawyer of the Year in recognition of an outstanding career.

Pinsents was the night’s main winner, picking up two awards, first Energy & Infrastructure Team of the Year and then the coveted Law Firm of the Year award, thanks to a sustained period of strong financial performance and a firm commitment to a meaningful sector focus.

Meanwhile, Clydes’ managing partner James Burns was named Management Partner of the Year for being central to the success of the Global 100 firm since taking on the role in 2013.

Shearman picked up one of the most-prized practice area awards, selected as Corporate Team of the Year for its role advising Qatar Investment Authority on its complex £2.6bn bid for Songbird Estates, ultimately leading to the takeover of Canary Wharf Group. Herbert Smith Freehills picked up two awards – Finance Team of the Year for its role advising Virgin Atlantic on the innovative secured bond financing of its Heathrow airport slot portfolio, while it was jointly named Dispute Resolution Team of the Year with Jones Day after the firms collaborated to successfully represent the Standard Bank on entering into the UK’s first ever Deferred Prosecution Agreement.

Other major awards saw Skyscanner’s legal team named In-House Team of the Year for the team’s role in helping it become the world’s fastest-growing travel site, while Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan was named US Law Firm of the Year for the third time in five years, while Stevens & Bolton picked up National/Regional Firm of the Year after a very strong 2015.

The awards were presented to more than 1,000 guests in a gala ceremony last night (7 April) hosted by former Labour party chief press secretary and communications strategist Alastair Campbell. The event was preceded by a reception to mark the launch of this year’s GC Power List report.

The winners were selected by an external judging panel comprising the following senior general counsel: Nilema Bhakta-Jones (Ascential); Claire Chapman (Daily Mail and General Trust); Kirsty Cooper (Aviva); former vice-president and GC of group legal affairs & compliance at RB, Claire Debney; Chris Fowler (BT); Dan Guildford (FT); Michael Herlihy (Smiths Group); Robert Ivens (Marks and Spencer); Alison Kay (National Grid); Ned Staple (Zoopla); Nyeem Syed (Thomson Reuters); and Suzanne Wise (Network Rail). The panel was completed by Jomati founder Tony Williams as well as Alex Novarese and Mark McAteer from Legal Business.

Our May edition will include a full report of the night.

For more details click here. See #lbawards2016 on Twitter or click here for photos from the night. 

mark.mcateer@legalease.co.uk

Legal Business Awards 2016 – The Winners

King & Wood Mallesons – TMT Team of the Year

Herbert Smith Freehills – Finance Team of the Year

Weil, Gotshal & Manges – Restructuring Team of the Year

Linklaters – Competition Team of the Year

Pinsent Masons – Energy and Infrastructure Team of the Year

Herbert Smith Freehills/Jones Day – Dispute Resolution Team of the Year

Irwin Mitchell – Private Client Team of the Year

Eversheds – Insurance Team of the Year

Shearman & Sterling – Corporate Team of the Year

Travers Smith – Private Equity Team of the Year

Burges Salmon – Real Estate Team of the Year

Tapestry Compliance – Boutique of the Year

Chris Saul, Slaughter and May – Lawyer of the Year

ITV – CSR Programme of the Year

Al Tamimi & Company – International Firm of the Year

Daniel Whitehead, Citibank – Rising Star In-House Counsel of the Year

Skyscanner – In-House Team of the Year

James Burns, Clyde & Co – Management Partner of the Year

Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan – US Law Firm of the Year

Lawyers On Demand – Legal Innovator of the Year

Kennedys – Legal Technology Team of the Year

Stevens & Bolton – National/Regional Firm of the Year

Pinsent Masons – Law Firm of the Year

Legal Business

US financials: Shearman & Sterling recovery falters as Gibson Dunn’s star rises higher

Posted on |
Financial results 2015 Gibson, Dunn & CrutcherShearman & Sterling
legal-business-default

The two-year rebound at New York-headquartered Shearman & Sterling came to an abrupt end last year as profits per equity partner (PEP) sunk back below what partners achieved in 2007, outpaced by West Coast rival Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher which put in another strong performance as it continues its run as one of the country’s fastest growing firms.

Revenue rose slightly at Shearman, up 2% to $860m, with the firm’s M&A group putting in a strong performance.

PEP dropped by more than $60,000 at the firm last year, dropping 4% from $1.9m in 2014 to $1.84m last year. This puts PEP below what it achieved in 2007, with revenue still $61m below what it generated that year.

Shearman’s London office again outperformed the rest of the firm, though only by a small margin this year, with revenue up 3% to $149m. Deals carried out by the London office last year include two mandates for cable company Liberty Global, advising on its $8.2bn purchase of Cable & Wireless Communications and its investment in Lions Gate Entertainment, and a role advising the underwriters on ABN Amro’s €3.8bn IPO at the end of the year, the largest ever Dutch privatisation. Over the past five years the City office has grown by 43% and accounted for 17% of the firm’s global revenue last year.

Nick Buckworth (pictured), managing partner of Shearman’s London office told Legal Business: ‘The business is on track, we’re making the investments, we have the deals and we have quality partners that will help us drive the business. We experienced at the end of 2015 a softening of the market. We saw a lot of slippage on deals.’

While Shearman has been one of the slowest growing firms in the US, Gibson has been one of the fastest. It notched a 20th straight year of revenue growth in 2015, with revenue up 5% to $1.54bn. PEP was up 5% to $3.19m, while revenue per lawyer grew 4% to $1.27m.

tom.moore@legalease.co.uk