Legal Business

Revolving Doors: Hogan Lovells and Linklaters boost competition as Simpson Thacher snaps up US funds quartet

Prompted by the ongoing increase in class action claims, Hogan Lovells has strengthened its highly regarded competition litigation team with the addition of Andrew Leitch and Ed Coulson, a Legal 500-leading partner in competition litigation, both joining from BCLP.

Legal Business

Revolving Doors: Clifford Chance, Akin and Dechert bolster PE and finance teams in the City

Leading the leading lateral moves this week, Cadwalader has hired a trio of fund finance partners to its London office. Bronwen Jones arrives from Reed Smith, where she spent six years following two decades at Macfarlanes. She is joined by Douglas Murning and Matthew Worth, both joining from Ashurst.

Legal Business

Dealwatch: Baker McKenzie and Gibson Dunn lead on $5bn data centre investment while US trio orchestrate $27bn energy deal

Baker McKenzie and Gibson Dunn have played key roles in KKR’s $5bn investment in a stake in Gulf Data Hub, one of the largest independent data centre platforms in the Middle East. 

Legal Business

HSF and Simpson Thacher to launch in Luxembourg with A&O Shearman hires

Herbert Smith Freehills and Simpson Thacher each announced the launch of a new office in Luxembourg this week, with both firms attempting to capitalise on a lively and growing private capital market.

Speaking to Legal Business, Mike Flockhart, global co-head of corporate at HSF, explained the attraction of Luxembourg for many firms: ‘Luxembourg is an important European hub for capital markets, particularly for funds work, corporate formation, and tax structuring, all of which often have a Luxembourg angle. It’s a natural fit for firms with strong private capital practices—or those looking to build one.’

Flockhart described private capital as ‘a key strategic priority’, explaining: ‘We’ve increasingly focused on this area in recent years, developing a private capital strategy for the UK and EMEA. A cornerstone of that strategy was Luxembourg, which we identified 18 months ago as a Year 3 target. However, we were able to make progress much more rapidly than anticipated.’

‘On day one, we will have corporate, funds, and tax expertise, which forms the core of what we need in this first phase,’ Flockhart continued. ‘That said, this is by no means the limit of our ambition. We want the team on the ground to be co-architects of our growth strategy, working alongside us to explore next steps.’

When asked if this launch was planned alongside the recent news of the firm’s proposed combination with Kramer Levin, announced earlier this month, Flockhart described the two developments as ‘serendipitous rather than deliberate’, explaining that ‘both initiatives align with our global ambition to be a leading firm and to consolidate our position in core markets. Kramer’s strong private equity franchise complements what we’re building around private capital globally.’

Meanwhile, Simpson Thacher executive committee chair Alden Millard said in a statement: ‘We are excited to support Luxembourg as the destination of choice for funds offering streamlined access to European markets’.

He continued: ‘Our Luxembourg office will harness the Firm’s more than 40 years of experience and exceptional client service in advising asset managers on the formation of cutting-edge investment vehicles.’

Each firm will launch with hires from A&O Shearman. HSF brings over funds counsel Joanna Pecenik Vergès d’Espagne and private capital and M&A counsel Marc Tkatcheff, a Legal 500 leading associate for corporate and M&A, both as partners. Jean-Dominique Morelli, a tax partner from Maples & Calder, will also join the team.

Simpson Thacher also opens with three new partners: regional co-head of funds and asset management and Luxembourg investment funds head Jean-Christian Six and partner Yannick Arbaut from A&O Shearman, and Paul Van den Abeele from Clifford Chance.

All three partners are individually ranked in the Legal 500 for investment funds: Van den Abeele and Six as leading partners and Arbaut as a next-generation partner.

According to the firm’s website, the moves leave A&O Shearman with 126 lawyers in Luxembourg, including 16 partners – six in funds and five in M&A. The departures come after the newly merged firm announced in September that it will cut 10% of its total partnership.

Van den Abeele also marks the second significant departure for CC this week, after fund finance specialist Andrew Husdan moved to Kirkland in London.

anna.huntley@legalease.co.uk

Legal Business

Simpson Thacher unveils new London head as office posts double-digit revenue growth

Simpson Thacher has announced that Wheatly MacNamara will take over from Jason Glover as London managing partner in October. Glover, who has led the office since 2016, will remain at the firm in a strategic role. The news comes as the City office recorded a 23% rise in revenue for 2023.

MacNamara (pictured), whose practice focuses on real estate acquisitions, dispositions and joint ventures, joined the firm in 2005 and has been a partner since 2016. Her client book includes Blackstone, KKR, KSL, Apollo and Northwood.

Her key mandates include advising Blackstone on the Mileway last-mile logistics platform and its €21bn recapitalisation. MacNamara also advised Blackstone on its €12.25bn sale of Logicor to CIC, its $6.2bn take-private acquisition of Dream Global REIT, and its €630.7m acquisition of Hotel Investment Partners.

She is a Legal 500 Leading Individual for Private Equity: Transactions- High-Value deals and was profiled by Legal Business as a deal star Alpha in recognition of her prominence in the real estate sector.

Commenting on her appointment, MacNamara said: ‘For more than 40 years, Simpson Thacher’s London office has been known for providing clients with innovative solutions to address their most critical matters. In particular, the London office has enjoyed an incredible period of growth and success under Jason’s strategic leadership. I am excited to build upon his legacy and the firm’s remarkable achievements as we continue to expand and enhance our capabilities to best serve our clients.’

MacNamara is set to take over the reigns from Glover following a strong financial performance for the London office. The firm has reported a 23% increase in its London revenue, which has grown from $378.2m in 2022 to $465m in 2023. Revenue per lawyer stands at $2.1m.

Over the course of Glover’s leadership, the London office’s revenue has more than tripled from a starting point of $145.1m.

During this period, the size of the London office has also doubled. In January 2017 the London office had 21 partners and 113 lawyers. As of January 2024, it has 52 partners and 219 lawyers.

Speaking to Legal Business about the revenue growth, Glover said: ‘We are fortunate to have clients who are leaders in their fields, and their own growth has supported Simpson Thacher’s growth in turn.  In addition, we have benefitted from our lateral hires, where such partners have been able to excel on the Simpson Thacher platform.’

Discussing performance by practice area, Glover noted that the firm had seen ‘increases in revenues across all nine of our verticals with strong outperformance in restructuring, funds and disputes.’

Looking forward to the next financial year MacNamara added: ‘We are anticipating a stronger M&A marketplace so we would expect our corporate, capital markets, credit, energy and infrastructure, and real estate teams to be major beneficiaries.’

Holly.McKechnie@legalease.co.uk

Legal Business

‘Watch this space’: Simpson Thacher belies cautious reputation with European restructuring and antitrust push

Those familiar with Simpson Thacher & Bartlett’s modus operandi will barely know what’s hit them this month as the usually conservative New York  outfit launched a European restructuring practice and announced a Brussels office within a couple of days of each other.

The addition of a London restructuring practice to serve Europe is something of a coup coming as it does at a time when market commentators are predicting an uptick in distressed transactions on the back of the coronavirus downturn. Perhaps even more importantly, the move deprives Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer of one of the most influential partners of its heavyweight restructuring team in the form of Adam Gallagher. A partner since 2007, Gallagher will be joined by James Watson, a partner at Kirkland & Ellis since 2017 and a fellow Freshfields alumnus.  

This followed news that Simpson Thacher would be opening an office in Brussels to capitalise on client demand in the region post Brexit and the enhanced regulatory challenges surrounding it. In January, the firm hired Antonio Bavasso, Allen & Overy’s co-head of global antitrust and co-head of telecoms, media and technology, to its London antitrust and trade regulation practice. Qualified in the UK and Italy, he had been at the Magic Circle firm for nearly 24 years. He started at Simpson Thacher this week.

Law firm leaders may be understandably reticent to shout their good performances from the rooftops as in previous years – it is not difficult to come across as tone-deaf in publicising such things while much of the world is still in the grip of the coronavirus pandemic. However, Simpson Thacher has cause for quiet cheer, having grown London revenue an impressive 14% from $200.6m in 2019 to $232m on the back of outperforming funds and leveraged finance practices.

These latest hires bring the number of laterals to six in less than a year, also including tax partner Yash Rupal from Linklaters in May 2020, corporate partner James Howe from Gibson Dunn & Crutcher in August 2020 and Clifford Chance’s investment management regulatory partner Owen Lysak this year.

Speaking to Legal Business, London managing partner Jason Glover (pictured) admits to the conservative reputation but insists he won’t hire if the result is not additive and only serves to dilute profitability. He is bullish on the moves:  ‘The good thing is that each of the laterals we’ve gone for has been initiated and targeted by us. We are managing to get the people we are targeting – they are our first choices.

‘There is usually a pull factor and a push factor. Here there was a pull factor financially but no push factor. The people we hired weren’t looking to leave their firms.’

Glover is alive to the challenges, noting that the firm first started work on creating a restructuring practice back in November 2019, with the process requiring extensive market research with an external business to understand the market and identify the right players.

Speaking about the rationale behind the European restructuring practice, Glover said: ‘In the States we have a good, albeit small, restructuring practice with four partners that focuses on the debtor/ creditor side but we are not an established player. There is a desire to create a top-three player for restructuring. We are ambitious and looking at scale in Europe with five to seven partners over time. It will act as a catalyst for potential growth in the US.’

He is adamant that the Brussels office is driven by antitrust and will not be the start of a pan-European operation. ‘It was clear that to operate effectively with EU antitrust legislation we couldn’t do that just out of London. In time we will have two or three partners and 10 people in total in Brussels.’

And, all being well, the acquisitive streak looks set to continue. Concludes Glover: ‘We are always mindful of hiring great talent when it is additive as well as providing opportunities for internal candidates. In addition to the laterals, we made three people up to partner. We are definitely planning to add to the restructuring practice, so watch this space.’

nathalie.tidman@legalease.co.uk 

Legal Business

Simpson Thacher makes rare lateral play with hire of Linklaters tax head

Traditionally one of the more conservative US acquirers of talent in the City, Simpson Thacher & Bartlett has bucked that trend with the hire of Yash Rupal from Linklaters.

The move sees Linklaters deprived of its City head of tax and is another reversal for the Magic Circle after Amy Mahon, Clifford Chance’s respected dealmaker, defected to Simpson Thacher in November 2018. Rupal becomes head of tax at Simpson Thacher following the switch.

Rupal made partner at Linklaters in 1996 and represents corporates, financial institutions, funds, asset managers and their executives on cross-border M&A, investment fund planning and tax planning. He acted as global head of tax from 2007 until 2011 and has most recently led the firm’s City tax practice.

The news of Rupal’s hire comes after Simpson Thacher last week posted a 14% increase in London revenue last year, rising from $176m to $200.6m, as well as the expansion of its office space in the City.  London revenue for the firm has grown consecutively year-on-year since 2010 when revenue stood at $52m.

The addition of Rupal means Simpson Thacher now has 23 partners in the City. Highlights in recent years have been significant growth in the funds and real estate private equity practices.

Jason Glover (pictured), managing partner at the firm’s London office, said: ‘Working in tandem with our US tax practice, the UK tax team will be available to support our clients in providing commercial, value-added advice in respect of UK and EU tax issues at a time when tax authorities are applying greater scrutiny to the activities of both institutions and individuals.’

nathalie.tidman@legalease.co.uk

Legal Business

Deal watch: Simpson Thacher conjures Blackstone and Alibaba mandates as Linklaters and CC lead on British Steel takeover

Simpson Thacher & Bartlett has picked up two high-profile mandates advising Blackstone on the acquisition of MagicLab alongside the Hong Kong listing of Chinese ecommerce giant Alibaba.

Elsewhere, Linklaters and Clifford Chance (CC) led on Chinese steelmaker Jingye Steel and Iron’s acquisition of British Steel.

Alibaba this week said it was set to raise up to $13.4bn in a secondary listing in Hong Kong, including an international offering of 487.5m ordinary shares and a Hong Kong public offering of 12.5m ordinary shares.

Simpson Thacher is advising Alibaba with a team led by Chris Wong and Daniel Fertig in Hong Kong. Chinese firm Fangda Partners is also advising the group on legal matters pertaining to Chinese law.

Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer, meanwhile, is advising the underwriters with a team led by M&A partners Teresa Ko, Calvin Lai and Xu Jason. King & Wood Mallesons is advising the underwriters on Chinese law.

Earlier in the week, Jingye Steel agreed to acquire British Steel’s steelworks in Scunthorpe, UK mills at Teeside Beam Mill, Skinningrove and its subsidiary businesses in France and the Netherlands. Following months of uncertainty, the sale is said to have saved 24,000 jobs in the UK. Jingye is planning on investing £1.2 billion over the next decade as well as upgrading plants and machinery.

Linklaters advised Jignye with a team led by London corporate partners Chris Staples and Hugo Stolkin, Hong Kong partner Crystal Chen and restructuring and insolvency partner Matthew Harding.

Staples commented: ‘This is a landmark deal with Jingye’s commitment to significant investment in British Steel ensuring the long-term future of the business.’

The official receiver and special managers of British Steel were advised by CC, with partners Philip Hertz, David Lewis, Nick Rees and Iain White in London leading on the transaction. Paris partner Laurent Schoenstein and Amsterdam Partner Greg Crookes led on the sale of British Steel France Rail Holdings and the sale of FN Steel.

Jingye is a multi-industry group specialising in steel and iron as well as in powder metallurgy, 3D printing, tourism, hotels, and real estate. It distributes to 80 countries, producing 15 million tonnes of steel a year for an annual turnover of about £10bn.

The deal, signed on 10 November 2019, is subject to conditions such as regulatory approvals and employee consultation procedures.

Simpson Thacher also won a mandate advising Blackstone on its proposed acquisition of a majority stake in MagicLab for the value of approximately $3bn.MagicLab owns and operates dating and social networking apps including Badoo, Bumble, Chappy and Lumen. Founder and CEO Andrey Andreev is selling his stake and stepping down from his role as CEO and will be replaced by Whitney Wolfe Herd.

The Simpson Thacher team was led by M&A partner Anthony Vernace and included M&A partner Robert Langdon and corporate partner Clare Gaskell.

Baker McKenzie is advising the majority shareholders of MagicLab. The team is led by M&A partner David Scott and includes partners Leif King and Lawrence Lee in Silicon Valley.

Scott commented: ‘MagicLab is a fantastic business, with terrific brands and huge potential. The Blackstone acquisition is a great opportunity to further develop the platform. It’s been a real pleasure to partner with Andrey and the MagicLab team on this one.’

The deal is expected to close early next year.

Finally, Latham & Watkins advised Interswitch and its shareholders on a partnership with Visa. Visa will acquire a minority equity stake in the business which is valued at $1bn, making it one of the most valuable African Fintech businesses.

The team was led by London corporate partners Kem Ihenacho and Linzi Thomas and included partners James Inness and Christian McDermott. A Morrison & Foerster team led by London corporate partner Andrew Boyd advised Visa. The transaction is subject to regulatory approval.

muna.abdi@legalease.co.uk

Legal Business

From pavements to sidewalks: PE star Mahon’s move to Simpson Thacher melts CC hearts to stone

The success of Simpson Thacher & Bartlett where others have failed in luring Clifford Chance (CC)’s Amy Mahon to the other side has dealt a blow to CC’s corporate practice and other US firms vying to hire her.

Mahon – who in Legal Business last year told of her long-standing grievance with popstar Adele after a row over a nanny – told CC words to the effect of ‘that’s it, I quit, I’m moving on’ and surfaced at Simpson Thacher in January.