Legal Business

Weil Gotshal and Debevoise see double-digit PEP hikes as Reed Smith’s top line makes a comeback

Posted on | and
Financial results 2017 Debevoise & PlimptonReed SmithWeil, Gotshal & Manges

Weil, Gotshal & Manges has scored an 18% global rise in profits per equity partner (PEP) as London turnover soared 33%, while Debevoise & Plimpton recorded a 17% PEP increase against a 12% revenue uptick.

Fellow US firm Reed Smith has finally returned to growth after two consecutive years of decline, increasing its top line 4% to $1.12bn in 2017. The firm’s London outpost had a particularly strong comeback, growing revenues 14% in sterling terms to £147m.

Weil’s firm-wide revenues rose 10% to $1.39bn, while PEP grew 18% to $3.64m and revenue per lawyer grew 6% to $1.24m, despite an increase in lawyer headcount and the number of equity partners.

The firm’s City arm office generated $165.4m (£128m) in revenue last year – a near 33% increase – based on the average sterling exchange rate for 2017.

A buoyant market for US restructuring work with an international element has bolstered London revenues while the firm’s leveraged finance, structured finance and private equity practices continue to grow.

Key matters for the year include advising Westinghouse Electric Company, a subsidiary of Toshiba Corp, on its $9.8bn Chapter 11 proceedings, together with the firm’s US and European offices and advising offshore drilling provider Paragon Offshore on its parallel Chapter 11 and English administration proceedings.

Other major deals for Weil include advising Oaktree Capital on the global sale of Fitness First, as well as OMERS Infrastructure on the increase of its interest in Thames Water, AMP Capital on the acquisition of the Regard Group and mandates for Antin Infrastructure.

Other key developments in London include the hire of corporate partner James MacArthur from Herbert Smith Freehills in May 2016, the addition of real estate and infrastructure finance partner Paul Hibbert from Baker McKenzie in April 2017 and real estate investment partner Anthea Bamford from Berwin Leighton Paisner in November 2017.

Meanwhile, Debevoise’s firm-wide revenue for the year was $822m, up from $735m in 2016, a 12% increase. London saw revenue rise 5% to $112.7m from $107m the previous year. PEP rose 17% to $2.8m from $2.4m.

Key litigation matters in London include advising Rolls-Royce on its Deferred Prosecution Agreement with the UK’s Serious Fraud Office.

Significantly, Reed Smith’s PEP grew 6% to $1.177m amid an expansive year marked by 55 lateral hires worldwide, the addition of a 50-strong European team from the collapse of KWM Europe and a new office in Miami.

Revenue per lawyer grew 3% to $722,000 as the firm increased its lawyer headcount overall by 1% to 1,550 including 680 partners.

‘Our sector focus has started to deliver,’ said Alexander ‘Sandy’ Thomas, re-elected managing partner for a second term last summer . ‘We had a really balanced contribution across our transactional, regulatory and contentious practices and a balanced contribution geographically.’

Thomas added that life sciences and healthcare had a particularly strong year alongside energy and natural resources. The five sectors in which the firm is committed to being ‘industry leader’ also include financial industries, entertainment and media, and shipping and transportation.

The firm handled the US and EU competition clearance for Hong Kong shipping firm OOCL in its $6.3bn acquisition by China’s COSCO Shipping, which Thomas described as a ‘great example of sector expertise’, and advised Citibank on the financing of a public infrastructure project in Colombia.

Thomas pointed to London as ‘a great expression of the strategy of the firm’. ‘We have clients here organised around our five industry sectors and we are working very closely across our practices to grow our client relationships.’

marco.cillario@legalease.co.uk

nathalie.tidman@legalease.co.uk

Legal Business

An ‘amicable’ discussion sees Weil Gotshal exit Hungary as 20-strong team joins Bird & Bird

Posted on |
Europe Bird & BirdWeil, Gotshal & Manges

Bird & Bird has bolstered its Budapest operations by adding a 20-strong Weil, Gotshal & Manges team, bringing the US firm’s presence in Hungary to an end.

Both parties insisted that the two-partner team move on 1 February was the result of an ‘amicable arrangement’ between the firms rather than headhunting by Bird & Bird.

Legal Business

Weil Gotshal to shut Hungarian operations as team jumps to expansive Bird & Bird

Posted on |
Europe Bird & BirdWeil, Gotshal & Manges

Weil, Gotshal & Manges will close its Budapest office after its 20-strong Hungarian team agreed to join Bird & Bird in the latest chapter of the UK top 20 firm’s international expansion.

In what both firms described as the result of an ‘amicable’ discussion, Weil’s Budapest managing partner David Dederick will co-lead Bird & Bird’s local operations from 1 February.

Partner Konrád Siegler will join him together with three counsel, 10 associates and five trainees, bringing Bird & Bird’s Budapest headcount to 29 and making the office a key hub in the firm’s south-eastern European operations.

‘We have reached a very amicable arrangement with Weil, and I am absolutely sure the good and strong relationship will be maintained,’ said Bird & Bird international disputes head Peter Knight, who will head the Budapest operations together with Dederick. However, he denied there were any arrangements in place for a formal collaboration between the two firms on specific projects.

Weil’s former team will complement Bird & Bird’s traditional capabilities in tech and comms, IT, data and IP along with a financial services presence. The team will have a sector focus in energy and utilities, life sciences and healthcare.

Dederick specialises in cross-border M&A, private equity and real estate operations, while Siegler’s practice focuses on finance and capital markets transactions.

‘Budapest will become a pivotal centre to increase our work in eastern Europe and the Balkans and be a powerful centre in central Europe alongside Warsaw, sitting very comfortably with our German presence,’ added Knight. Bird & Bird also has two smaller offices in Slovakia and Check Republic.

A spokesperson for Weil said the firm would ‘continue to support the office during a transition period and would look to refer appropriate work to them’, adding: ‘Over the years, our Budapest office has been involved in milestone transactions in Hungary. We are very proud of all that our colleagues have achieved, and we know they will continue to accomplish great things.’

The announcement marks the latest act in Bird & Bird’s global expansion, one of the key factors behind the firm’s 162% revenue growth over the last ten years .

Last year the firm signed a co-operation agreement with noted Chinese shop AllBright and announced plans for a San Francisco base , as well as launching a second Dutch base in Amsterdam .

As for Weil, the Budapest closure comes one year after the firm announced it was shutting its Dubai arm . The US giant also lost a four-partner Silicon Valley corporate team to Hogan Lovells last spring .

Marco.cillario@legalbusiness.co.uk

Legal Business

Weil, CC and Travers line up on £1bn Canadian private equity pensions deal

Posted on |
Corporate Clifford ChanceTravers SmithWeil, Gotshal & Manges

Weil, Gotshal & Manges, Clifford Chance (CC) and Travers Smith have advised on the £1bn sale of Civica by the private equity arm of Canadian pensions company OMERS to funds managed by global investor Partners Group.

Weil advised its longstanding client OMERS private equity on the transaction, while CC acted for Partners Group and Travers Smith represented Partners Group’s management.

OMERS private equity originally purchased software company Civica just four years ago for £390m. With the sale valued at just over £1bn, OMERS private equity has made a significant profit on its investment.

Weil London-based private equity partner Marco Compagnoni led for the firm on the deal, alongside banking and finance partner Tom Richards and tax partner Oliver Walker.

Compagnoni told Legal Business that the deal was done ‘extremely quickly.’

‘We bought Civica for OMERS a few years ago. It is always very satisfying when you have bought a company for a client and then you get to see that company thrive and move on to the next stage in its development’, Compagnoni said.

The Travers Smith team was led by senior partner Chris Hale, with support from private equity partner Adam Orr and tax partner Hannah Manning. Clifford Chance’s global private equity head Jonny Myers led for his firm alongside M&A partner Spencer Baylin.

Since the beginning of the year, Weil has advised on 14 deals over the £1bn mark with a total transaction value in excess of £30bn. In January, it advised Advent and Bain Capital Private Equity in its $745m purchase of German payment provider Concardis.

Civica is a company which provides software solutions to organisations in the public sector, employing around 3,700 employees worldwide.

tom.baker@legalease.co.uk

Legal Business

S&C and Wachtell lead on Amazon’s $13.7bn Whole Foods buyout

Posted on |
Corporate Latham & WatkinsSullivan & CromwellWachtell, Lipton, Rosen & KatzWeil, Gotshal & Manges

Sullivan & Cromwell and Wachtell Lipton Rosen & Katz lead a host of elite US law firms advising Amazon on its $13.7bn purchase of Whole Foods Market, as the online retailer expands into the bricks and mortar food market.

Sullivan & Cromwell partners Krishna Veeraghavan and Eric Krautheimer are leading on behalf of Amazon while Wachtell Lipton Rosen & Katz partners Daniel Neff, Trevor Norwitz and Sabastian Niles are acting for Whole Foods.

Weil Gotshal & Manges banking partners Morgan Bale and Heather Viets, capital markets partner Faiza Rahman, M&A partner Raymond Gietz and tax partner William Horton all represented Bank of America Merrill Lynch and Goldman Sachs. The banking giants provided debt financing for Amazon to pay for the merger.

Latham & Watkins acts for financial adviser Evercore Partners on the deal, with a team consisting of corporate partners Adel Aslani-Far and Mark Gerstein.  US-headquartered company Whole Foods hired Evercore Partners earlier this year to advise the company on a strategic review of its business operations. 

The merger is the first high-profile role that Sullivan & Cromwell has undertaken this year since advising Deutsche Bank on its £500m fine by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) in January.

Sullivan & Cromwell white collar partner Samuel Seymour advised Deutsche Bank on its US settlement with the FCA.

For Latham & Watkins, Amazon’s swoop on the upmarket food grocery market is the first major deal since advising offshore drilling contractor Ensco on its $839m acquisition of Atwood Oceanics. The top US-headquarted firm advised Ensco with a team lead by Houston-based energy partners Sean Wheeler and Debbie Yee. Ensco also turned to Slaughter and May corporate partner Hywel Davies for advice.

Amazon was unavailable for comment.

tom.baker@legalease.co.uk

Legal Business

Simpson Thacher acts for CVC on record-breaking €16bn new fund

Posted on |
US firms Freshfields Bruckhaus DeringerWeil, Gotshal & Manges

Simpson Thacher & Bartlett’s London office has advised CVC Capital Partners on its record-breaking €16bn fundraising. 

The fund, which is CVC’s seventh, will be used for private equity investments in Europe and North America. It is the largest fundraising for a European buyout house.

London-based private investment funds partner Gareth Earl led the team advising CVC on the fundraising. Earl joined the US firm in 2010 from British private equity house Doughty Hanson, making partner in 2012. His clients include CVC, Cinven, Apax, Bridgepoint, Charterhouse, EQT, BC Partners, Actis and Coller Capital.

Offshore law firm Mourant Ozannes acted as Jersey legal counsel.

Simpson Thacher’s London managing partner Gregory Conway stepped down from his role at the end of March after 10 years of leading the practice, and remains a partner at the firm. Private funds partner Jason Glover, who replaced him in the role, is the first non-US managing partner of the London office.

Simpson Thacher made a rare London hire at the end of last year, taking on Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer partner Ben Spiers to boost its M&A practice. Widely-tipped as a potential successor to heavyweight Adam Signy, Spiers’ practice focuses on the TMT sector.

Spiers was Simpson’s first London lateral appointment since the firm took on high-yield star Gil Strauss from Weil, Gotshal & Manges in 2014.

madeleine.farman@legalease.co.uk

 

Legal Business

Weil adds to banking practice with Baker McKenzie infrastructure specialist Hibbert

Posted on |
Finance Baker McKenzieWeil, Gotshal & Manges

Weil, Gotshal & Manges confirmed today (19 April) that it has hired infrastructure and real estate finance partner Paul Hibbert from Baker McKenzie, as the US firm continues to ramp up its finance coverage in the City.

Hibbert (pictured) covers leveraged finance, structured finance, real estate finance and general corporate banking, with a particular focus on advising both sponsors and lenders on financings of real assets.

He will work closely with private equity (PE) partner James MacArthur, who quit to join the US firm from Herbert Smith Freehills (HSF) last May, and funds partners Ed Gander and James Sargent, to further Weil’s push into real assets.

Hibbert joined Bakers as a partner in 2013 from Clifford Chance, where he was an associate for eight years. Macarthur was HSF’s London head of PE when he joined Weil last year. His hire was a blow to HSF, as firms are increasing investment in this area.

Last month, following its loss of a seven-partner City team, Kirkland & Ellis hired Munich-based corporate partner Volkmar Bruckner from Weil. Kirkland also took on Weil’s banking head Stephen Lucas back in 2014.

Meanwhile, earlier this year Bakers took on a team of seven lawyers, including private equity and employment partners Will Holder and Carl Richards, from King & Wood Mallesons’ (KWM) European partnership following its collapse. Holder had previously been head of KWM’s China Group and spent ten months seconded to Chinese offices.

In 2015, Bakers also lost star litigator Tom Cassels to Linklaters, after the firm’s New York litigation head Douglas Tween had also moved to Linklaters the week before. Also in 2015, Proskauer hired one of Bakers’ highest City earners, EMEA co-head of private equity Bruno Bertrand-Delfau.

Impressing with a significant hike last year, Weil’s global financials showed a revenue jump of 9% to $1.27bn with PEP increasing by more than 22% to $3.1m, while Bakers’ London office has seen its revenue jump by more than 20% in the firm’s latest LLP accounts, with turnover up to £176m in 2016 from £145.2m the previous year.

georgiana.tudor@legalease.co.uk

Read more about US firm banking teams in: ‘To the hilt – Meet the US firms going all in to dominate the City’s leveraged finance scene’

Legal Business

Hogan Lovells makes major Silicon Valley play with Weil Gotshal corporate team

Posted on |
Strategic recruitment Hogan LovellsWeil, Gotshal & Manges

While the transatlantic firm has repeatedly stated its aim to bulk out its corporate weight, Hogan Lovells is expected to land a veteran team of former Dewey & LeBoeuf partners to its Silicon Valley office following a partnership vote.

Hogan Lovells is set to take on Richard Climan and a team of three other corporate partners from Weil, Gotshal & Manges, a heavyweight team that previously held talks with Greenberg Traurig and Reed Smith during their move from a collapsing Dewey in 2012. Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer were even reportedly tempted to launch on the West Coast at the prospect of signing the team.

However Climan is now understood to be moving again, along with partners Keith Flaum, John Brockland and Jane Ross.

Climan joined Dewey in 2011 from Fulbright & Jaworski and was previously at Cooley until 2009.

Climan’s practice focuses on M&A, hostile takeovers, defensive strategies and leveraged buyouts, with specialities in the technology sector and in life sciences.

Recent clients have included Oracle on its acquisition of Responsys for $1.5bn and acting for Illumina on takeover defence against Roche in a $6.7bn bid.

While the rainmaking team are on significant pay packets, Hogan Lovells pay system has a degree of flexibility for bringing in high-profile hires, with an equity spread of around 10:1 and a 15% bonus pool.

Hogan Lovells has made clear its ambitions to reinforce its corporate offering since its 2010 merger, with early aims to bulk out its transactional capacity in London and New York.

The team move would be the most significant corporate hire for Hogan Lovells in recent years. The firm recently added three life sciences M&A specialists into its Philadelphia office, Steve Abrams, Rachael Bushey and John Duke, all from Pepper Hamilton.

Weil and Hogan Lovells both declined to comment.

matthew.field@legalease.co.uk

Legal Business

Kirkland takes Weil PE partner to replenish battered Munich offering

Posted on |
Strategic recruitment Kirkland & EllisWeil, Gotshal & Manges

Kirkland & Ellis has hired Munich-based corporate partner Volkmar Bruckner from Weil, Gotshal & Manges following its loss of a seven-partner team in the city.

Bruckner focuses on private equity representing German and international clients in complex cross-border buyouts, carve-outs and other M&A transactions. Key clients include Siemens, Bain Capital, VM Capital, Canadian Solar and Q-Cells. Prior to joining Weil in 2015, Buckner was at Latham & Watkins for over eight years.

Kirkland took on Weil Gotshal’s banking head Stephen Lucas in 2014. Lucas left the firm just three years after he joined in June 2011 from Linklaters, where he was a banking partner, prior to which he was a partner at Magic Circle rival Clifford Chance.

In February, Kirkland lost a seven partner team in its Munich office with veteran partner Volker Kullmann moving to Sidley Austin along with fellow corporate partners Björn Holland, Christian Zuleger, Nicole Schlatter and Marcus Klie, as well as finance partner Markus Feil and tax partner Roderic Pagel.

The move mirrors Sidley’s hire at the same time last year when the firm landed a six-partner deal team from Kirkland’s London office.

Kirkland has made a number of recent high-profile hires, bringing in a string of partners from Linklaters. Corporate partners David Holdsworth and Stuart Boyd joined Kirkland last year, reuniting them with Linklaters’ former real estate M&A head Matthew Elliott, corporate partner Roger Johnson and ex- head of competition and antitrust Paula Riedel all of whom were announced as moving in 2015.

The US heavyweight also took on two from Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer last year, hiring City finance partner Jonathan Birks and New York based corporate partner Doug Bacon.

Kirkland declined to comment.

madeleine.farman@legalease.co.uk

Legal Business

Middle East exodus continues: Weil shuts Dubai arm despite rebound year as PEP cracks $3m

Posted on |
Middle East and Africa Weil, Gotshal & Manges

Weil, Gotshal & Manges is to close its Dubai arm this summer, making the top 25 global law firm the third major practice to this month announce Middle East closures.

Opened in 2009, Dubai is the 280-partner firm’s only branch in the Middle East. Weil’s local practice includes private equity, M&A, arbitration and restructuring. Middle East head and private equity partner Joseph Tortorici, who is Weil’s only partner based in Dubai alongside two associates, is expected to relocate to one of the firm’s European offices. He joined the Dubai arm from Weil’s Prague office in 2008.

While the decision makes Weil the third major law firm to announce a Middle East closure in February the move is unusual as international advisers have typically scaled back in secondary regional markets like Qatar or Doha rather than Dubai.

Last week, Clifford Chance and Herbert Smith Freehills (HSF) both confirmed plans to reduce their presence in the Middle East, closing their respective offices in Qatar. HSF also closed its Abu Dhabi branch in June 2015, while US giant Latham & Watkins shut its Doha and Abu Dhabi outposts in 2015. Other firms to scale back include Baker Botts and Simmons & Simmons, which closed their Abu Dhabi bases in 2015 and 2016 respectively.

In contrast, Dentons announced last week that it is to launch an office in Jeddah in Saudi Arabia, with Riyadh-based partner Anas Akel to run the new office.

The retrenchment in its international network comes despite an expansive 2016 for Weil, which posted a 9% income hike to push its revenues to $1.27bn in what looks sure to be one of this year’s pace-setting performances on Wall Street. During the 2016 financial year, profit per equity partner (PEP) rose more than 22% to $3.1m. This is in contrast to 2015, when Weil posted a 1% rise in revenue to $1.16bn and comes after a prolonged period in which Weil had struggled to sustain growth. Between 2010 and 2015, the firm’s revenues contracted 2% before accounting for inflation, well behind most of its Manhattan peers.

City leaders are facing an ominous period of rivalry with leading US competitors in a period in which most top American firms are averaging partner profits in excess of $3m. The gap in profitability will be all the more threatening for City firms trying to retain key partners thanks to Brexit-induced weakness in sterling further eroding their defences.

georgiana.tudor@legalease.co.uk