Legal Business

Casino investors move chips from White & Case to Quinn as they sue Mexico for $100m

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Litigation Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & SullivanWhite & Case
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A group of US investors have instructed disputes powerhouse Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan to bring a $100m arbitration claim against Mexico after the government seized and closed all their casinos in 2014.

B-Mex and nine investors have filed a $100m claim against Mexico at the International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICSID) after their six casinos across the country were seized and closed two years ago.

The group of investors, which includes former investment banker Gordon Burr, founded B-Mex (also known as Exciting Games) in 2005 and rapidly built up a portfolio of casinos in Mexico. A showcase casino in Naucalpan launched in 2006 with 830 slot machines, a restaurant and music venue, and more sites followed.

The US investors claim Mexico ignored court orders preventing the state from ‘from impeding or otherwise hindering operation’ and invalidated a 25-year casino permit through arbitrary, non-transparent administrative actions by the gaming authority and arbitrary, non-transparent judicial proceedings. The group argue that Mexico’s gaming authority has allowed other Mexican casino companies in like circumstances to continue operating their casinos, while the Mexican government implemented retaliatory and discriminatory measures aimed at harassing and extracting profits.

The investors had originally instructed White & Case to handle the dispute, but ahead of bringing the claim at ICSID switched to Quinn Emanuel. David Orta, who heads Quinn Emanuel’s international arbitration practice in Washington, DC and Latin America, has been instructed by the US investors alongside Daniel Salinas.

Mexico has not yet appointed outside counsel.

tom.moore@legalease.co.uk

Legal Business

White & Case UK and Africa accounts show another bumper year for expansive firm

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Financial results 2015 White & Case
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White & Case increased its turnover in 2015 by 39% across its UK and Africa offices with figures jumping by £60m to £214.9m. The revenue leap follows a strong 2014 when the firm posted a 12% top line increase.

The firm’s most recent limited liability partnership (LLP) filed at Companies House yesterday (August 15) show operating profit jumped to £88.9m for the year ended 31 December 2015, up from £59.6m in 2014.

The accounts also provide a breakdown of fees derived from limited liability branches based in UK and Africa. UK figures show the region earned £210.7m, another significant leap from £152.45m the year before. The firm posted £4.2m in turnover from Africa, up from £1.9m the year prior.

The report shows that for 2015 the firm had 371 fee earners, up 28% from the year prior, with total staff headcount reaching 600. Accounts show the firm spent £54.5m in wages and salaries, up from £48.4m the year earlier.

Following the announcement of White & Case’s global results for 2015, London executive partner Oliver Brettle said the City office’s figures were ‘strong, and reflect, as you would expect, continued investment.’ The firm posted a 1% increase in global revenues for 2015 to $1.523bn, which followed a 4% rise from 2013 to 2014. PEP came in at $2.02m, up slightly from $2.007m.

A spokesperson said: ‘As a truly global law firm, with lawyers advising clients across borders and jurisdictions, only our global results matter. While we do not announce or discuss financial results from individual offices or regions, London once again made an important contribution during 2015 that had a very positive impact on the firm’s global financial performance.’

Meanwhile, the firm has closed its Almaty office in Kazakhstan. The closure leaves the firm with one office in the country based in the capital Astana.

White & Case has also established a best friend alliance with its Turkish relationship firm Cakmak Avukatlik Burosu in July. The move will allow the Turkish firm to become more independent after it was previously expected to operate like an office of White & Case for internal purposes under its association with the US firm. White & Case also has an association with Istanbul-based Cakmak-Gokce Avukatlik Burosu.

madeleine.farman@legalease.co.uk

Legal Business

Heading down under: White & Case to launch in Australia

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Australia White & Case
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Expansive US firm White & Case is preparing to launch in Australia after putting together a war chest to take partners from rival firms.

White & Case has plans to first launch the firm in Australia with an office in Melbourne, with Sydney also in the firm’s sights. The firm, which has a strong brand in the project finance and infrastructure arena, will hang its launch on projects, infrastructure and finance work.

Law firms have been unperturbed by the commodities crash in Australia in 2014, which followed a decade-long boom dubbed the ‘super cycle’ for the resource-rich nation driven by rapid economic growth of China.

Hogan Lovells, which opened in Sydney and Perth last year, was the last major firm to launch in the country.

Nonetheless, the slowdown has put an end to a run of UK-Australia law firm mergers, with Herbert Smith tying up with Freehills, Ashurst marrying Blake Dawson and SJ Berwin combining with King & Wood Mallesons in the early 2010s. The exception is Dentons, which has gone on a global merger spree as it seeks to reshape the legal market and is in the process of finalising its combination with Australian firm Gadens.

A spokesperson for White & Case said the firm was ‘not going to comment on speculation’.

Legal Business understands Herbert Smith Freehills (HSF) is expected to lose a big-billing team to White & Case in the region. However HSF produced a similar statement. It read: ‘We’ve heard the speculation too. I wouldn’t want to comment on market rumours, except to say we don’t believe there’s any truth to them.’

tom.moore@legalease.co.uk

Legal Business

Woodward’s deal streak continues as Linklaters takes first instruction for BC Partners in $1.6bn acquisition

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Corporate LinklatersWhite & Case
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Linklaters has landed its first private equity mandate for BC Partners, with private equity star Alex Woodward leading alongside Vincent Ponsonnaille on a $1.6bn deal for a majority stake in Israeli furniture maker Keter Plastic.

BC Partners, which has traditionally used Dickson Minto, turned to Woodward and fellow private equity partner Ponsonnaille as it trumped private equity rivals Carlyle and CVC Capital Partners to acquire an 80% stake in Keter from its founders the Sagol family. The deal duo worked alongside Linklaters finance partners Brian Gray and Kathryn Merryfield, and tax partner Edouard Chapellier.

In a case of student becomes the master, Woodward faced off against Ian Bagshaw, White & Case’s co-head of private equity, for the first time on a deal since Bagshaw left Linklaters for the US firm in 2013. Bagshaw led a legal team that included PE partner Ken Barry, who joined White & Case from Debevoise & Plimpton late last year, finance partner Martin Forbes and tax partner Prabhu Narasimhan.

Israel-headquartered Keter designs, engineers, produces and distributes indoor and outdoor furniture. It operates 18 factories in nine countries with over 4,000 employees around the world. ‘This was a fantastic transaction for our EMEA private equity practice, the sort of deal that does not come along very often and a source of pride and inspiration for our team,’ said Bagshaw. ‘The deal represents a vote of confidence in Keter’s potential and in the Israeli economy, demonstrates the strength of our practice and the role we play in ensuring our clients have success in pursuing their strategic ambitions.’

The BC Partners instruction comes as part of a hot deals streak for Linklaters in what has been a flatter deals market in 2016. Woodward, alongside corporate partner Tracey Lochhead, acted for buyout firm Cerberus on its $4.6bn acquisition last month of GE’s French consumer finance business, GE Money Bank, and recent hire Ben Rodham ran Linklaters first private equity deal for French house PAI Partners when it purchased Atos Medical for €830m in May.

Linklaters was also instructed on two deals for longstanding client Apax Partners this month as it acquired German pharmaceutical company neuraxpharm Arzneimittel and three subsidiaries of Spanish pharmaceutical group Invent Farma.

tom.moore@legalease.co.uk

Read more on private equity in the City in the feature: ‘ABC – the brutally simple world of a private equity lawyer’

 


Legal Business

‘Another milestone’: White & Case and A&O take roles in $1.3bn software deal as Avast buys AVG

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Corporate Allen & OveryDe Brauw Blackstone WestbroekOrrick, Herrington & SutcliffeWhite & Case
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White & Case, Allen & Overy, Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe and De Brauw Blackstone Westbroek have won advisory roles as security software giant Avast Software buys AVG Technologies for $1.3bn.

Backed by private equity firm CVC Capital Partners, the acquisition will allow Avast Software to move into the ever-growing smartphone market, offering software to protect phones from malware and broadening out its international reach.

Avast will begin a tender offer for Amsterdam-based AVG Technologies at $25 a share in cash, the companies said in a statement today (7 July). The offer is 33% above AVG Technologies’ closing price yesterday on the New York Stock Exchange.

White & Case and Dutch firm De Brauw Blackstone Westbroek are advising Prague headquartered Avast, while AVG Technologies turned to Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe and Allen & Overy. Allen & Overy’s team, based in Amsterdam was led by partner Jan Louis Burggraaf with Christiaan de Brauw and Joyce Leemrijse.

For Orrick, corporate partner Peter Lamb led the team representing AVG, alongside M&A and private equity partners Ed Batts and Richard Vernon Smith.

Allen & Overy has advised AVG Technologies in the past, acting for the software provider last year when it acquired software firm Privax for $60m.

Ian Bagshaw leads the White & Case team advising Avast with London partners Caroline Sherrell, Justin Wagstaff working alongside US-based partners Chang-Do Gong, Farhad Jalinous and Rebecca Farrington, as well as Brussels-based Mark Powell.

White & Case has forged a close relationship with Avast, acting on a number of transactions including Summit Partners initial private equity investment years ago and CVC Capital Partners investment in 2014. Avast had planned to IPO back in 2012 but changed its mind due to market conditions.

Bagshaw (pictured) said: ‘Advising on this exciting acquisition is another milestone in our long relationship with the company, and a clear demonstration of the truly global nature of the integrated service White & Case provides to help clients achieve their ambitions.’

madeleine.farman@legalease.co.uk

Legal Business

Expansive White & Case opens second African office with Egypt launch

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Africa White & Case
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Rapidly expanding US firm White & Case is launching an office in Cairo, Egypt, as a wave of global law firm investment into Africa gathers pace.

The move comes just five years after the Egyptian revolution of 2011, which many thought would hold back for economy for decades, whereas in reality the country has largely reclaimed the strong GDP growth experienced before the Arab Spring. The launch in Egypt marks White & Case’s second African office, having opened in Johannesburg in 1995. The new office is expected to open by October this year.

White & Case, which has been advising corporate and investment banking clients in Egypt for more than 15 years, will broaden its legal practice by putting lawyers covering project finance, private equity, M&A and debt and equity capital markets on the ground. ‘The launch of our office in Cairo will help us meet the increasing demands of our Egyptian clients and better support the needs of our international clients investing there,’ said White & Case chairman Hugh Verrier (pictured).

White & Case will operate in Egypt in association with new Egyptian law firm MHR & Partners. The new office will be led by White & Case project finance partner Philip Stopford, who will divide his time between London and Cairo.

The partners launching the office are Tarek Mohanna, who relocates from White & Case’s London office; Sherief Rashed, who relocates from Abu Dhabi; Waleed El Daly, who joins from local firm Zaki Hashem & Partners; and Said Hanafi, who leaves his general counsel post at Orascom Development Holdings to help launch the office.

‘With the introduction of a number of economic initiatives and reforms, Egypt is increasingly attractive for foreign investment,’ said Stopford. ‘We’re excited to be making this move, which will also enable us to serve our Egyptian clients – who have extensive operations in EMEA and the Americas – more effectively. The calibre and experience of our Egyptian lawyers will allow us to deliver both local knowledge and access to our global network.’

The move follows a wave of big law investment in Africa, with DLA Piper launching in Morocco and South Africa last year, while Allen & Overy opened in South Africa in 2014.

tom.moore@legalease.co.uk

Legal Business

Another lateral for White & Case as it appoints Freshfields finance partner Rubinoff

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Strategic recruitment White & Case
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White & Case has continued its rapid recruitment drive, hiring Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer real estate finance partner Jeffrey Rubinoff.

Rubinoff has a wide range of clients from private equity houses, property investors and listed property companies to banks, sovereign wealth funds, mezzanine debt funds, noteholder groups and special servicers.

With the firm open about its plan to build a 500-lawyer practice in the City by 2020, Rubinoff joins a string of hires White & Case has made in recent months. Just last month the firm announced the appointment of Ashurst’s former London head of disputes Mark Clarke and Hogan Lovells’ star corporate partner Guy Potel. White & Case has also added capital markets partner Jonathan Parry from Ashurst in April.

Rubinoff has recently been working on the refinancing of debt on Host Hotels’ London Le Meridien Piccadilly, has advised Bank of America Merrill Lynch on a €170m facility to finance Oaktree’s acquisition of FMS and Deutsche Pfandbriefbank AG’s portfolio of non-performing loans and properties in Spain and Portugal, and has worked for JPMorgan and Lone Star on various portfolio acquisitions.

White & Case London executive partner Oliver Brettle said: ‘Real estate finance is a specialism that is increasingly in demand from our clients. It’s a testament to the strength of White & Case that we can attract partners of Jeffrey’s calibre to further expand practices such as real estate finance and to continue to provide our clients with advice and support of the very highest quality.’

White & Case became the first US firm to employ more than 400 lawyers in the City last year. The number of lawyers in its London office rose 19% to 420, with revenue up 22% to $266m bringing its City revenue above US rival Latham & Watkins.

As part of its expansion plans the firm also bumped up the number of training contracts it offers, which will increase its trainee intake from 30 a few years ago to 50. Lawyer numbers at the firm now sit ahead of the sizeable Baker & McKenzie and Dentons, which comprise the largest teams in the City.

madeleine.farman@legalease.co.uk

Legal Business

White & Case lands Hogan Lovells rising star Potel as US firm builds corporate practice

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Strategic recruitment Hogan LovellsWhite & Case
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After becoming the first US firm to employ more than 400 lawyers in the City last year, White & Case has added Hogan Lovells‘ star corporate partner Guy Potel (pictured) as it bids to become a corporate force in London.

Potel made partner at Hogan Lovells in 2010, two years after joining as an associate from Slaughter and May. Viewed as one of the rising stars at Hogan Lovells, Potel has done deals for the likes of data centre provider Equinix Telecity, real estate investment company Henderson Group and institutional stockbroker Numis Securities. He specialises in M&A in the financial services, consumer and technology sectors.

Potel has a strong track record of working with private equity houses and venture capitalists. His arrival at White & Case comes as part of a drive at the firm to build out its global corporate practice, with Linklaters’ big-billing Hong Kong partner Chris Kelly arriving in February as the firm’s Asia head of corporate and Clifford Chance private equity infrastructure partner Caroline Sherrell and Debevoise & Plimpton’s Kenneth Barry joining in London last October.

The firm has been gathering M&A momentum in Europe since the arrival of private equity duo Richard Youle and Ian Bagshaw from Linklaters in 2012, with the duo’s mid-market approach adding deals volume in London through a client base including HgCapital, Mid Europa Partners, Triton Partners, Novator and Arle. Potel started his career in 1999 at Clifford Chance, working in the same corporate group as Bagshaw after he joined in 2000.

Jan Matejcek, White & Case’s head of corporate for EMEA, said: ‘Guy…will play an important role in the ongoing development of our London public M&A practice, and there are exciting opportunities to work with our private equity team on portfolio company exits, and our equity capital markets team on issuer IPOs and secondary equity offerings by listed companies.’

Oliver Brettle, the US firm’s executive partner in London added: ‘Our strategy to 2020 includes a focus on profitable growth in London, in M&A and in the global technology industry. Guy’s addition drives us forward in all three areas, and follows the arrival of eight new lateral partners in London since the start of 2015.’

The number of lawyers at White & Case’s London office rose 19% in 2015 to 420, with revenue up 22% to $266m as it edged past US rival Latham & Watkins with its City turnover.

tom.moore@legalease.co.uk

 

Legal Business

Expansive White & Case taps Ashurst for the second time in two weeks for disputes partner

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Litigation AshurstWhite & Case
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Within weeks of securing Ashurst equity capital markets partner Jonathan Parry, White & Case has tapped the Anglo-Australian firm again with the arrival of disputes specialist Mark Clarke.

Clarke, Ashurst’s London head of disputes, joins the global giant’s London arm as White & Case sustains its recent aggressive hiring spree as part of a bid to build a 500-lawyer practice in the City by 2020. M&A, capital markets and disputes were put at the centre of that growth strategy.

Driven in part but a major expansion in its City corporate practice, White & Case in 2015 surpassed Latham & Watkins as the highest billing US firm in London with revenue rising 22% to hit £185m.

Clarke made partner at Ashurst in 2010 and is touted as one of the rising stars of its contentious City team, having represented a string of governments and corporates in both litigation and arbitration. He specialises in disputes arising out of the energy, resources and infrastructure sectors and had substantial experience in antitrust matters.

White & Case London executive partner Oliver Brettle (pictured) commented: ‘As the firm prioritises growth in key markets, practices and sectors, Mark’s arrival ticks all the strategic boxes – the growth of the London office and disputes practice, while building on our expertise in the oil and gas sector.’

Michael Polkinghorne, co-leader of White & Case’s oil and gas group, added: ‘Mark is a high-quality lawyer who brings a wealth of knowledge and experience that will be a valuable asset as we continue to enhance our energy and disputes practices.’

Clarke is the latest in a string of departures for Ashurst, with financial regulatory partner James Perry departing for Gibson Dunn & Crutcher and corporate partner Anthony Clare moving to Stephenson Harwood last month.

The City firm has, however, made several notable hires of its own in the City, with King & Wood Mallesons real estate duo Darren Rogers and Patrick Williams and Herbert Smith Freehills TMT duo Nick Elverston and Amanda Hale arriving this year. Also significant was the hire of DLA Piper’s well-regarded head of international arbitration, Matthew Saunders, at the start of the year.

tom.moore@legalease.co.uk

For more on US firms in the City, subscribers can see our 2016 Global London report

Legal Business

White & Case hiring spree continues with appointment of Ashurst capital markets partner

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Strategic recruitment AshurstWhite & Case
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As White & Case aims to build a 500-lawyer practice in the City by 2020, its recruitment spree has continued with the arrival of capital markets partner Jonathan Parry from Ashurst.

Parry’s arrival strengthens the firm’s equity capital markets team in London. He made partner at Ashurst in 2010 and has since become one of the strongest partners in Ashurst’s well regarded ECM team. His client book includes London-listed fund JZ Capital Partners, New York investment bank Jefferies International and boutique investment bank Liberum Capital.

He has worked on a string of IPOs, advising Madame Tussauds owner Merlin Entertainments on its £3.3bn IPO on the London Stock Exchange in late 2013, property manager Tritax Big Box REIT (real estate investment trust) on its listing on the specialist fund market of the LSE later that year. He also led Ashurst’s advice to behavioural healthcare company Cambian on its £190m IPO in early 2014 and worked on the recent £2.3bn gambling merger between Gala Coral and Ladbrokes.

White & Case head of global capital markets Stuart Matty said: ‘White & Case has built a leading ECM practice across EMEA – we advised on around 150 ECM deals in the past couple of years and, according to Bloomberg, advised on more IPOs in EMEA during 2015 than any other law firm.’

He added: ‘As a leading UK ECM lawyer, Jon will help grow our UK IPO practice and, with the majority of ECM deals in the region governed by English law, further support the development of our English law ECM practice.’

Oliver Brettle, London executive partner, added: ‘Jonathan’s arrival is another example of our determination to pursue growth in London, and in our capital markets practice, in line with our strategy to 2020.’

tom.moore@legalease.co.uk