United Kingdom

Banking and finance

The firm’s pursuit of a market leading position acting for borrowers is on course with $88 billion in loan deals in EMEA in the last 12 months. The firm added investment grade and leveraged finance partner Denise Gibson from Goldman Sachs in September 2013. Earlier in the year James Graham, head of Central European banking at the firm, moved across from the Budapest office to join the London team. 

“They always provide an efficient team filled with commercially minded lawyers of top quality,” is one lender side client’s view.

Highlights include acting for HSBC and a 28 bank syndicate on a $7.5 billion revolving credit facility for the Rio Tinto group; a €5 billion refinancing for GDF Suez; advising Standard Chartered on a $3.3 billion financing provided to West Africa based DIL; and assisting the arrangers and underwriters on the financing of CVC’s acquisition of ista International.

Capital markets

“Very well structured and client oriented team of experienced lawyers with comprehensive expertise,” is one debt side client’s view while a media client says: “Excellent service, full service offering from the capital markets, bank debt, corporate, derivatives and hedging teams.”

Debt side work, structured finance, securitisation and derivatives remain the key areas where the firm leads the market. It is no slouch on equity matters either and has picked up some notable mandates here as the market returned in early 2014.

The debt side of the practice welcomed Cieren Leigh onboard this year from Nomura. He has an Islamic finance focus. The team acted for the Russian Federation on a $7 billion Rule 144A issue; Magyar Export-Import Bank on a €400 million guaranteed bond; and in high-yield the underwriters in FESCO’s $875 million issue and OMERS Private Equity and AIMco on a €650 million issue to finance the acquisition of VUE Entertainment.

In derivatives the firm continues to take a lead role advising a number of global banks on their response to the financial crisis in Cyprus and ISDA on its approach to the EMIR (European Market Infrastructure Regulation) regulations and its new credit derivatives definitions. The team also acted for Citi on the Richmond Park €615.7 million CLO.

In equity work the team acted for the joint sponsors Credit Suisse and JPMorgan on the IPO of Poundland; Credit Suisse again as sponsors of the Hibernia REIT IPO; as well as Circassia Pharmaceuticals and on its LSE listing. They also acted for the Co-operative Group and Bank on its recapitalisation and Nationwide on its inaugural issue of Core Capital Deferred Shares (CCDS), an important step in opening the market to building societies.

Financial services regulatory

The firm made one addition to its team in the past year with the hire of Philip Annett from the FCA. He will mainly handle contentious matters.

A team led by Bob Penn and including Kate Sumpter acted last year for the UK Treasury, advising it on the impact of the bailout of Cyprus on UK account holders with Laiki Bank, specifically what protection they might have for their deposits. Another substantial deal saw Bob Penn act for ADS Holding on the regulatory aspects of the establishment of the financial free zone the Abu Dhabi Global Market.

Investment funds

Paul Phillips retired from active practice in 2014. Most of the firms work is confidential but one public saw it advise IFC Asset Management on the establishment of a $1.2 billion Global Infrastructure Fund consisting of 11 sovereign and pensions fund investors.

M&A

“High quality, interested and enthusiastic lawyers, creative and can-do attitude, large teams with lots of experts,” says one corporate client, adding: “It would be good to also have generalists for some base level issues.”

Many firms are taking steps to enhance their corporate practices with Allen & Overy no exception. Ashurst’s former head of corporate Stephen Lloyd is a key addition to the private equity team, while on the other side Don McGown (Hogan Lovells) and Alistair Asher (Co-op) departed the firm. Just a few highlights from the firm’s deal list include advising ING on the sale of its Korean life insurance business; News Corp on its demerger; and GlaxoSmithKline on the £1.35 billion sale of Lucozade and Ribena. On the private equity side one highlight was assisting Bregal Capital on the divestment of a stake in Cognita Schools to KKR.

Restructuring and insolvency

The firm remains focused on financial restructuring and has picked up lender side deals on restructurings of Al Jaber and Stemcor Holdings; advised the creditors on the Dubai World deal; assisted the UK Treasury on managing the impact on UK investors of the bailout of Cyprus; and acted for Punch Taverns, General Healthcare Group and Barchester Healthcare on CMBS restructurings.

Along with the other members of the ‘magic circle’ it remains one of the few firms in the market with the sheer manpower to handle the market’s largest matters.

M&A

The only change to the team at Freshfields last year was the addition of Philip Li from Clifford Chance. On the other side Chris Bown left the firm to join Freshfields client CVC Capital Partners.

“Excellent in all areas where my company engages this firm, especially in M&A (Sebastian Lawson and Sean Huber are outstanding lawyers) and in banking Anna Nersesian and Cameron Scott (Moscow) are really tough,” says one client. Another says the team has “excellent organisational skills, they were efficient at handling the firm’s resources, they had a superb understanding of the business needs”

The firm is one of the market leaders in the M&A and corporate space. In one example to back this up David Higgins, Adrian Maguire and Wessel Heukamp advised Cinven on the acquisition of German insurer Heidelberger Leben in conjunction with Hannover Re. The deal marks one of the first private equity entries into the German insurance market, the Freshfields team acted on M&A, finance and competition elements. Another substantial matter saw Alexander Watt assist TPG and Ivanhoé Cambridge on the acquisition of the European warehousing P3. Alongside the acquisition elements the firm also had to act on matters relating to the Chapter 11 status of the seller. 

On the sellers side Adrian Maguire acted for Advent International on the sale of Domestic & General to funds advised by CVC Capital Partners.

In a matter linked to the capital markets Mark Austin and Maguire assisted Partnership Assurance and Cinven on the IPO of the former on the LSE. The same two partners also advised Poundland Group and Warburg Pincus on the IPO of the former on the LSE. The matter was part of a string of retail IPOs that came to market in early 2014.

Banking and finance

The main change to the Herbert Smith Freehills banking team in the past year was the loss of Jason Fox to Bracewell & Giuliani. Fox was one of the leading partners in the team and it will be interesting to see how or if the firm replaces him. Project finance remains a strength with the firm able to draw on oil and gas experience.

In terms of deal highlights one of the largest matters by value was the work done by Matthew Job for Perenco on a $3 billion reserve based facility refinancing. Elsewhere Ewen Fergusson led a team advising Northgate on the refinancing of its bank loans and private placements. On the lender side John Balsdon acted for BNP Paribas and The Bank of Nova Scotia on the refinancing of a credit facility taken out by EnQuest.

In the projects area Martin Kavanagh advised the Government of Nepal on the financing of four hydroelectric power plants. Kavanagh also acted for CfC Stanbic Bank and Standard Bank on the financing of the Kinangop Wind Farm Project.

One projects client describes the firm as “excellent and solid support throughout a challenging restructuring”. Another says the team were “very proactive and client focused. Very experienced and with a great ability to patiently explain intricacies and to give excellent support and advice.”

Financial services regulatory

Having witnessed the departure of a few high profile partners from the team in the past few years, Herbert Smith Freehills has reacted by hiring two new faces. Andrew Proctor a former head of the enforcement division at the FSA joined from Deutsche Bank. William Hallatt will also join the team from Linklaters although he will be seconded to Hong Kong.

One of the firm’s largest projects in the past year saw James Palmer and Jenny Stainsby advise Sir Anthony Salz on his review of the business practices at Barclays Bank following the LIBOR scandal, the work involved extensive interviews and assistance with the report. Elsewhere a team led by Stainsby advised the CPP Group on an investigation undertaken by the FSA in relation to the miss-selling of insurance products and the subsequent scheme of redress.

“They are our prime advisers on regulation, law and documentation and have plenty of market background, contacts and common sense,” says one client.

Investment funds

There was one notable change in the funds team last year with the departure of Thiha Tun who left to join Bingham McCutchen.

The firm has been active on fund related M&A and listings and has also provided regulatory advice to the likes of Blackstone. Though a lot of the firm’s work is confidential, one public matter saw Scott Cochrane act for Doric Nimrod Air Three on the launch and the IPO of the aircraft acquisition fund.

M&A

The only staffing change of note in the corporate team saw Nicholas Moore join the London office from Moscow where he had been located for the past five years. The firm has seen much of its work arise in the TMT and energy and natural resources sectors in the past year. One example saw Stephen Wilkinson act for BSkyB on the acquisition of Telefónica’s UK broadband business. Similarly James Palmer and Mark Bardell led a team advising Credit Suisse Securities and Lazard as advisors to ENRC in relation to its takeover by Eurasian Resources Group for over £3 billion. In the oil and gas space Wilkinson and Bardell advised Valiant Petroleum on its offer for Ithaca Energy, while in utilities Wilkinson advised Severn Trent on its defense of a takeover by a Canadian consortium.

One corporate client says: “Our long term relationship has led to clear and transparent fee arrangements, significant partner involvement in transactions alongside high quality associate staff. Very responsive, understand our documents well and also where we can and can’t move on standard terms. Good and reasonable negotiators whilst at the same time keeping us up to speed with progress.”

Banking and finance

Clifford Chance’s substantial banking team maintains its balance between lender and borrower side mandates with a slight emphasis on the former. This, combined with the sheer size and quality of the team, makes it one of the finance market’s leading firms. “Very responsive and high quality advice in a very complex transaction,” says one client.

Highlights from the past year include advice to the arrangers on the €1.97 billion covenant lite financing provided to BC Partners for its acquisition of the Springer Group and assisting the arrangers and coordinators on the £1.4 billion facility provided to the Royal Mail following its IPO. The team also acted for the banks on the refinancing of Arqiva, which consisted of not only new loan facilities but also high-yield bonds and securitisation work.

In project finance the team welcomed partner Huw Jenkins to London from Hong Kong and also saw the retirements of Andrew Grenville and Bleddyn Phillips. The firm’s work in the past year has encompassed everything from UK infrastructure to emerging markets energy deals including work for the lenders on the UK Thameslink rail project; EDF on the Hinkley Point nuclear station joint venture; JBIC on the Az-Zour North IWPP (integrated water and power plant) in Kuwait; in addition to projects in Ghana, Greece, Nigeria and Turkey. The team also assisted the European Investment Bank (EIB) on the structure of the Project Bond Credit Enhancement template, part of the EU’s Project Bond initiative to encourage use of the instrument. “They provide the best advice in the market for construction and major project tendering processes,” says one client.

Capital markets

The firm’s debt practice is broad in scope and has in the last few years developed its high-yield, sovereign and US securities practices. Highlights in the last 12 months include acting for Barclays on its $2 billion contingent convertible (CoCo) securities issue. The team also assisted the banks on Glencore Xstrata’s $5 billion Rule 144A/Reg S bond; Trafigura’s $500 million high-yield issue; and Banque Marocaine du Commerce Exterieur’s $300 million notes issue, the first non-sovereign Eurobond by a Moroccan issuer. There were a number of high-yield highlights for the team but one worth noting was work for Vivacom on a €400 million issue representing the first Bulgarian high-yield issue.

“Excellent legal work, organisational skill and client communication,” is one debt client’s view, while another adds: “Skilled and cost efficient but could sometimes be more timely in their delivery”

In equity the firm has the same focus on bank side underwriter and arranger mandates but is no stranger to issuer side work either. Highlights include acting on the bank side on IPOs by Partnership Assurance and Al Noor Hospitals; the issuer on CVC Credit Partners European Opportunities’ IPO; and Barclays on a £5.8 billion rights issue.

In structured finance and securitisation highlights from the last year include acting for the AA on the company’s £3.2 billion refinancing through the use of a whole business securitisation and a high-yield issue. On the bank side the team acted for the bookrunners on Intu’s financing platform consisting of a dual tranche bond issue, drawdown and a MTN programme. In derivatives the firm assisted LCH on the establishment of a French clearing platform for credit default swaps; and, as part of its role as lead counsel to the Future and Options Association (FOA), advised the body on industry standard netting opinions for on-exchange derivatives transactions.

One derivatives client says: “Clifford Chance is the market leader in this niche sector of synthetic risk transfer transactions and they basically form the market standard in this highly evolving field. We hire them mostly because of their reactivity and their market insight.”

M&A

The broader M&A/private equity team saw both Africa specialist Kem Ihenacho and Tom Evans depart the firm in the last year, following former partner David Walker to Latham & Watkins. Big losses all but a number of clients spoken to during the research saw none as enough of a reason to not engage the firm, which still has a sterling reputation in this area. Perhaps the more pressing question is whether the firm will look to bring in any external talent to fill the gaps. The firm has already promoted Jonny Myers to the role of global co-head of private equity.

“Excellent legal service, both from a quality and effectiveness prospective,” says one client, while another adds: “The service provided by Clifford Chance (CC) was absolutely first class. CC managed an extremely complex international transaction from start to finish in a seamless fashion across all of the equity, debt and acquisition agreement workstreams.”

A new client of the firm says: “A highly skilled, commercial firm with our team led by Jonny Myers having good strength in depth. As a result, from a standing start they have built a strong relationship with us, gaining market share from the firms who have had a historic relationship with us.”

Highlight transactions last year included advice to Electra Partners on the sale of Allflex to BC Partners for $1.35 billion; assistance to Doc Bidco (Permira Advisors) on the acquisition of R Griggs Group the owners of Dr Martens; and Carlyle on the first investment by Carlyle International Energy Partners.

Restructuring and insolvency

The restructuring and insolvency team is one of the largest in the market and its forté remains large-scale financial restructurings. Highlights from the past year include advising the senior lenders on the restructuring of Independent News & Media; Codere on the restructuring of its loan and high-yield debt; and the Co-operative Bank on its debt restructuring via a scheme of arrangement and exchange offer.

Banking and finance

Hogan Lovells has been taking steps to enhance its real estate finance practice recently with the hire of both Andrew Flemming and Jo Solomon from Berwin Leighton Paisner. The firm is already fairly well balanced in regards to the lender/borrower side split of its clients and the two hires will add useful sector expertise.

Acquisition finance remains a strength and in this area Matthew Cottis acted for BNP Paribas as the lenders of a facility to the Ontario Teachers Pension Plan to finance the acquisition of Burtons Biscuits. Penny Angell also acted for the lenders including ING and RBS on the financing of Cinven’s acquisition of Heidelberger Leben from Lloyds Banking Group. In the refinancing space Colin Craik acted for Kingdom Holding Company on the refinancing of the Savoy Hotel and elsewhere Stuart Brinkworth acted for the unitranche and super senior lenders on the recapitalisation of thetrainline.com. The deal is an example of the unitranche market, which the firm is putting resources into exploiting.

Capital markets

A change to the debt team last year came with the relocation of Andrew Carey from the firm’s Singapore office. Among the firm’s deal highlights was James Doyle’s work for Jefferies, HSBC and Deutsche Bank on an issue of €400 million in collateralised notes by Maexim Secured Funding and backed by the guaranteed notes issued by Magyar Export-Import Bank. Elsewhere Kit Johnson was active advising Citigroup as trustee on Vneshprombank’s debut issuance of Eurobonds and Mishmeret Trusts Company as trustee and security agent on a high-yield issue by Israeli company B Communications. The firm secures a Tier 4 ranking this year.

On the equity side Erik Jamieson advised Canaccord Genuity and Jefferies International as joint sponsors and bookrunners on the IPO of the Renewable Infrastructure Group. Elsewhere John Basnage acted for Master Drilling Group on its IPO on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange, while Sina Hekmat acted for Romanian gas producer Romgaz on its IPO.

“We have worked with Philip Brown and Erik Jamieson as lead partner on M&A work and capital raisings,” says one client. “The two partners are very experienced and work very professionally. In addition they have a good team working for them”

In structured finance and securitisation David Hudd acted for BNP Paribas on the update to a secured structured products programme. Elsewhere Johnson led a team advising US Bank Trustees as trustee in relation to a default relating to an issue of commercial mortgage backed floating rate notes issued by Titan Europe. Another highlight saw Julian Craughan act for Santander as arranger and lead manager on a series of automotive loan securitisations.

Financial services regulatory

In the regulatory space, a lot of the firm’s work has been on providing assistance in the context of M&A transactions. Away from this, though the firm’s work is largely confidential, it can be said that it has also been involved in matters relating to clearing houses.

Investment funds

In the investments funds space the team focuses its efforts on infrastructure funds, listed funds and real estate funds. One highlight saw Nicholas Holman advise Lloyds Bank Global Infrastructure Partners on its fund launch and the first acquisitions under it. Holman also acted for M&G Investment Management on the launch of two new real estate debt funds. Holman undertook similar work for Aviva Investors on the establishment of a UK commercial real estate debt fund. In addition the firm has also acted on a number of fund IPOs and offerings.

“First class service provided in an accurate and timely manner,” says one client. “A variety of services were used including fund structuring, tax and property due diligence.”

Another says: “Both the partner and senior associate on this project were excellent. Not only were they responsive to any requests, reliable and hard working, they were also very much part of the team helping to guide us through the project, make suggestions and support us as a client. Some of the very best lawyers we have worked with.”

M&A

The firm’s pure M&A team has expanded in the past 12 months with the addition of Don McGown from Allen & Overy. He principally handles corporate finance and restructuring matters, with TMT a sector specialism. On the private equity side Ed Harris joined from legacy SJ Berwin in 2013 while Philip Watkins departed to join the newly established London team of Katten Muchin Rosenman in January 2014.

Real estate is a sector strength and clients here have positive feedback: “The corporate real estate team provides a great service. They are well integrated into the real estate function, understand the assets they are dealing with and provide a seamless service. The advice is practical and pragmatic,” says one client. “Very responsive and somewhat flexible with billing arrangements given they are a large international firm,” says another, while a third adds: “Outstanding, they deal with all my major corporate work on an exclusive basis. We have worked together for 14 years and they have never let me down or done a poor job.”

The most high profile transaction the firm was involved with in 2013 was the restructuring of Kodak. The corporate team worked alongside their colleagues in the pension and trust team and from an M&A perspective the relevant part of the deal was the acquisition of EKC’s personalised imaging and document imaging businesses in the subsequent carve out. 2013 also saw the firm pick up another mandate from Brookfield Infrastructure providing advise to the company on its bid (along with joint venture partner Abertis) for a 40% stake in Brazilian highway concessionaire Arteris for $490 million. 

In private equity a team led by head of department Alan Greenough acted for Liberty Global on its $1 billion sale of its content division Chellomedia to AMC networks.

Banking and finance

The only staffing change in the Milbank banking and finance practice last year was the addition of special counsel Laetitia Costa from Clifford Chance.

In the acquisition finance area the firm led by Suhrud Mehta and Neil Caddy acted for the lenders on the financing of the acquisition of Santander’s Global Asset Management business by Warburg Pincus and General Atlantic Partners. In another matter the same two partners led as the team acted for Credit Suisse on the refinancing of the Photonis Technologies SAS Group. In a bank/bond deal Suhrud Mehta and capital markets lawyer Peter Schwarz acted for Nomura on the acquisition financing of Grifols’ takeover of Novartis’s diagnosis business, the deal included a bridge loan. On the borrower side a team led by Caddy assisted Och-Ziff and Millenium Offshore Services as sponsor and issuer in relation to a $240 million bank/bond recapitalisation. 

“Outstanding, knew the company’s business, its financing agreements of every stripe, understood our M&A strategy, and helped us fashion an excellent takeover financing package,” says one client who was advised on an acquisition finance matter.

In the projects space the firm remains one of the leading practices in London. An example to back this up comes in the form of Phillip Fletcher and John Dewar’s work for the lenders on the financing for the Sadara integrated petrochemicals complex in Saudi Arabia, which included both a primary financing and a sukuk (Islamic bond). Another highlight project saw Dewar act again for the creditors, JBIC and the commercial banks, on the partial refinancing of the Shuweihat S2 independent water and power project, the first bond/bank refinancing in the Middle East. Clive Ransome also picked up two restructuring matters last year, advising the steering committee of banks on the restructuring of the Maritza 1 coal fired power plant in Bulgaria, and acting for the lenders on the restructuring of the Damietta LNG (liquefied natural gas) project.

The message from clients could hardly be clearer: “Highest quality. They are one of the few firms that have the ability to offer top quality service on massive mega-projects,” says one, while an Asian client says: “Milbank is one of the best project finance law firms in Asia and worldwide as well. We have been working with Milbank on various deals in Asia, the Middle East, Europe, Africa and even in America. Their service is absolutely great and very satisfactory.”

The firm has also been particularly active in the financial restructuring space. Though most of the firm’s work is confidential one public mandate saw Peter Newman and Neil Caddy advise the lenders to PRISA on the restructuring of its debt.

Capital markets

In the capital markets the firm is focused on debt and structured finance and securitisation mandates. In the former recent highlights include Tim Peterson’s work for Avanti Communications Group on its first bond offering. On the bank side Peter Schwartz (who has since left the firm) led as the firm acted for the arrangers and bookrunners on a senior facility and notes issuance by pharmaceutical company Grifols. A similar matter which again saw the team act for the banks saw Peter Schwarz act alongside the banking team on the financing for a senior secured bond and revolving facility provided to the Novacap Group.

Tim Peterson is picked out by clients: “I have never worked with a better corporate finance lawyer. He is proactive, a splendid lateral thinker, very hard-working, has excellent general business sense, great patience with the client, and always delivers a superb work product,” says one.

In structured finance and securitisation, the firm by its own admission has put a lot of focus on the CLO market and particularly the development of the so called CLO 2.0 product acting for the likes of Calm Capital and Pramerica Asset Management. Elsewhere, HSBC called in the firm to advise on the development of a synthetic CLO warehouse platform.

Financial services regulatory

In the regulatory area the Milbank contentious team has been busy acting on a number of investigations and cases before the regulator. In the former Julian Stait and Charles Evans have acted for confidential banking clients on investigations into both the setting of foreign exchange benchmark rates and general foreign exchange trading and the setting of the ISDAfix benchmark rate. In a similar matter Stait, Tom Canning and Evans acted for Rabobank on an investigation into the setting of Libor and Euribor rates.

M&A

In M&A Mark Stamp was kept busy last year on matters including work for Sainsburys on the acquisition of the remaining stake in Sainsbury’s Bank from the Lloyds Banking Group. Stamp alongside Evan Fleck also acted for the committee of unsecured creditors of Arcapita Bank on the sale of logistics warehousing business PointPark Properties to TPG. In a projects related mandate Stuart Harray acted for Minexo Petroleum in relation to a joint operating agreement with Ghana National Petroleum Company in relation to an offshore oil exploration block in Ghana. 

Restructuring and insolvency

One client who worked with the restructuring team says: “Nick Angel and Anna Thomander have been our primary contacts at Milbank, but due to the complex nature of the transaction lawyers from across the firm act on it. Nick and Anna are excellent, very good at the core legal analysis, but also stakeholder management and making complex ideas understandable. The remainder of the team is strong, with expertise across core restructuring, derivatives, and equity governance.”

“Best of the best,” says another. “We have used Milbank’s restructuring and litigation teams and have been very pleased.”

Banking and finance

Sullivan & Cromwell has brought in significant experience into its banking and finance team with the hire of Linklaters partner Chris Howard. In particular he will add greater depth to the firm’s financial restructuring team. The firm has also flown in New York qualified Chris Beatty to add further US experience to the team.

Work highlights in the past year include Presley Warner advising Goldman Sachs on the financing of the acquisition of Domestic & General Insurance by CVC Capital Partners through a combination of bank and debt financing. Elsewhere Nik Andronikos advised holding company Coca-Cola HBC on the financing of the re-domiciliation of Coca-Cola Hellenic and listing on the LSE.

Elsewhere Warner advised Fiat Industrial on amend and extend of its existing finance facilities and advised Apollo Tyres on the financing put in place for its acquisition of Cooper Tire & Rubber.

Project finance remains one of the London team’s strongest suits and the firm’s transaction list has a suitably global flavour. Examples include Jamie Logie and Stewart Robertson’s advice to the South Stream Consortium on the financing of the proposed South Stream gas pipeline. Similarly Logies advised the Caspian Pipeline Consortium on the financing for the expansion of the project, which runs between Kazakhstan and Russia. In the Middle East Logie and Robertson acted for Emirates Aluminum on the financing of phase 2 of a smelter project in Abu Dhabi. The firm also worked on a number of mining/natural resources projects in Africa and Asia.

Capital markets

The firm achieves a good balance of debt and equity mandates and can offer both US and UK advice from London. In the former area work highlights included Richard Morrissey and Presley Warner’s advice to Alcatel-Lucent on a recapitalisation via a series of follow on high yield issues. Kathryn Campbell meanwhile acted for BP on a series of bond and debt offerings. On the bank side Campbell and David Rockwell acted for the underwriters on a notes offering undertaken by Commerzbank.

On the equity side George White and John O’Connor acted for Barclays on a rights offering of new shares and O’Connor also advised Cembra Money Bank and GE Capital on the former’s Swiss/US IPO.

M&A

In M&A the firm maintains its focus on a handful of high value matters. Examples include Tim Emmerson’s advice to APR Energy on its acquisition of GE Capital’s power generation business and Ben Perry and Emmerson’s advice to funds managed by Goldman Sachs on the acquisition of a stake in Hastings Insurance. A team led by Richard Morrissey and Vanessa Blackmore advised the Credit Suisse Group on the acquisition of Morgan Stanley’s private wealth management business. 

Restructuring and insolvency

As mentioned above in the financing section, a notable addition to the firm’s financial restructuring team is Chris Howard from Linklaters who will bring additional English law capacity to the team. Howard has already been involved advising Babson Capital and Goldman Sachs Infrastructure Partners on the restructuring of Auto-Teile-Unger’s debt. Howard also advised a number of partially secured international creditors on the debt restructuring of the Dubai Group.

Banking and finance

The only change to report within the Travers Smith banking team in the past year was the departure of Ben Davis to Reed Smith in March 2014. The firm has both borrower and lender side clients on its books and also picks up work for mid-market private equity sponsors.

Work examples from the past year include Jeremy Walsh’s work for Pret a Manger as the borrower of a leveraged finance facility for the purpose of refinancing. Similarly Andrew Gregson and Charles Bischoff acted for thetrainline.com on a refinancing, which included a unitranche element, a sign of the returning market. Gregson also advised Peel Holdings and Micro Finance International on their refinancing matters.

Capital markets

“Legal advice is always commercial, relevant and timely. The team understands not only the legal risks but have a strong understanding of the credit risks and business model. This sets them apart from many other firms and why we use the team,” says one client of the capital markets team.

Equity remains arguably the firm’s strongest suit and last year Andrew Gillen advised McColl’s Retail Group on its IPO on the LSE main market. Elsewhere Richard Spedding provided English law advice to Noble Corporation in relation to its NYSE listing as part of the wider merger with its Swiss company. Elsewhere Neal Watson acted for both Partnership Assurance and Merlin Entertainments on their respective IPOs. In addition work related to AIM listings remains a specialty.

The firm has been building its presence in derivatives and enters the ranking this year. Work examples include work done by Peter Hughes for Bentley Motors on an insurance-wrapped collateralised hedging matter undertaken with Abbey Life Assurance Company. The firm has also acted for confidential clients on matters such as longevity matters and total return swaps and has provided regulatory advice to various clients on new European legislation.

Financial services regulatory

“It is always top quality in every way,” is one client’s view of the Travers Smith regulatory practice, which remains one of the market leaders for non-contentious work particularly in relation to funds or what could described as market infrastructure, trading platform, payments systems and so forth. A lot of the firm’s work has been linked to the AIFMD (Alternative Investment Fund Manager’s Directive) including providing general regulatory advice as well as seeking authorisations from the regulator. One interesting mandate saw Mark Evans act for the Cheque & Credit Clearing Company on the legal structure put in place to support new and swifter forms of cheque payments, specifically in relation to new technology.

Investment funds

In addition to the firm’s regulatory advice highlighted above, the team also acts on fund formation, and IPO work in the private equity and real estate areas. “I am always impressed by the service level and quality of advice from this firm, which is both technically excellent and commercial,” is one client’s view, while another adds that “Travers Smith have been excellent throughout the engagement”.

Work highlights include Jeremy Elmore’s advice to Renshaw Bay on the formation of a structured finance opportunities fund; Sam Kay’s advice to BlueGem Capital Partners on a new private equity fund; and fundraising work for Hermes GPE Infrastructure Fund and GCP Capital Partners Europe II.

M&A

“Very expert and very responsive law firm. Partner time is used sparingly with a cost effective use of associate level time. Able to work effectively on cross border transactions involving US and European jurisdictions,” is one client’s view of the firm’s funds work. Another says: “The project was very complex and required the team at Travers Smith to act decisively, with limited instruction from their client, which they did with outstanding results.”

The firm is best known for its private equity practice and this remains its cornerstone, but it is not restricted to mandates in this area. As an example a team led by Will Howard acted for LVMH Moët Hennessy Louis Vuitton on its acquisition of Hotel Saint-Barth Isle de France. Elsewhere Aaron Stocks advised on the merger of Metric Property Investments and London & Stamford through the use of a scheme of arrangement. Spencer Summerfield advised Pace on the acquisition of Aurora Networks.

In private equity highlight work included Edmund Reed’s advice to Bridgepoint on the acquisition of Cambridge Education Group and James Renahan’s work for Equistone Partners Europe on the acquisitions of both the MDNX Group and Easynet. A team led by Paul Dolman and Helen Croke also acted for key client TA Associates on its investment into Flashtalking.

Restructuring and insolvency

“Commercial, timely and very professional,” is one client’s view of the Travers Smith restructuring and insolvency practice. Another says: “They have a very balanced view between technical and commercial, which allowed us to make an informed judgement on the position. Very approachable, which made the experience that much better.”

Though a lot of the firm’s work is confidential, one public matter saw the team act for the trustees of the Lehmann Brothers Pension Scheme in relation to claims against the wider Lehmann Group. The firm has also acted on related work such as the acquisition of distressed debt and assets.

Banking and finance

The strongest area of the firm’s banking practice is its lender side practice and the team’s links to the banks was clear again last year as Lee Cullinane, Jacqueline Evans and Magdalene Bayim-Adomako advised Danske Bank, Nordea Bank Norge and Bank of Ireland as arrangers of a loan to Permira for its acquisition of the Pharmaq group. Elsewhere Jake Mincemoyer advised Deutsche Bank, Commerzbank, UniCredit and HSBC as arrangers on the refinancing and recapitalisation of Minimax.

Capital markets

Capital markets, hand in hand with bank finance, is the firm’s strongest area of practice and within that debt is a focus. US private placements and sovereign issues remain clear areas of strength and the firm also picks up its fair share of high yield work. The firm can also utilise its finance offering on bank/bond deals.

Debt side highlights include Stuart Matty and Melissa Butler’s work for the Republic of Rwanda on its debut Eurobond offering; Michael Doran’s advice to Standard Chartered, BNP Paribas, HSBC and Standard Bank on an update to PTA bank’s EMTN programme and an issue of notes under it; and Andrew Weiler’s work for Coca-Cola İçecek on a private placement into the US, which represented one of the first such Turkish outbound deals since 2008. On the high yield side Rob Mathews acted for the likes of Sanitec and Pendragon on their issues and acted on a range of bank side mandates including work for JPMorgan Securities, Société Générale, RBS and UniCredit as bookrunners on a senior secured note issue by EP Energy.

In equity the firm has picked up both issuer and bank side mandates on a variety of share sales. Examples include Philip Broke and Melissa Butler’s work for RBC Capital Markets as the sponsor on the IPO of Caracal Energy on the LSE. Staying in natural resources, Broke also acted for Talvivaara Mining Company on a placement of 10% of its shares on the LSE. Elsewhere Allan Taylor and Doron Loewinger acted alongside the firm’s Moscow team advising Goldman Sachs International, JPMorgan, Morgan Stanley, VTB Capital and Renaissance Capital as bookrunners on an offering of shares in diamond producer OJSC Alrosa.

Elsewhere the firm has also been active on covered bond work picking up a number of mandates advising the arrangers on such matters. The firm has also picked up mandates (albeit confidential ones) acting on CLOs, RMBS and other securitisation matters 

Financial services regulatory

Though much of the firm’s work is confidential it can be said that it has advised clients on matters such as new regulation around bank bonuses and OTC derivatives and provided advice in relation to the AIFMD (Alternative Investment Fund Manager’s Directive). In addition the firm has been acting on the regulatory aspects of transactional work such as M&A.

One public deal saw Stuart Willey advise Itau BBA International on the regulatory aspects of the strategic relocation of its HQ from Lisbon to London, including ensuring the new London operation meets UK regulatory requirements. 

Restructuring and insolvency

In the restructuring and insolvency space a lot of the firm’s work in the past year has been focused around distressed investments and M&A, debt instrument restructuring and financial restructuring. One public example of the latter saw the firm led by Christian Pilkington and Stephen Phillips act for Mid Europa Partners on the financial restructuring, via an English scheme of arrangement, of portfolio company Magyar Telecom.

One example of a distressed M&A matter saw David Manson advise Blockbuster act for DISH Network Corporation on the sale of certain assets to a subsidiary of DISH Network Corporation.

Banking and finance

Shearman & Sterling like many of its contemporaries has picked up a number of bank/bond mandates in the past year. In one example a team led by Peter Hayes acted for Advent International and Oberthur Technologies on a financing structure including term loans, revolving facilities and a bond issue. In a similar matter Caroline Leeds Ruby acted for ENCE Energıa y Celulosa on a revolving credit facility and high yield bond. Acquisition finance was another active area and Iain Goalen led a team acting for the lead arrangers on the financing of TPG Capital’s acquisition of TSL Education. Elsewhere Anthony Ward and Patrick Clancy acted for Investcorp on the financing of its acquisition of the Hydrasun Group from Equistone Partners Europe.

“We find the service provided by Shearman & Sterling to be of a generally high standard. The main contacts are responsive and attentive and deadlines are generally adhered to,” says one client, while another adds: “Very strong top team of partners and senior associates. No messing around since they have seen all of the issues beforehand and are pragmatic in getting solutions which suit both sponsors and lenders.”

In the projects area, the main staffing change was the departure of energy and infrastructure lawyer Tim Pick. Projects is one of the firm’s strengths and this was reinforced again last year with the firm picking up a number of significant mandates. These included work by a team led by Nicholas Buckworth, Ben Shorten and John Inglis for The Dow Chemical Company on a joint venture with Saudi Aramco for the financing and development of the Sadara Petrochemicals Project in Saudi Arabia. Elsewhere Inglis acted for Central Termica de Ressano Garcia and the sponsors Sasol New Energy and Electricidade de Moçambique on the development and financing of a gas independent power plant in Mozambique. Elsewhere Sanja Udovicic acted for the lenders on the financing of the Khauzak-Shady Gas Field development project in Uzbekistan. The deal included an Islamic installment sale facility, which represented the first time this had been used in a private sector financing.

Financial restructuring continues to play a significant part in the firm’s work and last year a team led by Anthony Ward acted for sponsor Investcorp and Icopal on the implementation of four schemes of arrangement relating to the extension of Icopal’s senior facilities. Ward also assisted Barclays and Credit Suisse on the financial restructuring of the Codere group.

Capital markets

In the capital markets on the debt side the main staffing change was the addition of senior associate Barry Cosgrave from Vinson & Elkins. Debt work continues to be a clear strength with the firm picking up a range of work including Yankee bonds and high yield work. In one example Richard Price advised the initial purchasers and managers on Reckitt Benckiser’s first US bond offering. Price also advised the bookrunners and underwriters on an offering of tier 2 subordinated notes by HSBC Holdings. In the high-yield space Jacques McChesney and Tobia Croff acted for Astaldi on offerings of high yield senior notes to be listed on the Luxembourg stock exchange. The capital markets team led by David Dixter also had a hand in the firm’s work on the Sadara chemical project in Saudi Arabia advising the Sadara Chemical Company on a sukuk (Islamic bond), which formed part of the financing. 

In the equity area Dixter acted along with partners in Frankfurt and Paris for the underwriters on a rights issue by Alcatel Lucent. Dixter and Apostolos Gkoutzinis picked up similar work for Piraeus Bank on its recapitilisation through a rights offering and issuance of shares including an issue by a Luxembourg subsidiary of exchangeable bonds. Dixter and Price also acted for the banks on the IPO of Sanitec Corporation.

In the structured finance and securitisation area the firm has acted on a number of matters related to restructuring of securitisations and analysis of derivative and structured finance structures. Though most of the firm’s work is confidential one public mandate saw Ian Harvey-Samuel and Patrick Clancy advise ICE Clear Europe on matters related to the structures surrounding the derivatives clearing process.

Financial services regulatory

In the regulatory space, the firm is very strong in non-contentious matters primarily driven by its key partners and clients have nothing but praise: “Very pleased, the client oriented and commercial approach is clearly why we would use them again,” says one.

One deal highlights saw Barney Reynolds act for key client the IntercontinentalExchange on the regulatory matters related to its acquisition of NYSE Euronext. The deal was further complicated by the need to seek approval from the finance ministers of the countries involved. Elsewhere a team led by Thomas Donegan advised ICE Clear Europe on matters related to the transition of clearing processes for the LIFFE derivatives market to a new clearing platform. Reynolds also advised a group of hedge fund investors on their negotiations with the Co-op Bank in relation to a recapitilisation plan which saw the Co-op Group reduce its stake and bondholders partake in a debt for equity swap.

Investment funds

In the investment funds area a lot of the firm’s work has been focused around providing general regulatory advice and acting on fund related M&A. In the former area Nina Garnham worked alongside the regulatory team advising Prosperity Capital Management on the negotiation and implementation of custody agreements entered into with Deutsche Bank relating to several funds. John Adams has also been advising Citi Private Bank on general matters related to the Alternative Investment Fund Manager’s Directive (AIFMD).

“Overall the service is very good and of a high quality,” says a client. ‘They are particularly responsive and turn round documents and advice very quickly. Even when you deal with the associates they are very knowledgeable and do not always have to consult a partner before they respond to your questions, which obviously works out from a time and cost point of view”

M&A

The firm’s overall M&A capacity received a significant boost in 2013 with the addition of ‘leading lawyer’ Mark Soundy and Simon Burrows from Weil Gotshal & Manges. The new additions will specifically enhance the firm’s private equity capabilities.

One of the largest deals the firm undertook saw George Karafotias act for Citigroup Global Markets on the sale and transfer of Royal KPN’s interest in E-Plus to Telefónica  Deutschland. In another matter Laurence Levy and Jeremy Kutner advised General Electric on the acquisition of the Avio Group. Kutner was also involved as the team advised Nokia on the purchase of Siemens stake in the Nokia Siemens Networks. In private equity, Soundy hit the ground running as he led a team acting for Arle Capital Partners on the sale of Qioptiq. Soundy and Burrows also acted for Investcorp on the acquisition of Tyrells Potato Crisps. The same pair also assisted Goldman Sach’s private equity arm on the acquisition of a stake in UK motor insurer Hastings Insurance Group.

Banking and finance

In line with its corporate focus Skadden’s banking team continues to be primarily focused on borrower side mandates advising on acquisition finance and general corporate lending. It has also picked up some notable bank/bond deals. “Excellent advice, responsive, they work within parameters set by in-house counsel. I’m very happy with work they provided,” says one client.

Examples from last year include work by Mark Darley for Finnish steel manufacturer Outokumpu on the take out of a new liquidity facility and the restructuring and refinancing of its existing syndicated loans in connection with its sale of Acciai Speciali Terni and VDM. In a similar matter Darley again led as the firm acted for private equity house Joh A Benckiser on the financing of its acquisition of D E Master Blenders. Elsewhere Clive Wells assisted gas and petrochemicals company the SIBUR Group on a loan facility arranged by Gazprombank. On a notable bank/bond matter Pete Coulton led the banking team advising Doughty Hanson and transport company Avanza Grupo on a refinancing via two high-yield issues and a revolving credit facility.

In the projects area the firm maintains its strong focus on energy matters, particularly oil and gas. A lot of the firm’s work is in the related areas of M&A and the general corporate financing of project companies though it does pick up more traditional project finance as well. An example is the work done by Doug Nordlinger for SK Engineering and Construction and Yapı Merkezi İnşaat ve Sanayi on the financing for the development of a road tunnel under the Bosphorus in Turkey. Elsewhere Mark Darley and Natascha Kiernan acted for Andes Mainstream and AM Eólica Negrete on the financing procured from the China Development Bank for the development of the Negreat wind project in Chile.

Capital markets

The main change in the capital markets team in the past year was the retirement of Rick Ely, a significant figure in the team. The firm has maintained its focus on Russia and emerging market work and on the equity side this is reflected by Pranav Trivedi’s work for the joint bookrunners on the IPO of global depositary receipts of Russian supermarket group Lenta. Elsewhere James Healy and Allan Murray-Jones advised HellermannTyton Group on its IPO on the LSE. Another notable matter saw Trivedi and Alexey Kiyashko advise QIWI on its offering of American Depositary Shares on both the Nasdaq Global Select market and the Moscow Interbank Currency Exchange.

In the debt space one of the firm’s high profile matters saw James McDonald and Scott Simpson act for Alpha Bank on its recapitalisation involving a debt for equity swap, a rights offering and a private placement. Another notable mandate saw Danny Tricot advise Nokia on the financing provided to it by Microsoft in the wake of the latter’s acquisition of the former’s Devices and Services business. Microsoft provided Nokia with three tranches of convertible bonds it can issue at will. In the high-yield space James McDonald acted for shipping and offshore drilling services company Stena on two high-yield issues. Elsewhere Danny Tricot advised Zobele Holding on its refinancing by way of a high-yield issue and a revolving credit facility.

Financial services regulatory

In the regulatory space the team provides advice in most areas. It works alongside the other teams in the firm’s financial and corporate offering providing transactional support but also acts on standalone matters advising on licensing and fund matters and advising clients on the most recent regulatory changes.

Investment funds

The firm’s investment funds teams falls under the broader bracket of ‘investment management’ in the firm’s structure. This means the team acts on fund related M&A and financings, listings and platform structuring alongside traditional fund raising and regulatory work.

“Excellent expertise and knowledge and a contributor to our tax committee,” says one client. “Very accessible, responsive and energetic.”

Highlights in the past year saw James Anderson and Stephen Sims acting for the founders of Trailstone on its departure from Deutsche Bank and the formation of a new energy and commodities platform seeded by Riverstone.

M&A

M&A remains one of the firm’s strongest suits in London. The only significant staffing change in the past year saw Adrian Knight depart the firm to start his own firm.

“Excellent service, very solution-orientated, excellent in managing complex matters,” is one client’s view and another says the firm is “outstanding on the corporate/M&A front and very strong in all other pertinent areas as well like tax, regulatory and antitrust”.

Highlight work from the past year includes work done by Shaun Lascelles for Blackrock on the acquisition of the exchange traded funds division of Credit Suisse and separately the real estate business of Macquarie. Elsewhere in private equity Allan Murray-Jones acted for key client Doughty Hanson & Co on its disposal of Vue Entertainment

Highlighting the firm’s Russian strength Lorenzo Corte acted for Assicurazioni Generali on its acquisition of a stake in Generali PPF Holding. In another Russian deal Scott Simpson acted for Central European Distribution Corporation in relation to an investment into it by Russian Standard Corporation. The funds will be used to pay existing notes liabilities. In the oil and gas space Shaun Lascelles and Douglas Nordlinger acted for the Vitol Group on its acquisition of Royal Dutch Shell’s Australian downstream businesses.

Restructuring and insolvency

A lot of the firm’s work in restructuring and insolvency has been focused on debt restructuring. Examples include work done by Chris Mallon for Warwick Capital Partners on its role as a senior creditor in relation to the financial restructuring of Punch Taverns. In a similar matter Mallon assisted Travelport on its out of court debt restructuring.

Elsewhere Mallon was again involved advising Excel Maritime Carriers on its Chapter 11 proceeding. Mallon and Dominic McCahill also advised Exide Technologies on its voluntary Chapter 11.

Banking and finance

The firm took a hit to its numbers last year with the December 2013 departure of Nick Benham to Davis Polk & Wardwell. The team’s focus remains squarely on acquisition finance and refinancings specifically in the insurance, infrastructure and the financial services sector. Examples include work for the arranging and underwriting banks on the £375 million refinancing by Bridgepoint of its portfolio company Pret A Manger; and assisting Barclays on the £300 million financing provided to Permira for its acquisition of R Griggs.

“Terrific firm for leveraged finance,” says one private equity client. “They provide top quality advice, are very focused on the detail and can manage any amount of complexity associated with a deal.”

In project finance, transport, renewables and social infrastructure have been the order of the day including work for the lenders to the Agility Trains Consortium on the UK Intercity Express (IEP) programme; work for developer ACWA power on the financing of the Ouarzazate CSP thermal power plant project in Morocco (the first solar IPP in the country); and assistance to the sponsors on the Mersey Gateway toll bridge project in Liverpool.

“Ashurst’s expertise in project finance is outstanding,” says one client. “Their care and attention to the client was evident throughout the long negotiations that led to the successful closure of the project. Ashurst boasts a deep bench and we felt as fully supported by their mid-level associates as by their partners. Tremendous teamwork, real imagination and flexibility.”

Capital markets

The equity team continues to perform well acting on a third of the LSE main market IPOs in 2013, in addition to secondary offerings and block trades. IPOs included advising Merlin Entertainments on its £3.3 billion issue and the underwriters on the esure and Riverstone Energy issues. “Consistently high quality, commercial, client focused advice,” is one client’s view.

In the debt team, last year’s addition of Derwin Jenkinson was enhanced with the capture of CEE securities expert Francis Kucera from Linklaters. The firm assists issuers and arrangers and has, in addition, a decent US securities practice. Highlights include assistance to ANZ on its $30 billion global covered bond programme; work for American Honda Finance and Shanks Group on notes issues and assistance to Merrill Lynch as underwriters on an update to SBAB Bank’s EMTN programme.

One client who worked with the debt team highlights the speed of its work: “We received clear and knowledgeable advice in preparation of the bond prospectus and all legal formalities. This was completed in an accelerated timescale in order to be in the market at the best time. The refinancing of our bank facility was achieved on time and on budget and the banks commented on how good the process was. We are very pleased with the outcomes.”

Daniel Tobias joins the structured finance and securitisation team from Freshfields. The return of the CLO market has been great news for the firm, for whom CDO and CLOs represent a specialty. The team has acted on issues by Haymarket Financial, Intermediate Capital Group and CELF advisors. In the derivatives space new additions James Knight (Credit Suisse) and Carl Baker (Russell McVeagh) enhance the firm’s OTC capability. Repos, longevity swaps and insurance related issues remain a strength.

Financial services regulatory

The firm maintains a balance of contentious and non-contentious work includes advising banks and funds on UK regulator changes, the AIFMD (Alternative Investment Fund Managers Directive) and CRD III and IV and acting for various clients in UK and European regulatory investigations.

“Dedicated and responsive service, a knowledgeable and professional working group which provides practical and commercially focused advice,” says one client of the non-contentious team. Another adds: “Exemplary advice, a clear ability to understand client requirements and to respond with accurate and appropriate advice.”

Investment funds

Linked to its historical strength in private equity, private funds remain a specialty. Highlights last year include work on the establishment of global infrastructure fund Equitix Fund III and the Alcentra European Direct Lending Fund. The firm also picks up related capital markets work including a number of fund IPOs. “The team has both strength and depth and is still one of the strongest in this area in the City, in my view,” says one client. “Piers Warburton is brilliant – both technical and highly commercial, and not afraid to give robust advice to get to a solution. Nick Goddard is a rising star who goes the extra mile for his clients and is a pleasure to deal with.”

M&A

The loss of former corporate head Stephen Lloyd and Karen Dinamani to Allen & Overy has hit the private equity offering but its reputation and client base has kept it steady for now. Nevertheless it will be interesting to see what form of reaction the firm takes to these developments. Client’s remain pleased with the offering: “Excellent service, extremely responsive, very commercial, very good at cross border deals,” is one view, while another says: “The team we work with at Ashurst is prompt, professional, knowledgeable, concise and looks out for its clients. The team is customer-focused and reduces complicated issues so they can be easily understood and resolved, plus it has reasonable fees.”

In M&A the team assisted William Hill on its acquisition of SportingBet and Playtech’s stake in William Hill online and also acted for Commerzbank on Hypothekenbank Frankfurt’s sale of its UK commercial real estate portfolio. In private equity the team assisted Agilitas on the MBO of Impetus Waste Management Holdings and Oaktree Capital on its acquisition of Countryside Properties.

Banking and finance

The only change in staffing last year was the addition of Anne MacPherson from Norton Rose Fulbright. She has a background in project finance but her practice includes work for sponsors on LBO financing.

The firm’s focus remains the advising of sponsors, including many of the leading private equity houses on acquisition financing. One example saw a team led by Neel Sachdev act for Bain Capital on the debt financing of its takeover of Brazilian health care Intermédica Group. Sachdev carried out similar work for Bain Capital and Advent International on the acquisition of Nets Holding, and for CVC Capital Partners on the financing of its acquisition of Ista International. Elsewhere John Markland acted for Mid-Europa Partners on the refinancing of SBB/Telemach ahead of a sale to KKR in what was one of the largest deals in the Balkans last year. Philip Crump was also active, assisting KKR Asset Management on a rescue loan to Uralita.

Capital markets

In the capital markets Kirkland & Ellis is primarily a debt side practice that has gained significant traction in the high-yield space in the past few years. Highlights from the past year again saw the firm assist its private equity client base on debt financing, one example saw Ward McKimm and Cedric Van den Borren advise CVC on offerings of senior secured and senior subordinated notes issued respectively by Trionista Holdco and Trionista Topco in the context of the acquisition of ista International. Elsewhere William Burke and Paul Beck acted for Sun Capital Partners on a high-yield issue by Exopack Holdings in the context of its merger with several other packaging companies. Another high-yield matter saw McKimm advise Carlyle on an issue used to refinance the debt of IDH Group, notable for its use of covenant terms new to Europe. Finally McKimm and Van den Borren acted for Oberthur Technologies Holding on a high-yield issue, which when used in a refinancing in combination with a cov-lite loan represented the first French deal of its type.

Financial services regulatory

Led by Lisa Cawley, the Kirkland regulatory team often acts closely with the transactional team on M&A/private equity matters. Away from this the firm has also been advising a number of its clients on matters related to the Alternative Investment Fund Managers Directive (AIFMD).

Investment funds

In the funds space, Kirkland & Ellis has a clear focus on private equity fund formation and this is where it is ranked most highly. Examples from the past year include work by Richard Watkins for Vitruvian Partners on the formation of a successor private equity fund. Watkins also assisted Blue Water Energy on its inaugural oil and gas fund and TDR Capital on the formation of its third fund.

Elsewhere Kate Downey acted for BlueBay Asset Management on the raising of a closed end senior lending fund, which would lend to European portfolio companies. Mark Mifsud also led a team advising Motion Private Equity on its restructuring including negotiations with current and new lenders.

“As always, an excellent service from what we view as the best team in the UK for complex private equity fundraising work,” is one client’s view.

M&A

Private equity M&A transactional work remains the firm’s bread and butter and the team has acted on a number of the market’s largest deals. In one example Sam Pakbaz acted for Bain Capital and Advent International on the acquisition of Nets Holding. Pakbaz also assisted Bain on the acquisition of a stake in FTE automotive. Other work includes Graham White’s work for CCMP Capital Advisors on the merger of Pure Gym and The Gym Group; Gavin Gordon’s advise to KKR on the acquisition of lifting equipment company the Crosby Group and Acco Material Handling Solutions; and Rory Mullarkey’s advice to Mid Europa Partners on the sale of its stake in SBB/Telemach to KKR.

There were some changes to report last year with the departures of Dan Oates to O’Melveny & Myers and Matthew Dean and Claire McDaid to Willkie Farr & Gallagher.

“Their counsel was fullsome, detailed and efficient in their response,” says one client. “As usual, it was very much on point and commercial.”

Restructuring and insolvency

The firm has been active on financial and corporate restructurings in the past year including a number of matters involving schemes of arrangement. The London team has worked closely on many matters with the firm’s German team.

One of the largest matters handled by the restructuring team last year saw Partha Kar, Kon Asimacopoulos and Elaine Nolan advise KKR on the restructuring of tyre company ATU. This included a debt for equity conversion, new bondholder investment and a new loan facility. The same three partners assisted Centerbridge Partners on schemes of arrangement relating to Apcoa Parking Group. Similar work was also done in respect of the schemes of arrangement related to the debt of the Monier Group.

Other highlights included the firm’s work for Fitness First on its financial restructuring and company voluntary arrangement (CVA) with its landlords and Asimacopoulos’s work for Sankaty Advisors on the prepack purchase and subsequent on sale to Countrywide of Lambert Smith Hampton.

Capital markets

In the capital markets Sidley’s London team focuses on debt, derivatives, structured finance and securitisation matters with a particularly strong reputation in the last three areas where the firm has a team of ten partners. One of the largest matters the firm has handled recently saw a team led by Matthew Cahill advising Bank of Cyprus on matters related to the restructuring imposed by the Central Bank including the transfer of derivatives positions and the implementation of bail in measures related to capital markets instruments. Elsewhere Jason Richardson advised Pimco and Marathon Asset Management on a CMBS issue of secondary assets (using the product’s so called 2.0 guidelines). John Woodhall acted on a further securitisation matter acting for department store Financiera El Corte Inglés on the securitisation of consumer loan and store card receivables. The firm also picked up work in the auto loans area. 

“The service we receive is very good. The team is responsive and the advice and assistance is thoughtful and considered,” says one client.

On the debt side the firm principally works for the banks, but does also pick up issuer mandates. Mark Walsh acted for the banks on an issuance of notes by Health Care REIT on the NYSE. Elsewhere Dorothee Fischer-Appelt advised the underwriters on a pfandbriefe (German covered bond) offering. Another highlight saw a team led by Mark Walsh act for the managers on a note offering by 3M Company. On the high yield side Bart Capeci assisted Darling International on a high-yield issue, which formed part of the funding for the acquisition of the ingredients business of VION Holdings 

Financial services regulatory

The regulatory team has been kept active in the past year advising on new European regulation (particularly fund matters), business reviews and providing M&A transactional support. In one example a team led by John Casanova, Leonard Ng and Matthew Dening has been providing advise to the hedge fund body the Managed Funds Association since 2010 on a variety of European legislative measures including European Market Infrastructure Regulation (EMIR), EU Markets in Financial Instruments Directive (MiFID II) and the Alternative Investment Fund Manager’s Directive (AIFMD). The team has also provided regulatory advice to individual hedge fund managers including Citadel and Paulson & Co. Ng also worked for Nomura Asset Management in relation to a review of the bank’s business and how it would be affected by the AIFMD.

Investment funds

There was some change in the firm’s investment funds practice in the past year with the retirement of Bruce Gardner and the hire in September 2013 of Stephen Ross who joined from the Man Group to take the position of global co-head of investment funds. The firm also welcomed onboard James Oussedik as a counsel. The team handles a lot of work related to hedge funds though it is not restricted to this. Though much of the firm’s work is confidential it can be said that it has been active on fund investments and related M&A and, as mentioned in the section covering the firm’s regulatory section, has provided a series of clients with advice on the implications of the AIFMD.

M&A

In the M&A space Stephen Blackshaw and Jonathan Wallace acted for Royalty Pharma on the hostile takeover of the Elan Corporation, which later went to court. Elsewhere Wallace and Thomas Thesing acted for Portfolio Recovery Associates on an agreement to acquire an equity interest in Aktiv Kapital an acquirer of non-performing loans (NPLs).

In the real estate sector, Mark Thompson acted for Invel Real Estate on the acquisition of a majority stake in the National Bank of Greece’s real estate arm Pangaia. In the funds area Wallace advised several funds managed by Apollo Global Management on the acquisition of RBS Special Opportunities Fund and Century Capital’s stake in Catalina.

One client says: “Sidley Austin in London did an excellent job in helping us negotiate the agreement with the investor. Not only was the document quite complex, in many cases it required a lot of forward thinking to see how certain clauses would impact the long term business side. Their advice was very commercial and their work done in expedited fashion, which was critical in this case.” Another adds: “Very knowledgeable, especially in the payments industry which is core for us.”

Restructuring and insolvency

Sidley maintains a significant part of its practice in dealing with insolvencies and corporate restructuring in addition to the debt restructuring work, which is often the bread and butter of the large City firms. An example of this saw Patrick Corr and Ben Klinger advising Zolfo Cooper as the liquidators of Arcapita Investment Holdings in relation to its liquidation and Chapter 11 proceedings. In a similar area a team led by Corr and Phillip Taylor acted for Zolfo Cooper and LDK Solar as joint provisional liquidators in relation to its restructuring via various schemes of arrangement and Chapter 15 and pre-packaged Chapter 11 procedures in relation to its subsidiaries. 

“Always available, quality legal advice and feedback. They are even-handed and fair while looking after their clients’ interests. Highest service provision standards faultlessly maintained,” is one client’s view while another describes the work as a “high quality, value added service, they have depth across the firm to draw on other areas, technical as well as practical”.

On the financial side a team led by Patrick Corr and Phillip Taylor acted for Blackstone Real Estate and Isobel Assetco in relation to five commercial real estate restructuring matters.

Banking and finance

The Weil Gotshal & Manges banking team in London has experienced a number of changes in the past few years and 2013-14 has been no different. The biggest news in May 2014 was the departure of banking head Stephen Lucas to Kirkland & Ellis in May 2014. Lucas effectively established the firm’s London banking team in 2011 when he joined from Linklaters and was seen as the department’s star and driving force. This being said it has not been one-way traffic, a few months prior to Lucas’s departure the firm took corporate finance partner Chris McLaughlin from Hogan Lovells, while in May the financial restructuring team was enhanced through the addition of Andrew Wilkinson from Goldman Sachs and Weil also swooped for banking partner Reena Gogna from Latham & Watkins.

Amidst all this change the core of the team: Mark Donald, James Hogben and James Clarke still remains and at the time of writing it is hard to say how the new arrivals will bed in and how the firm will deal with Lucas’s departure. Most clients we spoke to were not too worried by developments though some were watchful. “Excellent work from the whole Weil team and great individuals. Very complex deal and they navigated successfully through all issues,” was one view of the firm’s general quality.

The firm’s focus on sponsor side mandates remains, born out of its strength in private equity. Nevertheless the firm has been trying to build its lender side practice as well. An example of this switch is the work done, prior to departure, by Lucas and Dan Dokos for Barcleys, Credit Suisse, Gldman Sachs and UBS as lenders on the financing of the acquisition of Chesapeake from Irving Place Capital and Oaktree. Staying in acquisition finance a team of James Hogben, Mark Donald, Lucas, James Clarke, Olivier Jauffret, and Rupert Wall acted for Barclays, Nomura, RBC and Macquarie on the financing for Hellman and Friedman’s acquisition of Scout24 from Deutsche Telekom.

On the borrower/sponsor side, highlights include Lucas and Hogben’s work for Charterhouse Capital Partners on the financing for the acquisition of Armacell from Investcorp; Donald’s advice to Advent International and Oxea on its recapitalisation; and Hogben’s work Findus Group on a combined bank/bond financing as part of its restructuring and recapitalisation.

Capital markets

In the capital markets the firm has been building its debt and high-yield capacity but though it was only last year that it brought on-board Gil Strauss from Freshfields, he has already departed for Simpson Thacher. It remains to be seen how the firm will react and whether another specialist will be brought in to head up the high-yield practice.

One client who worked with the broader team says: 'Weil got the job done extremely efficiently and cost-effectively and were able to smooth away all the potential bumps that could de-rail a transaction,” says one client. “Very pragmatic, very client-focused, very fast, very good value for money.”

Work examples from the last year included Strauss’s work for Aston Martin Holdings on a private placement of senior subordinate Pik notes; advice to the arrangers on the financing, which includes a bridge and high yield bond and cov-lite loan; and work for Equiniti Group and Advent International on two issues of senior secured notes.

On the equity side the firm had to tackle the departures of Rob Ferguson, who left to pursue a study course at the London Business School. Deal highlights from the past year had a distinctly Polish feel including Peter King’s work for PKP Cargo and Polski Holding Nieruchomosci on their IPOs on the Warsaw Stock Exchange and work for the banks on a secondary offering of shares in BZ WBK again on the Warsaw Exchange.

In structured finance and securitisation the firm has picked up a range of work and has taken full advantage of the returning CLO market. Jacky Kelly and Adam Plainer acted for Barclays on the restructuring of two whole business securitisations related to the General Healthcare Group. Elsewhere Kelly assisted Blackstone/GSO on all of its CLO deals in 2013 and in the same area Rupert Wall acted for BoA Merrill Lynch as arranger of a CLO managed by Alcentra. Kelly also acted for the bank alongside Deutsche Bank as arrangers on the first ever Irish credit card securitisation by AIB. In the derivatives space the firm has principally been advising on derivatives aspects of wider transactions such as CLOs, restructuring and acquisitions.

Investment funds

“Exceptional service. We have the benefit of working with all of the London law firms on a large variety of financial and corporate matters, and for investments funds in particular I found Weil Gotshal to be first class,” says one client. “In particular they are very commercial and heavily focused on achieving the best terms (and therefore best economics) for the manager. Quite simply they thought of things that other firms had not.”

One staffing change at the firm saw Nick Benson leave for Latham & Watkins. He is a well know name but the team is now large enough to be able to cope with the departure.

The firm has acted for the likes of Graphite Capital Management, InfraRed Capital Partners, Apax Partners and BC Partners on fund raisings and other issues. The firm also has a respected private funds regulation practice, which provides advice on matters such as the AIFMD (Alternative Investment Fund Managers Directive. One client who used the firm on regulatory matters says: “Weil have always provided timely and pragmatic advice which has enabled us to deal with our regulatory issues in a commercial and efficient way,” is one client’s view of the private funds regulatory team.

M&A

Weil Gotshal & Manges is one of the leaders of the private equity market in London, particularly in the M&A transactional space. “I’ve been working with Weil Gotshal for around 10 years now and I am very pleased with their services,” says one client, while another says of the work provided: “It is excellent. They provide excellent advice are responsive and their advice is practical and commercial.”

One of the firm’s largest recent mandates was Marco Compagnoni’s work for Providence Equity Partners, CCMP, THL and Quadrangle as the shareholders of telecom company Group Corporativo Ono in relation to its sale to Vodafone. Elsewhere Peter King acted for the Edwards Group on its merger with Sweden’s Atlas Group. A team led by Jonathan Wood acted for eBay on its acquisition of Shuti. Back in private equity Mike Francies and Samantha McGonigle advised Avista Capital Partners and Nordic Capital on their offer for Acino Holding.

Restructuring and insolvency

Weil Gotshal is known globally for its restructuring work and while establishing a London footprint came relatively late in the office’s development that team is now settled under the guidance of Adam Plainer. As with most firms in the City the remit of the restructuring team includes corporate matters, financial and debt restructuring and work related to the restructuring of structured finance and securitisation instruments, as highlighted by the securitisation restructurings highlighted above.

“Very attentive levels of service. Can normally always get hold of the main partner and not his/her associate. They have a business like approach to law,” says one client. “They seem more commercial in their manner than some of their rivals. Never seemingly forgetting what their client is keen to achieve.”

As is the nature of the work, large restructuring mandates often demand work over a long period of time and one such example is Adam Plainer’s advice to the joint special administrators on the proceedings surrounding MF Global. The mandate has finance, corporate, litigation and pensions aspects with the latest achievements being the approval of a new client money distribution programme, the securing of a High Court judgment related to the shortfall of available money to claims and a settlement in regard to pension liabilities. Plainer and Mark Lawford have also been active on matters arising from the Lehmann Brothers insolvency including an application for subordinated debt payouts, and a number of issues surrounding pension liabilities.

Capital markets

In the capital markets space Fried Frank in London has its focus on structured products and derivatives. Deal highlights include Rob McBride’s work for BNP Paribas on two structured financings in the wider context of the acquisition of stakes in a Chinese insurance company and a Russian mining company. In another matter Siân Withey advised Virtus Group as the collateral administrator of three CLO transactions.

M&A

In the M&A space the firm acted on some significant matters in the past 12 months. In one longrunning mandate Robert Mollen advised Virgin Media on its acquisition by Liberty Global. The deal saw the London and New York teams working in tandem. Another highlight saw Richard May advise SPX Corporation on the divestment of its services solutions business to Robert Bosch. May also acted for BoA Merrill Lynch and Greenhill & Company as financial advisers to Actavis in relation to tis acquisition of Warner Chilcott.

Investment funds

Kaye Scholer’s investment funds team is primarily focused on hedge and private equity fund matters. Simon Firth is the firm’s key partner for funds matters.

Highlight work in the past year has seen the firm advise the likes of MacKay Shields on adjustments to its business in light of the AIFMD. Elsewhere the firm acted for J O Hambro Investment Management on the winding up of two Cayman Islands funds. Elsewhere the team acted for Wraith Dynamic Futures Fund on its listing on the Irish Stock Exchange.

M&A

In the private equity space public deal highlights included David Gerber and Andrew Harris acting for Bregal Capital on the sale of Redstone Real Estate Investments and separately the acquisition of Ideal Stelrad. Harris also acted for Hastings Insurance Group on its acquisition by Goldman Sachs Merchant Banking Division.

Investment funds

Following its merger with Asia Pacific firm King & Wood Mallesons in 2013 legacy firm SJ Berwin experienced some upheaval in regards to its London staffing. This is perhaps unsurprising given that the firm went from being a highly successful but niche London private equity and funds practice to being part of a full service continent straddling brand with its geographical centre in Asia. 

The most significant moves were the departures of private equity partner Steven Davis to Proskauer Rose and fellow private equity lawyer Tim Wright. In response the firm has relocated corporate and tax partner Tim Bednall from Australia where he had been the country-managing partner.

Another significant development for the firm was its opening of a Luxembourg office at the beginning of 2013, which will no doubt be a boon to its European funds practice.

In regard to sheer volume of fund raisings the firm remains one of the leaders in the London market and although most of its work is confidential it can be said that it has acted on debt, hedge and real estate fund matters in the past year.

Banking and finance

McDermott’s finance team in London remains focused on project finance, particularly work related to energy and natural resources projects in Africa. In relation to this although a lot of the firm’s work in the past year is confidential it can be said that it has acted on projects related to oil pipelines, refineries and LNG projects. Public transactional highlights include Andrew Watson, Charlotte Doerr and Thomas Morgan’s work for Moreas in relation to the refinancing of the Korinth-Tripoli-Kalamata motorway in Greece. Another highlight saw Watson, David Birchall and Caroline Lindsey act for Grupotec on the financing of a number of new UK solar plants.

M&A

In M&A McDermott has developed a speciality in advising on transactions in the energy, natural resources and food and beverage sectors and as in finance has a geographical focus on African projects. Examples from the past year include work done by Nick Aziz for Olam International on the acquisition of the remaining stake in cocoa handling and processing company USICAM. Elsewhere Hugh Nineham, Mark Crofskey and Pierre Brochet advised Intersnack on its acquisition of KP Snacks and Intersnack’s refinancing. The team also assisted the company on the proposed acquisition of Trigon Foods. In the energy sector Crofskey and David Birchall advised EDF Energy on a joint venture with Eneco Wind for the development of a wind farm.

One M&A client describes the service as “very detailed and efficient, a highly professional and impressive service from start to finish”.

On the private equity side Russell Van Praagh led a team advising Pembroke on the acquisition of Boat International Media. Elsewhere - and again highlighting the firm’s Africa experience - Rupert Weber and Adam Wilkes acted for Tana Africa Capital on its investment in Promasidor Food Group. Weber also acted for infrastructure focused Harith General Partners on its acquisition of Frontier Markets Fund Managers.

Capital markets

In the capital markets Morrison & Foerster in London focuses on debt and structured finance and securitisation mandates. In the former area the firm is one of the few US firms in the City to have developed a practice focused around US private placements. Highlight transactions include work done by Peter Green and Jeremy Jennings-Mares for the underwriters on on updates and issues under Bank of America’s EMTN and Euro commercial paper and certificate of deposit programmes.

Elsewhere Brain Bates and Scott Ashton advised packaging company Nampak and the separately the London School of Economics on their respective US private placements. Covered bonds is another area of focus and here UK partners Green and Jennings-Mares acted alongside US colleagues on Royal Bank of Canada and RBC Covered Bond Guarantor’s Rule 144A/Reg S offering of covered bonds.

Elsewhere the firm also has a thriving derivatives practice, which handles transactional and regulatory work and has picked up work relating to CDOs in the structured space. Clients include the likes of BoA Merrill Lynch, Citigroup, Royal Bank of Canada and RBS.

M&A

Within M&A much of the firm’s work is in the TMT and natural resources sectors. Transactional highlights from the past year include Justin Stock, Aaron Archer and Henry Storrar’s work for Autodesk on its acquisition of Delcam. In another matter David Bresnick acted for Advanced Computer Software Group on its acquisition of Computer Software Holdings. Other highlights included Bresnick’s work for Doğuş Holding on its acquisition of a stake in the Azumi Group, and Ed Lukins’ work IGas on its acquisition of Caithness Oil.

Restructuring and insolvency

The restructuring and insolvency group was enhanced last year with the addition of Howard Morris to the team from Dentons. The London team has been gaining traction in relation to its corporate restructuring and insolvency practice and has picked up roles on some of the market’s largest deals, though much of this work is confidential. 

Public matters include Jonathan Wheeler’s work for the supplier creditors of HMV in relation to claims arising from the group’s administration. Elsewhere Peter Green assisted Residential Capital on its insolvency proceedings and the related derivatives claims arising from it. In another matter Wheeler acted for the liquidators of Saad Investments Company including negotiating with the syndicate of banks who lent to the company.

Restructuring and insolvency

Quinn Emanuel is a litigation-focused firm that in the sphere of financial and corporate handles contentious restructuring and insolvency matters. The firm often works alongside a number of the other firms in our list when cases reach the courts.

The firm’s main partners Richard East, Sue Prevezer and Robert Hickmott have handled a number of significant cases in the past year but all details are confidential.

Investment funds

Investment funds, specifically hedge funds remain the firm’s primary area of focus in London and the team was enhanced last year with the addition of Steven Whittaker from Simmons & Simmons. In what is a relatively small market in terms of law firms in London the firm is in a good position to push home its advantage in this area.

Fund establishment and fund raising work was the order of the day for the firm in the past 12 months. Highlights from the past year include Christopher Hilditch’s work for Argentiere Capital on the launch of its new multi-strategy hedge fund. Hilditch was again involved as the team acted for Cantab Capital Partners on the formation and launch of the CCP Core Macro fund. Elsewhere Josh Dambacher advised Andurand on the launch of a commodities focused fund and separately acted for B1 Capital on the launch of a European long/short equity fund.

Restructuring and insolvency

The firm enhanced its restructuring and insolvency practice in 2013 with the additions of Peter Declercq and Sonya Van de Graff from Brown Rudnick and the move is already bearing fruit. The firm tends to focus on advising creditors in relation to corporate restructurings, distressed debt trading matters and distressed acquisitions.

Though all the firm’s work is confidential it can be said that it has been busy advising noteholders on various restructuring matters and has advised clients on the acquisition of non-performing loans (NPLs).

One client says: “The overall level of service was fantastic and helped accomplish a great outcome for my firm in the case. Despite being 5-6 hours ahead from a time zone perspective, Peter Declercq and his team were accessible and responsive at all hours of the day to his US based clients. The depth of the team and restructuring and insolvency knowledge were also critical factors in this engagement being a success.”

M&A

In M&A the firm has been acting primarily on mid-market deals. Examples include Andrew Edge’s advice to accountancy firm Baker Tilly on its acquisition of RSM Tenon Group. Edge also led when the firm took on work for GDF Suez on its acquisition of Balfour Beatty’s UK facilities management division. Elsewhere Tom Nicholls also assisted the Parkmead Group on its acquisition of the Lochard Group.

Restructuring and insolvency

In the restructuring and insolvency space one of the firm’s largest recent mandates saw Susan Moore and Libby Elliott act for the administrators of Thomson Directories following a failed restructuring. In capital markets linked work Moore, Elliott and Jayesh Patel acted for the Law Debenture Trust Corporation in relation to a note exchange offer and scheme of arrangement.

Banking and finance

Within banking and finance Watson Farley & Williams focuses on project, export and asset finance. Within this shipping and renewable energy are two sectors of particular expertise. 

The team was expanded last year with the addition of Henry Stewart from Clifford Chance to the energy and projects practice and commodities and export finance lawyer Joe Levin who joins from Wragge & Co. On the other side the team did lose project partner Charles July who left for Dentons.

One financial restructuring client says: “High quality service in regard to availability, perception and analysis of the situation and the recommendations in order to meet the lender requirements.”

Transactional highlights last year include work by Richard Goodman for Santander on the financing of two solar plant developments in the UK. Stewart took on similar work advising Venn Partners on the financing for the construction of solar plants across Southern England. Stewart also advised RBS on the financing of a wind farm in Lancashire.

One energy sector client says the team is “second to none when it comes to knowledge of offshore wind including M&A and financing of offshore wind and infrastructure projects”.

In the shipping area the team has acted for confidential clients on the financing of containerships. One shipping sector client says: “Excellent and professional service at all stages of the negotiation and execution of the documentation. They provided continuous advice on legal matters necessary to protect us as lenders.”

Capital markets

In the capital markets the firm offers both equity and debt advice although it is in the former area, particularly in relation to AIM listings that it has built its reputation. Highlights from the past year include Chris Kilburn’s work for Madagascar Oil on a share placing. Elsewhere Jan Mellmann advised Mariana Resources on its fundraising via two share placements. Mellmann also led as the firm assisted Rame Energy and Base Resources on their respective listings on the AIM market.

M&A

There were some changes to report in the M&A team last year with the additions of David Shasha from Gowlings and Richard O’Brien from Dechert.

A lot of the firm’s work is drawn from sectors such as energy, natural resources and shipping where it has a clear strength, though it picks up mandates in other areas as well.

One client describes the team as “very responsive and commercially-minded, while staying precise on the legal issues”.

Transactional highlights from the past year include Chris Kilburn’s (since relocated to Singapore) work for Bayerngas on the acquisition by Bayerngas Europe of an interest in the Babbage Gas Field. In a similar area Charles Walford acted for Blue Energy on the acquisition of HgCapital’s wind portfolio 

Elsewhere Jan Mellmann acted for Aurelius on the acquisition of the value added sales activities of the Unified Communications business of the NEC Group.

Banking and finance

The main change in Linklaters’ banking team in the past year was the departure of Chris Howard who left to join Sullivan & Cromwell. Howard had only been back at the firm a few years having rejoined in 2010 from Freshfields. He focused primarily on financial restructuring. There were also two notable arrivals. James Martin returned to London from the firm’s Middle East practice, while Narayan Iyer moved back from India where he had worked with Talwar Thakore & Associates.

Highlights from the past year include work by Stuart Thomas for HSBC Bank as arrangers of the acquisition financing provided to Kentz Corporation for its acquisition of Valerus Field Solutions. The firm again acted for the banks as Philip Spittal advised on the financing granted to ISS in regard to its refinancing ahead of an IPO. Elsewhere the firm acted for Tank & Rast on its refinancing through the use of a senior facility, a note issue and Pik loan.

“One of top tier project finance law firms,” says one Korean client. “The best lawyers and most of them have a client friendly attitude. Especially strong in transactions in Russia and the CIS countries. The Seoul office is also very helpful for daily legal services.”

Capital markets

In the capital markets, on the debt side, significant departures included Francis Kucera who left for Ashurst and Nigel Pridmore who retired from active practice. The firm has some specific strengths in this area including equity linked and contingent convertible (CoCo) bond work. Deal highlights last year included work by Carson Welsh, John Lane and Cecil Quillen for HSBC and UBS for the dealer managers on the recapitalisation of the Co-op Bank. Elsewhere Carson Welsh and Cecil Quillen advised Barclays on three issues of CoCo bonds, this followed on from a previous issue in 2012. On the high-yield side Alexander Naidenov advised the banks on an issue of senior notes by eyeware manufacturer Marcolin. Naidenov also acted for the banks on an issue of senior notes by S&B Industrial Minerals.

As the London equity markets returned with force the firm took an active role. Examples include John Lane, Dan Schuster-Woldan, Tom O’Neill and James Wootton advising on the bank side on the IPO of the Royal Mail; Jason Manketo and Lane advising the issuer Al Noor Medical Company on the IPO of Al Noor Hospital Group; Patrick Sheil advising Belgian postal service bpost on its IPO; and Manketo’s advice to the banks on IPO of Portuguese postal company TT – Correios de Portugal on the Euronext in Lisbon.

“Extensive team with great capabilities – real depth and ability to respond very quickly around the clock, with an impressive service,” is the clear message from one client.

In the structured finance and securitisation area, the firm has picked up interesting work in the area of regulatory structured finance, with a clear example being the work done by Anne Hoe and Bruce White for the Green Deal Finance Company on the structuring and finance of the UK Green Deal scheme, which encourages consumers to adopt energy efficient measure in their homes. Elsewhere James Harbach and Adam Fogarty acted for Intu Properties on the establishment of a CMBS programme and the subsequent refinancing of the Lakeside and MetroCentre shopping centres. This represents a greater use of whole business securities by companies in various sectors.

In the derivatives space the firm is still considered to be one of the two leading firms in the market. Though most of the team’s work is confidential it can be said that it has acted for OTCDerivNet on the extension of the SwapClear service; advised a number of banks on a review of a new interest clearing product; and work for Nasdaq OMX on the establishment of a new interdealer OTC clearing product.

M&A

In the M&A space the firm continues to act on some of the market’s largest matters including Nick Rumsby and Nick Rees’s work work for Schneider Electric on its bid for Invensys. In another highlight Iain Fenn, Stephan Oppenhoff and Klaus Hoenig advised Vodafone Group on a bid for German cable provider Kabel Deutschland Holding. Elsewhere Richard Godden and Sarah Wiggins led as the firm advised PricewaterhouseCoopers on a merger agreement with management consultants Booz & Company.

One client says: “We can mark Linklaters as high-level professionals in English law, in these two projects the Linklaters team has shown full competence and support on any query in the scope of English law, the responses were exhaustive and were provided in due course.”

On the private equity side the firm relocated three lawyers to London in the past 12 months from its other bases, Vincent Ponsonnaille moved from the Paris office, Roger Johnson from Stockholm and Stuart Bedford from Singapore. Work highlights included advice to shareholders of Burton’s Holdings on the sale of Burton’s Biscuits and acting for EQT and Investor on the sale of the Gambro Group to Baxter. The team also advised Arcapita Bank on the sale of its logistics warehousing business to TPG.

Restructuring and insolvency

On the financial restructuring side a significant loss to the firm last year was the departure of Chris Howard who left to join Sullivan & Cromwell. Nevertheless with one of the largest teams in the City, any impact will surely be absorbed.

Deal highlights in the financial restructuring space included Yen Sum and Daniel Gendron’s work for the committee of secured creditors and lenders on the restructuring of the hibu group’s debt. The deal was notable for the number of creditors, which was over 300. The deal was completed via a string of eight schemes of arrangement. Elsewhere Robert Elliott, Bruce Bell and Carl Fernandes assisted the banks on the scheme of arrangement of the Card Protection Plan (CPP). The procedure was used in the context of a consumer redress scheme.

Banking and finance

The only change in the Slaughter and May banking team in the past year was the departure of Ian Hodgson who retired. The firm maintains its focus on borrower side work, which is driven by its substantial corporate client base. “Exceptional legal knowledge and client service. Always prepared to fight our corner but equally, will provide balanced advice,” says one client. Another describes the firm’s “excellent client service, providing a broad range of commercial advice in a timely and professional manner”.

A lot of the firm’s work last year was in the refinancing area, including work by Robert Byk and Matthew Tobin for ISS on its refinancing and debt extension. Elsewhere Miranda Leung and Andrew McClean acted for Technicolor on its refinancing, which included an acquisition by Tech Finance & Co of Technicolor’s outstanding debt. In the real estate area Stephen Powell and Phillip Snell advised Barratt Developments on a debt-refinancing package including amendments to existing note and lending programmes and the provision of new lending facilities to the group. Elsewhere Miranda Leung and Ed Fife acted for the lead arrangers in relation to the provision of a secured syndicated loan for Saudi Oger and Oger Middle East. Snell also acted for GE Money Bank on a Swiss Frank financing in relation to its IPO.

Capital markets

Given the firm’s corporate client base it is perhaps unsurprising that the firm has a strong reputation in equity capital markets matters and this year it took full advantage of the renewed interest in LSE listings. In one example the firm led by John Papanichola, William Underhill and Rebecca Cousin advised Royal Mail on its IPO in late 2013. In a similar matter Jeff Twentyman and Kathy Hughes acted for Infinis and its principal shareholder Terra Firma on the former’s IPO. In another matter Papanichola and Jonathan Marks acted for esure on its IPO.

On the debt side the firm’s work has been focused around advising on convertible bonds in the past 12 months. Examples include work by a team led by Miranda Leung acted for Bupa Finance on an issue of subordinated notes. Leung also advised CaixaBank on an issue of unsecured bonds exchangeable for ordinary shares in Repsol and Caixa d’Estalvis I Pensions de Barcelona on a similar issue of bonds exchangeable for shares in CaixaBank. Elsewhere Nilufer von Bismarck and Ed Fife advised Standard Chartered on an issue of callable fixed to fixed rate subordinated notes.

“Absolutely superb service, very commercial and responsive and though headline rates look expensive they are always open to agree sensible fee structures,” is one client’s view.

In the structured finance and securitisation area, Guy O’Keefe and Marc Hutchinson acted for Santander and Holmes Master Issuer on two issuances of notes under the latter’s RMBS programme. In a similar matter the same two partners advised Santander and Fosse Master Issuer on the restructuring of its RMBS programme. Elsewhere O’Keefe and Richard Jones acted for Spirit Pub Company on a whole business securitisation, which included negotiating a debt swap with bondholders. On the derivatives side Sanjev Warna-kula-suriya acted for Nordea Bank on the drafting of a credit risk sharing agreement between it and Powszechna Kasa Oszczędności Bank Polski. Elsewhere Richard Levitt acted for Aegon on a longevity transaction designed to reduce its risk from future improvements in longevity in the Netherlands.

Financial services regulatory

There were two staffing changes in the past year that affected the regulatory team with the retirement of Ruth Fox and Nick Archer from the partnership. On the non-contentious side, a team led by Ben Kingsley acted for HM Treasury on its review of the case for the potential transfer of poor performing assets from the RBS group to a ‘bad bank’. On the contentious side Deborah Finkler and Ewan Brown acted for Deutsche Bank on regulatory investigations into the setting of interbank lending rates. Elsewhere Elizabeth Barrett, Richard De Carle and Jan Putnis advised James Giddens as trustee for the liquidation of MF Global on claims arising from the special administration of its UK arm.

“The service matches the reputation. Very high calibre advice and support from a talented, responsive and creative team,” says one client. “Isabel Taylor is clearly a leading practitioner; and her team of associates – in particular Christopher Graf and Jonathan Slade – combine to deliver a formidable team of outstanding quality”

Investment funds

In the investment funds space the firm has acted on corporate and M&A linked maters and fund investments. In terms of fund formation one highlight from last year saw Jason Webber and Peter Lake act for Futura Asset Management on the set up of a sub-advisory asset management structure focused on futures. Elsewhere Paul Dickson acted for Centrica on the formation of Ignite Social Enterprise an impact fund focused on energy related investments.

M&A

There were some changes in the broader corporate team at Slaughter and May last year with the retirements of Kathryn Davis, Simon Robinson and James Cripps and the departure of Charles Randell to the Prudential Regulatory Authority.

“This firm provides excellent service,” says one corporate client. “The lawyers are very bright and competent. Though the firm is expensive, for high risk or high value work, they are a great choice.”

Another says: “Overall a very good service, knowledgeable with regards to the subject matter, good understanding of client needs, suitably resourced both in terms of level and depth. ‘Reassuringly expensive’.”

The firm continues to act at the top of the market and this is demonstrated by the work it has done in the past 12 months. Examples include Roland Turnill, Nigel Boardman and Craig Cleaver acting for Vodafone on the disposal of its US group including an interest in Verizon Wireless. Elsewhere Simon Nicholls, Robin Ogle and Padraig Cronin advised Diageo on the acquisition of an interest in United Spirits. In a different sector Andy Ryde acted for Bupa on the acquisition of Quality HealthCare Medical Services. In private equity David Wittmann acted for Palamon Capital Partners on the sale of its stake in Cambridge Education Group to Bridgepoint. Elsewhere Jeff Twentyman and Michael Corbett acted for Chesapeake along with owners Oaktree Capital Management and Irving Place Capital on the disposal of the former’s paperboard packaging business.

Restructuring and insolvency

“The firm consistently provides high-quality, timely, efficient advice on matters of UK law and procedure. They are responsive and pleasant to work with,” is one client’s view. 

The firm remains one of the benchmarks for corporate restructuring. Examples to back that status up include Ian Johnson and Andrew McClean’s work for Central Bank of Cyprus on the restructuring of Bank of Cyprus and Laiki Bank, which included branch sales, the split of Laiki into ‘good’ and ‘bad’ banks and the recapitalisation of Bank of Cyprus via a bail-in process. Richard De Carle also took a role advising the trustee on the liquidation of MF Global in relation to claims arising from the special administration of its UK subsidiary. The firm also continues to provide advice to the winding board of Icelandic bank Glitnir.

In the finance area Johnson and de Carle acted alongside the finance team on the debt restructuring of Punch Taverns, which consisted of securitisation restructuring.

Banking and finance

The main change in the Baker & McKenzie finance department this year was the addition of acquisition and leveraged finance specialist Paul Hibbert from Clifford Chance where he had been a senior associate.

One of the firm’s largest matters last year saw Marc Fèvre advise MTN Nigeria on the raising of $3 billion in debt facilities from various Nigerian banks in order to expand its telecommunications network. In the refinancing space Frances Okosi acted for BoA Merrill Lynch and Barclays in relation to a refinancing of the Mauser Group while Sébastien Marcelin-Rice acted for Goldman Sachs on the refinancing of Barchester Helathcare.

In acquisition finance Bernard Sharp acted for EQT as it secured financing for the acquisition of healthcare provider Terveystalo.

Capital markets

The hire of US partner Don Guiney last year has bolstered the firms’ debt practice and the team has maintained its momentum through 2014. In the debt space highlights included Chris Hogan and Edward Bibko’s advice to the Kingdom of Bahrain on an offer of Rule 144A/Reg S notes on the LSE. Elsewhere Bibko and Simon Porter assisted Turkish port operator Global Ports on a high-yield issue; Adam Farlow acted for Nyrstar on a Rule 144A/Reg S issue of convertible notes and the firm also advised the likes of AHML (Russian state housing mortgage company), Home Credit and Finance Bank and Ukrainian Railways on issues of loan participation notes.

On the equity side, as the market for London listings returned Nick O’Donnell advised Arricano on its AIM listing, while Adam Farlow acted for Georgian bank TBC Bank on its proposed listing of GDRs on the LSE and acted for Schmolz + Bickenbach on a rights offering.

“Very consistent, focused and dedicated team, with a well rounded and practical approach to the work involved,” says one client of the equity team.

Structured finance - and in particular securitisation work - remains a clear strength for the firm. In late 2013 Vincent Keaveny acted for Volkswagen Financial Services on the issue of securitisation notes by Driver UK Master. Keaveny also took on similar work for BoA Merrill Lynch as joint lead manager in relation to the offer by Turbo Finance 4 of securitisation notes. Elsewhere as the CLO and CDO markets returned Jonathan Walsh picked up work from Investec Bank on a £300 million CLO issue. Though ultimately the deal did not close it would have been one of the first so-called CLO 2.0 transactions on the market.

One client who worked with the team says: “Very well-experienced team headed by partner Jonathan Walsh and with senior associate Sarah Porter as the driving force. Capable, professional, innovative, timely and hard working. “

In the derivatives area the firm reacted to the loss of the promising Luke Whitmore with the hire of Farid Anvari from clearing house LCH Clearnet. Prior to moving in-house Anvari had been at Clifford Chance.

Restructuring and insolvency

In the restructuring space the firm’s practice remains evenly split between financial or debt restructuring and corporate/insolvency matters. In the broader definition of restructuring the firm also handles the restructuring of capital markets products.

One matter highlighted last year, which is still in process, sees a team led by Ian Jack advise the steering committee of creditors in relation to the second restructuring of the Kazakh BTA Bank. Elsewhere Chris Hogan acted for Deutsche Bank Luxembourg and the secured hedge counterparties in relation to the debt settlement negotiations relating to the restructuring of Islamic finance instruments entered into with AXIS Telekom Indonesia.

The range of the firm’s offering impresses clients. “Baker & McKenzie have a very strong team - they have deep technical knowledge both in pensions and insolvency and restructuring - this means that they are able to provide comprehensive advice and to think through the client's issues from a range of different angles,” says one client from a financial services firm. “They are also able to present their findings in a clear and easy to understand manner, which means that I have no hesitation in picking up the phone to one of the team to discuss issues that have arisen from our employer covenant work.”

Another client adds: “We have been very pleased with both the attentiveness and quality of the advice received by the team. In particular, we have been pleased with the advice provided by Ian Jack and Louise Webb,” says another.

Banking and finance

Ropes & Gray in the banking space focuses primarily on borrower and sponsor side mandates. This is backed up by an impressive debt/high yield practice allowing the firm to offer comprehensive advice on broader bank/bond financings. The team was expanded in early 2013 through the hire of leveraged finance partner Mark Wesseldine from Fried Frank.

Transactional highlights include work by Matthew Cox for the shareholders of McCarthy & Stone on an injection of new equity via a debt facility and rights issue. Liberty Global is a longstanding key client of the firm and a team of Cox, Maurice Allen and Mike Goetz acted on the bank and bond financing of its acquisition of Virgin Media.

Capital markets

Debt work is the focus and clear strength of the Ropes & Gray capital markets practice, but the firm took a substantial hit in September 2014 with the departure of head of department and ‘Leading lawyer’ Jonathan Bloom who was one of a number of new faces at Jones Day. Bloom helped establish Ropes & Gray’s London team when he joined from White & Case in 2009. The department can still call on the likes of Jane Rogers and Michael Kazakevich but it will be interesting to se whether it attempts to hire in someone to fill Bloom’s shoes or decides to promote from within or maintain it current numbers.

While much of the firm’s work is confidential, public highlights include work on the capital markets financing elements of the Liberty Global acquisition of Virgin Media and Jane Rogers’ work for Unitymedia Hessen and and Unitymedia NRW on an issue of senior secured notes due in 2029. The lifespan of the issue, i.e. the due date, is one of the longest seen for a European deal of its type.

Financial services regulatory

February 2014 saw the departure of Andrew Henderson to Eversheds. Michelle Moran who joined the firm in September 2013 from Dechert effectively replaces Henderson as the regulatory contact in the London office. Moran primarily advises on fund regulation but also provides support and advice to the firm’s private equity client base.

Investment funds

Within investment funds the firm primarily acts on private equity fund matters and certainly this is the core strength of the team. Transactional highlights from the past year include the work done by Matthew Judd and Anand Damodaran for Nordic Capital on the formation of Nordic Capital Fund VIII and its participation in a separate co-investment fund. Elsewhere Judd also acted for BlackRock on the formation of a private equity and infrastructure fund of funds. In the hedge fund space the firm advised Alcentra in relation to its Credit Opportunity Fund platform.

M&A

The private equity team was expanded through the hire of two senior associates in the past year in the forms of Alex Lewis and John Newton from Ashurst and Weil Gotshal respectively.

For the broader M&A practice, while a lot of the firm’s work is confidential public highlights include Will Rosen’s work for consultancy the Monitor Group in regard to its sale to Deloitte under its Chapter 11 proceedings. Elsewhere Rosen and Iain Morpeth acted for MSREF Fund V in regard to its sale of the Executive Offices Group.

Restructuring and insolvency

Ropes & Gray has good bench strength in the restructuring and insolvency area with partners such as Tony Horspool and James Douglas and often acts for banks and creditors on a range of matters including corporate and financial restructurings. 

In the past year the firm has picked up a number of matters related to distressed or non performing loan acquisitions, examples include Horspool and Dan Martin advising Goldman Sachs ESSG on its bid for a distressed portfolio of loans from the Lloyds Banking Group, the same team advised the same client alongside TPG Credit Opportunities on a separate bid for another Lloyds portfolio. 

Elsewhere Douglas assisted a confidential hedge fund client on the restructuring and recapitilisation of South African company Peermont. The firm also picked up a range of work in the real estate sector.

Banking and finance

Cleary Gottlieb continues to focus its practice on borrowers and sponsors and thus a lot of the team’s work is related to acquisition financing, LBOs and refinancing. Highlight work includes advice to Warburg Pincus and General Atlantic on leveraged finance for the acquisition of Banco Santander’s asset management division; TPG on the financing for its acquisition of TSL Education; and CVC for the debt financing for the acquisition of the Campbell Soup Company. On the bank side the team acted for JPMorgan, Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley on the refinancing of Technicolor.

Capital markets

2013 saw the retirement of Daniel Braverman, a lawyer at the firm since 1985. On the debt side the firm has a balanced practice between issuers and managers, though does slightly more with the latter category. Much of its work is related to debt issues sold into the US market. Highlights include advice to EDP on a $750 million Rule 144A/Reg S offering; Armenia on its debut sovereign Rule 144A/Reg S offering; and Nigeria on a $1 billion Eurobond. The team also assisted the likes of RCS & RDS, Puma Energy and Far Eastern Shipping Company on high-yield issues.

In equity the firm picked up work on the IPOs of Odfjell (Norwegian exchange) and the LPG (liquefied petroleum gas) business of BW maritime, acting for the issuers on both counts. It also acted on a number of block trades for the likes of Norsk Hydro, Mail.ru and a number of Indian companies including Oil India and Linde India.

M&A

The firm’s small focused team of generalists retains its impressive ability to secure roles on some of the largest transactions, particularly those with a Russian angle.

In addition to the matters mentioned in the banking and finance review, on which the firm provided financing and M&A advice, the last 18 months has seen the firm close matters including Rosneft’s $55 billion acquisition of TNK-BP from BP and Aar. In private equity the firm assisted TPG in its acquisition of Victoria Plumb.

Restructuring and insolvency

In the restructuring and insolvency space the firm is focused primarily on financial restructurings often advising creditors. Highlights include acting for Silver Point Capital as a bond holder on the restructuring of the Co-Op Bank; assisting Mount Kellett Capital Management on the restructuring of Jurys Inn; and Overseas Shipholding Group on both the securing of new loans and more pertinently on negotiations with creditors over a proposed Chapter 11 procedure.

Banking and finance

Latham continues to achieve a balance between lender and borrower side work and has picked up a number of significant acquisition finance mandates in the past year. The firm continues to also pick up significant work in the bank/bond area. One of the largest deals undertaken by the finance team last year saw Christopher Kandel, Mo Nurmohamed and Ross Anderson advise the coordinators on a senior facility provided to Tank & Rast. The facility was entered into in conjunction with a notes issue and a Pik loan issue. Elsewhere Sam Hamilton, Anderson and Jay Sadanandan acted for Goldman Sachs on a private high yield term loan for the acquisition of Springer Science+Business Media. In a similar matter Dominic Newcomb acted for Carlyle on the acquisition finance used for the takeover of the Chesapeake Corporation. “Very good. They have all the bases covered and are very attentive,” says one client.

In project finance the firm’s work continues to be drawn from across the world and there has been a specific focus on energy and utilities matters recently. Examples include Craig Nethercott’s work assisting the sponsors GDF Suez International Power, Sumitomo Corporation and Al Sagar in relation to the financing of the Az-Zour North 1 independent power and water project in Kuwait. The firm also worked on two significant project bond advising the joint lead managers and the bond trustee on Ruwais Power Company’s offering of bonds as part of the refinancing of the Shuweihat 2 power generation and water desalination project. In the infrastructure area the firm acted for Mersin International Port (MIP) on a joint venture with Akfen Holding and PSA International for the issue of a project bond to finance the port’s construction. It represents the first time a private infrastructure company has issued a project bond in Turkey.

One client who worked with the firm in the power sector says: “They were excellent, the project team were experienced in the sector and region and professionally led the negotiation for our side. Overall, we were satisfied with the end results.”

Capital markets

In the capital markets area Latham is best known for its debt practice and boasts one of the largest high-yield teams in London. Some examples from the past year include work done by Tracy Edmonson, Richard Trobman and Scott Colwell for the initial purchasers on a number of issues by Virgin Media. On the issuer side Trobman and Jennifer Engelhardt acted for Tullow Oil on an issue of senior notes. In an acquisition finance matter Jeffrey Lawlis acted for the initial purchasers on three issues of senior notes, the proceeds of which are to be used by CVC Capital Partners to purchase the Cerved Group from Bain Capital.

M&A

Latham has made significant steps to enhance its private equity practice in the past year including the hires of three Clifford Chance lawyers, in the forms of David Walker, Kem Ihenacho and Tom Evans, all of which have strong links to private equity house Carlyle. In addition the firm also brought in Nick Benson from Weil Gotshal. It is too early to judge the overall impact this might have, but the investment in so many well known names can only prove to be a positive step towards winning new clients.

Deal highlights in the past year include work for Advent International on the acquisition by Douglas Holding of Nocibé. Elsewhere the firm assisted Carlyle on the acquisition of Marelli Motori; assisted Bain Capital on the acquisition of Maisons du Monde; and advised Hellman & Friedman Advisers on the acquisition of a majority stake in Scout24 Holding.

Restructuring and insolvency

In the restructuring and insolvency space a multi-jurisdictional team led in London by John Houghton acted for the A1 Investment Company on the acquisition of the Central European Distribution Corporation from Chapter 11 bankruptcy, which represented a first for a Eastern European company. Elsewhere Houghton and Mark Nicolaides advised the senior noteholders committee in relation to the restructuring of two securitisation vehicles of Punch Taverns.

Elsewhere Catherine Drinnan acted for Goss International Corporation on its restructuring through the use of a creditors voluntary arrangement (CVA).

Banking and finance

Simpson Thacher’s preeminence in the private equity space means that most of the team’s work in the finance area is for sponsors or borrowers, often the houses and funds themselves or their portfolio companies. An example of this is work done by a team led by Ian Barratt for KKR on the financing of its acquisition of Serbian broadband provider SBB/Telemach Group from Mid-Europa Partners. In a similar matter a team led by Nicholas Shaw acted for funds advised by Apax Partners on the financing of the acquisition of an interest in Trader Media Group. The firm also picked up work in the bank/bond space as a team led by Euan Gorrie acted for Grupo Antolín on a high yield offering and notes offering in combination with a term loan and a revolving loan.

Elsewhere a team led by Ian Barratt acted for Pets at Home Group in relation to the refinancing of group’s senior debt in the context of its IPO on the LSE. Stephen Short meanwhile acted for TDR Capital portfolio company Algeco Scotsman in relation to a Pik loan.

Capital markets

Though Simpson Thacher is best known for its debt work, particularly its high-yield practice, it has picked up work on some notable equity mandates in the past year, specifically IPOs. One example is the work done by a team led by Adam Signy and Greg Conway for Pets at Home on its London listing (the finance team also assisted on the group’s refinancing). The deal was one of a flurry of retail IPOs that reignited the London market in early 2014. Conway also advised on the US law elements of Infinis Energy’s IPO in November 2013.

In the debt space the team picked up issuer and bank side work. In the former highlights included work for the likes of Stonegate Pub Company (Nick Shaw); Aldesa Financial Services (Alvaro Membrillera); and HSS Hire (Shaw and Mark Brod) on senior secured notes offerings and PortAventura (Membrillera) and a finance subsidiary of Travelex (Brod) on high yield issues. On the bank side Brod and Membrillera acted for the likes of JPMorgan Deutsche Bank on a high yield issue by Empark Financing, while Membrillera acted for the initial purchasers in a notes offering by NH Hoteles.

Investment funds

In funds, the firm’s focus is on private equity and it is one of the leading firms in the London market. This status was backed up last year by Gareth Earl’s work for CVC Capital Partners on the fund raising for its sixth fund, which was the third largest private equity fund ever raised by a European sponsor with funds of €10.5 billion. Elsewhere Jason Glover acted for Apax on the raising of its eighth buyout fund and Scandinavian sponsor EQT on its first mid-market fund; while Earl advised Actis on its fourth private equity fund and third energy fund.

M&A

In the broader corporate area a significant move last year saw Derek Baird join the team from Allen & Overy, where he had led the private equity practice. He will be a welcome addition to the transactional team. In line with the firm’s broader focus the M&A team primarily deals in private equity matters. Examples from last year include work done by Alvaro Membrillera for KKR portfolio company World Helicopters in regard to the sale of the Avincis Group. Membrillera also acted for KKR on an investment into European Locomotive Leasing.

Elsewhere Michael Wolfson advised Blackstone on its investment into Gianni Versace and sale of a stake in the Broadgate Estate in London; while Derek Baird advised ApaxPartners on an acquisition by its controlled funds of a stake in Trader Media Group and a separate acquisition by portfolio company Rhino Bondco of Rhiag Inter Auto Parts Italia.

After a few years of gradual expansion in London, 2014 marked a watershed moment in Akin Gump’s UK strategy as it hired what was effectively the entire London partnership of US rival Bingham McCutchen. The move was spearheaded by financial restructuring partner James Roome and also included the following ‘Leading lawyers’: capital markets partner and US private placement specialist Barry Russell, funds partners John Holton and Thiha Tun and regulatory partner Helen Marshall. The Bingham team was best known for its restructuring practice, particularly in relation to bondholder and fund representation. Through Russell it also was one of the few London practices with a US private placement specialist. These skills will no doubt benefit Akin in the coming years.

Banking and finance

A lot of the firm’s work in banking and finance is Russia related with examples from the past year including Robert Aulsebrook’s work for Lukoil Neftohim Burgas, the Bulgarian subsidiary of the Russian group on the financing provided for the upgrade of an oil refinery. Aulsebrook was also involved as the team acted for Max Petroleum on a refinancing facility taken from Sberbank Kazakhstan. Elsewhere Fred Heller acted for VimpelCom Amsterdam on two equipment finance facilities.

Capital markets

The capital markets team will be strengthened by the arrival of Barry Russell and his team from Bingham, particularly in relation to debt matters. The existing Akin team already picks up work on both the debt and equity sides. Finance partners Robert Aulsebrook and Fred Heller handle the majority of the mandates including in the past year acting on Eurobond issues for Lukoil International Finance, VimpelCom Holdings and AS 4finance. Other highlights included Sebastian Rice and Harry Keegan’s work for Max Petroleum on the restructuring of convertible bonds and Keegan’s advice to Galapagos in relation to a private placement.

Investment funds

Akin Gump’s investment funds team focuses primarily on hedge and private equity funds and will benefit from the additions of Thiha Tun and John Holton from Bingham McCutchen. The firm can claim to be one of the few dedicated hedge fund practices in London alongside the likes of Schulte Roth & Zabel and Simmons & Simmons.

Though all the firm’s work is confidential the likes of Tim Pearce and Ian Meade have been active on corporate and regulatory matters within the funds space.

M&A

Public matters for the broader corporate/M&A team last year included Harry Keegan’s work for IG Seismic Services on a proposed acquisition of the company by its management. Keegan also acted for Galapagos on a share and asset sale of its BioFocus Services Division to Charles River laboratories.

Capital markets

The only staffing change within Cravath’s capital markets team last month was the relocation of Joel Herold to London from the firm’s New York office.

One client who worked with the team describes the work as “top rate in all respects” and “outstanding on all levels”, while another points to the “excellent service, responsive and constructive advice”.

The firm is focused on debt and specifically high-yield work in London and although all the firm’s clients are confidential it can be said that it picked up a number of mandates acting variously as underwriters, managers and issuers counsel. Philip Boeckman, Alyssa Caples, David Mercado and George Stephanakis all picked up their fair share of the work. It is also worth noting that the firm is seeing an increasing number of these issues being done by European companies.

In the equity space, though the firm is not as well known for this type of work, the team did pick up mandates acting on US placements and share acquisitions.

M&A

In M&A the firm has picked up a number of roles acting as US counsel on substantial deals. Highlight examples include George Stephanakis’s work for Saint-Gobain on the sale of its Verallia North America business. Stephanakis also advised PSA Peugeot Citroën on its strategic alliance with General Motors. Elsewhere Philip Boeckman advised Springer Science+Business Media on the sale of a stake held in the company by EQT Partners and GIC Special Investments. The firm also acted for the financial advisors in a number of matters including acting for Citigroup in regard to the LSE’s acquisition of a stake in LCH Clearnet Group.

Capital markets

Within capital markets the firm’s main focus is on derivatives and securitisation matters but it also handles some debt work.

A client of the derivatives practice describes the team as “very business focused, client oriented, and experts in derivatives, very knowledgeable and easy to work with. They’re an excellent law firm, I would always recommend FFW (Field Fisher Waterhouse) in matters of finance”.

Another says: “Field Fisher Waterhouse is our partner in the UK for structured credit products, advising us in the fields of structuring and amending capital markets prospectuses as well as supporting us on investor issues like noteholder meetings.”

In the structured finance area highlights include Gonzalo Fernandez’s work for HEAT Mezzanine on the restructuring of three CLOs. On the debt side a team led by Oliver Abel Smith advised Europe Arab Bank on its subordinated notes listing on the Channel Islands Stock Exchange. 

In the derivatives area the likes of Guy Usher and Luke Whitmore have been advising clients such as Aviva Investors Global Services on negotiations around OTC derivatives agreements and clearing issues.  

Financial services regulatory and Investment funds

The regulatory team has a specialism in advising on fund and derivatives related issues. In the former area Kirstene Baillie provides general regulatory advice on developments like the AIFMD (Alternative Investment Fund Manager’s Directive). The contentious side of the practice led by Duncan Black have also acted on a range of cases linked to the same two areas.

The funds team was enhanced last year with the addition of Simon Maharaj to the team from Simmons & Simmons.

One client says: “We have received dedicated and thoughtful work throughout the project. The lawyers in charge not only have full knowledge of the related regulation but were tough negotiators with full knowledge of our business issues.” The same client does add the caveat however that “sometimes they got into too much detail and took longer than we expected”.

Restructuring and insolvency

A client who worked with the insolvency team highlights the team’s: “exceptional service levels, brilliant technical skills, down to earth and practical advice”. Another says: “On the corporate restructuring and redrafting of terms of business, the partner and associate were helpful, pro-active and provided responses in a timely manner which, given some changes were done at short notice, often gave them short notice of the input required from them.”

In the restructuring and insolvency area work highlights last year include work by Peter Stewart for BDO as the liquidators of E-Clear. Elsewhere Oliver Abel Smith and John Nelmes advised Kaupthing Singer & Friedlander and EY (Ernst & Young) as the administrators of the former in relation to the restructuring and unwinding of Kaupthing’s real estate loan portfolio.

Capital markets

In capital markets Paul Hastings has been looking to establish itself in London in both the equity and debt markets. It took a significant step forward in the past year with the hires of Peter Schwartz from Milbank and James Cole from Weil Gotshal & Manges. Schwartz is a high-yield specialist and IFLR1000 ‘Leading lawyer’ and critically was a relationship partner to Goldman Sachs. Cole acts on both debt and equity mandates for issuers and underwriters.

Debt highlights from the past year include London and Frankfurt partner Karl Balz acting for the initial purchaser in relation to a Rule 144A/Reg S offering of senior notes by LBC Tank Terminals Holdings Netherlands. Elsewhere Cole acted for Fresnillo on its inaugural issue of Rule144A/Reg S securities, while Christian Parker acted for both Haitong Internatioanl Securities Group and China Daye Non-Ferrous Metals Mining on their respective Hong Kong listed convertible bonds.

In the equity space Parker and Ross McNaughton advised CVC Credit Partners on its IPO on the LSE, while Balz acted for Piper Jaffray and Citigroup as the bookrunners on the US IPO of voxeljet.

In the structured finance and securitisation area the firm has benefitted from the return of the mortgage backed securitisation market. Charles Roberts and Miles Flynn acted for Deutsche Bank as lead manager on the DECO 2013-CSPK CMBS. Roberts was also at the helm as the firm acted for Capita Asset Services on a range of matters including the refinancing of securitised loans. Elsewhere Parker and Karina Bielkowicz advised CVC Credit Partners on the establishment of a securitisation vehicle related to investment in sub-investment grade debt by an Asian sovereign wealth fund.

Investment funds

The firm made a significant hire in November 2013 with the hire of David Ryland from King & Wood Mallesons SJ Berwin. Deal highlights include acting for AEW Capital Management on the formation of AEW Value Investments Asia II; work for Columbus on the establishment of its Columbus II industrial fund and work for Activum SG Capital Management on establishment of SG Activum Fund III.

M&A

The London M&A team has picked up roles on some of the wider firm’s substantial deals. Examples include the work done by Garrett Hayes for Shuanghui International Holdings in relation to the acquisition of Smithfield Foods. Similarly Ronan O’Sullivan and Ross McNaughton acted for Jacobs Engineering Group on the acquisition of engineering consultancy Sinclair Knight Merz. Hayes was again involved as the firm acted for Samsung Electronics on the buyback of part of its stake in Seagate Technology.

Restructuring and insolvency

The restructuring and insolvency team is primarily focused on structured finance and securitisation restructurings, real estate matters and debt restructurings. Highlights from the past year include Karl Clowry and Lionel Spizzichino’s work for Attestor Capital on the restructuring of water company SAUR including debt restructuring and the securing of new lines of credit. Elsewhere Charles Roberts, Michelle Duncan, Stephen Parker and Hannah Keever acted for RBS as facility agent on the restructuring of of a loan secured by German real estate assets.

Capital markets

Proskauer’s main focus within the capital market space is debt and high-yield mandates. Debt transactional highlights include Roberto Bruno acting for energy company Enel on its offering of hybrid capital securities. Elsewhere Peter Castellon advised Imperial Capital as book runner on Soho House’s high yield offering of senior notes.

On the equity side Bruno acted for Space on its Reg S IPO. Elsewhere Katherine Mulhern advised Wisdom Marine Group on its IPO of GDRs on the lSE. The deal was not only the first time a Chinese company had undertaken such a listing but also the first time a shipping company had done so as well.

Investment funds

Investment funds and private equity are two of the firm’s strengths and the UK team is no different in this respect. Transactional highlights from the past year include Nigel van Zyl’s work for HGCapital on the fundraising of its 7th European mid-market buyout fund. Though much of the firm’s other work is confidential it can be said that it has been active on a variety of fund raisings, fund of fund launches and fund related M&A.

Restructuring and insolvency

In restructuring and insolvency, highlight matters from the past year include work by Mark Fennesey for the creditors’ committee of MF Global Holdings and MF Global Finance on the insolvency of its UK entities under the group’s wider Chapter 11 proceedings. Elsewhere Hazel Miller advised Global Loan Advisory Services (GLAS) Trust Corporation as senior bond trustee on the restructuring of German car repair company ATU, including the creation of a new UK ATU Group. The firm is also advising Contrarian Capital Management on a raft of secondary claims linked to the Lehman Brothers administration.

One client of the team says: “Excellent knowledge and service provided by the firm resulting in a very favourable outcome for the creditors”

Banking and finance

Sullivan & Worcester in London, in line with the firm’s wider practice, is fully focused on export and trade finance. The team of Geoffrey Wynne, Simon Cook and Mark Norris all joined the firm in the past year in order to establish the firm’s City practice, with Wynne and Cook moving from Dentons and Norris moving from what is now Squire Patton Boggs.

The firm’s client base includes the likes of African Export Import Bank, Deutsche Bank, JPMorgan, Nordea, Rabobank, Santander and Standard Chartered Bank. Although all the firm’s work is confidential it can be said that it has been focused, since its inception on commodity, trade and asset financing on the African continent, primarily acting on the lender side. The firm has also picked up some arbitration mandates.

Banking and finance

Burges Salmon advises primarily on mid-market finance matters advising both borrowers and lenders. Examples from the past year include Sandra Forbes’s advice to Lloyds Bank on a revolving credit facility extended to Westerleigh Group Holdings; Alan Barr and Forbes’s work for Milk Partnership on a revolving facility take out from HSBC; and Forbes’s work for Crediton Dairy on the financing of the MBO Milk Link’s flavoured milk business.

In the projects space the firm has been active on energy matters including advice to Helius Energy on the financing of the 100MW Avonmouth biomass plant. Elsewhere Dominic Davis and Graham Soar acted for ICON Infrastructure and EEA Holdings on its investment into the combined heat and renewable power generation plant in Beckton, East London.

Capital markets

In the capital markets the firm is focused on structured products and derivatives matters and has advised the likes of FirstGroup, Imperial Tobacco Group and National Express Group on general regulatory issues and negotiations over ISDA Master Agreements.

Financial services regulatory

There was some change within the regulatory team last year with the recruitment of fund lawyers Anna Briggs (Lloyds Banking Group) and Victor Ondoro (Goldman Sachs) and the departure of Mahrie Webb (Simmons & Simmons). The firm principally advises clients in the retail banking, insurance and fund industries on both non-contentious compliance matters and contentious enforcement.

Investment funds

The firm added to its investment fund and regulatory capacity this year with two new hires (see financial services regulatory). The firm’s work has been focused around fund acquisitions and general regulatory advice in the past year.

M&A

Within M&A the firm is an active player in the mid-market in sectors such as transport, food and beverage and energy. 

One client who worked with Dominic Davis and his team describes the firm as “very solid and accomplished, a pleasure to work with. A technically accomplished yet commercially aware team, highly rated”.

Work examples include Rupert Weston’s advice to FirstGroup on the sale of its London bus operations; Mark Shepherd’s work for the management of Oasis Healthcare on its acquisition by Bridgepoint; Weston’s work for the Louis Delhaize Group on the disposal of the Garden and Leisure Group; and Richard Spink’s work for the Business Growth Fund on its investment in Magmatic Trunki.

Restructuring and insolvency

The firm has expanded its team in the past year with the hire of Emily Scaife from Eversheds. She joins the firm’s corporate turnaround and insolvency practice that focuses on the financial services, pensions and tourism industries. Though much of the firm’s work is confidential public highlights include Patrick Cook advising Nationwide in relation to the Brunswick Mansford administration. The firm also acted for Nationwide in relation to the restructuring of two shopping centres in the West Midlands.

Capital markets

Davis Polk has in the past few years developed its English law practice through the work of Will Pearce and Simon Witty. The firm also has an established team of US qualified partners in London as well. The team acts across both debt and equity mandates and work in the high-yield space.

On the equity side a clear highlight last year was the firm’s work on the IPO of the Royal Mail on which Jeffrey Oakes advised the formally public company. In addition Oakes also acted on the IPO of esure Group while Witty and Paul Kumleben acted on the IPO of Danish company Matas.

In the debt space Oakes again led acting for the book runners on two note offerings by Skandinaviska Enskilda Banken. Elsewhere Kumleben advised the bookrunners on a Rule 144A/Reg S offering of fixed rate notes by SABMiller Holdings, and John Banes led as the team acted for Lloyds Bank on an offering of senior notes.

M&A

The past year has seen the firm continue to gain traction in the UK M&A market acting on a number of substantial mandates including Simon Witty’s work for Tele2 on the sale of its Russian operations to VTB Group; for the French State on the sale of a share in EADS through a share buyback and private placement; and for Tesco on the sale of a stake in its Fresh & Easy business to YFE Holdings. 

Elsewhere Will Pearce advised ARM Holdings on parent company ARM’s acquisition of Sensinode, while Witty and John Banes acted for the Edwards Group in relation to tis acquisition of Atlas Copco.

A client who worked with the M&A team says: “Davis Polk & Wardwell's London office did an excellent job representing us in the acquisition. They operated very efficiently and provided quality advice.” Another adds that the advice received was “responsive, proactive and business oriented”.

Banking and finance

The Macfarlanes banking team is primarily focused on acquisition finance matters. Highlights from the past year include work done by Christopher Lawrence for Verizon Communications on the financing of its acquisition of Vodafone’s interest in Verizon Wireless. The acquisition was undertaken through an English scheme of arrangement. Lawrence was also involved as the team acted for Graphite Capital Partners on the funding of its acquisition of Hawksmoor.

In the project finance area, the firm’s broader projects team was enhanced with the addition of Scott Brodsky and Gari Matarirano from Baker & McKenzie. The new team has already gained traction acting on a number of energy projects. Examples include work for Diaz Wind Power on the financing of a wind power project in Namibia. Similarly the team acted for Coria (PKF) Investments 28 (RF) on the financing of a wind project being developed under South Africa’s renewable energy IPP (independent power plant) programme.

 In another matter Andrew Perkins acted for Jinchuan Group Co on an investment into the development of the Bakubung Platinum Mine in South Africa.

Capital markets

In the derivatives space the firm handles matters such as equity and swap trades as well as providing general regulatory advice and acting on contentious issues. The team led by Will Sykes has acted for the likes of Goldman Sachs, Man Group, Old Mutual and JFB Firth Rixson.

Financial services regulatory

The financial services regulatory team handles both non-contentious and contentious matters and also has a place on the UK regulator’s 9FCA/PRA) ‘skilled person panel’. One matter born out of this appointment saw David Berman act for both Barclays and RBS on a review of their previous activities related to interest rate hedging products as part of a wider investigation by the UK regulator. In the case of RBS this involved a review of over 14,000 cases. Elsewhere Dan Lavender and Matt McCahearty acted for ICAP in relation to investigations into the Yen Libor rate. Another substantial matter saw Iain Mackie and Robert Boyle advise Bumi and Vallar Investments on potential financial irregularities relating to its Indonesian operations.

One client of the team says: “The financial services team at Macfarlanes is well resourced and very professional. They were able to deal with very large regulator cases in a methodical and calm way.”

Investment funds

The funds team has acted on a number of fund raisings in the past year, for example Alex Amos and Damien Crossley acted for Hayfin Capital Management on the structuring of its direct lending fund. The same pair took on work for Legal & General Property on its latest fund raising. Elsewhere Simon Thomas acted for Palmerston Capital Management on the formation of its first structured credit fund.

M&A

M&A remains one of the firm’s cornerstone practice areas and its work in the past year continues to back up its market position. One of the firm’s largest mandates as highlighted in the finance section was the work done for Verizon Communications on its acquisition of Vodafone’s interest in Verzion Wireless. Another substantial matter saw Luke Powell lead the team acting for JC Flowers & Co on its acquisition of Cabot Credit Management. In an interesting mandate in the legal sector John Dodsworth and Jessica Adams acted for Australian law firm Slater & Gordon on various acquisitions in the UK including the practices of various UK domestic firms.

One client of the M&A team describes its “exceptional quality of service and very practical advice focused on delivering what we need.” Another says that the firm “clearly punches above its weight”.

Restructuring and insolvency

In the restructuring and insolvency area transactional highlights from the past year include the work by Jat Bains for the lenders and administrators of CBRE Retail Property Fund. The matter began with a debt restructuring before progressing to administration. Though much of the firm’s other work is confidential it can be said that it has acted on distressed M&A and debt restructuring matters.

One client says: “On the restructuring side, the overall service level was excellent. Jat Bains and Paul Keddie both did an excellent job, provided advice that was commercial and got to the root of the issues.”

Banking and finance

Like most of the large firms in London Norton Rose Fulbright can claim to cover all types of financing work, although what makes it stand out somewhat is the focus it has on some areas, such as asset and Islamic finance and asset backed lending, which are often left to specialist firms or only form a small part of a larger firm’s offering. Examples of this include Owen Mulholland’s work for easyjet on the financing of new airbus aircraft; Duncan Batchelor’s work for LOT Polish Airlines on an export-import backed financing of new Boeing Dreamliner aircraft; and Richard Howley’s work for Citibank on the loan financing of six-LNG carrier ships for subsidiaries of Golar.

One finance client says: “The service is very good and at prices realistic for the quality of advice and service.  They’re also keen to facilitate opportunities for clients, which most law firms neglect and are willing to be flexible on fee structures.”

In the traditional bank lending space highlights include work by Tomas Gardfors and Arun Velusami for Copperbelt Energy Corporation on the financing of acquisition of a Nigerian electricity distribution company. Elsewhere Michael Ings acted for Etisalat Nigeria on a $1.2 billion refinancing, while Michael Black acted for Bank of America on a $2 billion asset backed financing extended to Dell as part of its take private by Michael Dell and Silver Lake Partners.

In the projects space the impact of the combination of Norton Rose and Fulbright & Jaworski is easier to see as both had thriving projects practices particularly in oil and gas and energy. Transactional highlights from the past year include work by Charles Whitney for ING Bank on the financing for the development of the Surgil gas field in Uzbekistan, which represents one of the largest financings of a downstream project in the Central Asian region. Another deal saw Chris Brown act for VTB Capital on the financing of a construction of a solar plant in the Ukraine. In the infrastructure space Martin McCann acted for the lenders in relation to the Lekki Port concession in Nigeria. The firm also picked up a number of transport projects including Brown’s work for the European Investment Bank on the financing for the A1/A6 Motorway PPP (public-private partnership) in the Netherlands.

In the financial restructuring space the firm has also been active on a number of significant matters including Dan Kennedy’s advice to Credit Suisse on the restructuring of the debt of Excel Maritime. In another matter Madhavi Gosavi acted for Aegean Motorway on the financial restructuring of the Maliakos-Kleidi and Elefsina-Korinthos-Patras-Pyrgos-Tsakona motorways in Greece.

Capital markets

In the capital markets the firm is focused on equity and structured work. In the latter area highlights from the past year include David Shearer’s work on the establishment of ING Belgium’s covered bond programme. Elsewhere Sandrine Sauvel acted for Empower in relation to its securitisation of solar panel and real estate assets. Sauvel, Dunca Batchelor, Keith Sandiland and Farmida Bi also picked up work from LOT Polish Airlines and Malaysian Airline System Berhad on the issue of export credit backed aviation bonds.

One shipping client says: “Very high quality of technical and legal skills on the shipping side, good work on the securitisation framework, excellent knowledge of market practices and other recent developments related to structured finance.”

In the equity space Mark Lloyd Williams and Tom Vita acted for Crest Nicholson on its IPO on the LSE. Elsewhere Alan Bainbridge and Tom Vita acted for Goldman Sachs as the underwriter of a rights issue by African bank Investments, while Simon Curries and Ian Fox acted for The Renewables Infrastructure Group on its IPO on the LSE.

Financial services regulatory

In regulatory the non-contentious team has been providing general regulatory advice to clients on new developments in the market such as Emir and has provided transactional support. In a standalone matters Jonathan Herbst and Hannah Meakin acted for CME Europe in relation to the establishment of a new UK derivatives exchange including assistance with licensing and application matters and negotiations with the Bank of England.

In the contentious practice Elisabeth Bremner joined the team from DLA Piper in April 2014, while Dorian Drew retired. The firm has been acting for the likes of Santander and other confidential clients on a range of investigations.

One client says: “Strong financial services support with excellent commercial and strategic overlay. They understand the needs of clients and I’ve never had an issue in terms of availability.”

Investment funds

In line with its sector focus it is perhaps unsurprising that Norton Rose Fulbright focuses on energy, infrastructure and real estate fund work. Much of the firm’s work in the past year has had a capital markets angle with the likes of Ian Fox, Richard Sheen and Mike Newell acting on various fund clients’ stock exchange listings.

One client says: “They consistently deliver what the client wants. They're totally on top of their game and are thought leaders at the cutting edge of innovation when problems need to be solved. Ian Fox and Richard Sheen set the mood for this department. Driven to deliver, they're clearly aware that they're only as good as their last deal.”

M&A

The firm made some significant hires in the broader corporate space last year including the hires of oil and gas specialist Geoffrey Peters from Freshfields and private equity lawyers Richard Bull from CMS Cameron McKenna and Jay Modrall from Cleary Gottlieb.

One client says: “We find Norton Rose to be a very credible alternative to ‘magic circle’. They frequently appear to work on the same quality of deals and we find the partner led practice approach attractive to clients.”

Transactional highlights from the past year include work done by Alan Bainbridge and Emma de Ronde for Barclays in relation to the merger of its African operations with the Absa Group. The deal spanned eight countries. Elsewhere Jason Moss and Mauro Mattiuzzo advised Goldman Sachs Merchant Banking Divisions on its acquisition of a stake in Dong Energy. In another matters Raj Karia worked alongside South African colleagues advising the Rio Tinto Group on the sale of a shareholding in the the Palabora Mining Company.

On the private equity side Bayo Odubeko led as the team acted for Maj Invest on the sale of Fanmilk International, while David Whear advised Cathedral Capital on its sale of Lancashire Holdings.

Banking and finance

Though Reed Smith has been gradually building its team over the last few years it was one in one out last year with the arrival of Ben Davis from Travers Smith and the departure of Philip Slater to Morrison & Foerster.

Though much of the firm’s work is confidential it can be said that it has picked up both borrower and lender side mandates, often, but not exclusively related to acquisition financings. One example saw Philip Taylor act for CBPE Capital on the financing of the acquisition of the Xafinity Group.

Capital markets

In the capital markets the firm’s practice is fairly evenly split between equity and debt matters. In the former James Wilson acted for Cenkos Securities as broker and adviser to Everyman Media Group on its IPO on AIM and similarly Jane Bondoux advised Myanmar Investments International on its IPO on AIM. Elsewhere Tamara Box acted for African Bank Investment on its equity offering. Though all the details are confidential it can also be said that the firm acted on a range of debt and high-yield offerings.

One client describes the team as “utterly superb, the work has been a three dimensional model across global jurisdictions in a very short period of time and Reed Smith has been instrumental in formulating the strategy and guiding us through implementation”.

Financial services regulatory

The regulatory team added Eoin O’Shea to its team last year from Laurence Graham. The firm has been focused recently on advising clients on regulatory matters related to derivatives. The team has advised on mis-selling and market abuse cases and investigations as well as non-contentious advice on regulatory updates such as Emir and AIFMD. 

Restructuring and insolvency

One public highlight for the restructuring and insolvency team saw Charlotte Møller advise the administrators of Sarantel on its administration resulting in a sale of assets. Møller and Lynne Freeman also advised Grant Thornton in its role as the administrators of Pioneer Plant.

Banking and finance

The firm made two additions to its team last year with the hires of Richard Cook from Dentons and Alistair Hill from Linklaters. At the same time the team also witnessed the departure of Phil Abbott who left for Field Fisher Waterhouse. The firm acts for both borrowers and lenders and tends to focus on its key sectors such as asset management, financial services, life sciences and TMT.

Highlight work from the past year includes Simon Middleton’s work for Skandinaviska Enskilda Banken on a revolving facility extended to Trelleborg. Staying on the lender side Middleton also acted for Nordea Bank on the financing provided to Atlas Copco Airpower. On the borrower side Middleton advised the Kentz Corporation on the financing of its acquisition of various companies of the Valerus Group, while John Sayers advised The British Land Company on the take out of a revolving credit facility.

Capital markets

In the capital markets, while equity and securitisation work have traditionally been more of a focus for the team, the last few years have also seen it build up its debt capability. In an example last year Ian Sideris advised Dong Energy on a tender and exchange offer for its existing hybrid bonds and also on a new issuance of hybrid bonds. Elsewhere Charles Hawes acted for JPMorgan Securities as arranger of JPMorgan Chase & Co’s EMTN programme and several issues under it. Hawes, alongside US qualified associate Tara Waters acted for Marlin Financial Group on an issue of high yield bonds.

In the equity space the firm focuses primarily on underwriter and sponsor mandates. Highlights from the past year include Chris Horton’s advice to JPMorgan Cazenove and Numis Securities as bookrunners on a share placing by St Modwen Properties. In a similar matter Horton acted for HSBC and Numis Securities as bookrunners on a share placing by Chime Communications.

On the structured finance, securitisation and derivatives space there were changes to the team with the addition of Will Trotman from Linklaters. Samidha Malhotra also retired from the partnership. Though the majority of the firm’s work is confidential it can be said that it has advised on CLO and structured securities matters and RMBS deals. The firm has also handled a number of swap deals and provided general regulatory advice on derivative maters. Similarly it has also updated its online service ‘Navigator’ to now provide core derivatives information to clients about various jurisdictions.

One client of the firm’s structured products team says: “Very efficient, creative, fast in their answer and deep knowledge of the market.” Another says: “The firm provides us with an excellent service together with competitive pricing and senior resourcing. The product is very considered and not simply off the shelf.”

Financial services regulatory

In the regulatory area the likes of Charlotte Stalin, Darren Fox, Penny Miller and Neil Simmonds have been providing general regulatory advice to clients on developments such as the AIFMD (Alternative Investment Fund Manager’s Directive) and Emir.

Investment funds

There was movement in and out of the investment funds team this year with the hires of Dale Gabbert from Reed Smith, where he had led the European funds group and regulatory lawyer Mahrie Webb from Burges Salmon. On the other hand the team also saw the departure of Steven Whittaker to key hedge fund competitor Steven Whittaker.

The firm has one of the broadest fund practices in the City and also competes with the likes of Akin Gump and Schulte Roth & Zabel in niche areas such as hedge funds. Though most of the firm’s work is confidential one public matter saw Neil Simmonds advise Invesco Perpetual on the launch of a UK Ucits (Undertakings For Collective Investment in Transferable Securities) fund. Elsewhere Richard Perry acted for Henderson Global Investors on the launch of the AlphaGen Volantis Catalyst Fund

M&A

As in the finance area the firm’s M&A work tends to be focused on a handful of key industry sectors such as financial services, energy and life sciences. The firm has made a point in the past few years of pushing this more specific sector focus.

Much of the firm’s work is confidential but public transactional highlights in the past year include Giles Dennison’s work for Becton Dickinson on the sale of BD Biosciences’s Discovery Labware unit.

Restructuring and insolvency

As mentioned above in the finance review the firm has added Richard Cook to its team this year from Dentons. As well as enhancing the banking practice Cook also handles financial restructuring and insolvency matters.

Transactional highlights from the past year, in the financial restructuring space include Peter Manning’s work for General Healthcare Group on its restructuring that involved securitisation debt. Manning also led as the firm acted for the administrators of the Opal Property Group and the HMV Group.

Banking and finance

Since entering the London market in 2013 Bracewell & Giuliani has set about hiring a team of lawyers to allow it to break into the projects and energy markets that it thrives in in the US. The most recent additions are Olivia Caddy and Jason Fox from Herbert Smith Freehills and Tracy London from Clifford Chance. Overall the firm has added 18 lawyers since the start of 2013.

The firm has already picked up a range of work including Tracy London’s advice to the lenders in relation to the financing of the construction of a 150MW wind farm in Morocco and her advice to Vesta Central Europe on the financing of a wind farm in Dobrogea, Romania. Elsewhere Martin Stewart Smith advised on the financing of a hydroelectric project in South Asia, while Julian Nichol acted for the lenders on the financing of a solar PV project in Uganda.

Away from projects the firm has also picked up banking finance work including Jason Fox’s advice to HSBC on a financing facility provided to KrisEnergy and Seplat Petroleum Development Company as borrower of $2 billion in facilities. Elsewhere Olivia Caddy acted for Caracal Energy as the borrower of reserve-based financing facilities.

Banking and finance

A lot of the firm’s work in the banking space is related to its Russian practice and the firm often works on the borrower side. Highlight work includes Peter Hockless’s advice to mining and metals company OJSC MMC Norilsk Nickel on a loan from a 16-bank lender group. Hockless also led as the team advised Uralkali on a pre-export finance facility. In the acquisition finance space Alan Davies acted for Clayton Dubilier & Rice on the financing of its acquisition of We Buy Any Car.

Capital markets

In the capital markets space the firm is focused primarily on debt matters and as in finance it has a specialism and sees a lot of its work arise from the Russian Federation. Highlights from the past year include James Scoville’s work for OJSC MMC Norilsk Nickel on its Rule 144A Eurobond issue. In a similar matter Scoville acted for Novolipetsk Steel on a Eurobond offering, and Scoville and Hockless also advised Polyus Gold International on its Eurobond issue. In addition Raman Bet-Mansour and Alan Davies acted for Rexel on two senior notes offerings listed on the Luxembourg Stock Exchange.

On the equity side David Innes advised the management of Arrow Global Group on its IPO on the LSE. Innes also acted for HellermannTyton on its IPO on the LSE.

One client of the practice, who name checked Innes, says: “Debevoise had a very client focused franchise with competent and effective lawyers.”

Investment funds

In the investment funds space, the firm is primarily focused on private equity fund formation. Although the team’s work is confidential it can be said that the likes of Geoff Kittredge, Anthony McWhirter, Sally Gibson and Matthew Dickman have acted for a range of clients on various fund raising of more than a billion dollars.

M&A

In M&A, as for the investment funds practice, private equity is a clear area of focus. Highlights include the work done by Katherine Ashton and Matthew Saronson for HarbourVest Partners in relation to the acquisition of the private equity portfolio of Conversus. Ashron worked for the same client on the acquisition of Motion Private Equity’s Motion II fund. On the sell side David Innes assisted the management of Vue Entertainment on its sale to OMERS Private Equity and Alberta Investment Management Corporation.

Banking and finance

The firm has added partners to a number of its departments in the past year as it attempts to boost its London practice. Within the banking and finance space Brian Conway has joined the team from Latham & Watkins. The firm is primarily, though not exclusively, focused on borrower side mandates in the banking space. Examples include Edwin Borrini’s advice to DV4 on a real estate development facility taken out from Deutsche Bank and Deutsche Pfandbriefbank. Elsewhere Drew Salvest advised Trafigura Beheer on a $1.76 billion revolving credit facility. 

Capital markets

In the capital markets Jones Day’s strength is in debt side mandates though it also picks up mid-cap share offerings and some securitisation and derivatives work.

Highlights for the debt team saw Drew Salvest again act for Trafigura Beheer on an offering of perpetual resettable step-up subordinated securities on the Singapore Stock Exchange. This follows on from the firm’s work for the company on the establishment of an EMTN programme. Salvest was also involved as the team acted for Turkish company Sisecam on a Rule 144A/Reg S high yield offering. Salvest led again as the firm advised Hansteen Holdings and Hansteen on a convertible bond issue on the LSE.

On the equity side Sebastian Orton advised Quixant on its AIM IPO, while Eric Stuart acted for underwriters Jefferies International on a share offering by NB Private Equity Partners.

Financial services regulatory

In the regulatory area John Ahern has advised a number of confidential clients on matters arising from developments such as the Emir and Dodd-Frank acts. The firm has primarily been advising on the impact new regulation will have on derivatives trading.

Investment funds

The funds team has been primarily focused on acquisition matters in the past year, usually for long standing clients on which it has previously advised on fund establishment and fund raising matters. One public highlight saw Neil Ferguson act for Hansteen Holdings on the establishment of its second industrial property trust.

M&A

M&A is one of the most established practices in the London office of Jones Day and it is here that some of the firm’s most impressive mandates can be seen. Examples include Vica Irani’s advice to Eurasian Natural Resources Corporation on its takeover Eurasian Resources Group. Elsewhere Giles Elliott acted for J F Lehman & Co on its sale of Drew Marine and ACR Electronics. In the banking sector John Phillips and Simon Kiff advised Standard Bank on the sale of 60% of its shares to Industrial and Commercial Bank of China.

On the private equity side the firm added two lawyers to its ranks from Berwin Leighton Paisner in the forms of Raymon McKeeve and Mike Weir. This is not only a clear sign of Jones Day’s own London expansion but is also indicative of the broader theme of private equity hires in London in the past 12 months. Transactional examples include acting for Goldman Sachs and Greystar Real Estate Partners on the purchase of residential properties from the administrator. The team also acted for Sovereign Capital on the sale of World Class Learning.

Restructuring and insolvency

The firm has taken a number of partners from Berwin Leighton Paisner in the past 12 months including restructuring and insolvency partners Ben Larkin. The firm has acted on some impressive cases over the past year and though a lot of its work is confidential, public matters include Barnaby Stueck and Kay Morley’s work for Value Discovery Partners on its various disputes and restructuring matters related to a dispute with Boris Berezovsky. Elsewhere Stueck and Sion Richards acted for the liquidators (Zolfo Cooper) of investment company Hadar in the context of proceedings in the Commercial Court spanning seven jurisdictions.

Banking and finance

Mayer Brown has expanded its finance team significantly with a number of new hires in the past 12 months. These include David O’Connor from Allen & Overy, Richard Todd and Trevor Wood from Berwin Leighton Paisner and Greg Stonefield and Mayank Gupta from White & Case. The firm in particular highlights Wood and Gupta as they bring experience in emerging markets. The firm did however see the departure of Jeremiah Wagner who left for Cadwalader. It is perhaps too early to see yet what the full impact of these hires is but it is a clear sign of intent.

The firm has a particularly focus on asset backed lending and real estate matters acting for both lenders and borrowers. Highlights from the past year include work for JPMorgan as agent in relation to a debtor in possession credit facility provided to Exide Technologies. Elsewhere in the acquisition finance area Stephen Walsh advised Ashkenazy Acquisition Corp and Tribeca Holdings on the financing for the acquisition of Old Spitalfields Market in London.

Capital markets

In the capital markets Mayer Brown’s practice is focused around debt, derivatives and structured finance and securitisation work. In the former area highlights from the past year include work done by Bernd Bohr for Novartis and Novartis Capital on two notes offerings. Elsewhere James Taylor and Kate Ball-Dodd acted for St Modwen Properties on an issue of guaranteed convertible bonds. Taylor and Patti also acted for Finansbank on the establishment of its global MTN programme. The firm also picked up work in the high yield space as Bohr advised WEPA Hygieneprodukte on a senior secured offering on the Luxembourg Stock Exchange.

Elsewhere although much of the firm’s work is confidential it can be said that it has been active on trade and auto lease securitisation work and has provided regulatory and restructuring advice in relation to derivatives matters.

Financial services regulatory

In the regulatory space the main change to the team last year was the secondment to London of David Sahr who will head up the financial services and enforcement team. Most of the firm’s work has been in the non-contentious area including advising clients on the implications of new regulation such as AIFMD (Alternative Investment Fund Manager’s Directive)

Investment funds

Within investment funds Mayer Brown in London has a certain focus on real estate and venture capital matters and also undertakes a substantial amount of fund related M&A.

One public fund formation matter saw head of department Tim Nosworthy act for B&B Investment Partners on the establishment of a fund to invest in small to medium consumer brands in the health and beauty sector.

One client describes the team as “very professional in terms of quality and clarity of advice, timeliness and price”.

M&A

The M&A team was expanded last year with the addition of capital markets and M&A partner Greg Stonefield from White & Case.

The firm’s strength in energy, natural resources and real estate is seen most prominently in the corporate space and is back up by its transaction list. Highlights include Jeremy Kenley’s work for Brookfield Property Partners on the acquisition of warehouse developer EZW Gazeley from Economic Zones World. Elsewhere Richard Page advised GAW Capital in relation to the acquisition of the Waterstone Building. In another matter Stonefield acted for Rajawall Corpora on the acquisition of gold mining company Archipelago Resources.

Restructuring and insolvency

In restructuring and insolvency the firm has certain specialities in structured finance restructuring and pension related work. It has also recently picked up a number of mandates in the retail sector. Highlights from the past year include Devi Shah’s work for ATP Oil & Gas on the restructuring of its upstream oil and gas business thorough an insolvency process undertaken under a company voluntary arrangement. In another deal Shah and David Allen acted for Vietnam Shipbuilding Industry Groupon its restructuring via scheme of arrangement with creditors, the first time a Vietnamese company had taken advantage of such a procedure. Elsewhere Ashley Katz acted for the administrators - and later liquidators - of the Comet Group, which included steering the deal but also dealing with litigation claims.

One client says: “Mayer Brown London provided clear guidance and advice that could be practically implemented to achieve the desired outcome. They formulated a strategy and approach that helped mitigate the risks from various creditors while being conscious of the challenges faced.”

Investment funds

One of the clear focuses for O’Melveny in London is investment funds work, particularly private equity fund work. The firm’s global head of funds John Daghlian leads the London team and is recognised as a ‘Leading lawyer’ following positive client feedback.

One client says: “We always receive high quality technical and strategic advice from the core advisory team that we work with. They are highly responsive, thoughtful and very constructive in their negotiating style with counterparties. Very strong core group of three partners that we usually work with and a handful of very promising associates are coming up through the firm. They have good breadth and depth of experience and a high degree of market knowledge and commercial awareness.” 

In terms of deal highlights John Daghlian advised Adelis Equity Partners on the raising of its first buyout fund, which will be focused on the Nordic SME market. In regards to fund M&A matters, Daghlian again led as the firm assisted Coller Capital on a range of acquisitions over the past year including advising on a the acquisition of a portfolio of assets from Credit Suisse. Highlighting a strength in emerging markets Solomon Wifa acted for Development Partners international last year as it undertook fundraising for its second private equity fund. Other emerging market work included advice on a range of matters related to the Turkish market.

There has been significant change within the Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld London team in the past few years. The firm showed its intent in 2014 with the hire of the bulk of the London office of Bingham McCutchen, this gave it significant strengths in a number of areas including capital markets, specifically US private placements and restructuring, specifically for bondholders and investment funds. In the latter area the firm had already shown signs that it was developing a small but capable hedge fund practice and this has been supplemented by the new hires.

In the finance area Fred Heller and Robert Aulsebrook are the key partners in the primarily borrower side practice. Highlight transactions from the past year include work by Aulsebrook for Lukoil on its take out of a $1 billion term loan facility. Heller meanwhile acted for Orascom Telecom Algérie and Optimum Telecom Algérie as they took out two credit facilities, which with a combined value of around $1 billion represented the largest financing ever provided for an Algerian private company. VimpelCom is a key client for the firm and last year Lisa Hearn led as the team advised in relation to a equipment financing facility granted by China Development Bank and Bank of China.

A clear highlight for the capital markets team last year saw Lisa Hearn lead as the firm acted for mobile operator Banglalink Digital Communications on a $300 million high yield issue on the Singapore exchange. The deal is notable for being both the first Bangladesh international corporate bond and the first to utilise Bangladesh's private placement framework. Elsewhere on the debt side Barry Russell, Mark Mansell and Sarah Smith advised various institutional investors on various senior note purchases. No client names cannot be revealed but it can also be said that the firm has been active on private placements, work driven by the former Bingham team headed by Russell. On the equity side, John Clark acted for a key shareholder on the IPO of Game Digital and Vance Chapman took a similar role advising OM Asset Management on the IPO of Old Mutual's asset management in Asia and Europe.

Christopher Leonard and Helen Marshall head up the non-contentious and contentious side of the practice respectively. Both are from the legacy Bingham McCutchen team. The team is best known for its contentious work particularly work in relation to regulatory investigations. Examples include Marshall's work for a confidential asset management client in relation to an internal investigation.

In the M&A space, transaction highlights includes the work done by Daniel Walsh and Sebastian Rice for key client VimpelCom on the sale by its Egyptian subsidiary, Global Telecom Holding, of a stake in Omnium Telecom Algeria. Elsewhere Harry Keegan acted for IG Seismic Services on a management takeover. Keegan also led as the team advised biotech company Galapagos on the sale of two of its service divisions to Charles River Laboratories. On the private equity side John LaMaster acted for the Carlyle Group on its acquisition of a shareholding in Hestya Energy.

Having inherited the restructuring practice from Bingham McCutchen, Akin Gump's London team now has a specialism in advising creditor parties, including bondholders, lenders and funds. Examples include Barry Russell's advice to holders of bonds issued by Icelandic banks Glitnir, Landsbanki and Kaupthing on issues related to their collapse. Russell also led as the team advised holders of private placement notes issued by Imtech Capital on issues relating to their restructure, which included a rights issue and debt buy back. Elsewhere James Roome advised holders of DEPFA Bank's Tier 1 securities on the bank's restructure including negotiations surrounding a proposed debt buy back.

Ashurst is an impressive performer across the board in the UK market, though banking, project finance and private equity remain the touchstones of its practice alongside niche specialties like advising on CLO/CDO transactions.

Key staffing changes last year include the addition to the M&A team of James Wood from Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer and the addition of regulatory lawyer Ben Hammond to the team from Slaughter and May. The firm also lost banking and finance lawyers Luke McDougall to Paul Hastings and Simon Thrower to Simmons & Simmons and corporate trio Nigel Stacey, Mark Sperotto and Jonathan Earle to Gibson Dunn & Crutcher.

A bank client who worked with the firm on projects and PPP (public-private partnership) matters says: “They are a highly experienced team. Good commercial understanding and able to lead through complex issues and point out to decision makers the consequences of the various options.”

A referral lawyer who worked with the firm on M&A matters in the energy space says: “Ashurst is extremely professional and proficient in their work. Their particular areas of strength would be corporate M&A where the team operates a top quality legal practice delivering sound value to clients and can be relied on to come up with solutions to complex legal situations.”

There is also individual praise for Richard Gubbins: “He has the ability to cut through and provide the exact solution the client needs, no matter how complex the issue. He is one of those rare breed of lawyers who is a client and counterparty's delight. His in-depth understanding of cross-border issues, especially in relation to India makes him an invaluable asset.”

Jeremy Bell meanwhile is described by one private equity client as “the go to partner for private equity funds structuring, always highly responsive and solves problems”.

In the banking area, highlight transactions from the past 12 months include Helen Burton's work for the banks in relation to a cov-lite loan facility (one of the first in Spain) granted to Cinven for the acquisition of Gas Natural Fenosa Telecommunicaciones. Burton also led alongside Ross Ollerhead advising Intermediate Capital Group on the financing provided to Vitruvian Partners for the acquisition of JAC Travel Group. On the refinancing side Martyn Rogers led as the team acted for engineering firm Lamprell on its $600 million refinancing.

On the projects side Mark Elsey advised the project consortium on the Mersey Gateway Bridge PPP, a project to build a new toll bridge over the river Mersey. The financing is a combination of bank facilities and a bond issue, the first time this has been seen in relation to a UK PPP project. Elsewhere Nikhil Markanday acted for public body Infrastructure UK as the guarantor of a bond issuance by Ineos Grangemouth, the proceeds of which will be used to finance an Ethane tank at the Grangemouth refinery. Markanday also led as the firm advised OMV on the financing for the development of the Nawara gas field in Tunisia including gas processing and treatment plants and a pipeline.

In the capital markets, on the debt side Anna Delgado acted for the underwriters on a bond issue by Travis Perkins, while on the issuer side Derwin Jenkinson advised Angel Trains on a bank/bond deal made up of a senior loan and US private placement. in the Islamic finance space Abradat Kamalpour acted for Goldman Sachs on a sukuk (Islamic bond) issued through the JANY Sukuk Company, the first time such a bond has been issued by a US investment bank.

On the equity side, Nicholas Holmes acted for the banks on a £1.1 billion rights issue by Babcock International Group. Holmes also acted for Kennedy Wilson Europe Real Estate on its IPO. Elsewhere Jonathan Parry acted for OneSavingsBank on its listing and worked alongside Anthony Calre on the IPO of the Cambian Group.

On the structured side, the firm kept up its leading position in the CLO space, with Michael Smith acting for Intermediate Capital Group on the issues of notes by St Pauls CLO V. Diala Minott was also kept busy advising Morgan Stanley and KKR Capital Markets on the Avoca CLO XI. Another highlight saw James Coiley act for Credit Agricole on the transfer of an emerging market credit risk portfolio to the IFC.

In the regulatory space, though most of the firm's work is confidential, public highlights include the work done by James Perry for Credit Suisse on the review of its base prospectus programmes in the context of unfair contract terms. Rob Moulton also advised the bank on matters related to the Alternative Investment Fund Managers Directive (AIFMD).

In the investment funds space, the firm is focused on private equity funds and has acted on a number of new fund formation matters. In one example Piers Warburton led as the team acted for Altor on its fourth fund raising, and in a similar matter he advised Alcentra on the establishment of its European direct lending fund. Elsewhere Jeremy Bell acted for Agilitas Private Equity on the establishment of its third fund.

On the M&A side, Karen Davies advised New Britain Palm Oil on its takeover by Sime Darby Plantation. Davies and Adrian Clark also took on work for JPMorgan as financial adviser on the proposed, but ultimately unsuccessful, merger between AbbVie and Shire. The same partners along with Tom Mercer also acted for the financial advisers in relation to Pfizer's proposed takeover of AstraZeneca. On the private equity side Ben Hanton advised Oaktree Capital Management on the acquisition of Millgate Developments, while David Carter acted for Agilitas on the acquisition of Impetus Waste Management.

On the restructuring side, highlights included Dan Hamilton's work for a senior creditor on the debt restructuring of Phones 4U. Hamilton also had a role alongside Simon Baskerville advising Punch taverns on its long running restructuring of its securitisations. Hamilton also advised the senior lenders on the restructuring of APCOA Parking Group, which was enacted through two schemes of arrangement.