Ashurst has secured another leading role for Blackstone Capital Partners, advising opposite Clifford Chance on the private equity group’s EURO375m acquisition of Legoland Parks The mandate comes just weeks after Ashurst assisted Blackstone in its acquisition of Merlin Entertainments, the operator of 28 visitor attractions across Europe including Sea Life and the London Dungeon. It […]
Stephanie Liston, the co-head of Wilmer Cutler Pickering Hale & Dorr’s European communications and e-commerce group, has been appointed a non-executive director of Ofcom. Liston will have to resign her partnership of Wilmer Cutler so she does not share in profits derived from regulated industries. She will continue at Wilmer four days a week as […]
Corporate partners from Sullivan & Cromwell, Skadden Arps Slate Meagher & Flom and Chiomenti Studio Legale have emerged as the top European rainmakers. Sullivan corporate partner Garth Bray topped the individual partner value table for the period 1 July 2004 to 30 June 2005, according to Mergermarket. Bray, who is based in Sullivan’s London office, […]
Berwin Leighton Paisner’s US alliance partner Kramer Levin Naftalis & Frankel has raided rival American firm Paul Hastings Janofsky & Walker to hire a group of six land use specialists. The group, which are moving to Kramer Levin’s New York office, include partner Paul Selver, counsel Elise Wagner, special counsels Valerie Campbell and Jeremiah Candreva, […]
Legal executives, patent agents and trade mark attorneys will have the chance to become judges under changes designed to increase diversity in the judiciary. Lord Falconer, the Lord Chancellor, made the announcement this morning (Wednesday, 13 July) on behalf of the Department of Constitutional Affairs (DCA). The news follows a consultation paper on increasing diversity […]
Osborne Clarke has advised private equity group 3i on its successful bid to buy parking services and traffic management company NCP for £555m. The FTSE 100 buy-out house beat six rival bidders, including Australian bank Macquarie and European carparks operator Cintra to acquire NCP from Cinven, which bought the business in 2002. It is understood […]
Bingham McCutchen has bolstered its New York office with another raid on Fried Frank Harris Shriver & Jacobson. Robert Carey joins Bingham as a partner in the New York office’s banking, commercial and structured finance group. His practice focuses on the representation of underwriters and issuers in connection with debt and equity offerings, in particular […]
Browne Jacobson has reported a record 37.4 per cent increase in average profit per equity partner (PEP) and a 12 per cent rise in turnover to £27m. PEP rose from £230,000 last year to £316,000. Managing partner Brian Smith said that the firm aimed to be “the best firm in the Midlands”. The firm’s growth […]
West Coast firm Cooley Godward is to open an office in Washington DC following a raid on DLA Piper Rudnick Gray Cary which has included the hire of the former managing partner of Gray Cary’s Washington office. Partners Margaret Kavalaris, Michael Marinelli and Tami Howie join from DLA Piper’s Washington office, and will form the […]
Sidley Austin Brown & Wood has embarked on a joint venture with management consultants World Class International (WCI) to offer pharmaceutical companies regulatory advice In what is believed to be the first collaboration of this kind the venture will focus on compliance and drug safety issues and aims to give companies a harmonised approach to […]
De Brauw Blackstone Westbroek and Simpson Thacher & Bartlett are putting the finished touches to the $7bn merger of two market research companies, VNU and IMS Health Incorporated. The firms advised VNU on the deal that sees IMS shareholders to receive $11.25 per share in cash and 0.60415 VNU shares for each IMS share. De […]
Scots giant Dundas & Wilson is to gift staff over £1m in bonus payments after reporting double-digit growth in turnover in the last financial year. The firm announced a record turnover of £44m for the financial year ended 30 April 2005, an increase of over 10 per cent on 2003-2004. Dundas also posted record profits, […]