4 July 2011

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Hogan Lovells strengthens bonds in Zimbabwe

Hogan Lovells has won a new client, advising the co-arrangers of Zimbabwe’s first bond issue since the suspension of the ­Zimbabwe dollar in 2009. The firm acted for the African Export-Import Bank (Afreximbank) and Dinosaur Securities (UK) on the $50m (£31.17m) issuance on the Cayman Islands Stock Exchange by Zimbabwe’s largest bank, CBZ Bank. As well as ­acting as arranger, Afreximbank also […]

Kirkland, White & Case lead on Securitas sale

Kirkland & Ellis and White & Case snatched key roles advising on EQT Funds’ SEK21 (£2.04m) sale of security products maker Securitas Direct to a private equity consortium. Bain Capital and Hellman & Friedman are set to acquire the business from the Swedish private equity group, beating off competition from US tool maker Stanley Black […]

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Eversheds muscles in on SNR Sierra Leone power project

Eversheds and SNR Denton have scored top roles advising on Sierra Leone’s first independent power project. Teams from both firms advised Addax & Oryx Group on the signing of e133m (£119.17m) of ­project finance loan ­facilities for the construction of an ethanol and renewable energy project near Makeni, Sierra Leone. Recently hired Eversheds partner Howard Barrie brought […]

Philip Smith

City trio sets nations on road to recovery with bond issue advice

Allen & Overy (A&O) has advised on European bond offerings in Romania, Latvia and Iceland, representing the start of a financial recovery for the three countries. Teams from A&O advised the governments of all three countries on the sale of the bonds, while Clifford Chance represented the arranging banks in ­Romania and Latvia and Sullivan & Cromwell advised banks […]

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Flat fees and lower fees: study reveals trends among Spain’s in-house lawyers

Spanish in-house counsel are rejecting hourly rates in favour of tough negotiation over fixed fees, an academic study has found. The study, carried out by ESADE Law School in Barcelona, found a gap between the perceptions of in-house and private practice lawyers over fees and the selection of advisers. It found that price and experience […]

Mark Rawlinson

Volume down, value up

Firms are hunting those few, precious megadeals as rankings show deal numbers are falling. By Joshua Freedman Tennis players know it is not how many points you win that counts, but which ones. And the latest preliminary Thomson Reuters M&A rankings of legal advisers show pretty much the same thing: to get the credit, you […]

Jens Tillqvist

Cederquist

Cederquist is not scared by competition. Rather, if there are any new arrivals into Sweden’s legal scene, the firm takes the opportunity to evaluate its own performance. “Competition makes you better,” says managing partner Jens Tillqvist. Founded in 1953 by the in-house lawyer of a major Swedish publishing house, Cederquist now has more than 90 […]

European Awards: firms of all sizes in the running

Niche practices are ­battling it out with Europe’s largest firms for this year’s European Awards. Whittled down from ­hundreds of entries, the shortlist features firms from across Europe. Quality and innovation rather than size is the key to inclusion. The judging panel of top in-house counsel and UK private practice lawyers selected a mixture of both large […]

Stuart Henderson
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Opinion: Government reforms spell danger for civil justice

Thousands of injured people stand to lose out through the Government’s latest attack on access to justice. The title of Ken Clarke’s much touted bill, Legal Aid, ­Sentencing and Punishment of Offenders, certainly offers no clue as to the ­devastating double whammy the Secretary of State is about to unleash on some of the most […]

Work Life Quiz: Simon Jackson, Shulmans

What was your first-ever job? A Saturday job working in a warehouse for BHS. What was your worst ­experience as a trainee? I was sent to South Milford Police Station in the early hours of the morning to represent two members of the National Association of Colliery Overmen, Deputies and Shotfirers, advising them to rely […]

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LPC classes empty as dynamic duo corner market

It is no great secret that the LPC market has in recent years been dominated by BPP Law School and the College of Law (CoL). This is confirmed by Central Applications Board (CAB) statistics obtained by The Lawyer’s sister title Lawyer 2B, which show that between them the two providers had 6,910 full-time validated LPC […]

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CMS Eversheds flirt alert

At the end of last week an excellent new rumour hit town: that Eversheds and CMS Cameron McKenna were in merger talks to create a £580m firm. Given the rate of consolidation in the legal market, the idea seemed eerily plausible, particularly after the Clyde & Co-Barlow Lyde & Gilbert and Beachcroft-Davies Arnold Cooper announcements […]