| Allen & Overy (A&O) M&A veteran Alan Paul showed
renewed vigour in 2006. Indeed, despite being a
partner for more than two decades, Paul showed
no signs of slowing down, leading on a string of
high-profile deals, including advising Alliance
UniChem on its £7bn tie-up with Boots and the
£351.4m sale of House of Fraser to Baugur.
On the Boots-Alliance deal Paul also proved that
he is not one to shy away from controversy by
accepting a mandate to act for GlaxoSmithKline
(GSK). GSK lost out to Freshfields Bruckhaus
Deringer client Reckitt Benckiser on the acquisition
of Boots Healthcare International (BHI). The merger
between Boots and Alliance UniChem was
conditional on Boots hiving off BHI.
But Paul’s biggest achievement in 2006 was surely
his role advising Australia’s Macquarie Bank on its
successful bid for Thames Water. The hotly
contested auction of Thames by German utilities
group RWE had the City’s top firms, including the
likes of Slaughter and May, which acted for RWE,
readying themselves for action. Away from deals
Paul also scooped a place on A&O’s global
management board alongside banking partner Ian
Powell, litigation specialist Tim House and
international capital markets partner Boyan Wells.
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