Macfarlanes and Weil Gotshal & Manges were the two firms leading on the sale of the iconic Ritz Hotel completed late on Friday evening. The acquisition means an unnamed Qatari investor now owns the Ritz hotel on the same night that the property closed its doors for the first time in more than 100 years […]
Telecoms giant BT has sold its legal technology business Tikit, with legal advisers including Kirkland & Ellis and Addleshaw Goddard. The sale came after BT scanned the market for potential buyers as part of a divestment process that began in the summer of 2019. Financial terms were not disclosed. Tikit provides technology solutions to legal […]
Slaughter and May has suffered a rare loss as one of its corporate team prepares to move back to Australia. Susannah Macknay, named in The Lawyer’s Hot 100 2018, has left the firm for Sydney headquartered Gilbert and Tobin. Australian-born Macknay joined the firm in 2007 and made partner in 2014. Macknay was listed in […]
Paul Hastings, Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer, Stephenson Harwood and Covington & Burling formed the legal lineup behind Fosun Pharma’s $135m (£113.7) deal with Germany’s BioNtech, in the hunt for a COVID-19 vaccine. Shanghai Fosun Pharmaceutical (Group) is advised by Paul Hastings. The US firm’s team is led by Shanghai-based corporate partner Jia Yan, who is also […]
CMS Cameron Mckenna Nabarro Olswang and Proskauer Rose have landed the lead roles on the take-private of Moss Bros. The UK menswear retailer, represented by CMS, was sold for £22.6m to a consortium called Brigadier Acquisition Company, controlled in part by Menoshi Shina, a US-based investor which acquired Crew Clothing in 2017. The consortium was […]
Four joined, now two remain. Gibson Dunn & Crutcher stated boldly its UK corporate intentions in 2014 with the hire of an Ashurst corporate quartet, but just half of the group remain as partners. What next?
The value of UK-related deals tumbled over 2019, though there are signs that 2020 may be different. The question is, which firms can hold their nerve over the next 12 months? On last year’s showing, there are some good signs for UK outfits in particular.
Considering the volatile year that the corporate world went through in 2019, and the number of companies, mostly retailers, that have been placed into administration or filed for insolvency in the UK alone, it was refreshing to see that a number of firms contacted for The Lawyer’s Global Corporate 50 report had a positive outlook […]
The collapse of Thomas Cook last month took the 175-year-old holiday group away from two law firms that had been its loyal advisers for more than a decade; it is a road that has seen plenty of twists and turns. Slaughters’ relationship with the company goes back to at least 2007, when William Underhill, one […]
There are few industries that are on the brink of a technological revolution as life sciences and health care. The possibilities that AI, nano-implants and new wearable software present are still only imaginable in futuristic TV programmes. Nevertheless, the tech revolution is already happening, and even if it doesn’t fall under the radar for the […]
Acting for UK corporates is the biggest challenge for US outfits in the City, but for the meantime, they’re not breaking out of their lucrative PE bubble. This is in spite of firms such as White & Case and Latham & Watkins going out into the market and hiring big-name magic circle stars from public […]
Following a swift exit from Goodwin at the tail-end of last year, the pair have returned to their old stomping ground; acting for management in PE deals.
There’s a shift occurring in the corporate teams of the UK’s most prominent public M&A shops. And for once, it’s got nothing to do with the US firms. Slaughter and May is to lose its golden boys of M&A – William Underhill and Nigel Boardman – at the end of this financial year, while it […]
The pre-Christmas and pre-Brexit rush has hit the City. Investors and lawyers alike are pushing through deals, trying to get projects away, and a glut of companies have been attempting to take their offerings public. The market has, in fact, seen so much activity over the last few months that it caused a bottleneck. Now, […]
Summary of potential coronavirus measures that employers can take: Information current as of: 23.03.2020 Home office / telework Employees who telework are normally “on duty”, they are simply working from home. Hence there is neither a reduction of working time nor any compensation or subsidy by the Austrian state. This measure is applicable to white-collar […]
New research highlights strategies to boost marketing’s profile and accelerate business success Effective marketers should communicate with personality and personalization. Generate and grow valuable leads for sales teams. Meanwhile, clearly prove ROI of their content and demonstrate direct business value. Sound familiar – and stress inducing? You’re not alone. 94% of B2B firms, according to […]
By Bernardine Adkins, Sean Giles In 2018, new measures were introduced to expand the scope of government intervention in mergers. This year, the government’s briefing note accompanying the Queen’s Speech proposes new rules on investment screening. What does this mean for business? Our experts examine the existing UK foreign direct investment rules, and explain what any […]
By James Webb Despite 2018 being a very tough year for many in the food and drink industry, according to research compiled by Grant Thornton, M&A and private equity deal activity in the sector remained steady with a fall of just 2.8% compared to 2017. This is supported by our experience during the period where […]
By Mark Josselyn Earlier this year the Human Rights Tribunal of Ontario (“HRTO”) found that a corporate respondent was liable for the violations of the Ontario Human Rights Code perpetrated upon the applicant by the personal respondent in the course of his employment, relying upon the analysis of the Supreme Court of Canada in Robichaud v. […]
For decades, Germany has been one of the biggest foreign investors in the UK. While the British love to talk about their ‘special relationship’ with the United States, there is now every chance that, in a post-Brexit world, Germany will become the UK’s new priority…
By Daniel Wood The Supreme Court has handed down judgment in the high-profile case of MT Højgaard v E.ON Climate & Renewables. The Supreme Court has overturned the Court of Appeal’s decision and – in so doing – has provided useful clarification in respect of various important principles… …In this decision, the Supreme Court was willing […]
Debtors do not have to inform invoice financiers of agreed rebates according to a recent case in the Court of Appeal which upheld an earlier High Court decision. Funders will be expected to make their own enquiries; should they fail to do so, it is at their own peril. The case involved a claim by the financier (Bibby […]