Chivas Brothers, a member of the Pernod Ricard group, is to carry out a panel review of its UK legal advisers with plans to cut the roster from 16 to around seven.
Law firms currently on the spirits business’ panel include Macfarlanes, which acted on the £4.5bn acquisition of Absolut Vodka producer Vin & Sprit (7 April 2008) and $14.2bn takeover of Allied Domecq.
Shepherd and Wedderburn have also acted for Chivas Brothers from its Scottish base in relation to the enforcement of trade mark and branding rights, while Osborne Clarke and McDermott Will & Emery have handled property and IP issues respectively.
The review, led by general counsel Amanda Hamilton-Stanley, is ongoing and is intended to reduce the roster from around 16 law firms to between five and seven.
The reduction will allow the organisation as a whole to work more closely together, meaning any sister company in the UK would be able to instruct the selected firms.
