Allen & Overy (A&O) has scored a high-profile victory, advising a US-based consortium on its £470m acquisition of Liverpool Football Club. A&O corporate partner Andrew Ballheimer led the advice to Kop Football, the English private limited company vehicle of US sports tycoons George Gillett and Tom Hicks. Liverpool FC’s substitution of Gillett and Hicks over […]
CMS Cameron McKenna and SJ Berwin have teamed up to secure the £630m purchase of London’s iconic Gherkin building in the UK’s largest single building property transaction to date. Camerons advised German company IVG Immobilien on its 50-50 joint venture with British private investment bank Evans Randall. The bank took its advice from SJ Berwin, […]
The murder of a journalist in Turkey has brought one of the country’s most controversial laws further into the spotlight. Article 301 of the Turkish penal code, which prohibits “insults to Turkishness”, had three times been used to prosecute Hrant Dink, an outspoken newspaper editor who was murdered this month. Editor of the Agos newspaper […]
Ashurst with AJB Bergh’s Mölnlycke sale” />Ashurst handled its first major Swedish deal since merging with Stockholm boutique AJB Bergh last December, advising on the €2.85bn (£1.88bn) private equity disposal of healthcare company Mölnlycke. An acquisition vehicle controlled by Investor AB and Morgan Stanley Principal Investments (MSPI), advised by Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer, bought Gothenburg-headquartered Mölnlycke […]
Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer has picked up the mandate to advise UK pub group Marston’s on the purchase of smaller Dorset-based rival Eldridge Pope from entrepreneur Michael Cannon. Marston’s brokered a deal with Cannon to acquire 153 pubs for £155.1m. Freshfields, led by corporate partner Gareth Stephenson, advised longstanding client Marston’s, which owns Pitcher & Piano, […]
Manchester’s winning bid to house the UK’s first ‘super-casino’ has left a slew of firms, including Clifford Chance, Denton Wilde Sapte (DWS) and Norton Rose, out in the cold. The Casino Advisory Panel selected the City of Manchester as its preferred location last Tuesday (30 January) in a shock decision. It finished ahead of favoured […]
Newcastle-based Watson Burton has worked pro bono on a project to provide disadvantaged young people with access to sports facilities and coaching. The firm advised the McCrory Foundation, a Newcastle charity set up by former boxing world cruiserweight champion Glenn McCrory, on the lease of new premises and on a Rocky Balboa-themed fundraising event. A […]
Stephenson Harwood has dipped its toe into the emerging Turkish market following a long-term real estate client’s $750m (£377.38m) purchase in what is Europe’s largest single-asset transaction in recent years. Stephensons client St Martins Property, part of the Kuwait Investment Authority, purchased the Cevahir Mall in Istanbul, Europe’s largest shopping mall and the second-largest in […]
The Citizens Advice charity has slammed reforms to the legal aid system, claiming they will deny legal assistance to thousands of vulnerable people. The organisation, which currently has 252 bureaux funded to provide legal aid advice, also claims that the reforms could lead to the closure of scores of its bureaux, particularly in deprived areas. […]
Skadden Arps Slate Meagher & Flom’s London office has scooped its first-ever mandate to advise Ford on its multimillion-pound disposal of the Aston Martin luxury car range. The New York heavyweight’s City arm landed the role thanks to Ford’s longstanding relationship with Skadden in the US. The team is being led by London-based corporate partner […]
The rush by Russian companies to list in London is benefiting US firms. The latest Russian precious metals company stating its intention to list, Polymetal, has gifted roles to Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton and Skadden Arps Slate Meagher & Flom. Polymetal, which is owned by Russia’s eighth-richest man and colourful politician Suleiman Kerimov, intends […]
Lovells has been working on a pro bono project to set up a new centre to provide services for the physically disabled. The firm’s team assisted the Training for Life charity, which helps disadvantaged people into work, to review the tender document for a new facility in Westminster. Due to open in October, the Westminster […]