Liam McNeive was at the forefront of the dotcom boom – he even beat Napster to the off. Matt Byrne asks what he’s doing now the bubble’s burst Below a sign for a company called G Hacking lies one of London’s leading new media boutiques. Liam McNeive, founder of McNeive Solicitors, probably did not choose […]
Burges Salmon (Mark Paterson) advised the Ministry of Defence (MoD) on the largest PFI defence contract to close in the UK. Under the £2.5bn Skynet 5 Private Finance Initiative, Paradigm Secure Communications, a wholly-owned subsidiary of the European Aeronautic Defence and Space Company (EADS), will deliver secure military satellite communications services to the MoD over […]
Nabarro Nathanson looks set to steer Pubmaster through a sale to a rival trade bidder, possibly Punch Taverns, as Pubmaster’s private equity owners look for an exit for their investment. Nabarros, Pubmaster’s main law firm on M&A work, has advised the tenanted pub chain since December 2000, when corporate partner Andrew Inkester acted for it […]
Matthew Arnold & Baldwin (MAB) has advised former Allen & Overy (A&O) client Orbain on its recent refinancing following Orbain’s secondment of MAB partner Steve Janes as a part-time in-house counsel. Orbain is an online global trading settlement system launched in 1998 in the form of a joint venture between Citibank, IT company SAP and […]
Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer is advising one of the buyers and the target in one of the biggest and most complex mergers in Germany this year. Freshfields corporate star Ralph Wollburg has been advising German consumer goods company Beiersdorf on its two-year mission to find a buyer for Allianz’s 40 per cent stake in the company. Wollburg, […]
Memery Crystal has been hauled into the High Court by a former property client with a £4m negligence claim against the firm. The claim was brought by office space provider Citib@se in March last year and centres on advice the firm gave on the wording of Citib@se’s lease in Central London. The firm is accused […]
As David Childs becomes chief operating officer, who will be in the running to replace him as global corporate chief? Clifford Chance corporate partners are bracing themselves for another election following the appointment of global corporate head David Childs to the post of chief operating officer. Although Childs retains the role of head of corporate, […]
The Birmingham office of Russell Jones & Walker is to lose one of its three partners at the end of the year, with the departure of John McDonnell and a senior associate. McDonnell, like his two fellow partners, is a personal injury specialist. He is leaving to set up his own firm. “I’m sad to […]
DLA’s prolific IT partner Richard Bonnar has triumphed over Arnold & Porter, Bird & Bird, Masons and Simmons & Simmons in a beauty parade of legal advisers for a series of projects which aim to rejuvenate the Department of Work and Pensions (DWP). The result will be a particular blow for Arnold & Porter, which […]
Bird & Bird has lost competition partner Simon Topping to the Brussels office of technology rival SJ Berwin. Topping joins a rated UK team that has recently acknowledged the importance of a greater Brussels presence. The hire follows that of Marc Levy, the former head of antitrust at Andersen Legal’s French law firm.SJ Berwin competition […]
The arrival of former Manches senior partner and employment head Alasdair Simpson at Addleshaw Goddard last week will kickstart an expansion in the national firm’s London employment team, a spokesman claimed. Simpson, 36 years at Manches, has committed to Addleshaws for five years. He described his new role as “a challenge, unfettered from management”. The […]
Field Fisher Waterhouse (Jon Fife) advised the Whitbread Hotel Company on the £57m sale of 13 of its Swallow Hotels to property investor Leo Noé. Companies within Leo Noé’s Reit Group acquired the hotels for £52m and leased the properties to Maycastle, which has paid £5m for the hotel operating business and the Swallow name. […]