Friederike Heine

June 22, 2011 | International Edition

Kraft Foods has bypassed Slaughter and May to appoint Clifford Chance (CC) and DLA Piper to its roster of UK advisers following its £11.5bn hostile takeover of Cadbury last year. Slaughters – which was legacy Cadbury's principal corporate adviser in the UK – has not been appointed alongside Kraft's existing UK advisers following the review, and will continue to advise only on ongoing Cadbury matters.

By Friederike Heine

3 minute read

June 22, 2011 | International Edition

Greenberg Traurig Maher (GTM) and Skadden Arps Meagher & Flom have taken lead roles on AstraZeneca's $1.8bn (£1.1bn) sale of its Swedish dental subsidiary Astra Tech to Dentsply International. GTM took the lead role for AstraZeneca on the sale, which came after a competitive auction process run by JP Morgan. London co-managing shareholders Paul Maher and Fiona Adams took the lead roles for the firm.

By Friederike Heine

2 minute read

June 20, 2011 | International Edition

White & Case and Allen & Overy (A&O) are advising on a dispute between the Bank of Ireland (BoI) and a group of investors over a proposed debt-for-equity conversion. The move, part of a 'burden-sharing' move by the Irish Government to spread the costs of its bank recapitalisation plan, has seen White & Case instructed by a committee of bondholders which includes Appaloosa Management, Varde Partners, QVT Financial and Marathon Asset Management.

By Friederike Heine

2 minute read

June 16, 2011 | International Edition

Eurasian Natural Resources Corporation (ENRC) company secretary and general counsel Randal Barker has resigned has post following the launch of a corporate governance review at the company. Barker, who joined ENRC from insurance company Resolution when it was acquired by the Pearl Group in 2008, has been responsible for all of the FTSE 100 company's legal affairs throughout recent boardroom upheaval.

By Friederike Heine

2 minute read

June 15, 2011 | International Edition

Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer has revamped its global diversity team, appointing new members to the firmwide committee dealing with diversity and inclusion and giving a further three partners responsibility for diversity issues in London. The firm has named internal communications head Kate Laffar as leader of its global diversity and inclusion team, with London corporate head Mark Rawlinson and intellectual property partner Avril Martindale also appointed to the team from the beginning of the month (1 June).

By Friederike Heine

2 minute read

June 15, 2011 | International Edition

The Government's much-derided record on legal procurement has come under fresh attack after it emerged that the panels set up in the wake of the banking crisis have generated little or no work for mandated City advisers. Allen & Overy (A&O), Herbert Smith and Simmons & Simmons were all appointed alongside Slaughter and May in November 2009 to advise UK Financial Investments (UKFI), the body managing the Government's stakes in banks such as Northern Rock.

By Friederike Heine

3 minute read

June 15, 2011 | International Edition

Linklaters' global antitrust head Gerwin Van Gerven is stepping down after eight years in the role, with London competition partner Michael Cutting set to take over at the helm of the practice. Cutting, who headed the firm's London competition practice between 2004 and 2007, will split his time between Linklaters' London and Brussels offices as part of the new post.

By Friederike Heine

2 minute read

June 15, 2011 | International Edition

Heinz is set to appoint its first-ever European legal panel later this summer, with around a dozen firms invited to pitch. The food giant's European general counsel Janice More kicked off a tender process in March, with the company planning to use the review process to cut costs and tighten its links with firms.

By Friederike Heine

2 minute read

June 15, 2011 | International Edition

"It is yet another manifestation of the Treasury's inconsistent approach to legal procurement," states one agitated Government adviser in response to this week's news that UK Financial Investments (UKFI) – the body which manages the Government's stakes in UK banks – has gone off-panel on the upcoming sale of Northern Rock. Despite having gone through a formal panel process in 2009 to select four firms to handle the sale of its stakes in big banks, UKFI ultimately bypassed its formal line-up of Slaughter and May, Allen & Overy, Herbert Smith and Simmons & Simmons to instruct Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer corporate partner Barry O'Brien and global head of finance Alan Newton on the mandate.

By Friederike Heine

4 minute read

June 15, 2011 | International Edition

Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer, Kirkland & Ellis and Herbert Smith have taken roles on the £636m takeover of Avis Europe by its US counterpart Avis Budget, 25 years after the two companies were originally separated. Kirkland is advising Avis Budget, fielding a multijurisdictional team led by corporate partners David Fox in New York and Graham White in London. The US firm's team also included finance partners Ashley Gregory and Neel Sachdev in New York and London respectively.

By Friederike Heine

2 minute read