Friederike Heine

July 19, 2012 | International Edition

Linklaters is drawing up plans to enter the sought-after African legal market, with the firm aiming to replicate its deal with Allens in Australia by linking up with one of South Africa's leading independent law firms.

By Friederike Heine

3 minute read

July 19, 2012 | International Edition

The Co-operative Group has followed its conversion to an alternative business structure (ABS) with a transformative £750m acquisition of 632 Lloyds TSB and Cheltenham & Gloucester bank branches. The Co-op, which instructed magic circle firm Clifford Chance (CC) on the acquisition last year, will pay £350m upfront and an additional £400m based on the performance of the combined business.

By Friederike Heine

2 minute read

July 18, 2012 | International Edition

A number of former Dewey & LeBoeuf UK partners are set to reject the settlement plan put forward by the defunct firm's wind-down committee last week (12 July). The so-called 'partner contribution plan', which is set to see partners asked to pay between $25,000 (£16,000) and $3m (£1.9m) into the bankrupt firm's estate to generate a total of $103.6m (£66m), would absolve former partners of any future liability in relation to the firm.

By Friederike Heine

3 minute read

July 18, 2012 | International Edition

Mayer Brown has offered its incoming London trainees the option to defer their training contracts in exchange for a one-off payment of £10,000, with three agreeing to postpone their start date by 12 months. The US firm's London arm, which takes on between 20 and 25 trainees per year across two intakes in March and September, asked a total of 47 future trainees across four intakes to defer by a year due to business activity levels.

By Friederike Heine

2 minute read

July 17, 2012 | International Edition

Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton and Wachtell Lipton Rosen & Katz are among a host of US firms to take lead roles on GlaxoSmithKline's (GSK) $2.8bn (£1.8bn) acquisition of Human Genome Sciences (HGS), ending a three-month hostile pursuit of the biotech company after bettering its offer.

By Friederike Heine

2 minute read

July 16, 2012 | International Edition

The UK arms of Orrick Herrington & Sutcliffe and McDermott Will & Emery have posted decreasing revenues and profits for the 2011 calendar year, according to public accounts filed today (16 July). Orrick's London office posted fee income of £21.1m for the 2011 calendar year, having brought in nearly double that amount during the 18-month period leading up to 31 December 2010.

By Friederike Heine

3 minute read

July 12, 2012 | International Edition

Norton Rose has made a magic circle partner hire for its London banking practice with the addition of Clifford Chance (CC) shipping finance chief Simon Lew.

By Friederike Heine

2 minute read

July 12, 2012 | International Edition

Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer and Clifford Chance (CC) have taken lead roles on a €4.5bn (£3.6bn) deal which has seen Volkswagen (VW) agree to buy the remaining 50.1% of Porsche it does not already own, reports The Am Law Daily.

By Friederike Heine

2 minute read

July 12, 2012 | International Edition

British Gas general counsel Melanie Rowlands has left the company to rejoin vacuum technology producer Edwards Group as a legal consultant.

By Friederike Heine

2 minute read

July 12, 2012 | International Edition

Simpson Thacher & Bartlett and Allen & Overy (A&O) are among a line-up of top law firms to have taken roles on Melrose's £1.5bn acquisition of German utility meter manufacturer Elster Group.

By Friederike Heine

2 minute read