Friederike Heine

October 11, 2010 | International Edition

Skadden Arps Meagher & Flom has taken the lead role on Renault's €3bn (£2.6bn) sale of a majority stake in Volvo, in one of the largest Scandinavian equity deals of the past decade. In a move aimed at meeting its debt reduction goal, French car manufacturer Renault has sold all of its so-called 'B shares' in Sweden's Volvo, which represent approximately 14.9% of the share capital and 3.8% of the voting rights in the company.

By Friederike Heine

2 minute read

October 08, 2010 | International Edition

Brick Court Chambers silk Conor Quigley QC has made the unusual move of leaving the set for a move to commercial chambers Serle Court. EU law specialist Quigley, who took silk in 2003, joined Serle Court on 1 October.

By Friederike Heine

2 minute read

October 08, 2010 | International Edition

Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer, Hogan Lovells and Mayer Brown have taken lead roles on the transfer of €173bn (£152bn) in distressed debt from German bank Hypo Real Estate (HRE) to a specially-created 'bad bank'. The deal sees the portfolio of loans and securities transferred to FMS Wertmanagement, which was set up to take on distressed assets from HRE, one of Germany's largest commercial property lenders.

By Friederike Heine

2 minute read

October 06, 2010 | International Edition

Carlsberg has kicked off a competitive tender process with a view to creating its first-ever European corporate panel. The review is being led out of Denmark by the drinks company's general counsel and vice president Ulrik Andersen. Carlsberg's current global panel features UK firms Norton Rose, Bond Pearce and Tollers, as well as Swedish law firm Vinge and Denmark's Kromann Reumert, which have all been invited to pitch.

By Friederike Heine

3 minute read

October 06, 2010 | International Edition

There is still something of a frisson - a sense of the unusual - about seeing the name Debevoise & Plimpton attached to a notable London appointment. The firm's recruitment last month of Travers Smith's David Innes was no exception. The reason is obvious. Despite a pukka Wall Street brand - backed by average partner profits currently in the $1.9m (£1.22m) region - for the last decade the firm has been content to haul in a strong but unflashy UK partner hire as pretty much a once-a-year event.

By Friederike Heine

4 minute read

October 06, 2010 | International Edition

US litigation boutique Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan has won a UK court victory that could potentially reshape the traditional creditor hierarchy in insolvency proceedings. The case concerned a challenge on behalf of junior creditors HHY Luxembourg and AMP Capital Investors against a proposal made during the restructuring of European Directories - a data and online search business - that would have wiped out the creditors' investment in the company.

By Friederike Heine

2 minute read

October 05, 2010 | International Edition

Debevoise & Plimpton litigation partner Peter Rees QC is set to leave the firm to take up a new role as legal director at Shell. Rees, who will join the oil and gas giant on 15 November, will take over as legal director at the beginning of next year when current incumbent Beat Hess retires. Rees will take responsibility for Shell's global legal function and will advise group management on all legal matters. The Shell legal function comprises 1,200 staff, of which around 720 are lawyers and 80 are intellectual property professionals.

By Friederike Heine

2 minute read

October 05, 2010 | International Edition

Mayer Brown has sold its UK corporate secretarial practice to outsourcing provider TMF Group in a deal which will see a team of six support staff transfer to TMF's London HQ later this year. TMF has previously negotiated similar agreements with other law firms, including Clifford Chance, which signed up last year. Mayer Brown's UK corporate head Peter Dickinson cited the global nature of client needs as the primary reason for the deal.

By Friederike Heine

2 minute read

September 29, 2010 | International Edition

Bird & Bird and DLA Piper have taken lead advisory roles on a public-private partnership (PPP) between support services company Serco Group and King's College Hospital NHS Foundation Trust in a deal worth in excess of £300m. King's College Trust, advised by DLA Piper, is the latest addition to GSTS Pathology, a joint venture between Guy's & St Thomas' NHS Foundation Trust and Serco.

By Friederike Heine

2 minute read

September 29, 2010 | International Edition

Nabarro has been appointed as the official adviser to Land Securities on its retail parks portfolio after a competitive tender process including all five firms currently on the company's legal panel. The tender process, which was jointly led by head of retail warehousing Dominic O'Rourke and head of legal services Clive Ashcroft, involved two separate stages in which firms were asked to give a comprehensive analysis of their fee structure followed by a more formal pitch.

By Friederike Heine

2 minute read