Royal Bank of Canada

City National

Royal Bank of Canada is going Hollywood. RBC said this winter that it is acquiring Los Angeles-based City National Corporation, known as the “Bank of the Stars,” for $5.4 billion. The American private and commercial bank serves high-net-worth clients and is noted for its A-list ties. The Globe and Mail newspaper reports that a founder of City National was Frank Sinatra's friend and put up the ransom money to recover Sinatra's son from kidnappers in the 1960s. City National also provided financing for such films as “The Silence of the Lambs.”

For outside counsel, RBC has turned to Sullivan & Cromwell, with senior chairman H. Rodgin Cohen and partners C. Andrew Gerlach and Donald Toumey and asso­ciate Rufat Yunayev on corporate matters; partner Matthew Friestedt, special counsel Rebecca Coccaro and associate Allison MacDonald on executive compensation and benefits; partner Andrew Mason and special counsel Judith Fiorini on tax; and special counsel Spencer Simon on intellectual property.

Royal Bank of Canada has tapped Osler, Hoskin & Harcourt as Canadian counsel, with partner Douglas Marshall on corporate matters; partners Firoz Ahmed and Patrick Marley and associate Ina Eroff on tax; and partner Stephen Clark on regulatory matters. RBC's in-house legal work on the deal is headed by Anthony Pagano, chief counsel, mergers and acquisitions.