Trio of companies launch panel reviews as UK firms fight for spots

The UK's leading law firms are set to compete for a raft of coveted panel roles as adviser reviews at Rio Tinto, Nomura and Ireland's National Asset Management Agency (NAMA) reach the advanced stages.

Mining giant Rio Tinto is set to launch a global review of its panel relationships – overseen by group executive of legal and external affairs Debra Valentine – aimed at streamlining the number of firms it instructs.

Warren Goodman, who recently relocated to London to take up the global head of M&A role, will be conducting the review in the UK, while chief counsel for global business services Neville Henwood, who is currently relocating from Brisbane to Utah, will be leading the effort to assess Rio's US and Australia- based advisers.

Firms on Rio's current panel include Linklaters, Herbert Smith and Baker & McKenzie, as well as US law firms Sullivan & Cromwell and O'Melveny & Myers and Australian firms including Allens Arthur Robinson and Blake Dawson.

A spokesperson at Rio commented: "The panel is on our radar and something we are looking at, but we have not finalised a timeline."

One partner commented: "Rio is a widely-dispersed empire, and any attempt to rationalise its use of external advisers will be a decentralised effort."

Meanwhile, the Irish Government has appointed a panel of English law firms to advise NAMA, the country's so-called 'bad bank'. Allen & Overy, Denton Wilde Sapte, DLA Piper, Eversheds, Macfarlanes, Nabarro, Simmons & Simmons, Taylor Wessing and Wragge & Co have all been appointed for a three-year term to the panel, which is divided into enforcement and refinancing.

Earlier this year the Irish Government announced a panel of 64 Irish firms which will advise NAMA including Arthur Cox, Matheson Ormsby Prentice and William Fry.

NAMA has estimated that it will spend a total of €25m (£21m) on external legal counsel in the coming year.

Separately, Japanese investment bank Nomura has reached the second stage of its panel review, and is understood to have narrowed the number of firms it is talking to, with some invited to pitch to the legal team over the next month.

Additional reporting by Sofia Lind