Magic circle firm assigns banking partners to key corporate clients

Linklaters has launched an initiative which will see one finance partner assigned to each of its key corporate clients in an effort to cross-sell the City giant's services across both practice areas.

The initiative, led by global head of corporate Jeremy Parr (pictured) and newly-appointed global finance chief Jim Rice, is intended to secure both corporate and finance mandates from the majority of the firm's so-called 'platinum' clients over a three-year timeframe.

Linklaters' platinum corporate clients currently include BP, Vodafone, Glencore and National Grid.

Parr and Rice have appointed working groups of partners in each of the two practice areas to co-ordinate the effort and select partners to handle the client relationships.

Banking partners already involved in corporate relationships as a result of the initiative include recent Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer recruit Chris Howard, as well as banking colleagues Robert Burt, Rebecca Jarvis, Adam Freeman and Nick Syson.

The initiative has already resulted in several new mandates, including the firm's role advising Carlyle on the debt financing of its £1bn acquisition of Aviva's RAC roadside rescue business. Linklaters has historically handled corporate work for the US investment house.

Parr said: "We are the only firm in the City that can truly claim to have equal strengths in corporate and finance. We are very focused on communicating these strengths to our clients, and we are determined that it will become the norm for our finance partners to be an integral part of our key corporate relationships.

"A prime example of this strategy is our relationship with Glencore, which has developed significantly over the years and now covers both practice areas."

One senior corporate partner at a rival magic circle firm commented: "This initiative makes sense for the firm because there is a historic rivalry between the two practice areas. Linklaters is known in the market for operating two equally strong, but siloed operations."