Finalists: Bird & Bird • Gordons • Herbert Smith Freehills • Latham & Watkins • Norton Rose Fulbright (highly commended) • Wragge Lawrence Graham & Co

King & Wood Mallesons (KWM) caught the eye of the judges for its work advising global investment company Marlin Equity Partners on its acquisition of data protection business Arcserve from New York software group CA Technologies across 28 non-US jurisdictions.

The firm said the deal was particularly challenging as in almost all of the jurisdictions involved, Marlin had no existing business, legal presence, employees or infrastructure into which to receive the acquired assets. It also had little visibility of the local law requirements or operations steps required to set up in countries as diverse as Colombia, China, Russia and Australia.

KWM's employment team, led by London partner Carl Richards, advised Marlin on all non-US employment aspects of the acquisition, which completed in March this year. The firm also called on its offices in Spain, Germany, Italy, UK, UAE, Hong Kong, Australia and China, as well as partner firms in the other jurisdictions.

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