Freshfields advises as Tesco agrees £129m fine for overstating profits
Freshfields' disputes team leads as Tesco agrees deferred prosecution agreement
March 28, 2017 at 06:01 AM
2 minute read
Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer and Kingsley Napley are advising Tesco as it reaches an agreement with the Serious Fraud Office (SFO) to pay a £129m fine to avoid prosecution for overstating its profits in 2014.
Tesco and the SFO confirmed today that the pair have reached a deferred prosecution agreement (DPA), following a two-year investigation into the supermarket giant.
In addition to the £129m fine, Tesco has also agreed with the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) to pay £85m in compensation to shareholders and bondholders who bought assets between 29 August and 19 September 2014.
In total, Tesco expects to book a £235m exceptional charge including the fine, compensation and other charges, including the SFO's costs.
The investigation was prompted after it emerged that the supermarket gave false accounts of its profits between February 2014 and September 2014, with a trading statement on 29 August that year showing inflated profits.
Freshfields has been advising Tesco on the case since 2014, with London dispute resolution partners Ali Sallaway and Ian Taylor leading the firm's team on the DPA. Sallaway is co-head of the firm's London global investigations practice.
The magic circle firm instructed Kinglsey Napley on the case in 2015. Its team was at that point being led by criminal litigation head Stephen Parkinson.
Freshfields is one of Tesco's key legal advisers, alongside Berwin Leighton Paisner (BLP). The magic circle firm carries out much of the retailer's corporate/commercial matters, with BLP handling real estate work.
Earlier this year, Freshfields won a mandate to advise Tesco on its £3.7bn acquisition of food wholesaler Booker Group.
Last year, the firm advised Tesco on the sale of its coffee chain Harris + Hoole to Caffe Nero, while in 2015 it acted on the £4.2bn sale of its Korean business, Homeplus.
Tesco has previously used Ashurst and Clyde & Co for real estate work; however, a streamlining of its key legal advisers in 2014 saw BLP established as the company's go-to real estate adviser.
This content has been archived. It is available through our partners, LexisNexis® and Bloomberg Law.
To view this content, please continue to their sites.
Not a Lexis Subscriber?
Subscribe Now
Not a Bloomberg Law Subscriber?
Subscribe Now
NOT FOR REPRINT
© 2024 ALM Global, LLC, All Rights Reserved. Request academic re-use from www.copyright.com. All other uses, submit a request to [email protected]. For more information visit Asset & Logo Licensing.
You Might Like
View All
Dentons Australian Chair Doug Stipanicev Back At Work After Investigation
4 minute read
A&O Shearman Luminary, Former US Co-Chair, to Leave Partnership
Mayer Brown’s Hong Kong Split to Take Effect in the Coming Week
Trending Stories
- 1Miami’s Arbitration Week Aims To Cement City’s Status as Dispute Destination
- 2GE Agrees to $362.5M Deal to End Shareholder Claims Over Power, Insurance Risks
- 3As Political Extremism Rises, Is Voter Data the Next Privacy Frontier?
- 4So You Want to be a Tech Lawyer? Consider Product Counseling
- 5US District Judge in North Carolina Will Take Senior Status
Who Got The Work
Michael G. Bongiorno, Andrew Scott Dulberg and Elizabeth E. Driscoll from Wilmer Cutler Pickering Hale and Dorr have stepped in to represent Symbotic Inc., an A.I.-enabled technology platform that focuses on increasing supply chain efficiency, and other defendants in a pending shareholder derivative lawsuit. The case, filed Oct. 2 in Massachusetts District Court by the Brown Law Firm on behalf of Stephen Austen, accuses certain officers and directors of misleading investors in regard to Symbotic's potential for margin growth by failing to disclose that the company was not equipped to timely deploy its systems or manage expenses through project delays. The case, assigned to U.S. District Judge Nathaniel M. Gorton, is 1:24-cv-12522, Austen v. Cohen et al.
Who Got The Work
Edmund Polubinski and Marie Killmond of Davis Polk & Wardwell have entered appearances for data platform software development company MongoDB and other defendants in a pending shareholder derivative lawsuit. The action, filed Oct. 7 in New York Southern District Court by the Brown Law Firm, accuses the company's directors and/or officers of falsely expressing confidence in the company’s restructuring of its sales incentive plan and downplaying the severity of decreases in its upfront commitments. The case is 1:24-cv-07594, Roy v. Ittycheria et al.
Who Got The Work
Amy O. Bruchs and Kurt F. Ellison of Michael Best & Friedrich have entered appearances for Epic Systems Corp. in a pending employment discrimination lawsuit. The suit was filed Sept. 7 in Wisconsin Western District Court by Levine Eisberner LLC and Siri & Glimstad on behalf of a project manager who claims that he was wrongfully terminated after applying for a religious exemption to the defendant's COVID-19 vaccine mandate. The case, assigned to U.S. Magistrate Judge Anita Marie Boor, is 3:24-cv-00630, Secker, Nathan v. Epic Systems Corporation.
Who Got The Work
David X. Sullivan, Thomas J. Finn and Gregory A. Hall from McCarter & English have entered appearances for Sunrun Installation Services in a pending civil rights lawsuit. The complaint was filed Sept. 4 in Connecticut District Court by attorney Robert M. Berke on behalf of former employee George Edward Steins, who was arrested and charged with employing an unregistered home improvement salesperson. The complaint alleges that had Sunrun informed the Connecticut Department of Consumer Protection that the plaintiff's employment had ended in 2017 and that he no longer held Sunrun's home improvement contractor license, he would not have been hit with charges, which were dismissed in May 2024. The case, assigned to U.S. District Judge Jeffrey A. Meyer, is 3:24-cv-01423, Steins v. Sunrun, Inc. et al.
Who Got The Work
Greenberg Traurig shareholder Joshua L. Raskin has entered an appearance for boohoo.com UK Ltd. in a pending patent infringement lawsuit. The suit, filed Sept. 3 in Texas Eastern District Court by Rozier Hardt McDonough on behalf of Alto Dynamics, asserts five patents related to an online shopping platform. The case, assigned to U.S. District Judge Rodney Gilstrap, is 2:24-cv-00719, Alto Dynamics, LLC v. boohoo.com UK Limited.
Featured Firms
Law Offices of Gary Martin Hays & Associates, P.C.
(470) 294-1674
Law Offices of Mark E. Salomone
(857) 444-6468
Smith & Hassler
(713) 739-1250
