Freshfields posts double-digit PEP hike as firm restarts revenue growth
PEP shoots up by 12% as firm returns to growth after last year's flat revenues
July 05, 2018 at 11:30 AM
3 minute read
Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer has posted a 5% uptick in global revenue for 2017-18, following what managing partner Stephan Eilers called "a very satisfactory year".
Global revenues rose by £73m to reach £1.403bn, alongside a 12% profit per equity partner (PEP) hike to £1.734m.
The positive performance comes after the firm experienced a challenging 2016-17, which saw revenues remain flat. Eilers said he was very pleased with this year's results, which he said had come on the back of "very strong performances across all regions".
He highlighted the firm's international restructuring and insolvency practice as having a particularly strong year, while successes in technology, media and telecoms included a role for Liberty Global in its sale to Vodafone, as well as advising Comcast on its £22bn bid for Sky.
In the US, revenues were ahead of budget in a "very good year in all sectors", according to Eilers. The firm expanded its antitrust offering in February by bringing in US Justice Department heavyweight Eric Mahr in Washington DC.
"[The hire] fits nicely into our global capacity. He's a leading antitrust litigator. It will make a real impact," said Eilers. "This year we hope to enlarge our capacity in the corporate and leveraged finance areas in the US, as well as within private equity."
When asked whether the firm's Manchester base, which opened its doors in 2015, had contributed to the firm's recent growth, Eilers said: "The support services business will have an increasing impact on what we generate. But Manchester was not a cost-saving operation. It is a centre to nurture talent in the IT area, and to bring in new talent which we would not otherwise have been able to."
In a year in which the firm overhauled its lockstep, Eilers said partner numbers had remained "broadly stable". The firm had faced tensions within its partnership after more than 60 partners saw their profit share reduced when the firm ushered in its new lockstep system this month, although Eilers said things had now settled down under the new system.
In the past year, the firm has been involved in major deals including Bayer's $63bn acquisition of Monsanto, on which it took a dual role for Temasek Holdings and BASF, while last summer the firm advised Starbucks on its $1.3bn buyout of its East China joint venture.
On the year ahead and the impending Brexit deadline, Eilers was firmly optimistic. "We are Brexit-agnostic. It has influenced neither our internal structure nor our business," he said.
Earlier this week, Clifford Chance kicked off the magic circle reporting season with a 5% revenue rise and a 16% PEP hike. Global revenue increased to £1.62bn, up from £1.54bn, with PEP reaching £1.6m.
Magic circle rival Allen & Overy's results are set to be revealed tomorrow (6 July), while Linklaters is expected to report next Thursday (12 July).
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