Deals And Transactions Legal News Coverage

International Edition

Top firms share roles in Taylor Wimpey debt restructure deal

By a:1:{i:0;s:1:" ";} | April 22, 2009

A raft of City and US firms have advised as troubled house-builder Taylor Wimpey agreed £2.47bn of debt facilities. The deal, agreed earlier this month, generated roles for firms including Ashurst, Allen & Overy (A&O), Slaughter and May and Davis Polk & Wardwell as the company restructured its borrowings.

2 minute read

International Edition

Commentary: Will Manchester streets be paved with gold as Barlows goes north?

By Georgina Stanley | April 22, 2009

For a sector that tends to stay out of the limelight, the legal insurance market has seen its fair share of headlines over the last few weeks. But while the collapse and subsequent rescue of London boutique Hextalls has attracted more attention than anything else, Barlow Lyde & Gilbert's forthcoming entry into Manchester is perhaps the more telling move.

3 minute read

Legal Week

Commentary: Will Manchester streets be paved with gold as Barlows goes north?

By a:1:{i:0;s:1:" ";} | April 22, 2009

For a sector that tends to stay out of the limelight, the legal insurance market has seen its fair share of headlines over the last few weeks. But while the collapse and subsequent rescue of London boutique Hextalls has attracted more attention than anything else, Barlow Lyde & Gilbert's forthcoming entry into Manchester is perhaps the more telling move.

9 minute read

International Edition

Cleary takes top role on $3.6bn GSK buyout

By a:1:{i:0;s:1:" ";} | April 20, 2009

Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton has advised GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) on a $3.6bn (£2.5bn) buyout as the pharma giant completes its second major deal in a week. The firm acted for regular client GSK on its acquisition of dermatology specialist Stiefel Laboratories in a deal announced today (20 April).Cleary's New York-based team was led by corporate partner Benet O'Reilly, alongside tax partner Sheldon Alster, employee benefits partner Arthur Kohn, real estate partner Kimberly Brown Blacklow and antitrust partner David Gelfand.

2 minute read

International Edition

Top firms line up on Glaxo/Pfizer AIDS treatment JV

By a:1:{i:0;s:1:" ";} | April 17, 2009

A raft of City firms have landed roles advising pharmaceutical giants Pfizer and GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) on a joint venture that will see the creation of a new HIV and AIDS treatment company. Allen & Overy (A&O), Slaughter and May, Clifford Chance (CC), Jones Day and Morgan Lewis & Bockius have all won instructions on the deal, which will see the drug companies merge their treatment companies into one entity.Slaughters was instructed by GSK as lead counsel, fielding a team led by M&A partners David Johnson and Simon Nicholls. Johnson and Nicholls provided corporate advice, alongside intellectual property (IP) partner Susie Middlemiss, tax partner Steve Edge, competition partner Bertrand Louveaux, and employment partner Sandeep Maudgil.

2 minute read

International Edition

Freshfields, Links win €3.5bn Gas Natural roles as rights issues continue to prove rich pickings

By a:1:{i:0;s:1:" ";} | April 09, 2009

Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer and Linklaters have landed lead roles on Gas Natural's €3.5bn (£3.2bn) rights issue.Freshfields has advised long-standing client Gas Natural, fielding a team led by Madrid corporate partner Armando Albarran and London corporate partners Don Guiney (US law) and Monica McConville.Linklaters advised a group of underwriting banks including Banco Santander, Barclays BNP Paribas, Societe Generale and UBS. The firm's team was led by capital markets partners Inigo Berricano in Madrid and Luis Roth in Paris.

2 minute read

International Edition

US firms outpace UK rivals to lead Q1 M&A rankings

By a:1:{i:0;s:1:" ";} | April 09, 2009

Wall Street has trumped UK rivals to top the global M&A rankings by value for the first quarter of 2009. Rankings compiled by Mergermarket show Skadden Arps Slate Meagher & Flom heading the global value table - working on 28 deals worth $169bn (£113bn). Wachtell Lipton Rosen & Katz, Sullivan & Cromwell and Davis Polk & Wardwell take the next slots by value, with Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer the highest-placed UK firm in the table at number five.

3 minute read

International Edition

Commentary: Hammonds' cut-price delisting divides war-weary AIM vets

By a:1:{i:0;s:1:" ";} | April 08, 2009

Even for a market that has suffered a torrid 18 months, Hammonds' recent offer to delist companies from London's Alternative Investment Market (AIM) for a £5,000 fee seems awfully symbolic - and not in a good way. After all, this market had not so long ago been one of the most lucrative for mid-market advisers. That is hard to square with Hammonds' recent move to send out flyers to at least 20 nominated advisers offering to delist AIM companies with a market cap of less than £20m for a fixed fee of £5,000.At first glance, it is hard to see how any top 50 law firm can turn a profit on those figures. However, Hammonds' latest initiative is shrewder than it sounds, as it is aiming to use the delisting as a foundation for future relationships along the realms of providing commercial, employment, pensions and tax advice.

4 minute read

International Edition

Debt funding shortage blamed as UK M&A takes a nosedive

By a:1:{i:0;s:1:" ";} | April 08, 2009

UK M&A volumes fell by more than 70% between Q1 2008 and Q1 2009 while European deal activity fell by 64% in the same period, according to Mergermarket statistics, making the first three months of this year the worst for corporate activity since 2003. Most City partners are predicting that M&A activity will continue to stagnate for the remainder of 2009, although some are now willing to admit that the bottom of the market is close. Allen & Overy (A&O) M&A partner Alan Paul said: "I am always optimistic and activity will come back, but not for the foreseeable future. We may well be at the bottom now, but we could be here for some time. The volume of traditional M&A work will not come back until bank behaviour returns to some sort of normality."

3 minute read

International Edition

Top trio lead on deal to save kid's TV favourites

By Georgina Stanley | April 08, 2009

Kirkland & Ellis, SJ Berwin and DLA Piper have advised on the private equity buyout of the media company behind iconic brands including Postman Pat and Rupert the Bear. Kirkland's London office advised US buyout firm GTCR on the deal, which saw -Entertainment Rights' principal UK and US subsidiaries sold out of administration to Boomerang Media, which is backed by GTCR. The firm fielded a team from London including private equity partner Graham White and finance partner Neel Sachdev.

2 minute read

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