Deals And Transactions Legal News Coverage

International Edition

City boutique brushes up alongside US trio on $400m haircare buyout

By a:1:{i:0;s:1:" ";} | February 05, 2009

Cravath Swaine & Moore, Jones Day, Baker & McKenzie and London boutique Wallace have been handed roles on the $411.5m (£288m) sale of haircare business TIGI to consumer products giant Unilever. The deal gives Unilever its first entry into the salon hair-care market, with brands such as Bed Head and S-Factor. Cravath advised Unilever on the US corporate aspects of the deal, fielding a team led by New York corporate partner Peter Wilson and tax partner Michael Schler.

2 minute read

International Edition

Commentary: FFW bucks trend as lure of silver screen fades for City

By Georgina Stanley | February 04, 2009

Given the furore surrounding redundancies and partner culls in recent weeks, SJ Berwin's announcement that it is closing its media team was easy to miss. Lawyers in the media, though, are shocked by the news of the departure of the highly-rated team, led by partner Tim Johnson. It is a move that many see as sad both for the individuals concerned but, more crucially, because of what it says about the state of the media market. In reality perhaps the most surprising aspect was that SJ Berwin was still offering film and television finance advice at all. Alongside Olswang, and to a lesser extent Reed Smith and DLA Piper, the firm has been one of an ever-shrinking handful of City players to offer such advice.

3 minute read

Legal Week

Commentary: FFW bucks trend as lure of silver screen fades for City

By a:1:{i:0;s:1:" ";} | February 04, 2009

Given the furore surrounding redundancies and partner culls in recent weeks, SJ Berwin's announcement that it is closing its media team was easy to miss. Lawyers in the media, though, are shocked by the news of the departure of the highly-rated team, led by partner Tim Johnson. It is a move that many see as sad both for the individuals concerned but, more crucially, because of what it says about the state of the media market. In reality perhaps the most surprising aspect was that SJ Berwin was still offering film and television finance advice at all. Alongside Olswang, and to a lesser extent Reed Smith and DLA Piper, the firm has been one of an ever-shrinking handful of City players to offer such advice.

17 minute read

International Edition

A&O, SJ Berwin lead on new Icelandic insolvency

By a:1:{i:0;s:1:" ";} | February 04, 2009

Allen & Overy (A&O) and SJ Berwin have taken lead roles as Icelandic retailer Baugur files for bankruptcy protection. A&O, a longstanding adviser of the company, is fielding a team led by London finance partner Andrew Bamber.SJ Berwin is advising Icelandic bank Landsbanki - which was in talks with Baugur about the potential restructuring of £1bn of debt - with a team led by London restructuring partner Mike Woollard, corporate partner David Parkes and finance partner Jen Yee Chan.

2 minute read

International Edition

Links, Weil lead on Woolworths online relaunch

By a:1:{i:0;s:1:" ";} | February 02, 2009

Linklaters and Weil Gotshal & Manges have taken the lead roles on a deal that will see the iconic brand of Woolworths relaunched online. Sir David and Sir Freddie Barclay, the owners of The Daily Telegraph, have stepped in to save the Woolworths brand, along with its children's clothing label Ladybird, with plans to relaunch them as an online business through Shop Direct (formerly Littlewoods Home Shopping) for an undisclosed sum.The Barclay brothers turned to regular UK advisers Weil Gotshal & Manges and private equity partner Marco Compagnoni (pictured), who led a team which included intellectual property (IP) partner Barry Fishley, associate Alicia Speake and trainee Christopher Oliver.

2 minute read

International Edition

Freshfields and Links lead on £4.1bn rights issue

By a:1:{i:0;s:1:" ";} | January 29, 2009

Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer and Linklaters have landed roles on a £4.1bn rights issue for mining group Xstrata. The Swiss company has announced a discounted two-for-one rights issue, with a Freshfields team headed up by corporate partner Julian Makin taking the lead advisory role.Makin is working alongside fellow corporate partners Graham Watson and Sarah Murphy, with tax partners Robert Kent and Jonathan Cooklin and antitrust, competition and trade partner MJ Moltenbrey.

2 minute read

International Edition

Dealmaker: Charles Randell

By Legal Week | January 28, 2009

Slaughters' Charles Randell on naval dreams, moral dilemmas and keeping sight of the big picture

4 minute read

International Edition

Macfarlanes, Freshfields and CC land roles on £135m German publishing deal

By a:1:{i:0;s:1:" ";} | January 28, 2009

Macfarlanes, Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer and Clifford Chance (CC) have landed roles on Mecom Group's €152m (£135m) sale of its German operations to Cologne publishing house, M DuMont Schauberg. Macfarlanes advised the acquirer on the deal, which sees DuMont Schauberg picking up titles including the Berliner Zeitung and Berliner Kurier. Corporate partner Tim Lewis and debt finance partner Christopher Lawrence led the team for the firm, with the transaction marking Macfarlanes' first instruction from the German publisher. The company turned to Oppenhoff & Partner in Germany, which was formed by a breakaway group of partners from Linklaters at the beginning of 2008.

1 minute read

International Edition

Lovells takes investment client to market on infant exchange

By a:1:{i:0;s:1:" ";} | January 28, 2009

Lovells has advised IRF European Investment on this year's first listing on the Specialist Fund Market (SFM), with a market capital of $185m (£133m).The deal makes IRF the third company to list on the SFM, which was established in November 2007 as an option to London's Alternative Investment Market (AIM) for investment funds and their investors. IRF, which was previously listed on AIM and invests primarily in financial instit-utions based in the southeast of Europe, has been a Lovells client since 2006.

2 minute read

International Edition

Commentary: Addleshaws says it ain't broke, let's fix it anyway

By a:1:{i:0;s:1:" ";} | January 28, 2009

Given that it was regarded as one of the most upwardly mobile mid-market practices in the UK top 50, the question begged by Addleshaw Goddard's decision to remove 19 partners from its ranks is whether it has been mobile enough. Yet Addleshaws, with a practice built on top-tier regional strongholds in Manchester and Leeds and a well-regarded City practice, maintains that the move does not signal weaknesses in its underlying business.The firm talks a decent game, pointing to a solid run of successes in recent months. Among the highlights are debut corporate instructions for six FTSE 100 companies, including Rolls-Royce and Wolseley, as well as new panel appointments to ITV and William Hill. In deals, the firm is understandably proud of its work for the Co-operative Group on its £1.57bn acquisition of Somerfield, a transformational deal for the client. Underlining the firm's strength in the mutual sector is Adam Bennett, who acted on 15 of the last building society mergers. And Legal Week's data provider Mergermarket ranked the firm 10th for volume of UK deals in 2008 - a key benchmark of mid-market strength.

3 minute read

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