NEXT
Sign in to follow

International Edition

M&A confidence grows as mega deals fuel rise in global activity

Lawyers are buoyed by growing boardroom confidence following a pick-up in global M&A activity during the last quarter, dominated by the rise of mega deals. The $130bn (£80.1bn) Vodafone-Verizon deal, which marked the largest US-based corporate deal on record since 2001, is largely responsible for making September the top month by deal values this year so far, pushing many of the law firms to take roles on the deal into the top 10 global advisers of the quarter by value, according to data from Mergermarket. The value of global M&A for Q1-3 this year totals $1,606.7bn (£989bn), a 5.5% increase on the same period in 2012, with 2013 on track to see the highest total since 2008. The recent stabilisation of the European economy is also reflected in M&A activity, with a 41.5% rise in deal values from Q3 2012 to Q3 2013.
3 minute read

International Edition

Moving the goalposts – Legal Week Law Quarterly Peer Review

From sports disputes to increased regulatory activity, Ben Wheway looks back at the briefings and statistics making headlines in Legal Week Law over the past quarter...
5 minute read

International Edition

Dentons and King & Spalding take driving seat on HR Owen takeover

Dentons and King & Spalding have taken the lead roles on the £43.2m purchase of luxury UK car dealer HR Owen by Asian investment company Berjaya Philippines Inc (BPI).
2 minute read

International Edition

CC's Sandelson re-elected as global litigation chief

Clifford Chance's global head of litigation and disputes Jeremy Sandelson has won a second four-year term following an uncontested vote. Sandelson (pictured) has held the position since 2009, having spent the previous four years as the firm's UK and Middle East managing partner.
2 minute read

International Edition

Slaughters and Pinsents lead on £550m facility for property developer

Slaughter and May and Pinsent Masons have taken the lead roles on the arrangement of a £550m revolving credit facility for FTSE 250 property development and investment company Derwent London.
2 minute read

International Edition

CMS partner appointed as new lord mayor of the City of London

CMS Cameron McKenna energy partner Fiona Woolf has been appointed Lord Mayor of the City of London. Woolf was elected today as the 686th Lord Mayor but only the second female holder of the post in its 800-year history.
2 minute read

International Edition

BLP confirms 40% PEP fall during 'challenging' 2012/13

Berwin Leighton Paisner has confirmed its average profit per equity partner (PEP) figure for 2012/13 has dropped by nearly 40%, as previously reported by Legal Week in its UK Top 50 Following months of speculation about the scale of its profit decline BLP has revealed that this year's PEP figure stands at £401,000, down 39% from £660,000 in 2011/12. In addition net profit dropped 38% to £39.4m, from £63.6m last year.
2 minute read

International Edition

CMS awards four social mobility bursaries in second annual round

CMS Cameron McKenna (CMS) has awarded bursaries to four school-leavers in the second year of a competition designed to support aspiring lawyers from underprivileged backgrounds. The firm's annual bursary competition, which launched last year, provides bursaries worth £2,500 a year to Year 12 students to support their law degrees. Candidates are able to win bursaries if they in the first generation of their family to attend university, meet certain financial criteria and gain ABB grades or equivalent at A-level.
2 minute read

International Edition

The risk revolution – new risk priorities in a continually evolving landscape

Legal Week Intelligence's latest benchmarker report, in association with Deloitte, focuses on how those responsible for risk and compliance mitigation deal with their responsibilities.
1 minute read

International Edition

Legal risk moves up boardroom agenda amid increasing pressure from regulators

There has been a sharp increase in how often regulatory and legal risk is discussed at board meetings, with 43% of companies discussing the subject at every meeting, up from 23% in 2012, according to the latest Legal Week Intelligence Corporate Risk Benchmarker, published in association with Deloitte. Risk was an 'infrequent' discussion at just 18% of companies. Legal risk was a board issue for 70% of companies with mid-sized turnover (£500m to £1bn) and least commonly discussed at board level at companies with a turnover of £1bn to £5bn (25%). "If there is an increasing compliance workload and an increase in board attention in some companies, it is perhaps because regulators and the authorities have been trending towards higher fines and more aggressive investigations," said Robert Cummins, assistant general counsel at satellite communications company Intelsat (pictured). "The bottom line is that the regulators are getting better at making the management feel the heat."
2 minute read

More from ALM

More from ALM

Legal Speak is a weekly podcast that makes sense of what’s happening in the legal industry.

Resources

  • Aligning Client Needs with Lawyer Growth and Profitability

    Brought to you by BigHand

    Download Now

  • Technology to Make E-Discovery Smarter, Not Harder

    Brought to you by Nuix

    Download Now

  • Does Generative AI Have the Power to Transform Legal Services?

    Brought to you by HaystackID

    Download Now

  • International Export and Trade Assistance State Law Survey

    Brought to you by LexisNexis®

    Download Now