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International Edition

Case study: Weightmans

Weightmans has enjoyed another good 12 months. 2009-10 revenue rose by 7.1% to £56.1m, with the firm set to break the £60m mark this year after exceeding recent quarterly billing targets. That would represent a fourth year of consecutive growth - a pattern which owes much to Weightmans' nationally-recognised insurance and litigation teams. "Although fee rates have become more competitive since the onset of the recession, workflows in our key areas have been steady," comments managing partner Patrick Gaul.
2 minute read

International Edition

Freshfields and A&O lead on London Stock Exchange's Canadian merger

Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer has taken a lead role advising the London Stock Exchange (LSE) on its merger with TMX Group, which owns and operates the Toronto Stock Exchange. The magic circle firm is fielding a team led by corporate partners Philip Richards and Andrew Hutchings on the deal, which will combine Europe's and Canada's leading diversified exchange groups.
2 minute read

International Edition

Links acts for ArcelorMittal on €3.4bn spinoff

Linklaters has taken the lead role on ArcelorMittal's €3.4bn (£2.9bn) demerger of its stainless and speciality steels businesses, which was approved by the company's shareholders last month (25 January). Linklaters advised longstanding client ArcelorMittal on the capital raising, which saw the businesses spun off into a new company called Aperam. As a result of the move, approximately 78 million new shares in the company have been allocated to existing shareholders.
2 minute read

International Edition

Latham and Simpson Thacher lead on AOL's $315m Huffington Post buyout

Latham & Watkins and Simpson Thacher & Bartlett have taken lead roles on the $315m (£195m) sale of online news aggregator The Huffington Post to global media giant AOL, reports The Am Law Daily. AOL will pay $300m (£186m) in cash, while the remainder of the payment will come in the form of stock, according to a statement announcing the deal. The acquisition, which is expected to close early in the second quarter of 2011 at the latest, creates a new media group that the companies expect will draw 270 million unique global visitors each month.
2 minute read

International Edition

Eversheds and Camerons win roles on AA's driving school takeover

Eversheds and CMS Cameron McKenna have picked up lead roles advising on the administration and sale of the British School of Motoring (BSM) driving school. The deal saw BSM acquired for £1 through a pre-pack administration by The Automobile Association (AA), with the transaction therefore bringing two of the UK's largest driving schools under one roof.
2 minute read

International Edition

Slaughters and Paul Hastings lead on $900m construction company buyout

The London office of Paul Hastings Janofsky & Walker has picked up a role advising opposite Slaughter and May on Jacobs Engineering Group's $900m (£556m) acquisition of Oslo-listed Aker Solutions' construction business. London corporate partner Ronan O'Sullivan led a global team from Paul Hastings advising Jacobs Engineering on the deal, which closed last week (31 January). The City team included litigation partner Michelle Duncan and tax partner Arun Birla. In addition, Los Angeles partners Robert Miller (corporate) and Alexander Lee (tax), New York employment partner Erika Collins, Shanghai managing partner David Wang and China employment head Lesli Ligorner also advised.
2 minute read

International Edition

Weil Gotshal's London office seals double private equity client win

Weil Gotshal & Manges has won buyout houses Unitas and Towerbrook Capital as new clients for the firm's City office. The client wins came as a result of competitive tender processes, with private equity partner Marco Compagnoni leading the team advising on both subsequent transactions. Compagnoni advised Asian buyout house Unitas alongside London finance chief Jacky Kelly on its €525m (£441m) acquisition of hydraulics manufacturer Hyva from UK private equity firm 3i, a deal which was announced before Christmas.
2 minute read

International Edition

DLA Piper recruits City partner from Camerons as two depart

DLA Piper has added a partner from CMS Cameron McKenna to its London corporate practice, with the hire coinciding with the departure of two partners from the team - Kiran Sharma and Malcolm MacDougall. Corporate partner Jonathan Lisle will join DLA Piper next week (14 January) from Camerons. He specialises in public M&A with a strong focus on the healthcare sector, having co-founded Camerons' healthcare group.
2 minute read

International Edition

Travers recruits first US-qualified partner with CC capital markets hire

Travers Smith has made its first US-qualified partner hire, bringing in Clifford Chance (CC) Milan partner Charles Casassa for its City practice. Casassa is due to join Travers' London corporate practice next month from the Milan office of CC, where he has been a partner since 2008. Casassa specialises in capital markets transactions and also has experience of M&A, structured finance, and acquisition finance.
2 minute read

International Edition

Winston moves to sign Howrey partners as merger talks collapse

Howrey was this week considering its strategic options as US rival Winston & Strawn moved to take on teams of partners in the US and Europe. Winston is trying to sign deals with individual partners after merger talks between the two firms broke down last month because of conflicts – including an ongoing class action in the US on which the pair are on opposing sides. Winston is understood to have made offers to around 75% of Howrey's partnership since last Sunday (30 January), including all three remaining partners in London and the 10 partners remaining in Brussels, with those approached given 21 days to respond.
3 minute read

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