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International Edition

Ashurst, Latham and Travers act on £450m sale of Britax to Nordic Capital

Ashurst, Latham & Watkins and Travers Smith have taken lead roles on the £450m sale of Britax Childcare to Nordic Capital. Ashurst fielded a team led by corporate head Stephen Lloyd advising Nordic on the deal, which represents the first buyout of a UK company for the Scandinavian-based private equity group. The City firm has advised Nordic in the past on deals in the Scandinavia region.
2 minute read

International Edition

Sullivan, Bakers and Akin Gump win lead roles on $7.1bn BP asset sale

Sullivan & Cromwell, Baker & McKenzie and Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld have advised on BP's $7.1bn (£4.6bn) sale of a majority stake in Argentinian energy company Pan American Energy. Akin Gump was instructed by Argentina-based energy company Bridas Corporation, which is acquiring a 60% stake in Pan American. The US firm's team was led by London partner-in-charge Steven Blakeley and Dallas corporate partner Seth Molay. China National Offshore Oil Corporation (CNOOC), Bridas' state-owned Chinese parent company, was advised by longstanding adviser Bakers, which fielded a team led by Shanghai-based corporate partner Bee Chun Boo.
2 minute read

International Edition

Deneys Reitz set to overhaul pay scheme ahead of merger

Leading South African firm Deneys Reitz is set to overhaul its partner pay structure as it prepares for next year's tie-up with Norton Rose. The firm sent a note to its shareholders last week with suggestions for changing its remuneration structure from a points-based system that broadly operates as a pure lockstep, to a merit-driven tiered system with greater flexibility to move people up or down. The move is part of a bid to better align partners' remuneration with Norton Rose, which already operates a heavily modified lockstep. The proposals need to be approved by the firm's partners but, if successful, will come into effect from 1 April - the start of the South African firm's financial year.
2 minute read

International Edition

Hammonds Hong Kong office splits off from firm in US merger rejection

Hammonds' Hong Kong arm is set to split off from the firm in the wake of the merger agreement with Squire Sanders & Dempsey. The six-partner Hong Kong arm told Hammonds' management last week (24 November) that it intends to separate from the firm, with the partners rejecting the merger with US firm Squire Sanders. The transatlantic tie-up is due to go live on 1 January 2011.
2 minute read

International Edition

US firms win lead roles as Del Monte says yes to $5.3bn leveraged buyout

Gibson Dunn & Crutcher and Simpson Thacher & Bartlett have won lead roles on the $5.3bn (£3.4bn) leveraged buyout (LBO) of Del Monte Foods, reports The Am Law Daily. An investor group led by Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co (KKR), Capital Partners and Centerview Partners will pay $19 (£12) per share of Del Monte in cash. The deal - 2010's biggest LBO to date - also includes the assumption of about $1.3bn (£833m) in debt.
2 minute read

International Edition

Arks, opportunity costs and the unambiguous evil/virtue of verein mergers

I had meant to take on something a bit less dry today, but here I am again on the scintillating subject of law firm mergers structured with Swiss vereins, or, if you strip away the jargon, unions that maintain separate profit pools. Thank you, Norton Rose. The first observation to make regarding the debate on the City firm's tie-up with Canada's Ogilvy Renault and South Africa's Deneys Reitz is how polarised the arguments are on both sides. Indeed, the same points have been deployed with the rash of other deals that have fallen short of full financial integration.
4 minute read

International Edition

Dealmaker: Jonathan Angell

Dechert corporate partner Jonathan Angell on 'misplacing' £40m and his passion for the theatre...
3 minute read

International Edition

BPP parent company writes off one third of school's value in wake of downturn

More than a third of BPP's purchase value of £303.5m has been written off by its US parent company Apollo Global, according to the education provider's US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) filings. The accounts, which cover the financial year ending 31 December 2009, state that the BPP incurred "impairment charges" of £106m, representing a 35% drop in value. This is Apollo's first "goodwill impairment test" for BPP since its takeover last year, with the US parent company reassessing BPP's financial outlook in the wake of the recession in the UK.
2 minute read

International Edition

CC adds high-profile lateral to City corporate with hire of Ashurst's Fox

Clifford Chance (CC) has made a high-profile hire for its London corporate practice with the addition of Ashurst corporate finance partner Steven Fox. Fox, who also headed Ashurst's Madrid office between 2003 and 2007, has been a partner in the firm's City corporate department since 2000. His practice focuses on international corporate finance and M&A, including equity capital markets, public company takeovers and cross-border deals.
2 minute read

International Edition

Freshfields sees further London departure as M&A partner joins HSBC

Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer is to see two partners leave its London office, with corporate partner Elaine Williams joining HSBC and finance and restructuring partner Chris Howard switching to magic circle rival Linklaters. City M&A partner Williams is expected to join HSBC as its new deputy group company secretary in January 2011. She will replace Paul Stafford in the global role, which will see her report to company secretary Ralph Barber, a chartered accountant. Stafford has relocated to Asia to become corporation secretary for HSBC Asia Pacific.
2 minute read

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