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International Edition

BLP and A&O lead on £958m Tesco sale and leaseback arrangement

Berwin Leighton Paisner (BLP) and Allen & Overy (A&O) have taken the top roles on a £1bn sale and leaseback agreement for Tesco. The deal, valued at £958m in total, saw BLP advise regular client Tesco on the transaction, which covers 41 of the supermarket's UK stores.
2 minute read

International Edition

Magic circle duo head up £1bn Northern Irish energy M&A deal

Magic circle firms Slaughter and May and Linklaters have acted on a £1bn energy M&A deal in Northern Ireland. The transaction, which was announced on 7 July, saw Government-owned electricity utility company ESB buy Northern Ireland Electricity (NIE), the Northern Irish electricity transmission and distribution business of the Viridian Group, as well as its associated electrical contracting businesses.
2 minute read

International Edition

Tried and trusted focus reaps rewards for Travers

Anyone who doubts the value of sticking to your gameplan would do well to look at the recent performance of Travers Smith, which as we reported this month has outpaced all comparable City practices in 2009-10 by managing to hike profits per equity partner (PEP) by 53% to £705,000. In isolation, such a rise in profits can be dismissed in a year in which many firms saw rebounding PEP numbers on the back of tough cost squeezes. However, Travers was one of the few to also manage a rise in revenues - by a healthy 11.6% - so the firm is clearly growing the business.
4 minute read

International Edition

Former SJ Berwin partner launches private-equity backed boutique

Former SJ Berwin private equity partner Matthew Hudson has launched his own boutique with the financial backing of a number of private equity houses. The firm, which will be known as MJ Hudson, launched today (20 July) with Hudson as the sole equity partner supported by three associates. Hudson has identified more than 20 private equity and hedge funds as target clients, and he is planning to add three more partners to the new practice by the end of the year.
2 minute read

International Edition

Magic circle duo lead on Canadian consortium's £2.9bn Tomkins bid

Slaughter and May and Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer have taken lead roles on the £2.9bn takeover bid for British engineering company Tomkins by a Canadian consortium. The consortium, which comprises private equity group Onex Corporation and the Canada Pension Plan Investment Board (CPPIB), has made an offer of 325p per share for the company and due diligence is now at an "advanced stage", according to Tomkins. Slaughters is advising Tomkins with a team including corporate partners Nigel Boardman and Nilufer von Bismarck (pictured), pensions partner Eddie Codrington, competition partner Bertrand Louveaux and tax partner William Watson.
2 minute read

International Edition

Ashurst, Sullivan and Ropes & Gray take lead roles on €1.2bn Ontex sale

Ashurst has secured a lead role on the €1.2bn (£1.07bn) sale of manufacturing company Ontex to Goldman Sachs and TPG Capital. Ashurst advised longstanding client Candover on its sale of Ontex, a European manufacturer of hygienic disposables. The City law firm advised Candover on its original acquisition of the business in 2003.
2 minute read

International Edition

Slaughters and Hammonds tap in for roles on £558m plumbing company buyout

Slaughter and May and Hammonds have taken lead roles advising Travis Perkins on its £558m acquisition of BSS Group. The magic circle firm advised the building merchants as a new client on the cash and share acquisition of plumbing and heating company BSS Group.
2 minute read

International Edition

Deal activity remains patchy despite rebound predictions

With the exception of a few very large deals early this year, such as Prudential's ambitious but ill-fated bid to purchase the Asian assets of AIG and Novartis' $28bn (£17.4bn) acquisition of a majority stake inAlcon, the deal market this year has offered precious support for those banking on a revival taking hold. Not only was there a slight dip (4.1%) in announced global deals from the second half of 2009, corporate activity was particularly hit in the UK during the first half of 2010, with the domestic market seeing a 28%fall in deal volume against the first six months of 2009.
4 minute read

International Edition

Second acts: Dentons-Sonnenschein tie-up offers a chance for reinvention

The upcoming union of Denton Wilde Sapte and Sonnenschein offers two firms that have suffered their fair share of setbacks a chance to reinvent themselves for the global legal market. Sofia Lind and Alex Novarese ask if the deal can help the pair to galvanize their businesses
22 minute read

International Edition

CC relocates high-profile partner to lead Middle East corporate practice

Clifford Chance (CC) is relocating two high-profile corporate partners within its international network of offices. City partner Guy Norman is taking on a brief to develop the magic circle firm's Middle East corporate practice from October after the current head, Dubai-based partner Simon Clinton, moves to Singapore at the start of 2011. Clinton, who has headed the Middle East corporate practice since relocating there from London in 2006, will continue to lead the firm's global sovereign wealth sector group from Singapore.
2 minute read

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