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International Edition

Dentons and Sonnenschein set to secure global merger

Denton Wilde Sapte is to merge with US firm Sonnenschein Nath & Rosenthal, creating SNR Denton, a 1,250-lawyer firm with offices spreading across four continents. The tie-up is set to be rubber-stamped by a partner vote next week (9 June) and will go live on 30 September, with Dentons chief executive Howard Morris named co-chief executive alongside Sonnenschein chairman Elliott Portnoy.
3 minute read

International Edition

A&O boosts energy team with Herbert Smith partner duo

Allen & Overy (A&O) has boosted its corporate energy team in the City with the recruitment of two partners from Herbert Smith. The transfer of the pair - Paul Griffin and John Geraghty - marks a rare partner-level appointment in the London market for A&O.
2 minute read

International Edition

Hogan Lovells' children and Wilde Sapte's final goodbye

If imitation is flattery then the newly-launched Hogan Lovells must be feeling well and truly buttered up this week with the news that Denton Wilde Sapte is to merge with Chicago's Sonnenschein Nath & Rosenthal. After all, the deal's structure is a carbon copy of the model used on a larger scale by Hogan Lovells: two profit centres, partnerships and financial years remaining separate with a Swiss Verein over the top, joint chief executives and moves to align but not fully integrate partner remuneration.
5 minute read

International Edition

Mayer Brown seals hire of Hogan Lovells partner in New York

Mayer Brown has recruited Hogan Lovells partner David Alberts in New York, marking the office's fifth lateral hire so far this year. Alberts, a legacy Lovells partner in the UK firm's insurance and reinsurance practice, left after the recent Hogan & Hartson tie-up on 21 May to join Mayer Brown's corporate & securities practice and insurance industry group.
2 minute read

International Edition

Dentons seals US merger deal with Sonnenschein to form SNR Denton

Denton Wilde Sapte has reached an agreement to merge with US firm Sonnenschein Nath & Rosenthal, creating a 1,250-lawyer firm with offices on four continents. The two firms today (26 May) announced that their management boards had agreed to back the merger, which will see the two firms unite as SNR Denton subject to a full partner vote at both firms.
4 minute read

International Edition

OFT and Competition Commission consult law firms on best practice for merger inquiries

The Competition Commission and the Office of Fair Trading (OFT) have called on the legal community to consult on a good practice guide for merger inquiries. The two bodies jointly launched the consultation yesterday (25 May), asking for input from law firms, consultants and market research agencies on a best practice framework for presenting consumer survey evidence in merger investigations.
2 minute read

International Edition

Bird & Bird bulks finance practice with Greenberg partner hire

Bird & Bird has recruited a partner from Greenberg Traurig to boost its corporate and finance practice in The Hague. Gerard Moussault will bring with him Greenberg associate Steven Geers. They are joined by Sarah Gerritse, previously a legal counsel in the Royal Bank of Scotland's London equity derivatives team.
2 minute read

International Edition

Trio of firms lead $23.8bn Ukrainian cell company deal

Orrick Herrington & Sutcliffe, Skadden Arps Slate Meagher & Flom and Magisters have lined up on a $23.8bn (£16.4bn) deal - the largest merger in Ukrainian history. The deal, completed on 21 April, saw Russia's Altimo and Norway's Telenor combine their stakes in cellular operators Russian Vimpelcom and Ukrainian Kyivstar GSM to create Vimpelcom.
2 minute read

International Edition

Bird & Bird Middle East debut gets approval from partnership

Bird & Bird is set to launch its first Middle East office after partners approved plans for a base in Abu Dhabi last week. The expansive City firm filed an application to practise in Abu Dhabi earlier this week following a firmwide vote, which closed last Friday (21 May) with a vast majority of partners backing the plans.
2 minute read

International Edition

Commentary: Hogan Lovells - no longer a deal team in need of modesty?

Given the timing and structure of the merger, it was inevitable that the creation of Hogan Lovells would lead to jokey comparisons to the UK's new coalition government. But perhaps a political allusion that better illustrates the challenge this tie-up faces is the plain fact that Lovells' transactional practice has for years been viewed in the City much like Churchill's famous putdown of Atlee: as a modest team with much to be modest about. Whether that perception was entirely fair (in truth, it was probably a little overdone), unlocking the merger's potential will require demonstrably overcoming this assumed poverty of ambition. In short, Hogan Lovells has to start looking more like a home for the City's most talented deal-doers, and a natural place to turn for major plcs with important work to get done.
3 minute read

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