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Kirkland breaks own record again to make up 151 new partners and 19 in London

With the boldness the market has come to expect from the world’s highest-grossing law firm, Kirkland & Ellis has again broken its own partnership promotion record, making up 151 globally and 19 in London.

As with last year when the Chicago-bred giant outpaced itself with 145 global promotions and 16 in the City, the move continues an ascent that shows no signs of being thwarted by coronavirus concerns or any other.

In London, four new partners have been added in M&A/private equity: Henry Birch; Nick-Raj Birdi; James Hunn and Cillian Moynihan, while three have been promoted in debt finance – Stefan Arnold-Soulby; Kanesh Balasubramaniam and James Collins.

Restructuring has seen three partner promotions in Ian Clarke, Hannah Crawford and Kai Zeng and investment funds has two new partners – Agne Eriksson and Katerina Syomina.

Antitrust and competition has added two in the form of Philipp Gnatzy and Athina Van Melkebeke with financial services regulatory partner Zach Milloy also making the grade, along with technology and IP transactions lawyer John Patten, IP transactions lawyer Peter Pereira, tax lawyer Art Ward and capital markets attorney Samita T. Ali-Khan.

Perhaps the most pressing matter on the minds of law firm leaders is the thorny issue of talent retention in a post-pandemic market where careers are more fluid than ever.

However, the now 2,900-lawyer firm has an unusual model in that it makes up large ranks of salaried partners before considering promotions to its tightly-held equity. Operating a fast track, associates can make salaried partner six years after qualification – bucking the wider trend of pushing back promotions on a less clear career track.

The rest of Kirkland’s new partners have been made up in the firm’s global offices spanning Austin, the Bay Area, Boston, Chicago, Dallas, Hong Kong, Houston, Los Angeles, Munich, New York, Paris and Washington DC.

The promotions coincided with Kirkland’s announcement that it has hired Linklaters partner Julia Dixon to its financial services regulatory practice in London.

In April, Kirkland said it had added $680m to its top line to beat Latham & Watkins yet again to remain the world’s highest-grossing law firm, as global turnover surged 16% to $4.83bn.

Profit per equity partner (PEP) hit $6.2m, up 19% on the $5.2m for 2019 even as Kirkland’s headcount grew 5% in 2020 to 2,725 lawyers. Revenue per lawyer increased 11% from $1.6m to around $1.8m.

The firm does not disclose regional breakdowns but London was believed to have substantially outpaced global growth at around 29%, growing revenue from $425m to roughly $550m.

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This article first appeared on Legal Business.

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Dealwatch: Golden ticket for Skadden and Taylor Wessing as they lead on Netflix’s Roald Dahl acquisition

Pundits on the apparently unceasingly bullish deal markets have become well-versed in pointing to sectors that have particularly been stoked by altered habits wrought by the coronavirus pandemic, with varying degrees of credibility. Nevertheless, scrolling through the mass of deals announced in the past week or so, one in particular stands out as indubitably part of that trend – the acquisition by Netflix of The Roald Dahl Story Company Limited – which manages the literary works, copyrights and trade marks of the internationally renowned author.

Indeed, the rationale (and value) of the transaction is plain to see in a world where complaints of having run out of things to watch on the now-ubiquitous television and film streaming giant has become a common refrain among peers and clients alike.

The transaction entitles Netflix rights to the entire literary estate of Dahl, which includes iconic novels and short stories for children and adults, including Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, Esio Trot, Fantastic Mr Fox, The BFG, James and the Giant Peach, Matilda, The Twits and The Witches.

For Netflix, which has an existing relationship with The Roald Dahl Story Company on certain licensing agreements, the acquisition is a logical next step as it strives to have a steady stream of new and refreshed content on its platform to meet heightened demand and attract a wider audience.

Skadden advised Netflix on the deal with a team led out of London by Simon Toms and including tax partner Alex Jupp, IP, IT, data protection & cybersecurity counsel Eve-Christie Vermynck and banking partner Clive Wells. The team also included Brussels antitrust partner Bill Batchelor and IP & tech partner Ken Kumayama in Palo Alto.

Taylor Wessing advised the Roald Dahl Story Company with a team led by James Goold while US advice was provided by Wilson Sonsini, led by Mark Holloway.

Elsewhere, Bain Capital Private Equity’s €1.7bn acquisition from Rolls-Royce of ITP Aero, an engine and gas turbine manufacturer, proved a complex mandate for Kirkland & Ellis, Latham & Watkins and Eversheds Sutherland.

The deal saw Bain lead a consortium of Spanish and Basque companies, including SAPA and JB Capital, to acquire the asset, requiring buy-in from a number of stakeholders, including the Spanish government.

The sale is part of Rolls-Royce’s disposal programme announced in August 2020 to raise proceeds of at least £2bn, and is consistent with the company’s strategy of reducing capital intensity while maintaining a key long-term strategic supply relationship. The €1.7bn proceeds will be used to rebuild the Rolls-Royce balance sheet in line with its medium-term ambition to return to an investment grade credit profile. The transaction has been approved by the board of Rolls-Royce and is expected to close in the first half of 2022. Bain also said it was open to offers from further Spanish and Basque industrial partners to join the consortium with 30% of the equity until mid-2022.

Advising Bain was longstanding adviser Kirkland, with a London team led by corporate partners Rory Mullarkey and Jacob Traff and including debt finance partners Neel Sachdev and Eric Wedel, as well as capital markets partner Tim Cruickshank.

Latham & Watkins advised the banks with a team headed by Mo Nurmohamed, the firm’s co-chair of the London finance department.

Another notable transaction saw the £1.1bn acquisition of Blue Prism Group by Bali Bidco, a newly-created investment vehicle indirectly owned by funds managed by Vista Equity Partners.

Blue Prism is a robotic process automation provider with users globally in around 2,000 businesses, including Fortune 500 companies. The platform provides systems, cognitive tools, applications and technologies, including AI, machine learning, OCR and the Blue Prism Digital Exchange, a set of automation components available to business users.

Vista invests exclusively in enterprise software, data and technology-enabled organisations. The buyer plans to transfer Bidco to TIBCO Software, a portfolio company of Vista, when the deal closes.

Simpson Thacher acted for Bali Bidco, the Vista Funds and TIBCO on the transaction, with a London-based team led by M&A partner Ben Spiers. Ashurst advised Goldman Sachs, the financial adviser to TIBCO, with the team led by finance partner Tim Rennie and corporate partner Tom Mercer.

Meanwhile with an ESG angle, Macfarlanes won a role advising on the launch of Octopus Investments’ fund operated by FundRock Partners, its first retail fund with a sustainable investment mandate.

The fund aims to back innovative firms whose activities align with the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals and at the same time deliver long-term growth. As ESG accountability ramps up for all major businesses, the delivery of data and an annual report will help investors interpret the actions of investee companies.

The Macfarlanes team was led by investment management partner Lora Froud.

Finally, and in a similar vein, Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer advised SSE Renewables, the developer, owner and operator of renewable energy, on an agreement with Japanese developer Pacifico Energy on a JV to create offshore wind projects in Japan. The project is in line with Japan’s offshore wind targets of 10GW by 2030 and 30-45GW by 2040 as it seeks to decarbonise and achieve greater energy independence.

The Freshfields team was led by partners Nick Jones, David Mendel, Helen Buchanan and Peter Clements in London, partners Takeshi Nakao, Kaori Yamada in Tokyo, and partner Thomas Ng in Hong Kong.

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This article first appeared on Legal Business.

 

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Pinsents, Travers Smith and easyJet the big winners as Legal Business Awards returns to Grosvenor House

Pinsent Masons, Travers Smith and easyJet were among the major winners at the 2021 Legal Business Awards, which returned as a live event following the pandemic, bringing together 600 guests in Covid-safe conditions at the Grosvenor House hotel on 30 September.

Hosted by prominent political figure William Hague, the evening saw Pinsents crowned Law Firm of the Year for a third time, with judges impressed by the firm’s desire to match strong financial performance with its commitment to ESG principles, client handling and innovation.

Travers, meanwhile picked up two awards – CSR Programme of the Year and David Patient, who led the firm with distinction as managing partner until handing the baton over in July, was named Management Partner of the Year.

Maakie de Bie, easyJet’s highly respected general counsel, was named GC of the Year while her legal team had a strong night overall. The airline also came Highly Commended in the In-House Team of the Year category behind the winner EDF Energy, while Rebecca Mills was Highly Commended in the Rising Star In-House Counsel of the Year category in which Chris Thomas of Brewin Dolphin was chosen as the winner.

Elsewhere, US firms Cleary Gottlieb and Kirkland & Ellis enjoyed successful evenings. Cleary won Corporate Team of the Year for advising advising Euronext on its acquisition of Borsa Italiana from the London Stock Exchange, while the firm was runner-up in CSR category to Travers. Kirkland was also a runner-up in the US Law firm of the Year category, which went to Simpson Thacher, but did pick up one of the most highly contested awards of the evening – Restructuring Team of the Year.

Elsewhere, Gowling WLG also deserves mention for being named joint runner-up in the TMT Team of the Year category, alongside Bristows, for their work on either side of Oxford/AstraZeneca deal to develop a Covid-19 vaccine, while also winning Competition Team of the Year for successfully representing Preventx in a dispute with Royal Mail over access to the Freepost service. Sidley emerged victorious in the prestigious Private Equity Team of the Year category, while Freshfields was awarded Commercial Litigation Team of the Year after standing out for representing WEX in a groundbreaking material adverse cost case related to the Covid pandemic.

A special thanks goes to our external judging panel of prominent general counsel who selected the winners. They are:  Kate Cheetham, group general counsel, Lloyds Banking Group; Chris Fowler, GC Technology, BT; Nigel Paterson, GC and company secretary, Dixons Carphone; Ruwan De Soyza, GC and company secretary, Xplor; Lucy Vernall, GC and chief people officer, Funding Circle; Christian Keim, head of international legal, Adobe; Neil Murrin, GC and director – regulatory affairs, Trainline; Angus McBride, GC, News UK; Geoffrey Timms, GC and company secretary, Legal & General; Matt Wilson, GC, Fremantle; Nayeem Syed, senior director – technology, procurement and IP, London Stock Exchange Group; and Kate Danson, group general counsel, SThree.

A full list of the winners can be seen below, and our November/December edition will include a full report of the night. For more detail on the awards in general, please click here.

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Legal Business Awards 2021 – The Winners

RPC – TMT Team of the Year

Latham & Watkins – Finance Team of the Year

Skadden – International Arbitration Team of the Year

Kirkland & Ellis – Restructuring Team of the Year

Gowling WLG – Competition Team of the Year

Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer – Commercial Litigation Team of the Year

Forsters – Private Client Team of the Year

Hebert Smith Freehills – Insurance Team of the Year

Cleary Gottlieb – Corporate Team of the Year

Sidley – Private Equity Team of the Year

CMS UK – Real Estate Team of the Year

Tapestry Compliance – Boutique Law Firm of the Year

Scania – Most Transformative In-House Team of the Year

Diala Minott, Paul Hastings – Lawyer of the Year

Travers Smith – CSR Programme of the Year

Arthur Cox – International Firm of the Year

Chris Thomas, Brewin Dolphin – Rising Star In-House Counsel of the Year

EDF Energy – In-House Team of the Year

David Patient, Travers Smith – Management Partner of the Year

Simpson Thacher – US Law Firm of the Year

Maaike de Bie, easyJet – GC of the Year

Crown Office Chambers – Chambers of the Year

Shoosmiths – Legal Technology Team of the Year

Setfords – Regional/Offshore Firm of the Year

Pinsent Masons – Law Firm of the Year

This article first appeared on Legal Business.

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Dealwatch: Latham and Linklaters bet on £2.2bn William Hill disposal as £1.2bn easyJet rights issue flies

While it could hardly be said to have slowed down over summer, the deal market has nevertheless ramped up since the beginning of September with easyJet’s £1.2bn rights issue and Caesars’ £2.2bn disposal of William Hill’s international business among the more high-profile recent transactions.

Latham & Watkins and Linklaters won lead roles as 888 Holdings agreed to acquire the international business – the non-US assets – of William Hill at an enterprise value of £2.2bn.

The deal was the result of a hotly-contested auction process run by Deutsche Bank and followed on from the closing in April this year of Caesars Entertainment’s £2.9bn takeover of William Hill with a view to building out its US business, a buyout originally announced in October 2020.

Ed Barnett, the Latham relationship partner for 888 who led on the deal, told Legal Business: ‘This was a very competitive process. Caesars had made it clear to the market that it was going to sell the non-US assets of William Hill, so it was expected to be competitive. Deutsche Bank ran a very successful auction. We understand bidders were mostly comprised of private equity houses but also some private equity and strategic combinations. It’s obviously a very well-known, longstanding brand and so it is a real asset in the space and once the deal closes it’s expected to put 888 in a strong position as a significantly bulked-up business.’

Barnett was also bullish on the wider market outlook: ‘There’s certainly been a lot of activity in the gaming sector in the UK and US and you’re going to continue to see transactional activity, SPAC-related deals and tie-ups between US and European/UK businesses in the gaming space. As individual states in the US relax gaming-related regulations we anticipate more activity. It’s a very hot sector in which Latham has been, and will continue to be, very active.’

Latham corporate partner Sam Newhouse also advised on the deal, while Anna Ngo dealt with capital markets matters, Jay Sadanandan and James Burnett provided finance advice and Jonathan Parker gave antitrust advice. Employment and benefits matters were handled by partner Sarah Gadd, IP by Deborah Kirk, tax by Helen Lethaby and real estate matters by Quentin Gwyer.

The Latham team advised in conjunction with 888’s long-term counsel, Israeli firm Herzog Fox & Neeman, whose team was led by managing partner Gil White. The Linklaters team advising Caesars was led by London corporate partner Iain Fenn.

Meanwhile, the £1.2bn rights issue of easyJet also piqued market interest and provided instructions for teams from Herbert Smith Freehills, Allen & Overy and Clifford Chance.

The rights issue, the largest such transaction in the UK this year, will see funds raised to increase the resilience of easyJet’s balance sheet and to fund strategic investments as air travel recovers from the Covid-19 pandemic.

The Herbert Smith team advising easyJet was led by head of UK equity capital markets Mike Flockhart and global co-head of corporate Stephen Wilkinson. Head of US securities Tom O’Neill and counsel Dennis Hermreck provided US securities advice. The easyJet legal team was led by GC Maaike de Bie.

HSF’s Mike Flockhart noted of the transaction: ‘easyJet’s rights issue demonstrates that the markets will continue to endorse companies with solid fundamentals, effective leadership and strong brands, notwithstanding the impact of Covid.’

A&O is advising Greenhill and BNP Paribas as joint sponsors; BNP Paribas, Credit Suisse and Goldman Sachs as joint global co-ordinators; and Santander and Société Générale as joint bookrunners on the rights issue, with James Roe and Jeff Hendrickson leading the team.

The firm is also advising BNP Paribas, Credit Suisse, Goldman Sachs, Santander and Société Générale as lenders under easyJet’s new revolving credit facility, announced simultaneously with the rights issue, led by A&O’s head of aviation finance, Paul Nelson.

A&O has advised easyJet’s financiers on a number of matters since the start of the pandemic, including acting for the underwriters on the company’s £400m equity cashbox placing in June 2020, advising UK Export Finance (UKEF) and the lenders on $1.87bn combined UKEF and EDG commercial facility in January – the first-ever secured transaction under the UKEF Export Development Guarantee scheme, and advising the dealers and trustee on easyJet’s £1.2bn bond issue in February 2021.

CC acted for easyJet on matters relating to shareholder enfranchisement with a team led by partners Daud Kahn and Melissa Fogarty.

Elsewhere and continuing the transport theme, RAC and its shareholders – including funds managed or advised by CVC Capital Partners and GIC – sold a stake in the UK breakdown assistance provider to Silver Lake.

Together with GIC and CVC, Silver Lake will support RAC in its goal of further improving its digital capabilities and leveraging its data to provide more innovative products and services for RAC members and partners to accelerate growth.

Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer advised longstanding clients RAC and the selling shareholders with a team led by partners Alastair Brown and Charles Hayes.

Travers Smith acted for the management team of RAC with private equity and financial sponsors Partner Adam Orr leading and tax advice provided by partners Hannah Manning and Russell Warren.

Meanwhile Baker McKenzie advised Silver Lake on the acquisition of its stake, led by partner David Allen, with the team also including finance partner Matt Cox and antitrust partners Luis Gomez and Sam Mobley.

Finally, funds advised by Apax Partners and Warburg Pincus acquired T-Mobile Netherlands Holding from Deutsche Telekom and Tele2, giving the company an enterprise value of €5.1bn.

Freshfields and Simpson Thacher advised WP/AP Telecom Holdings IV, an entity jointly controlled by funds advised by Apax Partners and Warburg Pincus, on the acquisition. The Freshfields team was led by partners Markus Paul and Shawn der Kinderen, and James Howe led the London Simpson Thacher team, with Ian Barratt acting on the debt aspects of the acquisition.

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This news story first appeared on Legal Business.

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Revolving doors: A&O launches Silicon Valley tech team as Linklaters hires litigation star

In a major expansion of its US operations, Allen & Overy (A&O) has made an eye-catching move for seven White & Case technology partners to establish a new Silicon Valley presence.

Making the switch are partners Shamita Etienne-Cummings, Bijal Vakil, David Tennant, Eric Lancaster, Adam Chernichaw, Daren Orzechowski and Alex Touma. The new multidisciplinary team will be headed by Orzechowski and Vakil, with all of the arriving partners operating from the current locations in Silicon Valley, San Francisco, New York and Washington DC.

The team will offer a combined strength in technology disputes, transactions, patent litigation and intellectual property. As well as a new Silicon Valley hub, the team transfer will also provide A&O with a new San Francisco office.

A&O senior partner Wim Dejonghe said: ‘All businesses are technology businesses now. Our clients have been asking us when we will have a presence in Silicon Valley and now we are adding an offering that we will grow to serve as the firm’s centre of excellence in a range of technology areas. This is truly a top team and integrating them into our existing practice will be game-changing for us, not just in the US, but in our capabilities to serve clients in the key markets of Europe and Asia as well.’

Continuing the Magic Circle’s US push this week, Linklaters has appointed litigation heavyweight Richard Smith as a partner in Washington DC, a rare exit from Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan. With over 30 years’ experience, Smith has an established reputation in litigation, particularly in white-collar defence.

Prior to private practice, Smith spent 15 years as a senior government prosecutor and was the former principal deputy chief for litigation of the fraud section of the US Department of Justice, Criminal Division.

Adam Lurie, head of Linklaters’ dispute resolution practice in the US, commented: ‘I’ve worked across from Richard on high-profile cases and our clients will benefit from his extensive experience, outstanding judgement and exceptional advocacy skills.’

In the UK, Walker Morris has made a significant addition to its real estate group, hiring partner George Bacon from Eversheds Sutherland. Ranked by The Legal 500 as a ‘leading individual’ for real estate in Yorkshire and the Humber, Bacon was previously head of real estate for Eversheds’ Leeds office.

Bacon said: ‘As a unique one-site firm located in Leeds, Walker Morris’ entrepreneurial philosophy, excellent reputation and breadth of expertise give it a distinctive edge and I am looking forward to being a part of one of the strongest specialist real estate teams in the country.’

Bird & Bird has expanded in London with the addition of experienced corporate finance partner Nick O’Donnell, who joins from Baker McKenzie. O’Donnell has spent 20 years advising clients across the technology, healthcare, energy, retail, media and financial services sectors on M&A, equity capital markets and ESG matters.

He has significant pedigree, having worked at Allen & Overy for over a decade with secondments at Morgan Stanley and Goldman Sachs.

Matt Bonass, head of Bird & Bird’s corporate group in London, said: ‘He has an excellent track record of advising on upper mid-market, cross-border deals; and his reputation is outstanding. We’re looking forward to having him onboard!’

Finally, in New York, Squire Patton Boggs has hired tax partner Jeffrey Koppele from Ashurst. Koppele has a wide practice advising clients on both domestic and international transactions, as well as dispositions, bankruptcy and restructurings, funds and investments, capital markets transactions and real estate investments.

Mitch Thompson, global head of the tax strategy and benefits practice group, said: ‘The expansion of our US tax team is an important part of our global growth strategy and Jeff will be significant boost our US and international tax offering to clients.’

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This article first appeared on Legal Business.

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Financials 2020/21: Linklaters maintains Magic Circle resilience with double-digit profit hike

Despite the pandemic, the 2020/21 financial year proved to be an improved outing for Linklaters as revenues inched up and profits saw a robust increase.

Turnover nudged upwards by 2% to reach £1.67bn – a modest increase, but an improvement on the marginal 0.7% growth seen last year. More notable was the firm’s rebounding profits: pre-tax profit stands at £815.3m, a 12% jump from last year, while profit per equity partner (PEP) grew by 10% to hit £1.773m.

Profit per all partners, which takes into account salaried partners, was also up by 10%, reaching £1.707m.

Viewed in the additional context of Linklaters opting not to use any governmental financial support packages throughout the year, the results are a respectable upgrade.

Linklaters managing partner Paul Lewis described the figures as ‘a very strong set of financial results’. He attributed them to ‘the hard work and excellent performance of our people over that period, especially given its unique challenges’. Lewis added: ‘Our global capabilities and enduring client relationships also came to the fore as clients turned to us to help them to navigate the myriad issues arising from the pandemic.’

Lewis is still in the early days of his premiership, having been elected as successor to Gideon Moore by Linklaters’ partnership in July.

Linklaters becomes the latest Magic Circle firm to announce its financial figures this summer, comfortably keeping in line with the standards set by the rest of the group. In July, Clifford Chance similarly unveiled modest revenue growth amid pacier profit increases.

In the same month, Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer posted solid 5% increases to both its revenue and PEP, while Allen & Overy completed the trend with a 5% growth in revenue which was outstripped by a striking 17% increase in PEP.

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This article first appeared on Legal Business.

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Financials 2020/21: HFW breaks £200m revenue barrier as profits soar by 30%

HFW has continued to perform resiliently in the face of the pandemic, on 9 August posting a 3% rise in revenue to £200m and a striking 30% increase in profit per equity partner to £683,000.

There were healthy increases across the board: net profit shot up more than 26% to £59.7m, profit per lawyer was up by 30% to £123,000 and revenue per lawyer grew 6% to £413,000.

The firm attributed the positive results to a spike in client demand across its specialist sectors, namely: aerospace, commodities, construction, energy and resources, insurance and shipping.

Asked by Legal Business if the firm’s profit hike was a reflection of reduced costs as a result of the pandemic, HFW managing partner Jeremy Shebson said: ‘We certainly saw an overall reduction in costs last year – particularly in relation to international travel, practice development and overheads – which obviously had a positive impact on our profit. But we’ve also seen the benefits of an increased focus on resource management and making sure that we are operating efficiently and effectively as a global firm.’

HFW has established an effective hedge that makes it resistant to global uncertainty –  revenue is heavily diversified, with over 60% of the firm’s income generated from outside the UK. There were some eye-catching international performances too – HFW’s Kuwait office grew 40%, Abu Dhabi was up 38%, Geneva was up 24% and Shanghai expanded by 18%. London, meanwhile, saw revenue increase by 7%.

The firm also benefited from its contentious practice bias, with 70% of the business underpinned by disputes matters.

Richard Crump, HFW senior partner (pictured), concluded: ‘Becoming a £200m business is a major milestone in our continued growth as a firm, and to have recorded what is our best ever year under such extraordinarily challenging circumstances is a real testament to the talent and dedication of the people we are fortunate to have at all levels across HFW.’

In other results, at the end of July fellow insurance specialist Clyde & Co unveiled a similarly solid set of financials. Revenue at the firm grew 2% to £639.6m, while both overall profits and PEP grew by roughly 8% each to £153.5m and £715,000 respectively.

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This article first appeared on Legal Business.

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Coronavirus update: The Legal 500 pushes back research schedule to ease pressure on clients and firms

The Legal 500 is pushing back its research schedule in response to the coronavirus pandemic, suspending all client contact for the next four weeks.

At a time when law firms and their clients are under unprecedented pressure, we have taken the decision not to add to the burden. All client feedback surveys for the UK Solicitors Guide, the UK Bar and Latin America will be suspended for four weeks, until the end of April. For the UK this will affect first-time contact with London clients and client survey re-sends for everywhere outside London.

Our reason is clear: in-house legal teams have more than enough to deal with now with the impact coronavirus is having on their businesses and infrastructure. Neither they, nor the firms they instruct, need us to add to this strain.

For the same reason, we will also be extending the interview period for both London and Latin America research. It will now be possible for firms to speak to our London research team until 26 June, and to our Latin America researchers until 22 May. Interviewing for London will not start until after 30 April.

Our relationships with law firms, and their clients, are fundamental to The Legal 500’s ethos, and critical to our research. For this reason it is vital that we are as flexible as possible during this crisis.

We will continue to assess the on-going impact of the coronavirus outbreak on future research projects such as Asia Pacific, EMEA, Deutschland and the US over the coming weeks and will be equally flexible. Research for everywhere in the UK outside London is unaffected as most interviews have already taken place.

If you have questions or concerns, please do get in touch. Stay safe.

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Georgina Stanley is UK editor at The Legal 500, the sister brand to The Lex 100

Click here to see The Legal 500 statement in full

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Freshfields and Slaughters drafted as Government reveals details of Covid-19 business support package

The UK Treasury and Bank of England (BoE) have called in their go-to counsel Slaughter and May and Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer as they iron out details of the multibillion-pound support scheme to underwrite British business through the coronavirus crisis.

The UK Government announced last week the Covid-19 Corporate Financing Facility to help companies with cash flow as the rapid spread of the virus has forced governments to put a third of the world’s population in shutdown.

Under the scheme, the BoE will buy short-term bonds to ensure businesses making a material contribution to the UK economy can continue to pay staff and suppliers, upon the condition that they demonstrate they were financially-healthy before the crisis. The facility will operate for an initial period of 12 months.

Slaughters’ finance partners Matthew Tobin, Oliver Storey and Guy O’Keefe are advising the Treasury alongside corporate partner Nilufer von Bismarck (pictured) and state aid partner Isabel Taylor. Slaughters’ core role to Whitehall echoes its high-profile mandate during the financial crisis when it advised the Treasury on a wide-ranging bank bailout.

A Freshfields team led by financial services chief Michael Raffan is acting for the BoE, the Magic Circle firm’s most celebrated client.

The scheme is one of several unprecedented economic measures disclosed by the Government in response to the unfolding crisis. UK Chancellor Rishi Sunak announced on Friday (20 March) a coronavirus job retention scheme to offer all employers access to a grant covering up to 80% of the average wage to prevent widespread layoffs.

Businesses will not be expected to pay VAT for a quarter until the end of June and will not be liable for VAT deferred during that period until the end of the 2020/21 financial year.

Speaking to Legal Business about the measures, Hogan Lovells head of public law and policy Charles Brasted said they were ‘directly feeding into what our clients are thinking about in terms of how they can maximise what they retain over the next few months’.

‘It’s almost inevitably not the end of it, it’s not a one-off package,’ he added, saying that new measures will be likely to address the self-employed: ‘A lot of the measures at the moment work easily if you are on pay as you earn but not so easily if you are self-employed, and the government is looking closely about what it can do [on that front].’

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This article first appeared on Legal Business.

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Guest post: Coronavirus tears up competition regimes for foreign investments as Europe struggles to shield reeling economies

COVID-19 continues to wreak havoc with the global economy, disrupting all manner of business throughout the world. Stock markets have plummeted and many companies are having to grapple with economic damage that seemed unimaginable at the start of the year.

This unprecedented environment could afford opportunistic buyers the chance to acquire or invest in companies that have been weakened by the crisis. In addition, creditors may unintentionally find themselves in a position where they acquire control over a business.

Before the crisis, the world was already de-globalising with rising national protectionism driving calls for stronger screening of foreign investment across the globe. Now, COVID-19 has prompted some countries to take an even more drastic approach. Some national governments, notably in Europe, are now taking steps to protect companies that have become vulnerable as their economies are struggling from being taken over by foreign investors.

The Spanish government has just introduced a new temporary requirement that ex-ante approval will be required for foreign (non-EU) direct investments in strategic sectors in Spain.

This affects investments in Spanish companies by non-EU/EFTA entities where the foreign investor would (i) hold a stake of 10% or more in the share capital of (ii) acquire the right to participate in the management of or (iii) acquire control of a Spanish company, and applies to a broad range of sectors, namely:

• energy, transport, water, health, communications, media, data processing or storage, aerospace, defence, electoral or financial infrastructure and sensitive facilities;

• critical technologies and dual-use items, including artificial intelligence, robotics, semiconductors, cyber-security, aerospace, defence, energy storage, quantum and nuclear technologies, as well as nanotechnologies and biotechnologies;

• supply of key inputs, in particular energy, raw materials and food security; and,

• sectors with access to sensitive information, in particular personal data, or with the ability to control such information.

The French Minister of Economy has stated that the government is ready to protect important French companies by recapitalising them, buying shares or even taking them over. The government has also stated that nationalisation of strategic companies will not be ruled out.

The Italian government, meanwhile, is considering qualifying all Italian companies listed on the Milan Stock Exchange as ‘strategic’ for the purposes of applying the existing Special Powers rules under the foreign investment review regime. This would mean that the Special Powers, which allow the Prime Minister to veto or impose conditions on certain transactions in the defence/homeland security, telecoms, energy, and transportation sectors, could be extended to foreign investment in all Italian-listed entities.

The Hungarian government is able to prevent acquisitions by non-EEA entities in certain strategic industries (eg, finance, telecommunications, energy, defence) for public reasons, including national safety, energy supply, and financial stability. COVID-19 has prompted the government to take control of 140 strategically-important companies in various sectors.

In summary, some countries are using foreign investment screening to protect wider economic and social concerns triggered by COVID-19. At present, this approach seems to be limited to Europe, which makes sense as this region has been declared, for now, as the ‘epicentre’ of the global pandemic. However, as the virus continues to spread, it is possible other countries could take a similar stance to protect their national interests and economies.

These developments highlight the need for investors to carefully consider foreign investment review risks at this highly-sensitive and volatile time both for deals currently underway and transactions being contemplated. Cross-border transactions in strategic sectors will likely encounter tougher scrutiny and face a prolonged approval process. Taking time to understand the rules and identify a regulatory strategy – including calibrated communication with the relevant governmental authorities and thinking about the impact on deal documentation – early in the bid process will minimize the risk of delays, last-minute changes to the deal structure, or failed transactions.

For potential bidders the basic message is that the environment for corporate transactions has already been transformed in Europe by this crisis, and perhaps soon the world. Never has it been more relevant for companies to keep in mind the age-old advice for acquirers: buyer beware.

Samantha Mobley is a partner in Baker McKenzie’s competition and trade practice in London.

This article first appeared on Legal Business.