Tag: Ashurst

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Happy 200th birthday: Ashurst chief Jenkins re-appointed for four-year term

In an emphatic endorsement of five years’ sustained revenue growth, Ashurst global chief executive Paul Jenkins has been reinstated for a further four-year term from 1 November 2022.

Having originally been elected CEO in 2016, Jenkins has successfully guided Ashurst through a tricky post-merger period, with revenues far exceeding expectations. Turnover stuttered in the years immediately following Ashurst’s 2013 merger with Australian firm Blake Dawson, but over the course of Jenkins’ tenure the firm’s revenue has jumped by 40% with an average annual growth rate of over 7%.

In the latest round of financial results in July 2021, Ashurst breached the £1m-profit-per-equity-partner barrier for the first time since the global financial crisis, while revenues received a double-digit boost to reach £711m. 

Just like in 2019, Jenkins’ appointment was based on extensive consultations with the firm’s partnership and staff as conducted by Ashurst’s board – underlining his popular internal support.

Ashurst’s global chair Karen Davies, who was elected in 2021 as successor to Ben Tidswell , said of Jenkins: ‘This significant growth has been achieved through setting a clear vision and direction for the firm and disciplined strategic planning. It has included sharpening the firm’s sector focus, strengthening our capabilities in key markets and focusing on our clients and people. Inclusion, diversity and belonging has been a particular priority, as has advancing our responsible business and sustainability agenda.’

Jenkins said he relished that his appointment will coincide with Ashurst’s 200th anniversary in 2022, before setting out his key priorities: ‘Ashurst, like any other business, will be managing the lasting effects of the pandemic during 2022 and beyond. Continuing to adjust to the societal and economic impact of the pandemic will be key, including prioritising the ongoing health and well-being of our people, and encouraging new ways of working.

‘We are focused on unlocking growth for our clients, and see opportunities across our five priority sectors arising from the significant investment by our clients in sustainability, energy transition, digital transformation and new digital assets. The opportunities for growth point to a future that is very different to the past.’

In terms of strategic highlights from his current term, the firm points to ‘significant investments’ in its new law business Ashurst Advance as well as its consulting arm, Ashurst Consulting. Ashurst claims that the Advance platform has nearly doubled in size each year of Jenkins’ tenure, while Ashurst Consulting has turned over more than £10m in revenue since its 2020 launch.

Since the 2020 financial year, Ashurst has achieved 30% revenue growth in Continental Europe. And in more people-focused achievements, the firm has reached a 30% target of women in senior leadership roles, with 50% on Ashurst’s global executive team and 61% in senior business services roles.

Looking ahead, Jenkins told Legal Business: ‘Generally law firms have had a solid 12 months. I don’t want to speak too soon but common with the market, we are seeing very strong activity over the last nine months. All the signs are positive.’

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This article first appeared on Legal Business.

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Ashurst enters US West Coast with four-lawyer Santa Monica projects play

Ashurst has launched a four-lawyer transport and infrastructure-focused base in Santa Monica, its second US office after New York.

The firm announced today (25 February) that projects partner Anna Hermelin has relocated from the firm’s Tokyo office to become managing partner of the new West Coast operations in the Los Angeles County.

The new outpost, staffed by Hermelin and three California-qualified Ashurst associates, will focus on projects and project finance work in the transport and social infrastructure sectors. Ashurst aims to grow the team to between seven and ten lawyers within a year.

A spokesperson for Ashurst told Legal Business that the launch was a reflection of mandates on the West Coast having increased significantly and was ‘aligned to the firm’s ambitions in terms of its projects, project finance and infrastructure offering’.

California has gathered increasing attention from international law firms in the last few years, although interest has mainly been focused on the booming Bay Area tech scene rather than the Los Angeles surroundings.

Some point to a growing gap between the North and the South of the state, with fewer financial institutions and public companies based around Los Angeles compared to a decade ago and reverberations across the legal industry. New York royalty Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom, for example, has reduced its LA headcount in recent years and is planning to move to smaller premises when its current lease expires in 2021.

Others however point to the growing strength of the media and entertainment scene around LA’s Century City district, with Latham & Watkins launching locally in 2014 and Paul Hastings following suit in March 2018. The burgeoning tech scene around the area ambitiously dubbed Silicon Beach, between LA and Santa Monica, is also getting more attention from investors, with Boston-bred Goodwin launching in Santa Monica last year.

Other firms to open Southern California bases recently include Baker McKenzie in March 2018 and Clyde & Co in July 2017.

The launch of Ashurst’s second US base after New York follows the firm posting robust financials in 2018/19, with revenue rising 14% to £641m and profits per equity partner soaring 31% to £972,000. The firm has made considerable headway in New York in recent years having built out a generative government-side infrastructure advisory offering.

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This article first appeared on Legal Business.

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Dealwatch: A&O and Ashurst close £1.2bn UK tunnel project as US-led buyouts take centre stage

Allen & Overy and Ashurst won leading roles on the £1.2bn Silvertown Tunnel project, the only big-ticket UK-led deal this week in a market awash with US buyouts.

A&O advised a consortium including Aberdeen Standard Investments, BAM PPP PGGM, Cintra, Macquarie and SK Group on the Silvertown Tunnel PPP with a team led by David Lee and including partners Mark Walker and Sara Pickersgill.

An Ashurst team led by partners Terry van Poortvliet and Jonathan Turner advised the procuring authority, Transport for London, on the tunnel, which will run under the River Thames and reduce congestion at the existing Blackwall Tunnel.

Lee commented: ‘This PPP deal is a significant UK infrastructure project which will bring huge benefits to South East London. It is interesting to note that in a world in which political discourse remains outspoken and disruption to our political system continues unabated, business and the public sector can still work together quietly and effectively to deliver important projects.’

Meanwhile leading US firms have dominated this week as LVMH Moët Hennessy Louis Vuitton (LVMH) acquires global jeweller Tiffany & Co for $16.2bn and eBay sold StubHub to Viagogo for $4.05bn.

Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom advised LVMH on its acquisition of Tiffany & Co for $135 per share in cash, with a valuation of roughly $16.2bn.

The Skadden team was led by New York partners Howard Ellin and Sean Doyle. Allen & Overy advised the banks financing LVMH with a team led by counsel Thomas Roy and partners London-based partner Nick Clark and Todd Koretzky out of New York providing support.

Roy commented: ‘Assembling loan facilities of this size in such a short time period is a testament to the strength of LVMH’s banking relationships and the depth of the European loan market.’

A Sullivan & Cromwell team led by New York corporate partners Frank Aquila and Melissa Sawyer advised Tiffany.

The deal is expected to close in the middle of 2020 and is subject to customary closing conditions, regulatory approvals and approval from Tiffany’s shareholders.

Meanwhile, Wachtell Lipton Rosen & Katz, Skadden and Kirkland & Ellis have all won lead mandates alongside Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan as eBay agreed to sell StubHub to Viagogo for a purchase price of $4.05bn in cash.

Both StubHub and Viagogo are ticket marketplaces occupying the live sport, music and entertainment events space, with Viagogo having a much larger international presence, while StubHub is exclusively based in the US. Viagogo’s founder and chief executive Eric Baker co-founded StubHub in 2000 but left the company before eBay acquired it for $310m in 2007.

Baker commented: ‘It has long been my wish to unite the two companies. Buyers will have a wider choice of tickets, and sellers will have a wider network of buyers. Bringing these two companies together creates a win-win for fans – more choice and better pricing.’

Ebay is being advised by a Wachtell team led by corporate partners Daniel Neff, Karessa Cain and Raaj Narayan and includes restructuring and finance partner John Sobolewski and tax partner T.Eiko Stange. Quinn Emanuel is also advising eBay.

Viagogo is being advised by a Skadden team led by M&A partners Howard Ellin and Michael Chitwood and IP and technology partner Stuart Levi as well as a Kirkland team led by debt finance partners Jason Kanner and Andrea Weintraub and capital markets partner Sophia Hudson.

The sale is expected to close by the end of the first quarter of 2020 and is subject to regulatory approval and customary closing conditions.

Finally, Skadden also led on another big-ticket transaction, advising PayPal in its $4bn acquisition of Honey.

The Skadden team advising PayPal was led by corporate partner Michael Mies and antitrust/competition partner Ingrid Vandenborre. Latham & Watkins advised Honey Science Corporation with a team led by Los Angeles corporate partners Alex Voxman and Jordan Miller.

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This article first appeared on Legal Business.

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Global firms lined up to advise as Thomas Cook rescue talks fail

With news this weekend that Thomas Cook is on the brink of collapse and has ceased trading with immediate effect, a number of global elite firms have been lined up to advise on the latest high-profile collapse of a household name.

Ashurst is advising  the Official Receiver as well as AlixPartners and KPMG, which were appointed as special managers in respect of certain Thomas Cook entities, while Slaughter and May and Latham & Watkins are advising Thomas Cook. Insolvency practitioners from AlixPartners have been appointed as special managers over the airline and tour operator companies, while practitioners from KPMG have been appointed as special managers to the group’s retail division and to its aircraft maintenance companies.

Giles Boothman, Olga Galazoula and Lynn Dunne are leading the Ashurst team, with Crowley Woodford and Ruth Buchanan advising on the employment law aspects and Derwin Jenkinson, Tom Mercer and James Fletcher focusing on the corporate side. Meanwhile, the Slaughters team is being led by Tom Vickers and the Latham team is headed by partners Nick Cline, John Houghton and James Inness.

A Reed Smith team from the UK, Germany and the US are advising the Civil Aviation Authority in relation to the insolvency. The Civil Aviation Authority and AlixPartners will work together to deal with the repatriation of all stranded customers. The team is led by partners Richard Spafford who is advising on licensing and regulatory issues, Charlotte Møller leads on the insolvency law and contingency planning for the repatriation, while Nick Williams is advising on the financial aspects.

Chief executive of Thomas Cook Peter Fankhauser commented: ‘We have worked exhaustively in the past few days to resolve the outstanding issues on an agreement to secure Thomas Cook’s future for its employees, customers and suppliers.  Although a deal had been largely agreed, an additional facility requested in the last few days of negotiations presented a challenge that ultimately proved insurmountable.’

In July, a team led by restructuring partner Ian Johnson, financing partner Ed Fife and corporate partner Richard Smith from Slaughters and a team from Latham & Watkins advised Thomas Cook Group in relation to the proposed recapitalisation plan.

Thomas Cook was looking for a £750m investment and was in talks with its largest shareholder, Fosun Tourism Group, as well as the company’s core lenders on a substantial new capital investment as part of a proposed recapitalisation and separation of the group.

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This article first appeared on legalbusiness.co.uk.