Macfarlanes LLP
Macfarlanes LLP provides 'strong technical expertise, commercially pragmatic advice, and great value for money'. The firm has one of the most prominent buy-side practices in the London market, and its work spans prime brokerage, derivatives, repos, clearing, and debt trading. Will Sykes (who has 'a deep and unparalleled understanding of prime brokerage and financing documentation') and Chris Acton (who is 'able to cut through the technical rules to give pragmatic and commercial advice') lead the practice. Acton and senior counsel Rob Daniell assisted Spanish defence and technology company SAPA Placencia Holding with an equity collar confirmation entered into with ING Group in order to partially finance the acquisition of shares of Spanish IT and defence systems company Indra Sistemas .Richard Fletcher, who advises numerous financial institutions, corporates, fund managers, investors, servicers and trustees, and hedge fund adviser Christine Long also play central roles in the practice.
Legal 500 Editorial commentary
Testimonials
Collated independently by Legal 500 research team.
‘Strong technical expertise and provide commercially pragmatic advice. Great value for money.’
‘We have worked with Macfarlanes on a number of different projects over the years and they are consistently excellent.’
'A deep bench of talented associates led by a very hands-on and experienced partner in Will Sykes.’
‘Will Sykes has a deep and unparalleled understanding of prime brokerage and financing documentation, developed and refined over a number of years of close work with key clients. He is able to leverage this experience to provide clients with up to date insights on trends and "market standard" practices’
‘Macfarlanes has a very experienced team on all legal fields of expertise relevant for an institutional investor. The team's approach is consistently a good balance of knowledge with practicality in getting to a close.’
'The team is unique in having so much experience in working with hedge funds and trading firms on their derivative work.'
'Chris Acton is exceptional. He is able to cut through the technical rules to give pragmatic and commercial advice.'
'Alex Coyne is extremely knowledgeable, responsive and we place total confidence in his abilities. He employs a robust commercial approach to all matters on which he's engaged and that suits us very well.'
‘We have a longstanding relationship with Chris Acton and now Alex Coyne. Both are responsive and always apply their advice based on the commercial risks and interests of the type of firm we are. They are very pragmatic.’
Key clients
- BT Pension Scheme Trustees Limited
- Man Group plc
- Goldman Sachs
- Tesco Pension Investments
- Hayfin
Work highlights
- Advising SAPA Placencia Holding, S.L. on an equity collar confirmation entered into with ING Group in order to partially finance the acquisition of 5,200,000 shares of Spanish information technology and defence systems company Indra Sistemas, S.A.
Practice head
The lawyer(s) leading their teams.
Will Sykes, Chris Acton