Jones Day and Skadden Arps Slate Meagher & Flom have won top roles advising on the $12.5bn (£8.13bn) merger of Procter & Gamble’s (P&G) beauty business into Coty. Cadwalader Wickersham & Taft, Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer and McDermott Will & Emery provided antitrust and tax counsel on the deal. The transaction, which includes P&G brands such as […]
On Wednesday (8 July) Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer became the final magic circle firm to reveal 2014/15 financials. So what have we learned about the economic health of the top tier? On the surface it appears to have been a rather lacklustre 12 months. Clifford Chance saw revenue dip by 0.7 per cent to £1.35bn (7 […]
All the latest partner hires and other appointments within Continental European firms and offices. Benelux Belgian boutique Strelia has added an insolvency specialist to its ranks with the hire of Taylor Wessing partner Bart de Moor and two senior associates (1 July 2015). De Moor and his team joined Strelia on 1 July and the […]
Withers has promoted five lawyers to partnership across its London, Milan and San Francisco offices, including two special counsel and heads of department. Special counsel and head of the civil fraud group Stephen Ross has been promoted in London after joining the firm in 2001 from the Office of Fair Trading. Real estate lawyer James […]
Shoosmiths has advised the shareholders of Pervasive Limited on its sale of the business to Capita plc, the largest business process outsourcing and professional services company in the UK. Pervasive is an IT solutions provider specialising in enterprise wireless networks, mobility managed services and bring-your-own-device solutions. They have a large client base across a range […]
Shoosmiths has advised Birmingham-based Scrivens Opticians and Hearing Care on the acquisition of Owl Optical for an undisclosed sum. The acquisition takes Scrivens to 178 branches across England and Wales and will further increase the retailer’s presence on the high street. Owl is an independent Midlands based optical retailer, owned by brothers Simon and David […]
Many of us were left wondering quite what the Conservative Manifesto meant by “we will continue to encourage businesses and other organisations to pay [the living wage] whenever they can afford it”. That is now clearer with the announcement in the Budget that a “living wage” will replace the current levels of the national minimum […]
Wragge Lawrence Graham & Co has confirmed plans to merge with Canada’s Gowlings less than 18 months after the tie-up between Wragge & Co and Lawrence Graham.The merged firm, called Gowling WLG, will have more than 1,400 lawyers and legal professionals operating from 18 locations. The deal will go live in January 2016 and the […]
Eversheds partner and tax expert Giles Salmond has commented on the insurance premium tax (IPT) hike and VAT provisions announced in George Osborne’s July Budget. He said: “The Chancellor has announced an increase in the standard rate of IPT from 6 per cent to 9.5 per cent. Many insurers will welcome the phased approach for those using […]
Macfarlanes’ average profit per equity partner (PEP) jumped nearly 30 per cent over 2014/15 from £1.2m to £1.55m – the highest reported PEP figure of any firm so far in this year’s reporting season. PEP increased by 29.6 per cent over the last financial year, while the firm’s turnover rose by by 14.2 per cent from £139.8m […]
Wragge Lawrence Graham & Co and Canadian firm Gowlings are joining forces to create a new international law firm called Gowling WLG. The new firm will take effect in January 2016. Gowling WLG will have more than 1,400 lawyers and legal professionals operating from 18 locations across Canada, the UK, Europe, Asia and the Middle East. It aims […]
Morgan Lewis & Bockius has added to its global transactions services team in London with the hires of finance partners Matthew Duncan, Julian Goodman and Paul Matthews from K&L Gates. Duncan and Matthews were among the cohort of four London-based Sidley Austin partners to join K&L Gates in 2012, alongside Sidley partner Theresa Kradjian and […]