FIRMS TO WATCH 2018 - International Financial Law Review

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FIRMS TO WATCH 2018 - International Financial Law Review
FIRMS TO WATCH 2018

     W W W. I F L R 10 0 0 . C O M
FIRMS TO WATCH 2018 - International Financial Law Review
IFLR1000 FIRMS TO WATCH

                                                     Introduction
4 & 8 Bouverie Street, London EC4Y 8AX
e-mail: [initial][surname]@iflr1000.com
Customer service: +44 20 7779 8610

Editor                                               Welcome to the first edition of IFLR1000 Firms to Watch.
Ben Naylor

Journalists                                          Firms to Watch is a spin-off supplement from the IFLR1000, the guide to the world's leading
Hanna Choi, Sam Duke, Adam Majeed, Rani
Mehta, Jon Moore, Kurt Stumpo                        financial law firms, designed to highlight firms which have recently been developing in
                                                     interesting ways.
Production manager
Richard Oliver

Production editors                                   From a pool of thousands of firms researched by the IFLR1000 team last year, less than 45
Ana Mesquita, Katy Heales                            made the final group which appear in Firms to Watch.
Head of Business Development
IFLR/IFLR1000
Liam Sharkey
                                                     Those firms selected to feature in the supplement were chosen for successfully breaking into
                                                     new markets or generally expanding astutely in footprint or headcount (or a combination of
Business development managers
Anicette Indiana, Sanawa Mtalo, Paul Ptaschne        both), for gaining in market share of interesting transactional work, and for adopting new
Global Head of Sales, LMG
                                                     and innovative client services and internal programmes.
Richard Valmarana

Managing Director, LMG                               Firms in the supplement vary from one-office domestic boutiques to some of the largest
Tim Wakefield                                        international firms in the world and groups of regional firms linked through a centralised
Divisional Director, Specialist Information          network.
Division
Danny Williams
                                                     The appearance of some firms in the supplement may seem surprising given these are already
Directors: David Pritchard (Chairman), Andrew
Rashbass (CEO), Colin Jones, Sir Patrick             household names (in legal circles at least). Some international firms were included on the
Sergeant, Andrew Ballingal, Tristan Hillgarth,       basis of developments at the firm as a whole, others in relation to specific markets where they
Imogen Joss, Tim Collier, Kevin Beatty, Jan
Babiak, Lorna Tilbian                                have recently grown in prominence.
© Euromoney Trading Limited 2018
                                                     What all firms appearing in Firms to Watch share is ambition, and a strategy to develop
The copyright of all editorial matter appearing in
this guide is reserved by the publisher. No          which has proven successful in the short-term and bodes well for the near future.
matter contained herein may be reproduced,
duplicated or copied by any means without the
prior consent of the holder of the copyright,
requests for which should be addressed to the
publisher. No legal responsibility can be
accepted by Euromoney Trading Limited or
IFLR1000 for the materials which appear in this
publication.

Printed in the UK by Buxton Press, Buxton, UK.

                                                     Contents
                                                     2    |   Africa Legal Network                     17   |   Meysan Partners
                                                     3    |   Allen & Gledhill                         18   |   Morgan Lewis & Bockius
                                                     4    |   Balcıoğlu Selçuk Akman Keki              18   |   Norton Rose Fulbright
                                                     4    |   BDGS Associés                            20   |   Ogier
                                                     5    |   BDK Advokati                             20   |   PeliFilip
                                                     6    |   BlackOak                                 21   |   Pérez-Llorca
                                                     7    |   BLP                                      21   |   Philippi Prietocarrizosa Ferrero DU &
                                                     7    |   Bruun & Hjejle                                    Uría
                                                     8    |   Buddle Findlay                           22   |   Pinsent Masons
                                                     8    |   Dechert                                  22   |   Riolo Calderaro Crisostomo
                                                     9    |   Dentons                                  23   |   Sidley Austin
                                                     9    |   DLA Piper                                24   |   Simmons & Simmons
                                                     10   |   Domański Zakrzewski Palinka              25   |   SRS Advogados
                                                     10   |   Erdinast Ben Nathan Toledano & Co        25   |   Taylors
                                                     12   |   Fenwick & West                           26   |   Trilegal
                                                     12   |   Ferrere                                  27   |   Walder Wyss
                                                     13   |   Fieldfisher                              28   |   Waselius & Wist
                                                     13   |   Garrigues                                28   |   Watson Farley & Williams in
                                                     14   |   Gibson Dunn & Crutcher                            association with LVN & Associates
                                                     14   |   Goodwin Procter                          29 |     White & Case
                                                     15   |   Jingtian & Gongcheng                     30 |     Yulchon
                                                     16   |   Latham & Watkins                         31 |     ZICO Law
                                                     16   |   Mayora & Mayora

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IFLR1000 FIRMS TO WATCH

Africa Legal Network
Who are they?                                                firms were previously employed by
Africa Legal Network (ALN) is a network of                   international firms in Paris and London.           Recent transactional highlights
16 independent African firms (all in                            Further south, the network signed up new        • ajinomoto $532 million acquisition
different countries), which work in                          domestic members in Botswana, Guinea,                of 33% stake in Promasidor
association with Webber Wentzel in South                     Madagascar, and Mozambique between                   (acquirer)
Africa, a firm which itself has a formal                     2016 and 2017. Of these additions, Desai           • moatize-Nacala railway and port
relationship with Linklaters. The network                    Law Group in Botswana and ABBC in                    project (lenders)
also has one member firm in the Middle                       Mozambique were arguably the most                  • Nairobi-mombasa Expressway
East, through the-Dubai based Anjarwalla                     significant, with both firms boasting good           (project developer)
Collins & Haidermota.                                        reputations in their markets. ABBC also has        • Neptune Energy Group $3.9 billion
   The member firms in the network are all                   recent experience of high profile domestic           acquisition of ENGiE E&P
generally active in transactional work and                   work, including advising on the financing of         international (acquirer)
most are among the leading firms in their                    the Moatize-Nacala railway and port project.       • sangaredi bauxite mine (borrower
markets for this type of advice.                                In addition to more wholesale expansion           / project developer)
   Looking at ALN’s geographical strength,                   by the network, ALN’s member firms have
its member firms with a Tier 1 IFLR1000                      also grown through mergers and hires.              IFLR1000 Leading Lawyers
ranking are in Burundi, Kenya, Malawi,                       ALN’s Mauritius member (BLC Robert &               Highly regarded: 26
Mauritius, Nigeria, Tanzania, Uganda and                     Associates, as it is now called) merged with       Rising star: 3
Zambia.                                                      Etude Robert in July 2016, adding 22
                                                             lawyers to its team, including partner Andre
Why now?                                                     Robert. In Botswana, Desai Law Group            consultant Jean-Baptiste Blanc since 2016.
ALN grew substantially between 2016 and                      merged with Akheel Jinabhai and Associates,     In Uganda, MMAKS Advocates appointed
May 2017, expanding its capacity in                          giving the firm additional corporate capacity   Shellomith Irungu as a director and head of
Lusophone and Francophone Africa and                         and a strong property practice.                 banking and finance. In Zambia, Musa
entering five new markets.                                      There have been numerous senior lateral      Dudhia & Co recruited senior associates
  The recent additions to the network                        hires within the network in the previous two    Yosa Yosa and Mulopa Ndalameta.
included two member firms in North Africa                    years. In Kenya, Anjarwalla & Khanna has
– Bourabiat Associés in Algeria and BFR &                    recruited partner Aleem Tharani, senior
Associés. The founding partners of both                      associate Gunraj Singh Arora, and

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Allen & Gledhill
Who are they?                                    than 25 years’ experience.
Full-service Singapore firm Allen & Gledhill        The firm has advised on a number of             Recent transactional highlights
is one of the largest in the country and has     significant deals in Myanmar recently,             • international Beverage company
international offices in Malaysia and            including the largest ever inbound                   $742 million acquisition of 75% in
Myanmar. The firm employs 300 lawyers            acquisition (International Beverage                  myanmar Distillery company
domestically and another 100 abroad.             Company’s acquisition of 75% in Myanmar              (seller)
   In transactional work, the firm ranks in      Distillery Company) and only the fifth IPO         • olam holdings $1 billion revolving
the top tier in all IFLR1000 practice area       on Myanmar’s stock exchange (TMH                     credit facility (bookrunners and
tables domestically, and internationally it is   Telecom’s IPO). Other notable work                   arrangers)
generally in the second tier. As these           includes lead partner Oo’s regular advice to       • tata steel $1.3 billion 4.45% and
rankings suggest, the firm’s Singapore team      the Ministry of Commerce on drafting                 5.45% notes issues (issuer)
is its strongest.                                trade, investment, and arbitration laws, and       • tmh telecom YsX iPo (issuer and
                                                 to the Central Bank of Myanmar on                    bookrunner)
Why now?                                         transaction law.                                   • Unilever joint venture with Europe &
Allen & Gledhill has made impressive                The firm is committed to developing               asia commercial company (joint
progress in Myanmar since opening an office      lawyers from the local market, demonstrated          venture partner)
in Yangon, Myanmar’s commercial centre, in       by its internship programme and the
2014. Since launching, the firm has              training opportunities it offers for young         IFLR1000 Leading Lawyers
improved its position in the Burmese legal       Burmese lawyers.                                   Highly regarded: 21
market, leveraging successfully off the                                                             Market leader: 4
experience of its domestic lawyers.                                                                 Rising star: 6
   The expertise of the firm’s Burmese team
is a key asset. Lead partner Minn Naing Oo
has a good understanding of the local legal
market and how the government and
authorities operate. The team also includes a
former advisor to the president, U Nyan
Naing Win, and Saw Yu Win, who has more

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Balcıoğlu Selçuk Akman Keki
Who are they?                                                its recent activity. In a market rocked by
Balcıoğlu Selçuk Akman Keki is the Turkish                   social and political challenges for a number        Recent transactional highlights
partner office of Dentons. This connection                   of years, the firm has managed to not only          • akbank $1.2 billion multicurrency
gives the firm access to a global network                    maintain its activity levels and market               dual tranche syndicated term loan
covering more than 50 countries and                          position but also grow and develop its                facilities (underwriters)
including more than 7500 lawyers, with a                     offering.                                           • coca-cola icecek $500 million
significant presence in both the US and in                      Recent transactions by the firm in the e-          4.215% notes issue (issuer)
China.                                                       commerce, real estate and energy spaces             • Delivery hero frankfurt stock
   The Istanbul-based firm boasts a team                     represent some of the largest and most                Exchange iPo (shareholders)
including 13 partners in a group of more                     significant matters ever completed in those         • DP Eurasia UKla iPo (issuer)
than 75 legal professionals. The firm is able                sectors in Turkey.                                  • Vitol Group €1.37 billion acquisition
to offer clients advice in Turkish, English,                    With more than 35 lawyers advising on              of omV Petrol ofisi (seller)
French, German and Italian and the breadth                   M&A, the firm has one of the largest
of its offering covers more than 20 practice                 dedicated practices in the country. And,            IFLR1000 Leading Lawyers:
areas and 17 industry sectors. It was                        despite being part of one the of largest legal      Highly regarded: 3
established in 2007 and serves all manner of                 networks anywhere in the world, the firm
clients, ranging from individual                             makes a particular effort to service its
entrepreneurs through to major                               international client base in-house, operating
international conglomerates.                                 Japan, Germany, France and Iran desks in
   While the firm does cover a wide range of                 the Istanbul office.
different areas, it is perhaps in M&A that it                   Outside of M&A work, the firm has a
is most prominent in the Turkish market.                     prominent banking team. The practice
Other notable offerings are its energy and                   managed to secure several notable panel
banking teams.                                               wins in the recent past, most significantly
                                                             places on those of the European Bank for
Why now?                                                     Reconstruction and Development, Lloyds
Balcıoğlu Selçuk Akman Keki’s work in the                    TSB Bank, and the Mitsubishi Corporation.
M&A space has certainly been a highlight of

BDGS Associés
Who are they?                                                   The firm has adopted a similar model to
Formed in 2013, BDGS is a Parisian                           contemporaries around Europe like Campos            Recent transactional highlights
boutique focusing on competition, M&A,                       Ferreira Sá Carneiro & Associados in                • abertis infraestructuras acquisition
private equity and general corporate matters.                Portugal, the disputes focused Three Crowns           of sanef (seller)
   The firm was founded by partners, and                     in London and Paris, and Riolo Calderaro            • airbus safran launchers joint
M&A specialists, from leading French firm                    Crisostomo in Italy (featured elsewhere in            venture (Safran)
Gide Loyrette Nouel, Antoine Bonnasse,                       this guide), in establishing a smaller more         • crédit agricole assurances €715
Youssef Djehane, and Jean-Emmanuel                           focused group of elite lawyers drawn from             million acquisition of 12.95% stake
Skovron, and competition lawyer Antoine                      leading international firms.                          in icade (acquirer)
Gosset-Grainville, who joined the firm from                     Creating a successful high-level boutique        • Groupe fnac acquisition of Darty
a position as Deputy Director of the Cabinet                 is no easy feat. While individual lawyer              (acquirer)
of Prime Minister François Fillon.                           reputation as a guarantee of quality is a good      • total acquisition of 23% indirect
   The firm soon expanded further adding                     starting point, it can be a battle to win over        stake in Eren renewable Energy
Linklaters M&A partners Marc Loy and                         clients used to working with larger                   (acquirer)
Thomas Meli in 2014, Gide tax lawyer                         established brands. Nevertheless BDGS’s
Guillaume Jolly in 2015, Freshfields                         steady expansion and transactional record           IFLR1000 Leading Lawyers
competition partners Maria Trabucchi and                     speaks for itself.                                  Highly regarded: 4
Jérôme Fabre from in 2016, and Weil                             To give just a few examples, Bonnasse and
Gotshal finance lawyer Anne-Sophie Noury,                    Gosset-Grainville advised on a significant
also in 2016.                                                joint venture between Airbus and Safran          areas and perhaps signals the intention to
                                                             Safran in 2016, which was shortlisted for an     compete on more fronts with France’s larger
Why now?                                                     IFLR award, and in late 2017 Skovron and         firms.
The French market, and Paris in particular,                  Marc Loy advised Total on the acquisition of
has seen quite a change in the last few years                a 23% stake in Eren Renewable Energy.
in terms of new nimble firms setting up                         In 2018 the firm moved into the litigation
shop and challenging the larger more                         market with the hire of Kyum Lee from Weil
established outfits, but BDGS is arguably                    Gotshal & Manges. The move marks the
the most successful example.                                 first step away from the firm’s core practice

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IFLR1000 FIRMS TO WATCH

BDK Advokati
Who are they?                                     Why now?
Established in 2004, BDK Advokati has             While BDK has long been one of the                  Recent transactional highlights
grown to become one of the leading firms in       leading firms in the Serbian market, the past       • Expobank cZ acquisition of marfin
Serbia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, and               few years has seen it act on significant              Bank Beograd (acquirer)
Montenegro and an established brand               projects that have garnered attention outside       • hesteel Group €46 million
alongside contemporaries such as JPM and          of its home market.                                   acquisition of Zelezara smederevo
Karanović & Nikolić. The firm is frequently          According to managing partner Tijana               steel mill (acquirer)
seen on some of the largest deals in the          Kojović, the firm has placed an increased           • Kovačica 104.5mw wind farm
market, rubbing shoulders with                    emphasis on infrastructure work as this part          (project developer)
international firms and CEE regional firms        of the market has grown. As well as advising        • italy-montenegro 1000mw subsea
headquartered in Austria.                         on several notable energy projects                    electricity interconnector (project
   The firm is part of the SEE Legal              (particularly wind farms), the firm has also          developer)
network, which covers not only the Western        acted on matters including the electricity          • Pančevo 208mw gas power plant
Balkans but also has member firms in              interconnector between Italy and                      (EPC contractor)
jurisdictions such as Greece, Romania and         Montenegro, the City of Belgrade waste
Turkey. The network can back up its claims        management PPP, and the concession for the          IFLR1000 Leading Lawyers
of being a group of leading firms, with           operation of Nikola Tesla Airport.                  Highly regarded: 5
nearly all its members (which includes the           The firm has also picked up notable work
likes of Kalo & Associates, Kyriakides            in other practice areas, including work on
Georgopoulos, and Nestor Nestor Diculescu         acquisitions and restructurings for British     clients. Designed primarily to cater for
Kingston Petersen) securing one or more top       American Tobacco and the privatisation of       clients’ ‘corporate and employment
tier ranking positions in the latest edition of   the Zelezara Smederevo steel mill.              housekeeping’ needs, the new platform will
the IFLR1000.                                        In line with the approach taken by           provide clients with access to basic
   BDK also has well established links with       international firms, BDK has also created a     documentation and resources to handle day-
international firms including Allen & Overy,      number of industry sector groups to better      to-day matters for which a full team of
Dentons, Eversheds, and Freshfields.              serve clients. The latest to launch was         lawyers is not required. With so much of the
                                                  gaming, hospitality and construction.           firm’s work now cross border, the initiative is
                                                     Kojović also highlights another new          designed to engage and expand the firm’s
                                                  initiative undertaken by the firm, the          domestic client base.
                                                  introduction of more online resources for

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IFLR1000 FIRMS TO WATCH

Blackoak
Who are they?                                                   The firm is active in the wider region in
Blackoak is a young Singapore boutique                       addition to domestically and represents          Recent transactional highlights
specialising in restructuring and insolvency                 funds clients in Hong Kong. It is planning       • BlD investments $155 million debt
work. The firm was founded in 2016 by the                    to expand its focus to provide cross-border        restructuring (debtor)
former head of restructuring and insolvency                  mediation and advising start-ups on              • Blue ocean resources $325
at TSMP Law Corporation, Ashok Kumar,                        corporate finance and alternative fund             million debt restructuring (ad-hoc
and his team.                                                raisings.                                          committee of bond holders)
   The firm has a team of 12 fee-earners                        The firm’s founder, Kumar, is one of the      • Kreuz corporate restructuring
based on Singapore’s main island.                            leaders in his field within the domestic legal     (debtor)
                                                             market. His accolades include being director     • rickmers maritime trust s$100
Why now?                                                     of the Insolvency Practitioners Association        million debt restructuring (bond
Blackoak is the only firm in Singapore                       of Singapore.                                      holders)
focused solely on restructuring and                                                                           • trikomsel s$215 million debt
insolvency work. The firm has already built                                                                     restructuring (coordinating
up a decent track record of notable                                                                             committee of bond holders)
mandates and, with the local government
attempting to transform Singapore into a                                                                      IFLR1000 Leading Lawyers
global hub for cross-border regional matters,                                                                 Highly regarded: 1
looks set to prosper in the near future.
   The boutique has expanded significantly
since opening, growing from a team of five
lawyers to 12. The firm made lateral hires in
its early stage of development between 2016
and the first quarter of 2017, but is now
focusing on recruiting and developing
younger lawyers. The firm has demonstrated
its commitment to developing young talent
by launching an undergraduate training
programme.

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BLP
Who are they?                                     defunct Arenales & Skinner-Klée.
Founded in 2003, Costa Rica-based BLP is             Further recent expansion by BLP has                Recent transactional highlights
present in four other Central American            included the firm’s hire of banking and               • alternegy $320 million bond issue
countries: El Salvador, Honduras, Nicaragua       finance lawyer Claudia Prado from real                  (issuer)
and Guatemala.                                    estate developer Grupo Calso in Nicaragua.            • autopistas del sol $350.75 million
   On a regional level the firm is broadly        In 2018 the firm promoted Prado to                      project bond issue (issuer)
active in financial and corporate work.           partner, bringing the number of partners in           • Girardot-honda-Puerto salgar
Capital markets and project finance are two       its Nicaragua office to two.                            highway PPP (lead manager)
areas where the firm has recent experience in        Some further notable international                 • medtronic sale of Patient care
high-end work.                                    growth by BLP saw the firm open a                       (seller)
   The firm’s strongest office is in Costa        representative office in Madrid in September          • one Equity investment in onelink
Rica, where its team maintains a Tier 1           2017. The branch is led by David Gutiérrez,             (investor)
IFLR1000 ranking and has received IFLR’s          a Costa Rican partner who splits his time
national Firm of the Year award for the past      between Costa Rica and Madrid.                        IFLR1000 Leading Lawyers
three years.                                         Pro bono work is a focus of the firm. This         Highly regarded: 10
                                                  is exemplified through its involvement with           Market leader: 1
Why now?                                          the promotion of the ‘Yo Puedo Y Vos’                 Rising star: 2
Regionalisation is a buzz-word in Central         campaign and foundation, which is focused
America’s legal market as firms seek to meet      on the social, employment and educational
client demand for multi-jurisdictional            inclusion of people with disabilities. The
advice. After BLP moved into Guatemala            firm has also been recognised by the Costa
the firm was able to boast offices in all         Rican government as carbon neutral.
Central America’s key markets, placing it in
strong position to secure significant
mandates in the region.
   The firm launched in Guatemala in 2016,
hiring partners Luis Ruiz, Rodolfo Salazar
and María Inés Arenales from the now

Bruun & Hjejle
Who are they?                                     partner and two competition partners in
Based in the heart of Copenhagen, Bruun &         2016, all from market-leading firms. In               Recent transactional highlights
Hjejle is one of the oldest extant firms in the   2017 the firm brought in another partner,             • aP møller holding $1.171 billion
Danish capital, being able to trace its lineage   on this occasion to its real estate practice,           acquisition of maersk tankers
as far back as 1878. The firm took its            and promoted four of its existing team to               (acquirer)
current form in 2009 and now boasts a team        partners.                                             • atP DKr6.9 billion acquisition of
of more than 30 partners in a group that             As a result of the firm’s development                50% stake in Danica shopping
includes more than 130 legal professionals.       strategy it has seen activity in its core areas         centre portfolio (seller)
   In the firm’s current form it is focused on    boosted significantly in the last 12 months.          • cic capital corporation, china
three key areas of practice: M&A (including       Capitalising on the growing importance of               life, munich rE Group, and Pfa
private equity and alternative investments),      Danish pension funds to the national                    Pension $1.1 billion acquisition of
real estate, and litigation and arbitration. In   investment market – an area where the firm              interPark (acquirer)
terms of sectors, the firm has a strong focus     already had one of the strongest practices –          • New Energy investment DKr6.49
on the financial sector and institutional         it has advised a number of key clients in this          billion sale of shares in Dong
investors and boasts one of the strongest and     area on, initially, private equity investments          Energy (seller)
most experienced pension funds practices in       and, more recently, debt financing matters            • PKa/Pfa acquisition of a 50%
the Nordic region.                                and investment in large-scale energy and                stake in walney Extension 659mw
                                                  infrastructure projects.                                offshore wind farm (acquirer)
Why now?                                             The energy sector has increasingly become
Since 2014 Bruun & Hjejle has been                an important area of focus for the firm,              IFLR1000 Leading Lawyers
developing its offering to be focused on          having recently advised on a number of                Highly regarded: 9
three core areas – contentious work, M&A,         regulatory, M&A and arbitration matters in            Market leader: 1
and real estate – rejecting some work that        this area. Additionally in 2017, the firm             Rising star: 2
falls outside these practices and developing      managed to secure a significant market share
its team through lateral hires and                of work in the real estate sector.
promotion.
   Recent hires by the firm have included the
addition of two M&A partners, a finance

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Buddle Findlay
Who are they?                                                Malaysian and Singaporean clients – will be
Full-service New Zealand independent Buddle                  an asset.                                             Recent transactional highlights
Findlay has offices in Auckland, Christchurch,                  Of late, Buddle Findlay’s M&A practice is          • Dick smith Electronics insolvency
and Wellington.                                              getting busier and attracting more market               (creditor)
   The firm is strong in banking and finance                 leading mandates. For example, last year the          • caltex australia NZ$340million
and restructuring and insolvency. The firm has               firm acted for Sky Network Television on the            acquisition of 77 gull service
specialist knowledge in agricultural lending,                proposed NZ$3.44 billion merger with                    stations and terminal fuel assets
aviation finance, payments, securitisation and               Vodafone NZ, which would have been New                  (acquirer)
alternative off-balance sheet finance, and in                Zealand’s largest ever corporate deal had it          • Newell Brands NZ$660 million
M&A it is steadily becoming more                             been approved by the Commerce                           acquisition of sistema Plastics
prominent.                                                   Commission. The firm also advised Chevron               (acquirer)
                                                             South Asia Holdings in the $785 million sale          • sky Network television NZ$3.44
Why now?                                                     of 100% of its shares in Chevron New                    billion merger with Vodafone NZ
The ‘big three’ was a moniker habitually used                Zealand to Z Energy. The deal involved the              (merger party)
to refer to the established elite in New                     divestment of all of Chevron’s downstream             • Z Energy $785 million acquisition of
Zealand’s legal market; however, the term has                assets in New Zealand, including Chevron’s              chevron New Zealand (seller)
fallen into disuse in recent times as the gap                interests in the Caltex branded service
between the traditional three and others has                 stations, various terminal assets and                 IFLR1000 Leading Lawyers
narrowed. Buddle Findlay played a significant                infrastructure assets held by Chevron New             Highly regarded: 6
role in this reversal and continues to.                      Zealand through joint venture vehicles.
   In January 2018 the firm hired partner                       In the near future the firm is expected to be
Terence Ng from DLA Piper New Zealand to                     involved in large infrastructure projects in       refreshed its overall strategic outlook and is
shore up its banking and finance, corporate                  Auckland as it acts for the New Zealand            looking to implement a strong internal culture
and commercial, and property-oriented Asian                  Transport Authority (NZTA) and Auckland            alongside client experience. Pro-bono work is
business practice. With increasing inward                    Transport, and has now established a joint         integral to this aspect of the firm’s culture and
investment from Asia into New Zealand, Ng’s                  venture with Bell Gully to support                 it is among the lead sponsors of the Halberg
strong links with the Asian business                         infrastructure projects.                           Disability Sport Foundation and is active for
community – including Chinese, Hong Kong,                       Finally, in the past year Buddle Findlay has    the Child Health Foundation.

Dechert
Who are they?                                                Why now?
Originally from Philadelphia, Dechert now                    In the last three years Dechert has made a            Recent transactional highlights
operates from 28 offices in 15 countries                     concerted effort to expand its footprint in           • arab republic of Egypt $4 billion
around the world with more than 900                          the EMEA region. As well as its formation               sovereign bond issue (issuer)
lawyers in its ranks.                                        of an association in Saudi Arabia, the firm           • chrysaor holdings £3 billion
    The period between 2008 and 2012 was                     has also grown its London practice through              acquisition of shell North sea oil
the firm’s busiest era of global expansion as it             several high profile hires.                             assets (acquirer)
opened offices across Asia and Europe. In                       Focusing on banking and finance and                • crown holdings proposed $3.91
2012 the firm entered the Middle East,                       private equity, the firm has raided its US              billion acquisition of signode
opening in Dubai, and in 2015 it formed an                   contemporaries for a number of partners in              industrial Group (acquirer)
association with Saudi firm Hassan                           this period. In the banking space these have          • Gméxico transportes $2.1 billion
Mahassni.                                                    included Philip Butler and David Miles                  acquisition of florida East coast
    The firm is best known for investment                    from DLA Piper, and John Markland and                   railway holdings (acquirer)
funds, structured finance, M&A and private                   Rob Bradshaw from Kirkland & Ellis. In the            • mid-Europa Partners €533 million
equity work, and high level financial                        M&A and private equity area, the firm                   acquisition of Profi rom food
regulatory advice. Outside of the financial                  returned to Kirkland for partner                        (acquirer)
and corporate sphere, anti-trust and                         Christopher Field and raided White & Case
litigation are areas of strength.                            for Ross Allardice. The firm also hired               IFLR1000 Leading Lawyers
    Individual offices have developed their                  financial services regulatory partner Monica          Highly regarded: 27
own specialties, with the London team                        Gogna from Ropes & Gray.                              Market leader: 2
known for its debt capital markets work,                        Hiring in itself is no guarantee of success,       Rising star: 19
particularly sovereign issues from the                       of course, but in Dechert’s case these new
MENA region. This specialty was recognised                   recruits have already proven their worth by
at IFLR’s 2017 Middle East awards when                       delivering on high profile mandates.               Food. As well as being the largest private
head of the practice, Camille Abousleiman,                      A clear example was Allardice and               equity deal in Romania’s history, it saw the
received that year’s lifetime achievement                    Markland’s work on CEE focused private             firm secure a key role on a CEE inbound
award for his work in this area.                             equity house Mid-Europa Partners’ acquisition      investment deal, an area traditionally
                                                             of Romanian supermarket chain Profi Rom            dominated by the UK ‘magic circle’.

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FIRMS TO WATCH 2018 - International Financial Law Review
IFLR1000 FIRMS TO WATCH

Dentons
Who are they?                                    Murray & Spens in July 2017, which added
By headcount the largest firm in the world,      200 lawyers to the firm’s roster. Other recent       Recent transactional highlights
Dentons employs more than 8800 lawyers           EMEA growth includes launching in                    • Budapest airport €1.32 billion debt
across 66 countries. The firm operates under     Georgia after taking over DLA Piper’s Tblisi           restructuring (borrower)
a Swiss verein model (Salans FMC SNR             branch, and in Iran through an association           • carillion insolvency (receiver)
Denton Group) comprising four legal              with a local firm. The firm also secured             • KKr £6 billion acquisition of
entities.                                        presences in Luxembourg and the                        Unilever’s spreads business
   Dentons’ strength in terms of                 Netherlands through mergers with national              (acquirer)
transactional advice tends to be in finance      outfits OPF Partners and Boekel                      • sultanate of oman $6.5 billion
(lending and debt securities) and project        respectively. In Germany the firm opened an            three tranche sovereign bond issue
work. Energy and oil and gas are sectors         additional office in Munich.                           (bookrunners)
where the firm is highly visible.                   In Latin America, Dentons has been                • tuban grass root refinery (sponsor)
   The firm’s geographical strength is broad,    expanding aggressively since January 2016 and
with Central Asia, Central and Eastern           now has offices in a number of markets. In           IFLR1000 Leading Lawyers
Europe, China, Latin America, and the            late autumn 2017 the firm merged with Gallo          Expert consultant: 1
Middle East all places where it is involved in   Barrios Pickmann in Peru and entered into a          Highly regarded: 119
high-end work.                                   strategic alliance with Vella Pugliese Buosi         Market leader: 8
                                                 Guidoni in Brazil. Earlier last year Dentons         Rising star: 27
Why now?                                         and Costa Rica based firm Muñoz Global
In the context of the global legal market the    merged, which also gave the firm branches in
scale of Dentons’ recent growth is               Guatemala and Panama. Going back to early        combined with Australian firm Gadens in
unparalleled. Since the firm’s merger with       2016, Dentons launched in Mexico (it has         late 2016, giving it an additional 500
what was one of China’s biggest firms,           since added a second office) and Colombia        lawyers and new branches in Sydney, Perth,
Dacheng, in 2015, it has expanded into new       through mergers with two national firms          and Papua New Guinea. Earlier in 2016,
markets in the Americas, Asia, and Europe        López Velarde and Cardenas & Cardenas.           Singapore firm Rodyk & Davison joined
through a spate of smaller combinations.            In Asia-Pacific, new markets for Dentons      Dentons’ network. Further expansion in
   One of Dentons’ more substantial recent       since January 2016 include Australia,            Asia-Pacific included new branches in
mergers was with Scottish firm Maclay            Myanmar, and Singapore. The firm                 Melbourne and Myanmar.

DLA Piper
Who are they?                                    include private equity partner Jeff Legault in
DLA Piper is a UK based international firm       New York, real estate partner Ying Deneve            Recent transactional highlights
with an extensive international network of       DuBois in Miami, and Adam Ghander in                 • atlantia €16.3 billion acquisition of
offices in more than 40 countries. The firm’s    Boston.                                                abertis infraestructuras (acquirer)
footprint extends from Europe to the                DLA has grown in Latin America too.               • Darden restaurants $780 million
Americas, Africa, the Middle East, and Asia-     The firm entered into cooperation                      acquisition of cheddar’s scratch
Pacific.                                         agreements with Chilean law firm                       Kitchen (seller and target)
   The firm’s offices generally have a broad     Bahamondez Alvarez & Zegers and Peruvian             • regional airports PPP programme
focus when it comes to transactional advice      firm Pizarro Botto & Escobar in December               (project developer)
but projects work is an area where the firm      2016 and March 2017, respectively.                   • sinopec $900 million acquisition of
often performs well. Asia, and Central              Outside of the Americas, DLA has formed             chevron south africa and chevron
Eastern and Western Europe are where the         some significant international alliances. One          Botswana (acquirer)
firm is strongest.                               came in May 2017, when the firm reached              • swansea Bay 320mw tidal
                                                 an agreement with Lagos-based firm Olajide             lagoon Power Project (project
Why now?                                         Oyewole. The move gave the firm a Nigeria              developer)
DLA Piper has been expanding at an               presence and made history as the first
impressive pace recently. In the US, the firm    agreement of this type between an                    IFLR1000 Leading Lawyers
has grown through mergers and partner            international and Nigerian firm.                     Expert consultant: 1
hires. In October 2017, it merged with Los          In Europe, DLA has extended its reach in          Highly regarded: 98
Angeles boutique Liner, increasing DLA’s         the previous two years. In March 2017, the           Market leader: 2
corporate offerings in the media and             firm merged with Portuguese firm ABBC                Rising star: 20
entertainment and real estate sectors. On        (previously the firms had a formal
top of that, the firm’s San Diego branch         relationship but ABBC was not integrated
hired corporate partner Michael Brown from       into DLA’s network) and it added Danish          Nordic region, with five offices.
firm Stradling Yocca Carlson & Rauth in          firm LETT to the network. This latter               Rounding off the firm’s recent notable
January 2017.                                    move, along with the earlier addition of         global moves, it added project finance
   DLA has also added partners to its US         Finnish firm Peltonen LMR in February            partner Matthias Schemuth in Hong Kong
East Coast offices. Some of the 2017 hires       2016, made DLA the largest law firm in the       from Ashurst in February 2017.

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IFLR1000 FIRMS TO WATCH

Domański Zakrzewski Palinka
Who are they?                                                 Fulbright, Hajduk acted on projects
Domański Zakrzewski Palinka (DZP) is a                        including the development of the Toruń              Recent transactional highlights
Polish firm established in 1993. With offices                 power plant.                                        • abris capital Partners Zl825 million
in Warsaw, Poznań, and Wrocław employing                         The firm has also been expanding in other          acquisition of GetBack (seller)
140 lawyers, DZP is one of Poland’s largest                   areas, adding disputes and industry sector          • invesco real Estate acquisition of
firms.                                                        specialists, and English law capacity in the          sheraton Grand Kraków (seller)
   DZP primarily advises on domestic work                     form of David Shasha, who will act as a             • Kraków fast tramway – stage iV
and is active on M&A, real estate, and                        bridge to UK clients in London.                       PPP (grantor)
energy and infrastructure projects. More                         The firm has also taken steps to support         • toruń 330mw gas power plant
generally, the firm has a broad practice but is               its domestic client base in relation to               (lender)
best known for disputes and tax work.                         outbound investment and deals abroad. The           • toyota Zl650 million manufacturing
   In a market that features a lot of                         ‘Go Global’ programme is specifically aimed           investment (investor)
international firms, DZP is seen as one of                    at providing advice to Polish corporates
the leading independent firms alongside the                   which are looking at global expansion. The          IFLR1000 Leading Lawyers
likes of Sołtysiński Kawecki & Szlęzak and                    firm reports picking up more regional work          Highly regarded: 11
Wardyński & Partners, and is often engaged                    across the CEE generally in the past few            Market leader: 1
(though by no means exclusively) by Polish                    years.                                              Rising star: 2
domestic clients and referring firms.                            Recent standout deals include advising
                                                              Idea Bank on the sale of GetBack, and work
Why now?                                                      on the power plant projects at Kozienice and
While DZP has been consistent in the                          Toruń.
quality of its work for several years, 2017
saw it take the fairly unique step, for a Polish
firm, of hiring a partner from an
international brand. Projects and energy
lawyer Rafał Hajduk and his team joined the
firm in April 2017 in what was quite a coup
for the firm. Previously at Norton Rose

Erdinast Ben Nathan Toledano & Co
Who are they?                                                 Zellermayer Pelossof Rosovsky Tsafrir
Erdinast Ben Nathan Toledano & Co (EBN)                       Toledano & Co, Doni Toledano. Although              Recent transactional highlights
is a full-service Israeli firm which employs                  the firm already had a good M&A practice,           • ashalim 110mw concentrated solar
around 120 lawyers and has one office in Tel                  the arrival of Toldeano, who joined with a            power plant (sponsor)
Aviv.                                                         large team and has expertise in private             • Bank mizrahi-tefahot $400 million
   EBN’s strongest transactional practices are                equity, has helped propel the firm up Israel’s        acquisition of Union Bank (acquirer)
M&A and project development, and it is the                    M&A league tables. Among the practice’s             • mexichem $1.9 billion acquisition of
preferred Israeli legal adviser of a number of                prominent transactions were advising                  Netafim (seller)
domestic and international private equity                     Permira on selling its stake in Netafim to          • sirius international insurance $656
houses.                                                       Mexichem for $1.5 billion.                            million acquisition of 47% stake in
   EBN’s sector expertise encompasses                            A further sign of the firm’s ambition was          Phoenix holdings (acquirer)
energy, infrastructure, and technology,                       the recruitment of one of the top three             • Xio Group acquisition of meitav
media and telecommunications.                                 project finance teams in Israel in 2017.              Dash (acquirer)
                                                              Again this was large practice led by a partner
Why now?                                                      with a formidable reputation in his field,          IFLR1000 Leading Lawyers
In the past two years EBN has demonstrated                    Jonathan Finklestone. Unfortunately this            Highly regarded: 3
its intention to become one Israel’s leading                  integration was not without challenges, and         Market leader: 2
firms with some eye-catching hires to                         the practice subsequently moved on.
expand and strengthen its transactional                          A productive 2016/17 saw the firm not
practices. In the M&A area particularly this                  only perform well in the IFLR1000 Israel         after one of the original sponsors Abengoa
recruitment has proven astute, enabling the                   M&A ranking – moving up to Tier 2 – but          entered insolvency, the firm advised Shikun
firm to gain a significant share of the                       also in the newly formed Project                 & Binui, another private sector sponsor, on
market’s large cross-border M&A deals,                        development table, where its work was            the complex process of replacing Abengoa
especially high-end transactions involving                    acknowledged with a Tier 1 ranking. A            and renegotiating the project contracts.
private equity.                                               stand-out role for project head Uri Noy and         EBN’s achievements in 2017 were
   In terms of impact on EBN the most                         his team was their part in salvaging the BOT     recognised by IFLR at its annual awards,
significant recent addition to the firm was                   project relating to plot A of the Ashalim        where the firm received Firm of the Year for
former name partner at the now defunct                        thermo-solar power plant. A first in Israel,     Israel for the first time.

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IFLR1000 FIRMS TO WATCH

Fenwick & West
Who are they?                                                 Kristine Di Bacco were recruited from the
Fenwick & West was founded in Silicon                         West Coast to establish the new branch,          Recent transactional highlights
Valley’s Mountain View in 1972. The firm                      signaling to New York’s many storied law         • cisco systems $1.9 billion
has three other domestic offices – San                        firms that the office was not just an outpost      acquisition of Broadsoft (acquirer)
Francisco, Seattle and New York – and an                      and Fenwick was coming to compete for            • cisco systems $7 billion six
office in Shanghai.                                           market share.                                      tranche notes issues (issuer)
   True to the firm’s Silicon Valley roots, its                  The New York office also meant significant    • facebook acquisition of msQrD
corporate practice has technology expertise                   growth in size for Fenwick’s corporate             (acquirer)
and primarily advises on M&A, private                         practice. Goldstein announced his move to        • hewlett Packard Enterprise $1.09
equity, and capital markets transactions. Life                Fenwick from Drinker Biddle & Reath at             billion acquisition of Nimble storage
sciences is another specialty.                                roughly the same time as the firm made its         (target)
   The firm is most active in the US,                         expansion to New York public. Shortly after      • sage Group $850 million
particularly for entities headquartered along                 officially opening in New York in early 2017,      acquisition of intacct (target)
the West Coast. The Shanghai office allows                    the firm added M&A and private equity
the firm access to Asia-Pacific’s busy                        partner Ethan Skerry from New Jersey             IFLR1000 Leading Lawyers
technology market.                                            headquartered firm Lowenstein Sandler.           Highly regarded: 1
                                                                 The firm has an outstanding reputation
Why now?                                                      for tech M&A. The reason for this is not
Fenwick & West’s recent growth and                            difficult to determine – the firm’s M&A
experience leading headline deals makes it a                  practice consistently represents household-
firm deserving of increased attention. In last                name technology sector companies such as
year’s IFLR1000 the firm broke into the                       Cisco Systems and Facebook on multi-
rankings for the first time, a tremendous feat                billion dollar deals.
in the States for a firm with such a relatively                  The firm’s capital markets group has
narrow industry focus.                                        garnered similar attention, while its private
   The firm’s latest expansion was its entry                  equity practice – even at only six years old –
into the New York market in May 2016.                         has gained traction as an important middle-
Corporate partners Ian Goldstein and                          market industry player.

Ferrere
Who are they?                                                    Recent significant transactions for the
Founded in Uruguay, Ferrere has a network                     firm’s Ecuador team include advising             Recent transactional highlights
of offices incorporating branches in Bolivia,                 EPMAPS (Quito’s water utility company)           • Bosques Del Uruguay iii $172
Ecuador, and Paraguay.                                        on a $70 million loan from the French              million land acquisition (acquirer)
   The firm is strongest in Uruguay, where it                 Development Agency and assisting Electricas      • cargill / Naturisa joint venture (joint
is generally considered one of top two in the                 de Medellin Comercial with contracts to            venture party)
market, but in general across its network is                  build high voltage transmission lines for a      • i squared capital $1.2 billion
active and experienced in transactional                       150MW hydroelectric power plant.                   acquisition of ic Power’s latin
work.                                                            Ecuador is not the only country where the       american and caribbean
                                                              firm has been expanding. In 2016 the firm          businesses (acquirer)
Why now?                                                      opened a third Bolivian office in                • inretail Perú’s $583 million
Ferrere is firmly established in Uruguay and                  Cochabamba.                                        acquisition of Quicorp (acquirer)
is becoming one of the leading firms in the                      The firm has been aggressive in recruiting    • Petroamazonas / cPVEN joint
other markets where it has an office.                         lawyers recently. In Uruguay the firm added        venture (joint venture party)
   Although the firm has been in Bolivia and                  banking and finance senior associate José
Paraguay for more than 10 years, its                          Lima. In Ecuador it has hired four corporate     IFLR1000 Leading Lawyers
Ecuadorian office is relatively new. Even                     senior associates and two corporate counsel.     Highly regarded: 8
before the firm opened an office in Ecuador                   In Paraguay, banking partner Carlos Codas        Market leader: 2
it began building a team of domestic                          and two corporate senior associates have         Rising star: 3
lawyers, hiring Ecuadorian Jesús Beltrán in                   joined. Finally, in Bolivia the firm as
2014. When the firm launched it added                         recruited three corporate senior associates,
partners Javier Robalino, Andrés Donoso                       energy counsel Diego Bohrt, and corporate
and Paola Gachet. Robalino and Donoso                         partner Pablo Ordóñez.
joined from what was at the time Paz
Horowitz Robalino Garces. In 2016, the
firm tripled its footprint in Ecuador,
establishing offices in the port of Manta and
Guayaquil, the country’s financial centre.

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IFLR1000 FIRMS TO WATCH

Fieldfisher
Who are they?                                    of various service providers (as of writing
Fieldfisher can trace its history back to the    Cognia Law in South Africa, eClerx in                  Recent transactional highlights
19th century, though it took on its current      India, and Donaldson Legal Consulting in               • cryolife $225 million acquisition of
form through the merger of Field Fisher          Northern Ireland) and is designed to offer               JotEc Group (acquirer)
Martineau and Waterhouse & Co in 1989.           clients cheaper technology-driven solutions            • Golomt Bank $100 million financing
More recently the firm rebranded from Field      to legal problems as an alternative to the               (lender)
Fisher Waterhouse to just Fieldfisher.           traditional partner-led model. Initially               • KazmunaiGas Exploration
   Within the financial and corporate space,     focused on derivatives and financial trading,            Production $1.95 billion GDr and
the firm is best known for its work in           the firm is looking to expand the service to             share tender offer (issuer)
financial services, particularly areas such as   cover other areas such as IT, outsourcing, life        • KGal acquisition of Gunillaberg
derivatives and structured products, and also    sciences and competition.                                and lunna wind farms (acquirer)
for work on stock market listings on AIM.           While many firms are looking at new                 • otc Europe acquisition of oil
More broadly the firm also has a good            technology as a way to assist clients,                   Brokerage (shareholders)
reputation in the tech sector and for its work   Fieldfisher is one of the few to move directly
in areas such as privacy and outsourcing.        into the area of alternative law providers,            IFLR1000 Leading Lawyers
                                                 which is usually viewed as a threat rather             Highly regarded: 8
Why now?                                         than an opportunity by traditional firms.              Rising star: 1
Fieldfisher is a good example of a firm             In addition to the above, the firm has
moving forward through new initiatives           done its fair share of expansion in the last
rather than just pure expansion.                 few years. A clear strategy of Western Europe     partners Dougall Molson from Freshfields
   A good example of this is the work the        expansion has seen the firm open in               and Richard Todd from Mayer Brown, and
firm is doing in the area of alternative legal   Amsterdam and merge with SASPI in Italy           banking and debt capital markets specialist
provision. In early 2017 the firm launched a     in the last two years, and several more office    Stephen Moller from K&L Gates.
new initiative, Condor, bringing on board        openings in the region are on the horizon.
Chris Georgiou from Ashurst to run it, with      Further afield, the firm also opened in
input from derivatives partners Luke             Beijing in 2016.
Whitmore and Guy Usher.                             The UK team has also been enhanced
   The new platform combines the offering        through the hires of structured finance

Garrigues
Who are they?                                    into. But since hiring García, Garrigues has
Based in Spain, Garrigues is a full-service      been able to secure roles on several high              Recent transactional highlights
international firm with offices in 13            value transactions including ENAP’s $700               • Banco santander chile $500
countries across America, Asia, and Europe.      million bond issue, Transmisora Eléctrica del            million 2.5% notes issue (dealers)
   Geographically the firm is strongest in its   Norte’s $111 million project financing to              • Enel chile / Enel Green Power
native Spain where it is among the leading       fund a transmission line, and Empresas                   merger (merger party)
firms in the country for all areas of            AquaChile’s $280 million refinancing.                  • KKr €1.275 billion acquisition of
transactional advice.                               Garrigues’ move into Peru is also                     40% of telxius telecom (seller)
   Outside of the Iberian Peninsula, the firm    noteworthy. The firm hired Oscar Arrus,                • la araucana $643 million debt
has its strongest regional presence in Latin     Sergio Amiel, Thomas Thorndike and Jose                  restructuring (bond holders)
America, where it maintains offices in Chile,    Francisco Meier from Rubio Leguía                      • republic of Peru Ns10.3 billion
Colombia, Peru, and Mexico that all have         Normand when it opened its Lima office.                  6.35% sovereign bond issue (initial
good reputations within their markets for        Hiring an experienced team has enabled the               purchasers)
transactional advice.                            firm to work on several innovative
                                                 transactions, including Peru’s NS10.3 billion          IFLR1000 Leading Lawyers
Why now?                                         issue.                                                 Highly regarded: 21
Garrigues is well established in several Latin      Further recent hires by Garrigues in Latin          Market leader: 1
American markets and in Chile in particular      America include the addition of Natalia Auli           Rising star: 4
it has recently been gaining market share        Giraldo and Andrés Ordóñez Rizo in
after a lateral hire.                            Colombia, and Mario Juárez in Mexico City.
   The firm first expanded into Chile when       The firm also hired Diego Harman as a
it merged with domestic firm Avendaño            principal associate in its Lima office. In the
Merino. A few months later, Garrigues made       future, the firm hopes to expand into
significant headway when it added Pedro          Argentina.
García, in what was a rare lateral hire for
Chile’s legal market. Dominated by large
local firms, Chile has traditionally been a
difficult market for global firms to break

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IFLR1000 FIRMS TO WATCH

Gibson Dunn & Crutcher
Who are they?                                                  and Jonathan Earle, in 2014. They were
Founded in Los Angeles in the 19th century,                    followed by finance partner Stephen                  Recent transactional highlights
Gibson Dunn & Crutcher now has 20                              Gillespie, who joined from Kirkland & Ellis          • Elliott management $1.6 billion
offices across 10 countries with more than                     (though he moved in-house in early 2018),              acquisition of Gigamon (acquirer)
1200 lawyers in total.                                         and, in early 2015, finance partner Philip           • Google $1.1 billion acquisition of
   The firm has extended its reach since the                   Crump, also from Kirkland.                             htc’s Pixel division (seller)
millennium, entering Asia in 2008, Dubai                          In late 2015, capital markets became the          • lennar $9.3 billion acquisition of
in 2007, São Paulo in 2009, and Frankfurt                      area of focus, with the firm adding Steve              calatlantic Group (target)
in 2016. In 2017 the firm expanded in its                      Thierbach and Chris Haynes from Herbert              • sh 130 concession company
home market, opening a new office in                           Smith Freehills (HSF). Thierbach, notably,             chapter 11 (debtor)
Houston fueled by 21 lateral partner hires.                    was HSF’s global head of capital markets. In         • the williams companies $12 billion
   The firm is best known for M&A work                         2016-17 further hires were made, with                  financial repositioning and $2.1
within the financial and corporate space,                      financial regulatory partner James Perry               billion sale of williams olefins to
with the wider firm known for competition                      joining from Ashurst, M&A and private                  Nova chemicals (seller)
and antitrust, litigation, and projects work.                  equity partner James Howe joining from
                                                               Kirkland, Anna Howell joining from HSF               IFLR1000 Leading Lawyers
Why now?                                                       (where she had co-led the energy practice),          Highly regarded: 34
Gibson Dunn & Crutcher expanded                                and real estate partner Jeremy Kenley                Market leader: 3
significantly in the UK in the past few years,                 joining from Mayer Brown.                            Rising star: 3
putting a particular focus on building out its                    The firm has made clear its intentions in
English law M&A and finance capability. It                     Germany as well, opening a second office in
is also notable that nearly all the lateral                    the country in Frankfurt in 2016 and hiring       new opportunities, opening a new Houston
partner hires – outlined below – are Leading                   two more IFLR1000 Leading Lawyers, Dirk           office in 2017 with the hire of six energy
Lawyers in the IFLR1000.                                       Oberbracht and Wilhelm Reinhardt. In              partners from Baker Botts and lawyers from
   The firm’s recent UK hiring spree started                   Asia, 2017 saw the firm hire a highly rated       Latham & Watkins and Apache
with the hire of a number of corporate and                     private equity team in Hong Kong from             Corporation.
private equity partners from Ashurst,                          Ropes & Gray.
Charlie Geffen, Mark Sperotto, Nigel Stacey                       Even in the US the firm has looked at

Goodwin Procter
Who are they?                                                  Frankfurt. The four were Marc Bohne, Peter
Founded in Boston in 1912, Goodwin                             Junghänel (both real estate), Stephan Kock           Recent transactional highlights
Procter has six domestic and four                              (finance), and Lars Jessen (private equity).         • aXa investment managers €1
international offices (three in Europe, one in                    Goodwin Procter’s more recent European              billion acquisition of Gramercy
Asia).                                                         branch opening saw the firm launch in Paris            Property Europe logistics portfolio
   Transactional work is a specialty of the                    in summer 2016 after hiring a team from                (seller)
firm, particularly capital markets and private                 King & Wood Mallesons (KWM). A                       • lennar $9.3 billion acquisition of
equity. The firm has expertise in the life                     popular a destination for in-bound private             calatlantic Group (acquirer)
sciences, real estate and technology sectors.                  equity investment, Paris is a market which           • Pamplona capital $4.5 billion
   With the firm’s international branches still                makes sense for the firm, and the team it has          acquisition of Parexel (target)
relatively nascent, its strongest offices are                  built is experienced and focused on work in          • sanofi €3.9 billion acquisition of
concentrated in North America.                                 this area. In total since opening in Paris, the        ablynx (target)
                                                               firm has hired three KWM (Christophe                 • snap NYsE iPo (underwriters)
Why now?                                                       Digoy, Maxence Bloch, and David Arnuad)
Since late 2015, Goodwin Procter has                           and two Shearman & Sterling (Arnaud                  IFLR1000 Leading Lawyers
doubled its number of international offices,                   Fromion and Frederic Guillox) partners who           Highly regarded: 5
opening two new European offices to                            all share a focus on funds work.
complement the focus of its London branch                         In the UK, Goodwin Procter expanded
and enable it to provide a better offering to                  significantly in 2017, making a substantial       Shawn D’Aguiar, Patrick Deasy, and Ajay
target private equity and real estate deals on                 addition to its practice early in the year. A     Pathak.
the mainland of the continent. In addition                     six partner, 15 associate funds team was            The firm also expanded in Hong Kong in
to expanding its European footprint, the                       recruited from KWM’s City branch. The             2017, adding private equity partners
firm has also increased the headcount of its                   group includes several well-known names on        Douglas Freeman and Victor Chen from
City branch, adding depth and quality to                       the London market, including Michael              Paul Hastings’ office.
the team.                                                      Halford, KWM’s former funds head, who
   The firm opened its first office in                         has represented PAI Partners, Triton, 3i,
continental Europe in 2015 after hiring four                   Macquarie among others. The five other
Ashurst partners in Germany to launch in                       partners were Ed Hall, Laura Charkin,

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