A raft of firms have helped secure a rescue deal for Clarks, following a £100m investment by private equity giant LionRock Capital. After a lengthy sale process, the deal will see the 195-year-old shoe retailer take out a CVA, allowing its business to keep all 320 stores open with no rent on 60 sites. Brown […]
Osborne Clarke has brought in a new restructuring partner to its London office. The firm has taken on Douglas Hawthorn, who until now was a partner in the banking, restructuring and insolvency practice of Michelmores. There, he had a leadership position as co-chair of its international committee, as well as an external role as vice-chair of […]
Mayer Brown, Herbert Smith Freehills, Glaisyers and Joseph Hage Aaronson are set to lock horns in early November as part of a dispute over an outstanding securities debt. Fairfield, which is part of Oaktree Capital Management, retained the assets of Industrial North West, a commercial landlord, despite the loans having been repaid in full. Industrial […]
Stephenson Harwood has made its third hire in the space of three weeks, bringing in Bryan Cave Leighton Paisner (BCLP) restructuring and insolvency partner Ian Benjamin. Benjamin joins Stephenson Harwood in November after nearly 17 years at BCLP. He began his legal career at Dechert in 2001 before moving to legacy Berwin Leighton Paisner in […]
Brown Rudnick has hired yet another partner to its global restructuring team, with Tony Horspool set to join the US firm’s London ranks. Horspool will join up with Brown Rudnick’s corporate restructuring and special situations team in the capital, following the hire of Richard Obank and Colin Ashford who defected from DLA Piper at the […]
New Look’s long-rumbling restructuring journey is emblematic of a shifting order of restructuring advisers in the City. A decade of financial engineering at the hands of private equity has left the retailer fighting and shifting between magic circle and US legal advisers. Latham’s prescient poaching of star talent has paid off, having sealed the sole […]
Linklaters and Eversheds Sutherland have won the key advisory mandates on Next’s deal to resurrect Victoria’s Secret UK. Under the newly-formed joint venture Next will acquire a 51 per cent in the lingerie brand, ensuring that it will continue to have a high street presence. Eversheds has taken the lead for Next, led by co-chair […]
Mayer Brown is beefing up its restructuring practice with a new lateral from K&L Gates. The London office of the US firm has targeted the rival by bringing in restructuring partner Barry Cosgrave, who will spend time between the City and the firm’s Dubai office. He spent over four years at K&L Gates, where he […]
Linklaters is forecast to receive the lion’s share of the £4m in legal fees that have been racked up by KPMG this year on the administration of Intu. The magic circle firm is the primary adviser to KPMG, which was appointed as the administrator upon Intu’s collapse in June. Restructuring and insolvency partner Richard Hodgson […]
Greenberg Traurig has brought in another partner from a US rival to revivify its City restructuring practice. Corporate trusts specialist Helena Nathanson joins the firm after a stint as joint head of banking at Dorsey & Whitney. She was previously head of the European corporate trust group at Bryan Cave Leighton Paisner, leaving in January […]
A complaint against a Gunnercooke restructuring partner has been made to the Solicitors Regulation Authority by Keystone, in relation to an insolvency dispute involving the two firms. In 2018, Gunnercooke partner Séamas Gray was instructed by the liquidators of Grosvenor Property Developers, after the student accommodation company was wound up. The matter is the subject […]
Litigation funder Omni Bridgeway has teamed up with Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan to fund proposed litigation brought on behalf of shareholders of Wirecard. The litigation, which is being considered against EY, follows the insolvency of Wirecard in June after allegations of balance sheet manipulation. Senior executives and leadership at Wirecard were also arrested on […]