Anna Lawrence
Legal director, offer and supply chain
KINGFISHER
Anna Lawrence is legal director of Kingfisher’s offer and supply chain business unit. Formed in 2015, the business brings together the buying teams for a large portfolio of home improvement brands, including B&Q and Screwfix in the UK and Brico Dépôt and Castorama in France, with Lawrence now overseeing everything from managing relationships with suppliers to monitoring IP on thousands of product lines globally.
Industry/sector: Venture capital
Founded: 2009
Founders: Jeff Lynn, Carlos Silva
Chief legal officer: Karen Kerrigan
Based: London
Seedrs began as an MBA project at Oxford’s Saïd Business School before launching in 2012. In May that year it raised £1.3m in funding and received authorisation to become the first regulated equity crowdfunding platform in the world. Like Crowdcube, its model is based on bringing crowd investors and entrepreneurs together to invest in start-ups. It has now funded over 350 companies and helped to invest over £130m through campaigns on its platform.
Continue reading “The Companies of Tomorrow: Fintech and Alternative Finance”
Alexandra McGurk
Vice president and counsel, litigation
WILLIAM MORRIS ENDEAVOR ENTERTAINMENT/IMG
Recently promoted to vice president and counsel, litigation, Alexandra McGurk is described by one TMT partner as ‘a very clever lawyer who manages a diverse range of problems in a commercial manner with a high degree of focus on positive outcomes’.
Continue reading “Rising Stars: Technology, Media and Telecoms”
SECRET ESCAPES
Industry/sector: Travel
Founded: 2010
Founders: Tom Valentine, Alex Saint
Head of legal: Christine Cordon
Heralded as one of the UK’s runaway tech success stories, members-only British travel company Secret Escapes has made its mark in the travel industry selling heavily discounted luxury hotel stays and trips through its website and mobile app.
Industry/sector: Travel
Founded: 2001
Founders: Gareth Williams, Barry Smith, Bonamy Grimes
General counsel: Carolyn Jameson
Founded in Edinburgh in 2001, Skyscanner has revenues of £120m and has offices in Edinburgh, Glasgow and London in the UK with additional offices in locations including Singapore, Beijing, Miami, Barcelona, and Tokyo. The site is available in over 30 languages and on average is used by 60 million people per month.
Continue reading “The Companies of Tomorrow: Technology and Digital Business”
In a joint statement, Iain Blatherwick, managing partner at Browne Jacobson, and Antony Smith, senior partner at Beale, said the combination, which would have over 1,000 staff and 137 partners, could offer clear strategic benefits.
The London outposts of leading international firms reported mixed results for 2016, with White & Case and Baker McKenzie reporting income growth while Reed Smith and Debevoise & Plimpton both struggled.
City firms have voiced their concerns over Britain’s arrangements to leave the European Union as prime minister Theresa May pulled the trigger on article 50 last month.
Continue reading “‘An extremely big deal’: profession lays out key threats as article 50 triggered”
Eighteen firms have been appointed to the Crown Commercial Service (CCS)’s general legal advice panel in a two-year, £400m contract. The process, which splits firms between two tiers, had a significant focus on both cost and quality.
In February it emerged A&O used its bonus pool to hire a three-partner Paul Hastings team. The US firm’s leveraged finance head Bill Schwitter joined A&O’s New York office as the firm’s global co-head of high-yield alongside partner Michael Chernick and capital markets partner Jeffrey Pellegrino.
Leavers’ provisions in war for talent come under scrutiny
While the first round of a case that saw Herbert Smith Freehills (HSF) pursue an action against eight partners who quit to join White & Case in Australia has concluded, the dispute has highlighted the ongoing war over talent between UK firms and their US rivals.
KWM China buys reassurance by taking SJ Berwin name
An initial report into the financial affairs of King & Wood Mallesons’ (KWM) now defunct European arm estimates that unsecured creditors are set to lose £33.5m as the firm’s inner financial workings begin to surface.
Continue reading “Unsecured creditors to lose almost £34m as KWM Europe admin continues”
With the asset management market tipped for further consolidation, Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer scored a role alongside Slaughter and May and Maclay Murray & Spens on Standard Life and Aberdeen Asset Management’s £11bn merger in March.
Continue reading “Freshfields wins mandate on Standard Life/Aberdeen Asset Management £11bn merger”
The deal was announced in March and is expected to close in the second half of 2017. Under the terms, Scottish company Wood Group is offering £5.64 per Amec share, for 56% ownership of the combined group.
Continue reading “Magic Circle duo land £2.2bn energy deal as antitrust concerns surface”
Firms retreat as funds raised through IPOs in the region fall 26%
Davis Polk & Wardwell and Kirkland & Ellis are the latest US firms to lose corporate partners from their Hong Kong offices as public listings in the region decline.
The deal gives the firm a new Amsterdam office that expands its European presence to 26 offices in 18 countries. Boekel adds 70 lawyers to the global firm and 16 partners, with a focus on real estate, corporate and litigation.
The deal gives the firm a new Amsterdam office that expands its European presence to 26 offices in 18 countries. Boekel adds 70 lawyers to the global firm and 16 partners, with a focus on real estate, corporate and litigation.
Approximately 300 support staff roles are to be cut at CMS Cameron McKenna, Olswang and Nabarro ahead of their triple merger next month. The firms ran a redundancy consultation from January to March, with 650 of the 950 support staff offered roles in the combined firm.
Herbert Smith Freehills (HSF), Berwin Leighton Paisner (BLP) and Mayer Brown led as the owners of London’s tallest tower, known as the Cheesegrater, agreed to its sale for £1.1bn. HSF and Mayer Brown advised joint owners British Land and Oxford Properties Group, while BLP assisted buyer CC Land Holdings.
Continue reading “Deal watch: Corporate activity in April 2017”
