Storyteller. Ninja. Scrum Master. Brand Champion. Evangelist. The modern commercial world has created many new genres of work, but sometimes it’s hard to know what they mean. As the London School of Economics’ headline-grabbing anthropologist David Graeber once wrote, ‘It’s as if someone were out there making up pointless jobs just for the sake of …
To kick off the debate, Herbert Smith Freehills (HSF) M&A partner Stephen Wilkinson introduced guest speaker Tom White, head of Europe at Global Counsel – who has over a decade of experience working for the UK Government primarily on EU single market negotiations – to give an overview of where the UK is, both in …
Uncertainty seems to be the only thing lawyers working in Europe’s aviation sector can count on these days. The recent collapse of two established major European airlines demonstrated the volatility facing many sections of the industry, with UK-headquartered Monarch Airlines and Air Berlin becoming the latest casualties of turbulence. ‘Airlines are no longer seen as …
Alex Novarese, The In-House Lawyer: Will the UK legal system be more or less trusted post Brexit? Andy_Tyler_Photography_Legal_Business_Roundtable_08.02Abhijit Mukhopadhyay, Hinduja Group: As a business, we trust English law and the English courts. Whenever we do business in any part of the world, unless it is in the US, we always go for English law. So …
The global M&A market is booming. Bill Mordan, general counsel at FTSE 100 drug-maker Shire, would know. Shire’s board recently recommended a £46bn takeover offer from rival Japanese pharma giant Takeda.
You may not have heard the term ‘gamification’, but the chances are you have experienced a form of it. Perhaps you’re an executive in a FTSE 500 company with a generous bonus triggered when your performance meets certain conditions. You could be a corporate client, flicking through the ranked lawyers in The Legal 500, preparing …
Shortly before Richard Price went in-house as group general counsel and company secretary at Anglo American, the legal team’s headcount was cut in half. This was not coupled with a reduced workload, however. Expectations remained the same.
Daniel Toner had done his research. Before an interview to become head of legal at Bupa Hospitals in 2006, he noticed the company had shifted some of its non-hospital assets to a new division. At the interview he asked, tongue-in-cheek, whether Bupa was selling its hospitals division. He was told: ‘Absolutely not. That would never …
Israel has been, and continues to be, a highly desired market for foreigners to invest in. 2017 saw total Israeli exit transactions of approximately $23 billion, including Mobileye for $15.3bn. Though this is down in terms of volume, it is up in terms of value. This is perhaps an indicator that the Israeli market is …
EDF and Co-op overhaul panels Big six energy supplier EDF Energy has almost halved its external advisers in a panel review that cut the number of law firms from 14 to eight. CMS Cameron McKenna Nabarro Olswang and Bryan Cave Leighton Paisner (BCLP) were added, while Baker McKenzie, Herbert Smith Freehills, Pinsent Masons, Eversheds Sutherland, …
Perhaps there are no better words than those above of Paulo Coelho, Brazilian author, to describe how to approach Latin America when exploring investment in the region for the first time. There has been a notable shift in traditional international investment to more exotic locations, where new opportunities meet new challenges. The term Latin America …
Continue reading ““Be brave. Take risks. Nothing can substitute experience.””
Vietnam is a wonderful country, full of wonderful people, with a rapidly developing economy that persistently grows at world-leading rates. Vietnam is also a fascinating, challenging, and rewarding legal jurisdiction for M&A lawyers. There are many things for which Vietnam has made itself noteworthy as a jurisdiction during the last 20 years, but sophisticated competition …
Continue reading “Developments in merger control rules in Vietnam”