Law.com International

There's still time to get your 2025 British Legal Awards entries in! Send in your nominations to honor the the standout achievements of law firms, in-house teams, chambers, and individuals who are driving the legal profession forward. Deadline is July 25! Nomination link here: https://lnkd.in/esRdH2Kp

Spain’s Garrigues has added a partner in Colombia who brings over 20 years of experience providing advice on investments in Latin America, including more than seven years as a partner with Baker McKenzie. Andrés Crump will join the Bogotá office of Garrigues as head of corporate M&A in the Andean country, where the Spanish firm employs more than 30 lawyers. Crump is widely recognized for having provided advice on some of the most important transactions in Colombia and in other Latin American countries, including Brazil, Chile, Mexico and Peru, focusing on the infrastructure and energy sectors, Garrigues said. “Andrés Crump’s arrival is a very important step for the office and for the corporate M&A department in Colombia in particular, which hopes to gain more weight and importance in the market,” Jaime Iglesias, the partner in charge of the Garrigues Bogotá office, said in a statement. Full story from Amy Guthrie: https://lnkd.in/eGzC9hDz

Egypt’s ambitious plan to raise $11 billion by selling stakes in public companies to private investors is generating a surge in transactional work for Baker McKenzie, Matouk Bassiouny, and other Cairo law firms. The initiative, part of Egypt’s agreement with the International Monetary Fund for a bailout package, targets the sale of more than 30 state-owned companies via listings on the Egyptian Stock Exchange and direct deals with strategic investors. Matouk Bassiouny is representing foreign investors, mostly sovereign wealth funds, in more than seven privatisation-related deals that have yet to be disclosed. What is known is that the team, led by partner and corporate M&A head Omar Bassiouny, is handling the privatisation of the National Roads Company. Zulficar and Adsero, meanwhile, are advising on the restructuring of other key projects, including a fuel retail chain with more than 250 stations. Firms are also pursuing big-ticket mandates including the sale of Banque du Caire, one of the country’s largest public sector banks with an asset value exceeding $9 billion in 2024. “At the end of the day, when you talk about an IPO, most of the revenue generated will be in Egyptian pounds but what the government is looking at from the privatisation program is really to attract foreign currency,” Bassiouny said. “And this (bank sale) would be a full privatisation to the private sector, ideally in foreign currency.” Full story from Alfred Olufemi: https://lnkd.in/eat645fH

Kirkland & Ellis and Freshfields have topped a ranking of the most active advisers to U.S. private equity clients in Europe over the last two years, providing fresh evidence of their superiority in the sector. Kirkland topped the bespoke league table produced for Law.com International by London Stock Exchange Group showing the legal advisers advising on the highest value of transactions involving U.S. financial sponsors acquiring EU-based targets. The firm completed 112 deals involving U.S. financial buyside sponsors, including PE behemoths such as KKR and Warburg Pincus, up to a total combined value of over $66.6 billion — the highest volume and value among its peers. Trailing closely behind, Freshfields took second place with $55.8 billion in deal value and a 35% market share from 45 transactions. Freshfields advised a private equity consortium, led by U.S. PE house Blackstone, on a €14 billion offer for Oslo-listed Adevinta back in 2023. Linklaters rounded out the top three, advising on $44 billion worth of deals, capturing 28% of the market across 24 mandates. Clifford Chance and Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton secured the fourth and fifth spots, respectively, while Sullivan & Cromwell and Latham & Watkins followed closely, the latter notably advising on 84 deals—the second-highest by volume—but ranking seventh by value with $28.7 billion. Full story from Habiba Cullen-Jafar: https://lnkd.in/eZGZu9Nw

Simmons & Simmons is planning a return to Abu Dhabi in early 2026 to focus on asset management, investment funds, and TMT—including AI—following in-principle licensing approval from the Abu Dhabi Global Market (ADGM) financial centre and economic zone. Final approval of the licence is pending and Abu Dhabi operations are expected to start in early 2026, a decade after Simmons shuttered its previous office in the emirate in 2016. Simmons is positioning the re-launch as a new direction rather than a re-run. "We're not reopening in Abu Dhabi. We are opening for the first time in ADGM," Emily Monastiriotis, Simmons & Simmons global managing partner, said, adding that Simmons has grown in previous years as has Abu Dhabi’s ADGM, asset funds, and tech sector. “We advise over 85% of the largest 50 global asset managers, most European and U.S. hedge funds, and major institutional investors,” Monastiriotis said. “That’s what ADGM is about, and that’s what we want to do.” Full story from Dario Sabaghi: https://lnkd.in/emZiuAGy

AXA’s U.K. general counsel is set to leave the company to join a different insurance multinational. Emily Coupland will join RSA as its general counsel of U.K. and Europe. She had been AXA’s U.K. GC since 2021, and had been with the insurance giant for 24 years. In April, RSA announced it would rebrand and change its trading name to Intact Insurance by the end of 2025. Full story from Jack Womack: https://lnkd.in/eE9C-zr7

Simpson Thacher & Bartlett and Clifford Chance are advising on a landmark $20 billion partnership between U.S. private equity giant Blackstone and U.K. insurer Legal & General. The deal will see Blackstone tap into L&G's annuity business, which holds £1.1 trillion in assets under managment, and source private credit deals, predominantly from the U.S., for the U.K. FTSE-100 financial services group. Simpson Thacher advised long-term client Blackstone on the deal, with London partner Owen Lysak leading the team. Meanwhile, Clifford Chance advised its L&G on the matter with led by Gerard Saviola and Benjamin Harding. Full story from Habiba Cullen-Jafar: https://lnkd.in/eqFe_xCm

Dentons U.K., Ireland and Middle East (UKIME) region has surpassed the £300 million revenue milestone for the first time, reaching £306 million for the financial year ending April 2025—a 9% increase on the previous year’s £280.5 million. CEO of Dentons UKIME, Paul Jarvis described the results as a "major milestone" commenting: "We have achieved this through organic growth and as a result of the strategic choices we made four years ago to develop deeper client relationships and invest in high growth markets." Growth in the Middle East was notable, with a 9% revenue increase this year and a 23% rise over the past four years, driven in large part by Dentons’ expanding presence in Saudi Arabia. Meanwhile, the Dublin office has doubled in size over the same period. According to the firm disputes had "a stand-out year" following significant partner growth and involvement in high-profile cases. Global CEO, Kate Barton said: "Our UKIME region is an engine of growth for the global firm and I’m delighted at how we continue to bring solutions to our clients here and around the world." Full story from Molly Smith: https://lnkd.in/eXvGY4Uc

DAC Beachcroft has recorded increased profit and revenue following a year in which it opened offices in New York and Los Angeles. The law firm’s global revenue climbed by 6.4% to hit £348.1 million, while profit before tax increased by 7.1% to £76 million. Speaking to Law.com, DAC Beachcroft’s managing partner David Pollitt said: “The momentum that we've begun to generate in the business over the last two or three years is now really driving through into the numbers.” Pollitt is stepping down from the role in November after two five-year terms, and passing the reigns to Helen Faulkner (below), the firm’s head of insurance. Full story from Jack Womack: https://lnkd.in/ed2jHzyW

Last May, Jean-Francois Gerard retired as of counsel at Freshfields and told his colleagues he would be taking on a new role overseeing a legal aid project run by Belgium’s biggest bar association. Gerard, an employment lawyer in Brussels, also said he would continue to practice law but would advise employees rather than employers. Or, as he quipped in a recent interview, he was moving “to the bright side.” “This was always there,” Gerard told Law.com International, pointing out that he always had a strong desire to “improve things.” It was, he said, a question of “waiting for the right time for a switch.” Gerard, who just turned 60, has had an unusual career. There were Big Law successes, such as becoming managing director of Ius Laboris, a global alliance of labor and employment firms, at the age of 36. Then in 2007, he joined Freshfields to head the global practice development function for the firm’s labor and employment offering, which focuses on providing legal advice related to employment, executive compensation, and pensions. He held that role until his retirement last year. Full story from Linda A. Thompson: https://lnkd.in/e-j39F87