The Legal 500

Within EU and competition EU and competition

Within Financial services, tier 6

Noted for regulatory consumer finance matters, Salans’ ‘response times are excellent’. Paula Howard has ‘excellent consumer credit expertise’; and Bill McCaffrey ‘offers depth of industry knowledge’.

Within Flotations: small and mid-cap, tier 5

Paul Salmon is recommended at Salans.

Within M&A: lower mid-market, £50m-£250m, tier 4

Salans ‘strikes the right balance between big City firm and a personal service’, and Paul Salmon is ‘a safe pair of hands’. On the deal front, the eight-partner team is active in mid-cap cross-border deals; at the top end of that scale, it advised Sahaviriya Steel on its $468m acquisition of Tata Steel’s steelmaking business in Redcar, Teeside.

Within Banking litigation: investment and retail,

Also recommended are: Glovers Solicitors LLP, which is particularly active in the enforcement of secured loans and follow-on claims against guarantors, valuers and conveyancing solicitors; K&L Gates, which is advising in a dispute between Saad Trading and Société Générale regarding a $50m letter of credit; Morrison & Foerster (UK) LLP, where the partners are noted for their experience in complex structured products and multi-jurisdictional litigation; Salans, which is strong in the asset-based lending arena, with Kevin Heath ‘an excellent negotiator and strategist’; Squire Sanders Hammonds, where Laurence Winston and Robert Weekes are well-known names; and TLT LLP, which recruited former Halliwells finance litigation partners David Pacey and Richard Clayton.

Within Commercial litigation, tier 6

Salans saw an upturn in banking and financial sector litigation, and also in claims against directors for misfeasance, wrongful and fraudulent trading, and professional negligence claims. Adrian Giles is ‘commercial and easy to deal with’, and senior partner Lionel Rosenblatt and Smeetesh Kakkad are also recommended.

Within International arbitration, tier 6

Salans welcomed Africa projects expert Ian Sellars from Watson, Farley & Williams LLP. The firm’s traditional geographical areas are the CIS and CEE regions, with real estate and infrastructure projects particular areas of strength, as well as investment treaty cases. George Burn is recommended.

Within Bank lending: investment grade debt and syndicated loans , tier 5

Salans is recommended for its work for lenders and borrowers in the CEE region.

Within Corporate restructuring and insolvency, tier 5

Sonia Jordan at Salans is a ‘good negotiator’. The firm advises on smaller deals, and is praised for its ‘good quality of advice and business acumen’.

Within Emerging markets, Salans is a third tier firm,

Salans continues to focus on the CEE and CIS regions, and advised Stemcor on the restructuring of $85m in debt owed to it by Estar Group. Stephen Finch leads the group and is the global banking and finance chair at the firm.

Within Trade finance, Salans is a third tier firm,

Salans is ‘a one-stop shop for cross-border services’. Mark Wilson is ‘very good at putting deals together’, and firm chairman Stephen Finch has returned to fee-earning. The firm advises banks and major traders including Stemcor, for which it recently handled a £155m borrowing facility.

Within Employment, tier 6

Michael Bronstein now heads Salans’ team, following the move of the ‘experienced, knowledgeable’ Barry Mordsley to a consultancy role with the firm. Bronstein presided over two reported cases relating to breaches of employment contracts, and also advised on the employment aspects of Sahaviriya Steel Industries’ acquisition of Tata Steel’s Redcar plant.

Within Commercial property, tier 6

Salans is ‘able to deploy a fairly large team so responses are quick, and the depth in the team is very good’. It was instructed by BDO, as administrators for Allied Carpets Properties on the transfer of 53 stores to Allied Carpets Retail, a new company. Daniel Polden shows ‘breath of knowledge and the ability to solve issues’.