William Fry LLP > LONDON, England > Firm Profile
William Fry LLP Offices
SECOND FLOOR
55 BARTHOLOMEW CLOSE
EC1A 7ES
England
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William Fry LLP > The Legal 500 Rankings
Offshore firms in London > Irish firms in London Tier 1
Singled out by one client as a ‘dynamic firm with top class talent across a broad range of functions’,William Fry LLP‘s London team is headed up by senior partner Ivor Banim, who leverages over 20 years experience in Irish and international M&A and private equity transactions. Paul White and Brian Butterwick, the latter of whom also specialises in IPOs and other capital markets transactions, are the other corporate partners to note. Lorena Dunne oversees the asset management and investment funds group, while senior associate Aisling O’Gorman takes on real estate instructions, particularly those involving renewable energy projects. Matthew Cahill left for Dentons in December 2022.Practice head(s):
Ivor Banim
Other key lawyers:
Paul White; Brian Butterwick; Lorena Dunne; Aisling O’Gorman
Testimonials
‘Really dynamic firm with top class talent across a broad range of functions. Able to pull experts in keys areas of law across any range of issues required.’
‘The team I work with always have their client’s back. This should not be unique in professional services but it is. We feel very lucky to have a team who support the senior executives in the manner in which they do with deep understanding of our business and industry which allows them to provide timely and accurate advice in a practical way.’
‘Deeply knowledgeable and give excellent and balanced advice. Always available.’
‘The William Fry team are available, dependable, practical and relatable. Working with this firm is a pleasure, and, as a client, you feel in good hands.’
‘Brian Butterwick is a talented, calm and incredibly pragmatic lawyer.’
‘Seamless across departments and time zones.’
‘The efficiency of the entire team I have worked with is off the charts, they operate in such a professional manner.’
Key clients
Smurfit Kappa
AIB
Tesco
DCC plc
Edwards Lifesciences plc
Glanbia
York Capital Management
Lazard Asset Management
Mayfair Equity Partners
Value Retail
Phoenix Group
Barclays Bank plc
Uniphar plc
U and I Group PLC (formerly Development Securities plc)
Sands Capital
Davy Group
Goodbody
RBC Capital Markets
Yew Grove REIT
Pollen Street Capital
Towerbrook Capital
August Equity Partners
Gresham House Asset Management
Medivet Group
Clayton Dubilier & Rice
New Mountain Capital
Aceto Group
Wealth at Work Group
Kyndryl Group
Nordic Aviation
Mercer
Amarenco Solar
Amgen Inc
Pomo Search (Pointy)
OCP (Orange Capital Partners)
Qorvo US, Inc
Qual Real
Tines Security Services Limited (Tines.io)
Copenhagen Infrastructure Partners
Work highlights
- Advised Partners Group Holding on the acquisition of Version 1 Holdings/Version 1 Group for €800m.
- Advised IBM on the Irish aspects of the sale of the IBM Watson Health business to Francisco Partners Management, a US-based private equity firm.
- Advised Davy, RBC and BNP, as joint bookrunners, and Davy and RBC, as global co-ordinators, on the €281.5m oversubscribed equity placing by Greencoat Renewables under its €400m share issuance programme.
Ireland > Investment funds
William Fry LLP has a fast-growing practice, driven by an established and new generation of partners. It advises a range of major global asset managers on new and market-first products, and is also noted for its expertise in the regulatory field, particularly in the ETF sector. The investment funds group has also developed strong expertise in sustainable finance. It is the sole legal adviser to six of the largest fund structures domiciled in Ireland. James Phelan is a rounded funds specialist with an outstanding record in ETFs. Vincent Coyne is another senior practitioner, with an extensive record in both UCITS and alternative funds, while John Aherne and Patricia Taylor  are experienced figures on the regulatory front. Sergey Dolomanov is an emerging talent in UCITS and alternative funds. Lorena Dunne  plays a key role in London. Former department head Dan Morrissey  retired in December 2021.Practice head(s):
Vincent Coyne; James Phelan
Other key lawyers:
Sergey Dolomanov; Patricia Taylor; John Aherne; Lorena Dunne
Testimonials
‘The team is very knowledgeable and ensure that any upcoming regulatory requirements are being considered. They are very approachable and available should any ad hoc queries arrive.’
‘Deep knowledge of the Irish market and the PE industry.’
‘James Phelan as partner provides excellent tailored advice and support to our firm. In depth understanding of the regulatory requirements and what is happening in the market. Continues to be accessible and responsive. A very personable person and this is reflected on the rest of his team.’
‘We always welcome an opportunity to work with William Fry and have no hesitation in recommending Vincent Coyne and his colleagues when new clients require legal representation. In our experience, William Fry possess a very broad skillset and can support all fund types in terms of both structure and asset class. This means we can recommend William Fry to any client type irrespective of their needs and proposed strategy and structure.’
‘Vincent Coyne’s experience in the market is second to none. The quality of Vincent’s legal advice is consistently excellent. Vincent is an adept communicator which I believe to be one of his strongest qualities. Vincent combines his technical knowledge with strong commercial instincts with the result that his advice is always practical and pragmatic – and focussed on the challenge at hand. John Aherne and James Phelan are excellent to deal with. As with Vincent, we can always place great trust in their advice and their depth and breadth of expertise is always evident. John and James are commercially astute and always provide legal advice of the highest calibre.’
‘We rely very heavily on them all to support our business. Rarely a day goes by that we do not call on external counsel and, more often than not, our office has multiple daily contacts with the team in William Fry. They are always exceptionally responsive and friendly to deal with and, most importantly, always get the job done properly and on time. As lead counsel of an in-house team, they are very successful at making me feel that they are just an extension of my own in-house team and this despite the fact that they all have busy portfolios beyond our account.’
‘I have immediate access at all times to the senior partner who has our account, James Phelan. James is a vital resource to me, and assists me with fielding the business with quick views on a wide range of legal issues as they arise. He can provide a commercial perspective, combined with a deep understanding of the rules. Also very important to us, is that William Fry offers two partner coverage for all significant accounts – so we have a junior partner, Lorena Dunne, who has also worked on our account from many years. It is important to us that we can access senior people easily.’
‘Vincent Coyne has excellent technical knowledge and practical insights.’
Key clients
Mercer Global Investments Europe
Mercer Global Investments Management Limited
MGI Funds plc
Mercer UCITS CCF
Mercer PIF Funds plc
Mercer QIF Funds plc
Mercer QIF CCF
Generali Invest CEE Global Exposure ICAV
HEPP ICAV
Haitong Asset Management
BlackRock
City of London
Comgest
Davy
GA Development
Gresham
Intertrust
Lazard
Milltrust
Natixis
Sands Capital
Towerbrook
Work highlights
- Advised on the establishment of BlackRock’s first two Paris-aligned corporate bond ETFs.
- Advised Comgest Growth, a Dublin-domiciled UCITS fund range on the establishment of a new investment fund targeting ESG stock selection processes in line with SRI and the UN Global Compact’s 10 principle requirements, including avoidance of exposure to fossil fuel investments.
- Advised Lazard Asset Management on the regulatory process involved in making an application to the Central Bank to expand the regulatory licence of its Dublin-domiciled UCITS management company.
William Fry LLP > Firm Profile
As one of Ireland’s largest law firms, William Fry offers unrivaled legal and tax expertise across the full breadth of the business sector.
The firm: William Fry advises leading Irish and international companies, covering both the public and private sector. It operates a large international practice and regularly acts in cases involving other jurisdictions, including the UK, the US, Asia, the Netherlands, Germany, France, Spain, Italy, Poland and Eastern Europe.
Strong client relationships and high-quality advice are the hallmark of the business. William Fry is acknowledged by clients and market commentators alike as being a leader in its main areas of work: corporate / M&A, banking and finance, litigation and dispute resolution, asset management and investment funds, real estate, corporate tax, technology, insurance, employment and benefits, EU and competition and projects and construction.
Types of work undertaken
Asset management and investment funds: William Fry continues to be the firm of choice for significant and complex funds work in Ireland, consolidating its work with large global players and increasing the number of large asset manager clients, and having been ranked as the most innovative Irish law firm in the legal expertise category by the Financial Times Innovative Lawyers Report 2019.
Banking and finance: the department is acknowledged as a leader in the Irish market and provides legal and regulatory advice to domestic and international financial institutions, NAMA, corporates, issuers, treasury vehicles, arrangers, dealers, monolines, rating agencies and governmental bodies.
Capital markets: the department is consistently regarded as a market leader and advises on the full range of public and private debt and equity issuances in Ireland and internationally, advising Irish and international issuers, financial institutions, dealers, arrangers and rating agencies.
Commercial contracts: William Fry helps with strategic and commercial decisions with a variety of clients and commercial contracts, from domestic and international corporations to entrepreneurs and family businesses.
Competition and regulation: the competition department consistently advised on the most complex EU and Irish competition and merger control law issues arising in Ireland each year.
Corporate/M&A: this has always been the bedrock of the practice at William Fry. The firm consistently has a central role in the most sophisticated and complex corporate transactions and advisory work in Ireland, as well as in large cross-border deals with an Irish aspect.
Corporate restructuring and insolvency: the specialist team advises leading Irish and International Insolvency practitioners (liquidators, receivers, examiners, administrators and trustees) financial institutions, investors and shareholders in restructuring or business termination events.
Employment and benefits: the firm’s lawyers advise on employment law and on the specialist areas of whistleblowing, health and safety, pensions and employee incentives.
Environment and planning: the group excels in applying technical and commercial thinking to this extensive, complex and increasingly regulated area.
Financial regulation: our financial regulation unit brings together lawyers specialising in different areas of the financial services sector to provide practical and clear advice on all aspects of regulation and compliance to leading banks, investment firms and intermediaries, (re)insurance undertakings, collective investment schemes, fund service providers, regulatory authorities and investors in financial institutions.
Intellectual property: William Fry’s dedicated intellectual property lawyers deal with contentious and non-contentious cases for clients on a full-time basis.
Litigation and dispute resolution: the firm has a reputation as a market leader focused on delivering results for clients, representing them at all levels of the courts and dispute resolution whether by way of conciliation, mediation or arbitration.
Private client: the firm provides specialist legal and taxation advice to private, institutional and commercial clients, focusing on the creation and implementation of innovative and efficient arrangements for the preservation, management and transfer of wealth.
Private equity: the firm has a proven track record as a market leader advising on private equity and venture capital transactions in Ireland.
Real estate: the department is recognised as outstanding in Ireland and is consistently rated as a first tier practice. Clients include large institutional investors, international private equity funds, receivers, developers and major Irish, UK and US retailers.
Tax: William Fry is exclusively Taxand Ireland. With more than 400 tax partners and over 2,000 advisors in over 40 countries, Taxand is one of the largest organisations of tax advisers to multinational businesses.
Other offices: Dublin, Cork, New York, San Francisco, Silicon Valley
Main Contacts
Department | Name | Telephone | |
---|---|---|---|
Managing Partner | Owen O'Sullivan | ||
Chairperson | Liam McCabe | ||
Head of London Office | Ivor Bamin | ||
Corporate and M&A | Stephen Keogh | ||
Insurance & Reinsurance | Eoin Caulfield | ||
Asset Management & Investment Funds | Vincent Coyne | ||
Asset Management & Investment Funds | James Phelan | ||
Competition and regulation | Cormac Little | ||
Corporate restructuring and insolvency | Fergus Doorly | ||
Employment and benefits | Catherine O'Flynn | ||
Environment and planning | Conor Linehan | ||
Intellectual property | Laura Scott | ||
Intellectual property | Leo Moore | ||
Dispute Resolution | Garrett Breen | ||
Real estate | Edward Spain | ||
Tax | Sonya Manzor | ||
Projects & Construction | Liam McCabe | ||
Financial Regulation | Shane Kelleher | ||
Banking & Finance | David Maughan | ||
Banking & Finance | Jason Hollis | ||
Technology | Leo Moore | ||
Energy & Natural Resources | Fergus Devine | ||
Healthcare & Life Sciences | Laura Scott | ||
Equity Capital Markets | Mark Talbot |
Lawyer Profiles
Photo | Name | Position | Profile |
---|---|---|---|
Mr Ivor Banim | Head of London Office, Corporate PartnerIvor is a Partner in the Corporate… | View Profile | |
Mr Brian Butterwick | Brian is a Partner in our Corporate / M&A Department, advising on… | View Profile | |
Ms Aisling O'Gorman | View Profile |
- Offshore firms in London > Irish firms in London
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- Ireland > Investment funds