The Legal 500

London: Corporate and commercial

M&A: upper mid-market and premium deals, £250m+

Within: M&A: upper mid-market and premium deals, £250m+

The ‘very high-quality’ practice at Slaughter and May is ‘definitely the go-to for large-scale and complex transactions’. The firm’s blue-chip client list includes Burberry, Diageo, General Electric, GlaxoSmithKline and Rolls-Royce. The M&A offering is headed by Roland Turnill, while Andy Ryde leads the team’s broader corporate practice. Turnill and Jonathan Marks acted for Standard Life on its all-share merger with Aberdeen Asset Management, effected by court-sanctioned scheme of arrangement, and Turnill also advised Vodafone on the proposed merger of its India business with Idea Cellular. Simon Nicholls advised John Wood Group on its all-share offer for Amec Foster Wheeler and worked alongside David Johnson (recommended by one individual as ‘simply the best M&A lawyer I have ever worked with’) on Actelion’s $30bn takeover by Johnson & Johnson. Johnson also acted on Cineworld Group’s $5.8bn acquisition of Regal Entertainment Group, while Hywel Davies led a large team handling INEOS’ acquisition of the entire oil and gas business of DONG Energy, and senior partner Steve Cooke handled WS Atkins’ £2.1bn acquisition of SNC-Lavalin. Nigel Boardman and William Underhill remain involved with a wide variety of transactions and advisory matters. Christian Boney and Filippo De Falco were both promoted to partnership. Chris McGaffin moved to the firm's Hong Kong office in August 2017 and Padraig Cronin moved to the firm's pensions and employment practice. Gary Eaborn retired.

[back to top]

London: Human resources

Employee share schemes

Within: Employee share schemes

Slaughter and May's 'knowledge, client service, responsiveness and ability to cut through complex issues is outstanding' thanks in part to the 'brilliant leadership' of Jonathan Fenn. The department has substantial experience advising on the employee incentives aspects of corporate transactions; recent examples include acting for Standard Life on the incentives aspects of its merger with Aberdeen Asset Management and assisting Market Tech Holdings with the share plan elements of its acquisition by LabTech Investments. Fenn also advised Segro on the incentives aspects of a rights issue and newly promoted partner Phil Linnard handled the establishment of a growth share scheme for a digital advisory company. Other clients include Ocado Group, Centrica and Michael Kors Holdings. Padraig Cronin joined the team from the firm's corporate department and Philip Bennett retired.

[back to top]

Employment: employers and senior executives

Within: Employment: employers and senior executives

At Slaughter and May, key names include team leader Jonathan Fenn, newly promoted partner Phil Linnard and Padraig Cronin; Fenn regularly handles the appointment and dismissal of directors and senior management, Linnard is 'excellent' and Cronin is recommended for the employment aspects of corporate work. Recent highlights include Linnard handling the employment elements of Tata Steel's joint venture with thyssenkrupp, Fenn acting for Barratt Developments in an investigation into allegations of corruption in its London business and Cronin assisting Legal & General with the employment components of the sale of its Mature Savings business to the ReAssure division of Swiss Re. Aggreko, Bupa and John Lewis Partnership are also clients. Lizzie Twigger is also a name to note; she was promoted to senior counsel in 2017.

[back to top]

Pensions

Within: Pensions

Charles Cameron (who is noted for his 'thoughtful insight') heads the department at Slaughter and May, which is 'a leader in the field' for non-contentious work and was bolstered by the recruitment of Daniel Schaffer from Herbert Smith Freehills LLP in 2017, who is praised as 'ruthlessly good' and 'extremely creative'. Recent mandates include Cameron, newly promoted partner Phil Linnard and Padraig Cronin advising Tata Steel on the restructuring of the British Steel Pension Scheme; Sandeep Maudgil assisting the Royal Mail with the closure of the RMG section of the Royal Mail Pension Plan and the design of a replacement plan; and Schaffer and Maudgil acting for the Railways Pension Trustee Company on multiple transfers and structural changes. The group is also becoming increasingly involved in pensions litigation; it recently represented the trustees of the BT Pension Scheme in Part 8 proceedings in the High Court and acted for Granada Group in High Court and Court of Appeal proceedings relating to whether it is obliged to maintain gilts as security for the pension benefits of former directors. Senior counsel Isobel Carruthers joined from Herbert Smith Freehills LLP and Philip Bennett retired in 2017.

[back to top]